Why are French women so elegant? What the French like to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

French cuisine is famous for its variety and balance. My guest Maria will tell you about the secrets and details of healthy French nutrition today. Masha is the mother of two children, Russian-French bilinguals. Living in France, she studies the traditions and life of this interesting country, including French cuisine and the culinary habits of the French.

French cuisine is considered one of the best cuisines in the world. At the mention of French cuisine, the imagination draws us sophisticated and sophisticated dishes, beautifully served at an elegant table. But few people know that in France there are simple daily and tasty dishes that can safely be attributed to a healthy cuisine. In general, the whole system of French everyday cuisine is built on the rules of healthy eating. I'll tell you how the French manage it.

Each region has its own cuisine based on climatic conditions.

France is a small country compared to Russia, it has many small regions, and each region, even part of the region, is necessarily famous for its cuisine, special dishes and local products. The cuisine of the coastal Aquitaine is significantly different from the cuisine of Alsace bordering Germany, the cuisine of southern Provence does not look like the cuisine of northern Picardy. What can I say, France has more than three hundred varieties of cheese!

These culinary features are associated with the diverse climate of France and with the French love for their cuisine, which they tirelessly improve, while paying tribute to traditions.

Children are taught to eat right from childhood, creating balanced and varied menus for them.

The French love to come up with new combinations of different ingredients and vary their nutrition. They raise their children accordingly. From the beginning of feeding, little Frenchmen have tried not only apple or cabbage purees, but apple-mango and a mixture of avocados and bulgur. From childhood, the French develop their taste buds. Did your child not like mashed leek with carrots? Nothing, try to give it in a month. At the same time, parents present the moment of food as a fascinating culinary experiment. And what are the recipes for the kids, lick your fingers!

When a child grows up, he with interest begins to try adult food, to observe the reaction of parents during meals. French parents are very fond of discussing at the table a combination of products that they like and dislike. And since adults eat very varied, preparing delicious dishes for themselves, it is interesting for children to eat the same as their parents. In France, children love vegetables, very often children are given boiled green beans with sour cream or butter, this can be said to be a classic side dish.

An important aspect of proper nutrition from childhood is to sit at the table and devote enough time to food for the body to absorb.

It is believed that beautifully served food improves appetite.

Juices are not consumed at any time, the main drink is water.

Snacks here are also not welcome. Each Frenchman takes food four times a day: breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner. Moreover, at a strictly defined time!

The French love the cuisine of their regions and prefer products grown in their own region.

After all, this means that these products were not taken to distant lands for a long time, which means they are fresh. Another plus is that you can go and see how specifically the producer grows his vegetables and fruits, than sprinkles and fertilizes. Many manufacturers open stores and sell everything directly, so to speak, from the field. And in some farms you can come by yourself, collect seasonal products directly from the bush and pay for them at the exit. Here, for sure, fresh products go!

Some French people do not eat food out of season, for example, tomatoes do not eat in the winter, but pumpkin in the summer.

On each label of any product it is written by whom and how the product was produced, whether it also contains GMOs and chemical dyes.

All French people love to go to the market for groceries, where local producers often bring their goods. Firstly, the French are sure that the products in the stores are of less than perfect quality, and secondly, the seller on the market will always advise which dish can be prepared from a particular product, which spices to use. And there are a lot of spices, by the way, in France, and also, which surprised me, vinegar: apple vinegar, raspberry, walnuts, apricot, etc.

The best meat is taken from a trusted butcher, who can custom-select the meat for you for meatballs, and in a fish shop you will be advised of a new dish. Good, tasty bread, of course, is bought from the baker, and dessert in the pastry shop.

All these products can be bought at the supermarket and of good quality. But the best products are bought at themed grocery stores. Perhaps this attitude to food allows the French to have a large selection of quality products.

In connection with such an extensive choice, probably all the French are connoisseurs of cooking. For them, cuisine is like a fun chemical experience that allows you to get something new and tasty. They can spend hours talking about which cheese is suitable for which wine, which appetizers are combined with which dish, and which sauce is best for mushrooms or squid.

The French love a varied diet, the cuisine for them is an endless variety, a celebration of taste. They are all gourmets.

In France, no one particularly adheres to diets, and the French remain slim.

What is the secret? In the optimal combination of fatty and not very foods: a lot of meat or fish with vegetables, a little cheese or sauce and a very small dessert in the form of fruit or yogurt. All sorts of cookies and other pastries are bought or cooked sometimes, and not constantly. The French also have small portions, here it is encouraged to try, taste, not to eat up to the dump. The same goes for wine. You can eat well during the holidays or during a family Sunday lunch.

