French Food Recipes

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Confit d'échalotes

The History of France
Documented history started when Greek merchants founded modern day Marseille, this was in the 6th century BC. About the same time Celtic Gaul tribes started to settle themselves in what is modern France. Until the famous chieftain Vercingetorix was defeated in 52 BC the Gauls were a power to be reckoned with. Over the centuries the Romans and the Gauls mixed as did their cultures. After the fall of the Western Roman empire several Germanic tribes formed smaller kingdoms, the most successful would eventually prove to be the Franks who expanded into an empire known as Francia. This great empire was later split into three, the part known as West Francia is what later evolved into modern France. In the 9th century Danish Vikings invaded from the Atlantic coast and establihed themselves, those wo settled became known as Norman. During the Middle Ages the feudal system grew strong which greatly diminished the power of the king. France was very active during the Crusades in the 11th to 13th century. From the 14th until the 16th century France was in some long lasting wars with England and Italy, bulbonic plague killed half of the population. From the 16th century all the way until the 18th century conflicts between Catholics and Protestants were recurrent and bloody. In the beginning of the 17th century the French crown started to grow stronger and richer, colonization around the world had created a lot of wealth, new imports led to that French food recipes became more and more exotic and lavish. Science and the arts received a lot of funds and therefor bloomed. Centralized power and an uneven distribution of wealth led up to the French Revolution in 1789, in 1792 the First Republic was announced. New ideas like equal rights and the abolishing of slavery were implemented, much to the disgust of the ruling classes in other European countries. Napoleon Bonaparte came to power in 1799 and with him at the helm France got involved in some of the bloodiest conflicts in history where the war hungry emperor sought to make Europe his. Napoleon was ultimately defeated at Waterloo in 1815 and monarchy was restored. Up until the 1950's France changed back and forth between republic and monarchy, in 1958 the fifth and current republic was declared. France participated in both World Wars and eventually came out victorious. During the 19th and the early 20th century France expanded in to a large colonial empire, most of which had been lost by the 1980's. Many people from these colonies have emigrated to France making it quite multi cultural, this has had great influence on French food recipes as well. France is today a G8 super power and was a founding members of the EU.

French Cuisine
By the Middle Ages French food recipes had started to develop into more and more refined meals for an increasingly more wealthy aristocracy. The flavours were strong with generous use of vinegar, herbs and at the time very expensive spices. Depending on season meat was smoked, salted and dried; vegetables and fruit brined and pickled. Fish like carp was bred in ponds, they were in particular consumed during Lent. During the Middle Ages several French chefs gained status and fame, Taillevent, active during the 14th century, is the most reknown. Little of this cuisine reached the poorer masses; groats, turnips and bread was the main fare for most. The Renaissance brought many new inventions and ideas that had profound effects on society. With start in the 16th century the crown of France grew stronger and more centralized, culture and science flourished as did the cuisine which saw the introduction of new ingredients and cooking methods. When the chef La Varenne published a cooking book in the 17th century, fat thickened sauces were included, so were pastries; this new kitchen became known as Haute cuisine. Foods from the New World like zucchini, tomato and potato got introduced and eventually became ingredients in some of the more traditional French food recipes. During the 18th century the cuisine continued to evolve. The French Revolution did not interrupt the development, in the 19th century the chef Carême presented French food recipes for a multitude of sauces and soufflés; elaborate use of the egg had thus started. Alcohol and wine had been refined and were now also common ingredients. By the beginning of the 20th century had developed a defined system where the professional restaurant kitchen was divided into stations where you had someone responsible for sauces, another for desserts etc; thus specializing and saving time. The chef Escoffier was the major force in culinary France at the time, his writings put the new methods black on white. The new recipes emphasized to combine flavours and the use of various stocks that hade concentrated 'true' flavours. Traditional peasant dishes were adapated and made more exclusive. In the 1960's major changes took place, the emphasis now was even more on getting the true flavours out, thus leaving heavy sauces, marinades and complicated preparations behind. Alongside these elaborate French food recipes there have always been the traditions on the countryside and of the less wealthy. After the French Revolution many dishes earlier reserved for the nobility spread in its adapted forms to the less wealthy; Bread, cheese and pastries are examples. Variations between regions are big. In general you can see how the food in the north is more sturdy, from the centre more refined and in the south fresh and lighter. Cheese and wine are produced in various regions around the country. Along the coasts fish and seafood are common ingredients. The great influx of foreigners, especially from former colonies like Algeria, Vietnam and Morocco and also from Portugal and Italy have made their influence on the development of French food recipes.

Some Ingredients And Dishes Of France
It would be very hard to encompass everything that is worth noticing so I will limit myself. In general you can say that the French really use a large variety of food stuffs; frogs, snails, truffles, pigeons, rabbit are some examples. Vegetables, herbs and fruit of many kinds are treasured, the same goes for fish and seafood. Of fame are the many types of cheese from around the country. Below is a list of some French dishes and ingredients.

