Many dishes inspired by Flanders
Among the specialties of the region, you will find many dishes directly inspired by Flanders, but also by other nearby countries (like England). Typically English, the welsh can be found practically only in the north of France. The English come all the way to Boulogne to find their beloved welsh that has become so rare in their country. It is cheddar cheese melted in beer, put on bread and gratinated with a slice of ham and an egg for the full version.
More "local", the Flemish carbonnade is a close cousin of the boeuf bourguignon. Discreetly borrowed from Belgium, it is cooked with beer (preferably brown), onions, gingerbread and a little brown sugar. Tender pieces of beef are slowly cooked in this mixture. Serve with some crispy fries. Another example is potjevleesch. Not only the pronunciation is surprising, but also the appearance! Pieces of pork, chicken, rabbit and veal flavored with juniper, covered with a thick layer of gelatin, which will slowly melt on the fries. It's special but really good! Let's also note the hochepot (equivalent of the pot-au-feu), the fish or chicken waterzoï(waterzoï means "boiling water" in Flemish) and of course the famous maroilles pie!
Equally delicious marine flavours
The local gastronomy borrows from the sea spray and marine flavors. The fish comes from the North Sea, mainly sole, plaice, turbot, gurnard and sea bass. Trout and pike populate the Authie in abundance while the ponds of Haute-Somme provide their quota of carp, eels and tench. In Crotoy, shellfish, cockles, henons and scallops are specialties, as well as salicornia which is harvested in the salt meadows (called mollières in Picard) of the Somme Bay.
The tradition of smoking and salting is still alive. You can find smoked or marinated herrings from the North coast and rollmops in vinegar. Thrown from the balcony of the town hall in Dunkirk during the carnival, celebrated in Boulogne-sur-Mer and Étaples, more than a fish, the herring is one of the strong symbols of the region.
Moules marinières, mussels in cream sauce, mussels in Maroilles sauce, they are bathed in a flavor that you will choose yourself. The fries that accompany them are even better "soaked" in the bottom of the pot once the mussels are swallowed. The grey shrimps are typical of the North Sea, they are tiny but succulent. Every year in August, the world championship of shrimp peeling is organized in Leffrinckoucke. We also like to taste on the side of Dunkerque the croquettes of grey shrimps or the tomatoes with shrimps.
With its particular flavor and its delicate flesh, the salt-meadow lamb of the Somme bay is a meat well known by gourmets and chefs. The secret of such a tasty meat: from spring to winter, the lambs graze the grass of the meadows regularly covered with water from the rising sea.
A variety of local products
Meat, poultry and game are appreciated. One thinks of the veal of the Artois region, resulting from a preserved traditional know-how and with the guarantee to have in the plate one of the best regional meats. This group of breeders, whose ethics are irreproachable, feeds its livestock with whole milk from the farm, cereals and vitamins.
The poultry of Licques is very popular. We must go back to the 17th century to find its origin. The monks of the Licques abbey introduced turkeys at that time. They are still there, raised especially for Christmas.
Blanc Bleue, Bleue du Nord and Flamande Rouge, the regional cattle breeds no longer hold any secrets for the population. The Blanc Bleue produces 70% of its meat under the "Belle Bleue" brand (Label Rouge). This type of cattle can be recognized by its slate gray coat with bluish highlights. The Bleue du Nord is a mixed breed. The Flamande rouge is a dairy breed and can boast of being one of the oldest in France.
Pig farming is a speciality of the region and is concentrated mainly in the Lys plain and the Haut Pays d'Artois. Pork meat is the most consumed meat in the region, especially in charcuterie. If you are looking for a typical regional sausage, try the Bergues sausage! The recipe of this white sausage, made with pork meat, very aromatic and spicy, has been handed down from father to son in a Bergues family originally from the Spanish Basque Country. It is eaten as an appetizer, sliced, or hot in a pot au feu. On the day of the carnival, the municipal team throws cheese and Bergues sausage from the balcony of the town hall to the excited participants.