The cooking method is also very diverse: steamed, in the oven, raw or stewed. For example, some French people eat raw mushrooms. And the famous tartare is a thin cut of raw beef with sauce.

The French do not like overcooked, overcooked food. Many people use a kitchen thermometer when cooking meat or fish.

On TV, any food ad is accompanied by nutritional advice. “Eat at least five fruits and vegetables a day, do not eat too fatty, salty and sweet foods”. Schools often hold thematic classes on nutrition. In many educational institutions it is forbidden to sell chocolates and soda. Even the famous fast food, McDonald's, the French government obliged to reduce portions and add vegetables, salad, water and juices to the menu.

Balanced nutrition for the French is combined with the concept of light, regular sporting activities: walking, cycling, jogging or swimming.

It turns out that the meaning of French healthy nutrition is as follows: eat balanced (more vegetables and proteins, less fat and sweets), eat regularly, try everything, but little by little, diversify your diet, choose foods of good quality and go in for sports!

I would like to thank Maria for such a detailed and interesting article! In turn, I will prepare for my readers a step-by-step recipe from French cuisine in the very near future.

Thank you for being with me!

The question is asked, I answer: because they eat differently. No better and no worse, but just different. How? We’ll talk about this.

No, how unfair it is! French cuisine is rich in both fats and carbohydrates. In addition, the French relate to bread with reverence, and French cinema is densely “stuffed” with scenes of lunches and dinners, where no one refuses anything to himself. And how, pray tell, do the French manage to maintain lightness and attractiveness? This question is of interest not only to us, but also to women all over the world.

First of all, who said that the French, eating three meals a day, eat 3 dishes each for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Do not believe it!

Here is the usual diet of a modern average Frenchwoman, leading an active lifestyle.

Breakfast:

Freshly squeezed orange juice
1 hot crispy toast with jam (better, homemade or low in sugar). On Sundays - jam + butter.
Tea (a lot, most often without sugar) or coffee (not a lot).

1 croissant instead toast
natural yogurt, preferably without additives. Then the jam (or honey) will not go to the toast, but to the yogurt, and the toast will be spread with a thin layer of butter (non-greasy, natural, its French women choose it very carefully), and shrumkan already without jam

cereal with milk (for an amateur, which is most often children)
fruit (but juice is preferred)

The exception is the vacation, when with one type of buffet in the hotel, your eyes widen. Then the Frenchwoman simply “closes” them and allows herself and fried eggs (even with bacon, but rarely, they do not like this product), and toast (with butter and jam), and a croissant (usually mini), and fruits (in addition to juice). But then she is likely to simply refuse dinner or eat a light green salad and drink a cup of coffee.

No sandwiches with cheese, ham, hotdogs, cereals and other products familiar to us, Germans or Americans.

Most importantly, the French do not suffer from such gastronomic “restraint,” because they are used to having breakfast that way. From time immemorial, their parents have had breakfast like this (with the exception of residents of the “harsh” provinces - Alsace or Auvergne, for example, where winters are cold and long). So they are accustomed to breakfast from early childhood. A special delight is a baguette with a crispy crust and a minimum of crumb in the middle, a croissant - the freshest and airiest, better - still warm, and homemade jam. And juice is sacred. There is an electric juicer in every home.

On Sunday - the formula: breakfast + lunch \u003d brunch (from the two English words breakfast and lunch) i.e. brunch, flowing into lunch, with scrambled eggs with ham and other "lunch" delights and a full dinner or a good family dinner with grandparents, and then a light dinner at home (cheese, baguette, wine).

Dinner:

Mineral water
In the warmer months, composée (or grande (large) salade) salad is a green salad with something: warm goat cheese, seafood, fish, chicken, etc.
In cold weather - one hot dish (meat, fish) with a side dish (most often vegetables) or a small (petite) salad instead.
Espresso coffee with a slice of dark chocolate (or a tiny cookie). You can, of course, eat ice cream, but this is not in French.
A glass of wine is permissible even during working hours (no one has gotten drunk on such an amount of alcohol, and the permissible norm of alcohol in the blood to be able to drive, in France, 0.3 ppm is more than one glass).

Indeed, it turns out a 3-course lunch and wine in addition!

Dinner:

This is the main meal, so here the French give themselves free rein.

