Many people like to travel, enjoy the country and its people and, of course, the regional foreign cuisine. Therefore it would be good to know what local specialties are or what the dishes mean one can find in the local menu.

Likewise, such knowledge is certainly important and helpful at home in foreign restaurants. For this purpose and a little personal training, I have put together the most important terms in a small test. Today is France’s turn and soon followed by Italy and Spain. Here an example (Foie gras) how I put the test together . First the question and further down a short explanation with a picture.

      Foie gras en cocotte.
Foie gras with mustard seeds and green onions in duck jus.
Foie gras is considered a luxury food product made of the liver of a duck or goose that has been especially fattened.
Foie gras is a popular and well-known delicacy in French cuisine. Its flavor is described as rich, buttery, and delicate.
Foie gras is sold whole, or is prepared into mousse, parfait, or pate, and may also be served as an accompaniment to another food item, such as steak.   Click always on pics to supersize -PLEASE !

How well do you know French cuisine?

The French cuisine has brought us many delicacies: Quiche, Coq au Vin, Mousse au Chocolat. But do you know what a Pissaladiere is? Or a Clafoutis? Have fun, take the test!

The questions:

1. Let’s start relaxed. Ratatouille should be known to almost everyone. What is this?
Stewed vegetables.
A light vegetable soup.
A stew with chicken.
Or a rich salad.

2. The Bouillabaisse comes from the same region. What was that?
A fish casserole.
A fish sauce.
A fish soup.
A fish jelly.

3. The bouillabaisse is often eaten together with a certain sauce. With which?
With Aioli.
With Pistou.
With Rouille.
With Tapenade.

4. What do you get when you order Pissaladiere?
A kind of onion cake with anchovies, a specialty from Nice.
A salad-like, cold appetizer, which is in vogue in Paris.
A Breton casserole with potatoes and garlic.
A Normandy drink with tomato juice and cucumber.

5. What is a Cassoulet ?
A rich vegetable soup.
A hearty stew with beans and meat.
A  beef roast braised in red wine.
A dessert with currant sauce.

6. Quiches are widespread in France. This hearty cake is available in a variety of flavors. He has a bottom of short crust pastry, is spicy and watered with egg milk. Which of the following ingredients are typical of the famous Quiche Lorraine?
Tomatoes, peppers and onions.
Apple, potatoes and cheese.
Ham, leek and goat cheese.
Bacon, onions and cheese.

7. Probably the best-known French salad, in addition to vegetables such as tomato and peppers, usually contains hard-boiled eggs, tuna, anchovies, green beans and black olives. What’s his name?
Salade Bretone.
Salade Niçoise.
Salade Normande.
Salade Lyonnaise.

8. The meat dish Boeuf Bourguignon owes its name to its two skin ingredients. These main ingredients are:
Lamb and red wine.
Game meat and red wine.
Pork and red wine.
Beef and red wine.

9. The French understand themselves well on sweet dishes. A classic is the Tarte Tatin. What is special about the preparation of this cake?
He does not have to be baked at all.
He is baked upside down.
It is covered with chocolate after baking.
He is doused after baking with syrup.

10. What is a Clafoutis?
A cheesecake muffin.
An oblong biscuit with cream filling.
A kind of casserole with pancake-like dough and fruit.
A small chocolate cake with a liquid core.

The answers:

  Ratatouille.

1. Ratatouille is a stew with vegetables. It comes from Nice in the Provence. The main ingredients are eggplant, zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, onions and garlic. Also fresh herbs, often the typical herbs of Provence are included.

  Bouillabaisse.

2. Bouillabaisse is a famous, rich fish soup – a specialty from Marseille, which in addition to vegetables contains various Mediterranean fish and seafood. For the special taste, at least seven types of fish are traditionally used. See my post about Bouillabaisse.

  Rouille.

3. Rouille is the traditionally sauce served with Bouillabaisse. This reddish sauce also accompanies other southern French fish dishes. It consists of garlic, which is crushed with small red peppers in a mortar. Other ingredients include a soft-boiled and crushed potato. Sometimes saffron, olive oil and fish liver come in, and some fish broth for the smooth consistency. Some varieties contain egg yolk, which is more of an aioli flavored with saffron and cayenne pepper.

  Pissaladiere.

4. Pissalat stands for fine-tasted anchovies. These are next to the sliced ​​onions and large, black olives the topping on this pizza-like dough. Onion cake is therefore most likely to hit it. This specialty from the Cote d’Azur is spread beyond the city limits in southern France and even in Italy.

  Cassoulet.

5. Cassoulet is a meat-rich stew of white beans, bacon, cured pork and sausage. It comes from the region Languedoc in Southern France. Depending on the region, goose, duck or lamb can also land in the pot. The dish is cooked at low temperature first on the stove, then in the oven and takes hours. These recipes are great for slow cooker fans.

  Quiche Lorraine.

6. Quiche Lorraine, classic style, comes from Lorraine and therefore also called Lorraine Specktorte. So it’s clear: bacon, onions and cheese are the ingredients that make the difference. In the past, a quiche was a poor people’s meal made from bread dough. Meanwhile, the spicy cake has long been socially accepted, with shortcrust pastry as a base and many different toppings.

  Salade Nicoise.

7. Salade Nicoise or Nice Salad comes from Provence, more specifically from the region around Nice. A binding recipe for this does not exist, but even the world famous chef Auguste Escoffier, who had strongly influenced French Haute Cuisine, prepared it. He is known for one of the oldest known recipes.

  Auguste Escoffier (1846 – 1935).

  Boeuf Bourguignon.

8. Boeuf Bourguignon is the classic of French cuisine, a pot roast with beef, in French „boeuf“, which is braised in red wine. But not in any red wine, but in Burgundy wine, in French „vin bourguignon“. The dish combines two things the Burgundy region is famous for: cattle breeding and viticulture.

  Tarte Tatin.

9. Tarte Tatin. The special thing about this cake is that it is baked upside down. First the butter is cut out, sugar is sprinkled in and caramelized to make the whole caramel – this is how the typical caramel layer on the apples is made. Then the fruits, then the leaves or shortcrust pastry in the form. Traditionally, Tarte Tatin is prepared with apples and the cake is served as a dessert. But you can also take apricots, pears or other solid fruit.

  Clafoutis.

10. Clafoutis is a pancake-like dessert, usually a sweet dessert that can be placed between casserole and cake. First the fruits are put into a greased form, then the dough is poured on it. Traditionally it is made with cherries, but it is also available with other fruits.

Tips.

Almost no good meal in France is celebrated without some cheeses and a good wine. In case you like to have one of the above recipes, just call in. Enjoy the French Cuisine.

In honor to one of the greatest chefs in France, Paul Bocuse.
He sadly passed away this year at age of 92. Paul Bocuse, based in Lyon, was known for the high quality of his restaurants and his innovative approaches to french and world wide cuisine. (11 February 1926 – 20 January 2018).

                   
Paul Bocuse and L’Auberge du Pont de Collonges, Bocuse’s main restaurant in „Collonges au Mont d’Or“, the place of both his birth and death.