Baguette The classical French wheat bread.
Haricot verts A type of green bean.
Courgette Zucchini is used in many French food recipes.
Truffle The truffle mushroom is a tresaured ingredient, the black Périgord variety is famous around the world.
Escargot Snails. Most often cooked in stock and garlic butter.
Cuisses de grenouille Frog legs are often served deep-fried.
Herbes de Provence A dry herb mix that could contain savory, fennel, thyme and basil.
Roquefort A blue cheese made from sheep's milk.
Roux A traditional sauce thickenere made from flour and melted clarified butter.
Sauce Béarnaise A sauce made with tarragon, butter, eggyolks and vinegar.
Boudin blanc A common pork sausage.
Foie gras Goose liver.
Huître Oysters
Quenelle Poached pike balls.
Matelote A fish stew made with cider, typical of Normandy.
Bouillabaisse A fish, seafood and tomato stew flavoured with herbs. Typical of the Mediterranean coast.
Salade Niçoise A salad made with various vegetables and anchovy. From the Mediterranean.
Pâté A wide variety of pâtés. The goose liver version, especially from Gascony and Périgord, are world famous.
Quiche Is an open faced pie.
Boeuf Bourguignon Beef stewed in red wine with onions, herbs and garlic. From Burgundy.
Raclette A typical cheese that is melted and served with meat and vegetables. Typical for the Alps.
Cassoulet A bean stew with origins in the south.
Ratatouille A vegetable stew made with egg plant, zucchini, bell pepper, tomato, garlic, onion and olive oil. Typical of the south.
Kig ha farz A meat pudding made with buckwheat. The gaelic name places this dish in Brittany.
Coq au vin Capon or chicken cooked in white wine with mushrooms.
Steak frites French fries with fried steak, sometimes served with a sauce Béarnaise.
Crème brûlée This famous dish is custard topped with crisp caramel.
Éclairs A pastry topped that often is topped with chocolate cream.
Croissant A crescent shaped puff pastry.
Baba au rhum A rum soaked yeast cake served with dried fruits.
Mousse au chocolat Chocolate mousse is a heavy dessert made from dark chocolate, coffe, sugar, butter and egg.

French Beverages
There are lots of alcoholic beverages from France that are worth mentioning. To start with wine of course. French wine was for many years considered the best in the world, today it has found a lot of competition. Regions like Champagne, Burgundy, Loire, Rhône, Bordeaux produce some of the most famous wines in the world. In the Normandie the large production of apples is to a large extent dedicated to produce cider and calvados (apple brandy). Cognac is a brandy from the district with the same name. Pastis is an anis flavoured apértif, Pernod is perhaps the most famous brand. Chartreuse is a herb liqueur made by monks. There are several other world famous liqueurs from France like the citrus Cointreau. Many other spirits are produced that I don't mention here. Beer is also produced but in quite small quantities, mostly in the northern regions and in those that border to Germany. There is a strong café culture in France, perhaps strongest in Paris. The classical Parisian breakfast would probably be a croissant and a black coffe or a café au lait.

Submitted French Food Recipes

- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 500 g finely chopped shallot onions
- 2 tsp sugar
- salt and pepper to taste
- 300 ml of ordinary red wine
- 4 tbsp red port wine
- 1 cube of chicken broth

Fry the shallots in a frying pan with the olive oil around 10 minutes. Sprinkle the sugar over the shallots. Add the wine and the red port together with the chicken broth. Leave it to cook around 20 minutes in the pan, until they’re candied in their juice.As for the meat, I like to use a French beef undercut (l’onglet de boeuf) or back steak, almost charred on the outside and have it very red on the inside, the French way. But any piece of meat will do, rump steak works well. The recipe is for four persons, two in my opinion since it’s so good and goes well with any type of side dish, such as spinach or its student version, pasta...

Franck's Comment: This dish was the first I succeeded in cooking on my first day living alone. I come from the French capital of the Alps, Grenoble, and had just started my second year in university in Paris. During my first year, I lived in a student's hostel that included delicious meals so I never had to cook. I’d always been very pampered by my Argentine mom and both my parents are excellent cooks so apart from not knowing how to cook, I was badly accustomed to eating very well, always. Thus, I had to choose between eating bad or learning to cook, and chose the latter. This is nowhere near fusion cuisine, but I come from a family of huge carnivores and for my first dish I just hung around recipe websites until I found something my dad cooked when he came back from work l’onglet au boeuf avec son confit d’échalotes. It’s a cheap and easy recipe, goes with everything and is especially satisfying. It takes 40 minutes to cook, but I am slow, and was even slower. I love to listen to music while cooking, was still learning how to use things in the kitchen, and meat included I nearly put 1h30 minutes to cook everything. But I made it, messing up my kitchen in the meantime, but I made it!

My comment: Franck, thanks for this great and very French recipe. The shallot onion is very typical of France, the cultivar has been around since the Middle Ages. The use of wines in food is also something very typically French. The attitude Franck shows to the meat is probably the most typical of all. A lot of the modern food trends had their roots in France, the quality and preparation methods of meat and other ingredients have been a passion of the French for a long time. Many of the new cooking trends you have growing in the world would have been impossible without the great chefs of France and their elabarate schooling system. It is a great honour to be able to present this recipe. Vive la France!