Aperitif. What do the French drink on an aperitif
Entreée (entre) or hors-d "? uvre (or d’ ё ёvre) - appetizer (hot / cold) or soup. Often dinner is called souper (supe) - from the word "soup".
Main hot meal. About traditional and favorite dishes of the French, as well as French specialties -
Cheeseor / and dessert. “Or” is for women, “and” is for men. What do French women like to treat themselves to for dessert? .
Coffee, tisane - herbal tea and / or digestif (strong drinks).
Water and wine throughout the dinner, and the wine may vary depending on the dishes and the initial choice (the first bottle / glass turned out to be successful-unsuccessful)

Spr aboutsita, how can you eat all this or where does all this fit into skinny French women? Yes, just portions are often small. The more expensive the restaurant - the smaller the portion. In addition, before ordering the “first, second and compote”, the French woman will definitely find out what size dishes are in this restaurant and if suddenly it’s too copieux hot - i.e. the portion is large, it will do without snacks and dessert, or eat entreé, cheese, dessert, but refuse the main dish.

If we have dinner at home, then everything is quite simple: a piece of meat, fried in 3 minutes, a light side dish (rice, vegetables), green salad and cheese (it is together and after the main course that the French “eat up” cheese, if they do not have enough), fruit or light dessert (yogurt with honey, for example). "Restaurant-style" is prepared on Sunday or for guests.

The art of living with pleasure

I must admit that the French, in principle, are not inclined to completeness. According to statistics, only 11% are overweight. Statistics of obesity in France in general show extremely modest figures, in England they are twice as many, in the USA - three.

However, it is not only a genetic predisposition.

“If we followed all the restrictions and diets that are so popular in the world today,” the French say, “we would have recovered a long time ago. We do not find a contradiction in the fact that you can eat bread, chocolate and other tasty things, drink wine and maintain harmony and health. But if we want to eat chocolate and not gain weight, we will have to work our heads».

What does it mean? And here is what:

Do not deny yourself the daily dose of small pleasures. If you want chocolate, eat candy, eat, enjoy, rejoice. But it’s not at all necessary to make a whole box at a time! You need to feel the difference between licentiousness and the desire to treat yourself. If we make any restrictions, it’s for the sole purpose of enjoying everything else, observing moderation. The main thing is not to lose your mind and get up from the table without a feeling of overeating or guilt.

« Five minutes in the mouth - five years on the hips“, - said Pierre’s grandmother (the same one, one of the first professional models, remember?), Coquettishly clapping herself on the elastic buttock. French women never forget about it, and therefore try to observe fairly simple rules, which are the norm of life.

I tried to analyze the situation and deduced these rules, primarily for myself, but today I am sharing with you.

13 secrets of slim French women:

1. there is can all but little by little. And this is the main point.

2. Everyone eating - whole event, leisurely ritual and enjoyment every bit of it. The Frenchwoman will not chew on the run - little pleasure! Table talk is an integral part of the meal.

3. The additive is evil. This, by the way, is the exclusive rule of dancers all over the world.

4. Do not snack. Apple at midday. It's all.

5. Mineral water during the whole day.

6. Fresh food always preferable. Semi-finished products - only in the most extreme cases.

7. No concentrates, additives, chemical dyes and other nonsense. French women are just obsessed with natural products. Let them be slightly dented, with "barrels", even if they are slightly bitten by a worm, but only those that were grown in natural conditions. The tomato should smell like a tomato, and the cheese and butter are produced on the farm (and it is better for the farmer to know by sight). But non-fat, sugar-free foods are superfluous. They are tasteless!

8. Food should be très varié - very diverse. And very a lot of vegetables (often those to which Russian women are not used to at all). Fennel, celery, green beans, asparagus, broccoli are French side dishes. And no salads with sour cream or mayonnaise. These products are generally foreign to the French.

9. No sweet sodas. Cola, fanta, soda, lemonade and so on. excluded. This is solid chemistry! Even juices, if possible, are only natural.

10. During the meal - only water (or wine). "Zapivochek" - fruit drinks, kvass, jelly, kompotiki, so beloved by Russian people, simply does not exist in nature, and no one will drink juice.

11. Food regularity (literally by the hour). In this situation, you can not follow the popular dietary rule - do not eat after 18.00. And how to observe it, if the French have dinner late - after 20.00 - 20.30 hours? Many restaurants offer two evening services - at 20.00 and at 22.00 hours.

12. Wine - only with food and no more than a couple of glasses a day (but more often all the same on holidays, on weekends, on vacation. The Frenchwoman will not drink alone at dinner, she is a normal woman). Women hardly drink strong drinks; this is the prerogative of men.

