French Food: C’est Si Bon!
French meals usually consist of three courses: the entrée (introductory course, sometimes soup), the plat principal (main course), fromage (cheese course) and/or dessert, sometimes with a salad offered before the cheese or dessert for digestion.
French cuisine is “ultimately about creating a harmonious dish that elevates the quality of the main ingredient. For example, different regions in France may treat chicken differently—Burgundy makes coq au vin, the Basque region makes Chicken Basque (stewed chicken and vegetables with earthy spices)—but it’s still all about the chicken,” says Eric Ripert, chef and co-owner of Le Bernardin in New York City. “There’s a lot of tradition involved in all of it. What makes French techniques universal is that they are based on logic. Sautéing, roasting, braising, poaching, broiling—they all have a reason to be used. For example, a beef stew would be braised because otherwise that cut of meat would be tough.”
What are a few typical French dishes? There are some foods and beverages that are quintessentially French. While you may find them all over the world, you will always associate these foods with France.
- Coq au vin is a chicken fricassée cooked in red wine with mushrooms and garlic.
- Crêpes are very flat thin pancakes typically stuffed with fruit or cream for dessert, or done with cheese, mushrooms, and/or meats in their buckwheat version
- Baguette is a long French bread loaf, slightly airy on the inside, crisp on the outside.
- Chocolate mousse a lighter-than-air dessert.
- Éclair is a pastry stuffed with cream and topped with icing
- Crème Brûlée (literally: burned cream) is a custard topped with hard caramel.
Want to learn more about French food? Check out What Do French People Eat? from Love to Know.
At Bliss Shurfine Food Mart, we have great selections of French cheeses and breads to help you celebrate Bastille Day in style! Why not stop by today and put a little French into your cuisine?