Finally, rabbit is loved in the region and so much so that its consumption exceeds the national average. Rabbit breeding is a tradition here. The Interprofessional Association of the Rabbits of Hauts-de-France created in 1993 is recognized for the quality of its breeding fed with vegetable products. The speciality of the region: rabbit with prunes!
Emblematic cheeses
On the coast, the appetite for good things is also found in the quality of cheese. And it must be said that the Hauts-de-France region has nothing to envy to other French regions in this respect.
Mimolette is the most famous cheese of the region, recognizable among all by its orange paste and its grey rind with asperities. Maroilles and its derivatives are very popular. This cheese made from cow's milk is renneted and then stored in a cellar for two to three months. It has a controlled designation of origin. The "boulette d'Avesnes" and the "cœur d'Avesnes" are close to it.
Less known, but to be discovered absolutely, the saint-winoc, the rollot of Picardy, the bergues, the small bissezeele, the sire of Créquy, the old boulogne, the belval, the sablé of Wissant, the mount of the cats, the bray with the flax, and the dauphin, the most original of all because mixing maroilles, chives, tarragon and pepper...
Let's not forget the fruits and vegetables
What is chicory? Well, it is the patois name for endive, a vegetable that is very common in the North, whose root is roasted and then transformed into chicory. If it is usually cooked in water, it is eaten here in gratin (the famous endive with ham) or in salad. However, beet is still the most cultivated legume in the region, for sugar, but also as a fodder plant.
In the Somme, the potato (pompadour, ratte, charlotte...) enjoys a very good reputation, while the North is more known for the bintje, an ideal potato to make... French fries! The salicorne is used to season certain dishes. Tender, it is a small fleshy plant which grows on soils rich in sea salt and is harvested in the Somme bay.
The Opal Coast is also known for the cultivation of strawberries and asparagus (from Ghyvelde, in particular). Brussels sprouts, leeks, carrots and other broth vegetables are grown all over the region where the tradition of vegetable gardens has been preserved, including the famous Tilques carrot, apples from the Flemish orchards, fields of rhubarb, strawberries, red currants and other red fruits in general which are very popular in the north of France.
A little sweetness for the end?
For those who are a little peckish, the region is not short of sweets, confectionery, chocolate and pastries. Gourmets appreciate the tartine flamande (a slice of brioche with brown sugar), the beaten cake, the rabotte, the "chuc" pie (sugar pie), the bernardins or the fingers of Jean-Bart but also the Flemish waffles or the chocolates of the famous Touquet Au Chat Bleu. As for sweets, we love Berck's lollipops and berlingots.
The Flemish waffle is plural and shares its origins with Belgium. You can find it filled with vanilla or vergeoise (and many other flavors) especially during feasts or fairs. There is also the "liégeoise" (to be eaten hot), thick and filled with sugar cubes, or the Brussels waffle with large holes accompanied by either powdered sugar or chocolate. And finally, the dry waffle, small and round, like the Dunkerque waffle, is all the rage at coffee time, especially when it is flavored with rum.
While walking around Dunkerque, you will surely hear about the Jean-Bart fingers. Created in 1958 by Jean Vandewalle, this specialty is a registered trademark and model. In Dunkerque, we don't joke with this and we are wary of counterfeits! Not just anyone can make Jean-Bart's Fingers. This almond cake is filled with a coffee cream coated with Valrhona chocolate. To find this traditional pastry, there is only one address on the Opal Coast: the pastry shop Aux Doigts de Jean-Bart in Dunkirk and... in Le Touquet!
How about a drink to finish?
Very close to Belgium in some places, the Opal Coast has some beers worth tasting to accompany your cheeses and meals. The beer of the Deux Caps is the most emblematic. It's a local beer, a local beer, "bien de chez nous" as the northerners would say. You will find it at the Brasserie des Deux Caps, of course!
As an aperitif or digestif, juniper berries are used in simple compositions that are quite strong in alcohol, with blackcurrant or mandarin syrup. The juniper of Houlle, northwest of Saint-Omer, is the best known. The other major producer of genever is the distillery of Wambrechies near Lille. The redcurrant enters finally in the composition of the perlé, an aperitif or digestive of the 7 valleys, but the plants flavour easily local and sometimes secret drinks.