13. Gum? What for? She also starts the mechanism of the stomach, begins to produce gastric juice and a feeling of hunger. Where is the logic? In addition, chewing in public places is simply indecent. I know, I know, ask, but what about fresh breath? And brush your teeth after dinner? Do not believe it, most French women carry toothbrushes in cases and cute mini balonchiki - a spray against bad breath. And it’s not worth talking about toothpicks on tables: to dig deeper into everyone’s eyes is simply unthinkable.

And finally, two words about diets.

French rarely stand on the scales. What for? They have eyes, clothes and a mirror.

They will go crazy with boredom if they have to calculate calories, read about fats, proteins, lipids and other chemicals, not to mention how to apply all this to the sacred component of their life - food. Therefore:

If you want to remain in a state of equilibrium, you do not need to follow a diet, but gradually, over time change gastronomic habits. So, when you lose weight, your efforts will not only be painless, but also lead to more sustainable results.

Three months of a strict diet can break the spirit of any woman. And three months of discoveries and a more in-depth acquaintance with the behavior and reaction of one's own body to small and quite sparing dietary restrictions - this is a good attitude towards yourselfwhose fruits you will reap for many years.

If you manage to perceive even a small fraction of the attitude of the French towards food and life, the problem of weight will cease to be a terrible obsession for you, constant but fruitless attempts to curb your appetite and you will see that maintaining weight is part of a program called " the art of living fully and with pleasure».

Next week, under the heading “Let's Talk About Beauty”: Secrets of French Makeup or Beauty wisely

Text: Arina Kaledina

Illustrations: Natalya Bolotskikh

Photo on the banner:

No national cuisine can surpass French cuisine in originality and sophistication. What is eaten in France is different from that of other countries. Cooking for the French is an art. Each dish is prepared according to its own recipe, adding its own zest even to well-known recipes.

French cuisine

The French brought real luxury to everyday cuisine. Sweet towers stand tall towers. Meat, oysters, fish are placed on pedestals. Compared to other European countries, French chefs use less dairy products. The exception is French cheeses. More than three thousand sauces are used in French dishes. All French dishes are prepared exclusively from fresh products, the quality of the products is preserved after heat treatment. The cuisine of France is multifaceted, in different areas of the country there may be disagreement regarding the recipes of some dishes. However, regardless of the area, French cuisine is replete with vegetables and root vegetables.

About Provence Cuisine

Indispensable in Provencal cuisine are vegetables, garlic, seasonings: tarragon, marjoram, oregano, basil, dill, parsley, rosemary. Vegetables are used in hot and cold dishes. Vegetable dishes are prepared very hearty, so sometimes they replace the main ones.

Cod, pike, halibut, carp, sardines adorn most Provence dishes. Especially popular in France is fish soup bouillabaisse with small varieties of fish, seafood, vegetables, wine, spices. Demand is mussels, oysters.

Meat in Provence is reserved. There are several dishes: beef stew, lamb stew, milk pig, Parma ham, which are on the tables of the French.

Dessert in Provence is in great demand. On the table there is always chocolate, nuts, nougat, dried fruits, cookies. One of the favorite pies is klafuti with apple-cherry-apricot filling. In any pastry shop there are always cakes, rolls, cakes, marmalade, sweets, creme brulee.

About Burgundy Cuisine

Burgundy cuisine uses wine in many dishes. Wine is added to sauces, gravy. The wine pickles meat, snails. Snails are served without shells, adding parsley and onions.

About Normandy Cuisine

Dairy products are valued in Normandy: cream, butter, Camembert. In Normandy, meat and fish are always cooked with cream. And dishes such as Norman beef side with cream and mushrooms and Rouen duck can be cooked so deliciously only in Normandy.

About Lorraine Cuisine

Lorraine is famous for open pies with slices of smoked bacon or ham with melted cheese. The national dish is Alsatian stewed cabbage with pork and smoked breast.

About Lyon's Kitchen

Lyon cuisine is famous for its unusually delicious Lyon-style gratine onion soup. A traditional Christmas dish is fried capon with chestnuts. Capons (young males) are grown in cages, which makes their meat juicy, incomparable in taste.

Dishes of France

Every dish made in France can be remembered for a lifetime. The most famous dish prepared by French chefs is frog legs. France is also famous for its cheeses, they are produced by more than 500 different varieties: hard, soft, young, seasoned, with a crust, with mold. Also known are the “Burgundy snail”, “cocotte” eggs with an extragone. About national dishes such as ratatouille, julienne, baguette, croissants are known not only in France. Often they are on the tables of Russians.

