French gastronomy is a part of French heritage and culture, but also a part of the history of France. Indeed, the fame of French gastronomy has its origin in the time of kings who were very demanding and eager for novelty in the dishes and recipes offered.

French gastronomy is unique and recognized throughout the world. It has been registered as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2010.

In general, when we talk about gastronomy in France, we imagine well-cooked, healthy dishes with a nice presentation on the plate but with a small quantity of food. French gastronomy is a very high quality cuisine in small quantities, especially if you go to gourmet restaurants. French gastronomy is a tasty and balanced cuisine.

In France, eating well is very important, because it is synonymous with fulfillment and good health.

French people are very attached to their gastronomy and are very proud of it. Indeed, the French don’t joke when it comes to food and eating.

A Typical French Meal

In France we do everything around a meal: work meetings, family reunions, love meetings or even spending good time with friends around a good meal.

A typical French meal starts with an appetizer. The appetizer in France is very important. The appetizer can be “petit fours”, and very well cooked and refined verrines but also chips. Often, French people for the appetizer drink alcohol such as wine, beer and champagne for big events. Children often drink sodas or fruit juices during the appetizer. In France, a lot of people drink water during the meal except during the appetizer.

small salmon toast
verrines

Then we have the “entrée” (starter in english), which comes between the appetizer and the main dish. The “entrée” is something that French people eat a lot when they go to a restaurant or when they receive guests (friends or familly who come for lunch or dinner). Indeed, often for everyday meal, French do not eat an “entrée” because it’s too much.

After eating the main course, French people eat cheese and/or dessert. Indeed, in France, if we don’t finish our meal with cheese and/or dessert or coffee, we consider that the meal is not finished, that the meal is not complete. Cheese is something very important for the French, it is a whole know-how.

The Three-Meal Day

French people are also very attached to the three meals of the day. When a French misses one of these three meals, he or she is missing something very important in his or her day. That’s why French people rarely miss a meal. In addition, the French have time in their working day to eat. Indeed, a French has at least 1 hour of rest at lunch time to be able to have lunch. It is therefore very common that the company in France closes between 12pm and 1pm or 2pm.

The Breakfast

french breakfast

Traditionally, there is the breakfast which is taken in the morning where the French drink coffee or hot chocolate with bread, jam, butter, cheese and from time to time croissants or other pastries. Breakfast is undoubtedly the most important meal of the day for many French people. Indeed, French people go especially to the bakery in the morning to eat fresh bread for breakfast.

The Lunch

The second meal of the day for a French people is lunch. French people eat lunch between 12pm and 2pm. Often, French people eat the lunch with colleagues in the company’s restaurant or in a restaurant near the workplace and the children eat at the school’s restaurant. Some French people, especially if they live in the countryside come back home for have lunch.

The Dinner

In the evening around 8pm the French eat their dinner. Dinner is usually a family affair. Indeed, everyone gathers at the table after a long day of work.

family-dinner

There is even a fourth meal that the French call “goûter”. “Le goûter” consists of eating a little something, mostly sweet, on the way home after a day of classes. Le goûter is something that French children love to have around 4pm. 

Each Region of France Has Its Own Gastronomy

France has 13 regions and each of them has regional culinary specialties.

Indeed, the North of France for example has one of the cheeses with the strongest character: the maroille. The North of France is also known for its French fries, which are found in most of the typical dishes of this region, such as mussels and French fries, or carbonnade flamande.

french-champagne

Then, the east of France is known for its champagne. This sparkling wine is known all over the world. Champagne represent celebration and great occasion. Champagne comes from the region of the same name Champagne in the north-east of France.

In addition, in the east of France you can find the famous snails. The Alsace region which is the most eastern region of France is known for its sauerkraut or its flambées tarts.

Then, in the west of France you can taste the famous foie gras or the cassoulet, and the roquefort cheese. In the Bretagne region you will also find really good galettes and cider.

Cannelés

In the west of France you can find also “cannelés”. Cannelés are small cakes in the shape of a flan. They come from the region of Bordeaux, a city in the southwest of France. You can cook salted or sweetened cannélés according to your preferences. You can eat a sweet cannelé with your coffee at the end of the meal for exemple or a savory cannelé at the beginning of the meal as an appetizer.

And finally, the Paris region is know for the Brie cheese, the Paris-Brest cake but especially for the macaroons.

The French Gastronomy is thus a mixture of the gastronmy of all the regions of France.

Some Typical French Recipes

In general, French dishes require time to be cooked, especially dishes in sauce that need to simmer. Indeed, good things take time!

You will find on this site somes typical French dishes recipes. With these recipes, you will be able to cook French without leaving your home and treat your whole family!

And since there is nothing better than a video to learn how to cook, you will find below a video to learn how to cook the famous ratatouille while learning some French words.

BON APPETIT !