Wine is the French national drink, the most famous being Bordeaux and Burgundy. Wine is served in almost every dish, and sometimes it is included in the price of set meals. French champagne, cognac, calvados are no less famous in the world.

France is known for its beautiful language, cozy cities, chic beaches and delicious food. Food in France is a cult thing. It is believed that in the world there are 2 great cuisines: classic French and Chinese. To agree with this statement or not is up to you. And in this article we will consider the features of French cuisine, which is worth a try for any tourist, 10 interesting and tasty dishes and 12 useful tips so as not to hit the face with a plate.

Average cost of a meal in a french restaurant - 16 euros.
Full lunch for one person with a glass of wine - 35 - 45 euros.

French breakfast - le petit déjeuner

A traditional breakfast in France is not intricate. The French eat breakfast baguette with butter and jam / cheese / pate, croissant or bagel, or cereal. Dessert - fruits. As you can see, the dishes in the morning menu are not very diverse. Of the drinks - orange juice, tea, coffee or hot chocolate.

French lunch - le déjeuner

In many establishments in France, lunch is served from 11:30 to 13 hours. As a rule, travelers dine later and sometimes face the fact that they are refused to serve. Like, they came late, guys, they ate everything. If you are late for dinner, then head to the self-service restaurant, where you have a better chance of eating.

A traditional French lunch consists of:

starter: salad, soup or soup puree, paste and cold appetizers;
main course: meat or fish with potatoes, rice, pasta or vegetables to garnish;
cheese plateand / or dessert.

Often, dessert is not listed on the menu and you have to listen to the waiter's suggestions. For dessert, French restaurants serve fruit, jams, ice cream, rarely baked goods, you can pin everything down on top of coffee.

French Dinner - le diner

The French have dinner in the interval from 19:30 to 20:45. TV channels adjust the start of their main evening television programs so that they begin at 20:45 - 21, when everyone has dinner.

For dinner in France, eat lighter dishes - vegetables, soups, etc.

The simplest and most important advice that I give to everyone, no matter what country a person is going to, is eat where local people eat. Usually, in France they have lunch from 12 to 13 hours and dinner from 20 to 21. I understand that you are on vacation and do not want to be tied to a strict schedule, but you will find the largest selection of dishes in restaurants at this time. Travel agencies make concessions, but I do not recommend tourist restaurants to anyone - always more expensive and often less tasty.
Take business lunches. If you suddenly do not know - this is a fixed lunch menu. You are given a choice of several sets of dishes. In each set, as a rule, 2 dishes and dessert. In France they are called “le Menu du jour”. Business lunches are a great way to get to know French cuisine without overpaying.
If you want to have dinner like a real french, then you should first drink an aperitif, usually a wine or a Cyrus cocktail (dry white wine and blackcurrant liquor).
Bread - an integral part of the French table. The French will not start eating without a good fresh baguette.
But you will not find on the table paper napkins. The French use exclusively fabric. They pick them up under the tablecloth. Napkins - this is also important!
The stronger it stinks cheese - so he is better.
The French use knives during meals, not only to cut off a piece of steak, but also to push food from a plate onto a fork. So that the knife is also requiredlike bread, like a cheese sandwich at the end of the meal.
Butter in France, slightly salted.
In France, a slightly different understanding of the word "dessert"than in the rest of the world. Do not expect that after dinner you will be brought éclair au chocolat, choux à la crème, or Paris-Brest. Most often, fruit, yogurt or jam are meant.
In France you are practically you will not find vegetariansthey probably all emigrated a long time away from the temptations of French cuisine.
In France, it is customary to add salt and pepper to dishes to taste. The salt shaker from the pepper shaker is easy to distinguish, the salt shaker has several holes, the pepper shaker has one.

Do I need to tip in restaurants in France

In French restaurants, it is considered normal to tip. There is no pre-fixed cost, so it’s hard to say how much to give for tea. Everything feels like. The normal tip to the waiter for a good service in a restaurant is 10% of the check amount. In cafes or self-service restaurants usually leave 1-2 euros, as an expression of gratitude.

French food every traveler should try

Les cuisses de grenouilles - frog legs

You can’t come to France and not try the frog’s meat. It tastes like chicken with a slight aftertaste of seafood. The French prepare frog legs with herbs, it turns out very tasty. Do not brush aside until you try.

Foie gras - foie gras

What you should definitely try in France is foie gras - the liver of a specially fed duck. It is best to eat it fried, but if this thought scares you, then you can order a foie gras paste and spread it on a baguette.

Escargots - Snails

Another popular French dish that causes a shudder for many at the very thought is snails. Tasty snacks fried with garlic, butter and parsley. Snails are taken out of the shell by a special fork. With experience, it even turns out not to splatter in the neighbor opposite.

Boeuf tartare - beef tartare

Tartar is a dish of raw chilled beef, egg yolk, spices, onions, capers, gherkins and a bunch of additives. If you are going to take it for the first time, first take one dish for the company, for some the taste may be too unusual - these are the features of French cuisine. But for many, tartare is a real delicacy.

Cheval or taureau - horse or bull

Or a horse and a bull. Do not rush to turn your nose off this dish. Generously flavored with wine and orange sauce, you will remember it for a long time.

Any cheese that you don't like at first glance

Too smelly? Too soft? Too thick mold? Spread it on a fresh baguette with butter, and you will sing in a completely different way.

5 proven French dishes that everyone likes

Croissant

Buy a croissant. Required. Fresh, still warm, tasty ... Buy it and bring it to me!

Macaroons

Small fragrant goodies with a huge assortment of flavors. Especially wonderful with salty creamy caramel, but the rest tastes nothing. Many manufacturers have their own signature tastes.

French mussels

Steamed mussels with potatoes to garnish. You can eat them in classic cooking with onions and white wine, or more interesting options with roquefort and saffron.

Duck

Roasted and stewed duck, chopped and whole, duck liver or cassule with sausages and beans - everything is delicious.

Your favorite cheese

Not only experiment with smelly varieties. Try your favorite cheeses in France. Believe me, coming to the market to buy cheese from a person who probably milked the animal that gave milk for this cheese is an amazing experience.

10 unusual dishes of French cuisine

In this list of everything 10 dishes, but they are all unusual. I bet you never suspected the existence of most of them. This is not duck liver and not frog legs. You can try these dishes in almost any restaurant in France. Under each dish you will find a list of addresses of restaurants where, according to local residents, this dish is surely cooked deliciously.

1. Bouillabaisse

French bouillabaisse is a fish soup, i.e. It was once considered the food of the poor. Marseilles fishermen simply cooked seafood that they could not sell. So, the main criterion for selecting fish for bouillabaisse is its unattractiveness. Google for fun what a scorpion fish looks like, and you'll understand. But in our time, bouillabaisse has entered the restaurant menu and is considered an exquisite expensive dish. There are many variations of this soup. I do not recommend ordering bouillabaisse for less than 30 euros per plate. Often soup is served in 2 sets - first a broth with croutons and spicy sauce, and then a plate with 5 varieties of fish.

Where to try: obviously in marseille. Delicious bouillabaisse is served at Le Miramar restaurant (official website: lemiramar.fr; £ 54) and Chez Fonfon (chez-fonfon.com; £ 46).

2. Tartiflette

Tartiflet is another bright representative of French cuisine. This is a very satisfying dish. It includes potatoes, bacon and onions, sprinkled with Rebleshon cheese. Legend has it that taxes were taken from poor peasants for milk yield. The more milk a cow gives, the more you pay. The cunning folk quickly adapted and began to milk the cows only halfway, and after checking to finish to the end. Rebleshon cheese was made from the remaining milk. The amount of cheese was as great as the reluctance to pay taxes. It was necessary to put it somewhere, and in 1980 they came up with the dish of the same name.

Where to try: in the Alps. Tartiflet is deliciously prepared at the Calèche in Chamonix restaurant (restaurant-caleche.com; £ 16) and at the Chalet La Pricaz (sav.org/pricaz.html; £ 15). Detailed addresses can be found on the sites.

3. Cassoulet

Cassule dish includes stewed white beans, sausage and pork. The result is a casserole cooked in a special pot. A crisp forms on top, but inside the dish is very juicy. All this splendor is sprinkled with herbs and served on the table.

Where to try: in Toulouse at Restaurant Emile (restaurant-emile.com; £ 20).

4. Boeuf bourguignon or beef burgundy (Beef bourguignonne)

A true national dish of France with a rich history and rich taste. While the Europeans fought for a place in the sun, the Burgundians left the world political arena and, it seems, not in vain. But they came up with a lot of delicious dishes. I strongly advise you not to lean on Burgundy food, otherwise you will have to disassemble the wall of the restaurant to get you out. I’m joking, of course. But the wine-rich hot meat dish will not be joking. Many Burgundians are chubby guys, pay attention. Because it’s very, very tasty.

Where to try: in Dijon, at restaurant D "Zenvies (dzenvies.com; £ 14) and at Beursaudière (beursaudiere.com; £ 17).

5. Pissaladière

Pissaladier is a famous fish and onion pie. Composed of onions, garlic, anchovies, olives and herbs of Provence. Someone reminds him of an ordinary onion pie, someone pizza. Call it what you want. It will not become less tasty from this.

Where to try: in Antibes (lepain-jpv.com).

6. Potjevleesch

One of the most distinctive meat dishes in France. It is based on 4 white meats - veal, pork, rabbit and chicken, all mixed with pieces of vegetables in jelly. Served with potatoes with gherkins, salad and chips.

Where to try: Al "Potée d" Léandre in Souchez (alpotee.fr; £ 14.50), Barbue-d "Anvers in Lille (lebarbuedanvers.fr; £ 16) and T" kasteelhof in Kassel (http://lvermeersch.free.fr/kasteelhof )

7. Overnight stew with vegetables (Potée auvergnate)

Pork, sausage, bacon and vegetables stewed together. Not high French cuisine, of course, but it is a simple and very tasty dish. Do you understand now why in France it is so tight with vegetarians?

Where to try: the meat in the Auvergne is well cooked in Auvergne, which is not surprising. Advise you to stop by the l "Alambic in Clermont-Ferrand (alambic-restaurant; £ 14.50).

8. Shukrut (Choucroute)

Alsatian shukrut is not a joke to you. While the Latin and Germanic worlds shook the district with conflicts, which periodically plagued Alsace, the locals spat on this whole policy and set about arranging the economy. As a result, Alsatians have spacious houses, flowering villages and chic national cuisine. Shukrut is a dish of sauerkraut, sausages and pork, someone cooks it with rice, someone with potatoes. There is an option with fresh cabbage, but in my opinion it is less tasty. Caution! After properly cooked shukrut, it is very difficult to get out of the table without outside help.

To try canonical French shukrut is available at the Chez Yvonne restaurants in Strasbourg (restaurant-chez-yvonne.net; £ 16) and Maison Kammerzell (maison-kammerzell.com; £ 17).

9. Aioli (Grand aioli)

Aioli is a famous garlic sauce. Grand aioli is a dish of salted cod, carrots, potatoes, shellfish, beans, onions, artichoke and, in some cases, beets and other vegetables. All this is seasoned with aioli sauce and washed down with rose wine.

Where to try: restaurants Maurin des Maures (maurin-des-maures.com; £ 15), Restaurant Balthazar (bistrotbalthazar.com) and Le Petit Chaudron (restaurantlepetitchaudron.fr) in Avignon.

10. Grilled oysters with champagne and saffron

What French cuisine without shellfish? Locals adore them. Oysters are especially fond of. Nevertheless, the British boldly replace the classic raw clam with grilled baked with herbs and champagne.

Where to try: Les Ormes restaurant in Barnville Carter (hotel-restaurant-les-ormes.fr; £ 12).

Admit, we always want to know a little more than we have the opportunity. To see at least out of the corner of your eye how they live in the neighborhood or in other countries, what they eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner. For example, the French? Not the frog legs they eat, indeed! How do the most ordinary Frenchmen make up their everyday menu? I managed to stay in three completely different French families with a different way of life and pace of life, different habits and income levels. So, France, nowadays, three families and French cuisine as it is.

Summer in a french village

Guillaume and Olivier live outside the city 50 kilometers from Paris in a large two-story mansion. They have their own farm, and the office is in a separate building near the house, so they don’t need what’s torn between the house and work. Their three children, Charles, Laurence, and Mathieu (7, 5, and 3 years old), are supervised by the nanny when their parents are at work.

Guillaume is a very caring mother and monitors the nutrition of her family very carefully. Every evening in a special notebook she paints a menu the next day. Oddly enough, but to have a full breakfast, as most nutritionists advise, they have not accepted. Guillamet does not eat breakfast at all, Olivier drinks a cup of coffee, children eat cornflakes with milk or yogurt.

It is customary to sit down to have dinner at home at exactly 13.00. Guillaume is even angry if her husband lingers at work. Lunch begins with a salad - just lettuce seasoned with balsamic or wine vinegar and olive oil. After necessarily meat or a fish dishfor example, beef medallions in sun-dried tomato sauce, fish fillet, baked with a slice of lemon and herbs. Garnished with steamed vegetables: potatoes or cauliflower.

Frenchmen don’t eat soups for lunch, and for dinner this is an infrequent dish, although the word "dinner" in French sounds like le souper. Only once during the several weeks of my stay in this family was for dinner. Everything is simple: zucchini, broccoli and mushrooms are fried separately in olive oil, then crushed in a blender. Fat cream is added to this mixture, salt, pepper and slightly warmed before serving.

Complete lunch or dinner with cheeses.. A plateau is served with different types of cheeses (5-7 grades), which can be combined with pieces of French crispy baguette. This is unrealistically delicious! And only after this cheese "ritual", it can be considered that lunch or dinner is over.

Despite having three children, the family is cool about sweets. For dessert, they eat fruit or the easiest homemade pies to make.

By the way peaches in this family decided to eat ... with a knife and a fork !!! In this case, first you need to peel the peach (again with a knife and fork), and only then, cutting off a piece, enjoy the fruit. Experiment somehow in the kitchen secretly so that your loved ones do not accuse you of being too aristocratic, to taste a peach with a knife and fork. And, if you still have enough patience, believe me, the peach will seem to taste completely different. Fortunately for me, the five-year-old Laurence, by virtue of her age, was also not a specialist in figured peach slicing.

Provincial charm with an Italian accent

Anna and Joel - pensioners. They live in Bourges - in the Middle Ages, the historical residence of the French kings - in their small house, surrounded by flowers, with a green lawn and red maples in the yard.

The leisurely pace of life affects the format of lunches and dinners. They eat slowly, as if it was not just food, but something more - a ceremony or even an old tradition. Lunch begins with a snack. Most often it is traditional lettuce with olive oil and balsamic or wine vinegar dressing. By the way, Joel’s salad brings to dinner straight from his small garden where strawberries, tomatoes, onions, basil and ... potatoes also grow. Yes, yes, the elderly French are also very fond of all sorts of summer cottages, but, of course, not on such a scale as our pensioners.

One day we were surprised parma ham and melon appetizer. Ripe melon, preferably chilled, is peeled and cut along large segments along. The ham is cut very thinly, almost transparent slices and laid out on a plate, put a slice of melon on top. It is believed that this dish was born in Italy, but, in my opinion, very organically fit into a French-style dinner.

To the main course portions of a rabbit are fried in a mixture of butter and olive oil to a golden crust. Add chopped onion and fry it until transparent. After the rabbit meat, sprinkle with flour and pour chicken broth. Add garlic, a glass of white wine, a mixture of peppers, a handful of raisins and a sprig of rosemary. Stew under the lid for about an hour. Separately, mix the yolks with cream, add a couple of tablespoons of the cooled juice from the container where the rabbit was stewed, and pour the sauce over this dish. The rabbit garnished with asparagus beans, slightly stewed in a saucepan with butter and garlic.

Traditionally ends with a cheese plate with 5-6 grades of cheese to choose from. Bread in Bourges, by the way, is completely different and also unusually tasty.

Unlike the previous family with three children, the venerable Anna and Joel were those still sweet tooth. Every day we feasted on different goodies. One of them is a simple French dessert with cherries. The dough is made from a mixture of milk, flour, eggs and sugar. Pitted cherries are poured with this mixture, and after 20 minutes the most delicate dessert is ready. Be sure to get a couple of cherries on a branch with a leaf. And after you get the klafuti from the oven, decorate them with dessert. It is very elegant. Almost a work of art. An important detail: it is better to use cherries or red cherries so that when baking, the juice of the berries does not stain the dough so much.

Crazy Crazy Capital Life

The daughter of Anna and Joel - Marie -he has long been living in Paris. She works as a teacher of French language and literature in one of the colleges of the capital. He rents a studio apartment with his fiance Francois in the Marais - one of the old districts of the city.

For breakfast, she treats me to cereal with milk and toast with confiture, moreover, jars of confiture for every taste: apricot, strawberry, blueberry. A magical taste overlooking a quiet French street and neighboring balconies with bright geraniums. But Marie admits that such measured breakfasts are only on weekends, when there is no need to rush to work. Often, the breakfast of a resident of this French metropolis consists of a cup of coffee.

Important detail

All these French lunches and dinners could not do without a glass of wine. On an intuitive level, French people can choose red or white for a dish in such a way that sometimes it seems: your lunch or dinner is not just a set of dishes, but a well-thought out plan. A plan to conquer your taste buds.