What to eat France? culinary specialties and gastronomy

Who said the region didn't produce any cheese? The area around the capital also boasts vast rural areas that are home to many of the region's finest cheeses:

Brie de Meaux. This is a cheese of ancient origins, as far back as the time of Charlemagne. It became famous in the ^19th century, when in 1814, at the Congress of Vienna, it was crowned king of cheeses by the personalities present, including Talleyrand. Made from raw milk, Brie de Meaux has been protected by an AOC since 1980. It is matured for one and a half months. It emerges with a white rind marked by red streaks and a smooth, supple paste. It takes the form of a disc 35 cm in diameter and 2.5 cm thick.

Brie de Melun. Brie de Melun is quite different from Brie de Meaux. It is no more than 30 cm in diameter and 3 cm thick. It is more fragrant and has a fuller-bodied flavor: this is the result of a coagulation process lasting almost 20 hours, compared with around one hour for Brie de Meaux. It is also molded by the ladle rather than the shovel. Brie de Melun has also been protected by an AOC since 1980. Connoisseurs recommend eating it between July and December.

Fontainebleau. This is a fresh cheese, neither sweet nor salty, rich and creamy. The milk is processed by adding rennet and mixed ferments. After draining, it is blended with whipped cream. At 75% fat, it is not recommended for dieters.

La butte de Doue. Made in Seine-et-Marne, this cheese is made from pasteurized cow's milk. Its white color is reminiscent of Coulommiers.

Here, too, getting away from Paris means discovering unsuspected produce! While Paris has embraced urban agriculture (most often on rooftops, sometimes in parking lots transformed into mushroom beds), it's well beyond the city limits that you'll find certain fruits and vegetables, not forgotten, but sometimes hard to find.

Argenteuil asparagus. It's a little-known fact that asparagus was known to the Egyptians in ancient times, its cultivation having been relayed by the Greeks and Romans. Asparagus must have arrived in France via the Arabs, and was a favorite of Louis XIV, whose gardener designed warm greenhouses to grow it all year round.

Cerise de Montmorency. This short-tailed cherry is a member of the Morello cherry family. Its flesh is tender and its juice slightly tart. It has been cultivated on the edge of the Montmorency forest since the ^18th century. Today, it's a luxury fruit that's hard to come by.

Button mushroom. Most widespread and best known for its white variety, the button mushroom is a variety of psalliote, cultivated in Paris since the Middle Ages and in the Gagny region, on a layer of horse manure. It wasn't until 1807 that this mushroom was cultivated intensively in the disused quarries of Paris.

Montreuil peaches. They first appeared in Montreuil in the ^17th century, when they were attached to palisades. Abandoned around 1950, the "murs à pêches" are now being safeguarded by a local association.

Poire de Groslay. It has conquered palates as far away as England. It's not a variety, but an appellation that recognizes the over two-hundred-year-old expertise of arboriculturists in the Groslay region of Val-d'Oise.

Pomme de terre Belle de Fontenay. Very early, with firm, yellow flesh, the Belle de Fontenay is of unknown origin. Endowed with excellent gustatory qualities, it honors the table by being eaten exclusively with butter and salt.

Take the RER a few kilometers away from Paris! After a few dozen minutes, you'll see fields, animals and sometimes pastures: the Paris region also produces meats, some of them very famous. Here's a quick rundown of what we think are the must-tries!

Île-de-France lamb. It was in Rambouillet, or rather in the château's sheepfolds in the ^18th century, that lamb rearing gained its letters of nobility. In 1786, Louis XVI ordered the importation of Merino sheep from Spain. In 1832, they were crossed with an English breed, the dishley, whose meat quality satisfied both breeders and Parisian consumers. Today, there are almost 30,000 sheep in the Ile-de-France region. As for the Rambouillet sheep farm, it is now known as the Bergerie Nationale and is home to the Merino and Wool Conservatory.

The Houdan hen. The Houdan hen had its heyday between 1870 and 1914. Although expensive, it sold 6 million units a year. It is still produced in the Yvelines region, at a rate of around 20,000 hens a year. The Houdan hen has been brought up to date by experienced farmers, and is gradually returning to the forefront of the market thanks to its guarantee of quality, and is delighting locavores. Its dark, tightly-packed flesh is fine and flavorful, making it more at home in a casserole than on a spit.

Paris ham. It's an integral part of the culinary heritage of Paris, provided it's prepared according to the rules of the art. Ham must be prepared within 24 hours of slaughter: boned, then cooked in stock.

The origins of the macaroon, created during the Renaissance, are attributed to the city of Venice. This little round cake is made from a paste of almond powder, powdered sugar and egg whites, which form shells that are crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. While there are other types of macaroon in France, such as Nancy's cracked, bitter almond-flavored macaroons, the Parisian macaroon has the particularity of being the result of an assembly of two shells linked by a flavored ganache or jam. And to think that, just a few decades ago, the macaron had been all but forgotten! But then, gastronomic fashions being cyclical, it gradually came back to the fore. Since then, many pastry chefs have been riding the wave of this little delicacy, which is extremely delicate to make, hence its high price. Hundreds of flavors exist, and it's hard not to find one to your taste.

Parisians and foreign tourists don't hesitate to queue long and hard to treat themselves (or others) to this little pleasure. Ladurée and Pierre Hermé are well-known brands, but many local patisseries are also getting in on the act, often with great success. As for Parisians everywhere, they're in a frenzy for this delicacy. In Paris, it's a good idea to have taken a macaron class at least once in your life, in one of the many ateliers-cuisines that offer courses in mastering the art of "macaronage", the delicate and fateful technique of incorporating meringue with almond powder without liquefying the dough. What's more, we're no longer marrying up with a cream puff "pièce montée", considered too old-fashioned, but with a pyramid of macaroons, so trendy and so easy to eat!

Several fathers dispute the origin of Paris-Brest, the crown-shaped cake made of choux pastry filled with praline cream. Legend has it that the creator of the Paris-Brest bicycle race commissioned a pastry chef to make a cake in the shape of a bicycle wheel... Some attribute its creation to Pierre Giffard in 1891, the date of the first race. For others, it was created in 1910 by Louis Durand, a pastry chef from Maison-Laffitte in the Yvelines region. Although the Paris-Brest cycling epic ceased in 1951, this pastry tribute remains a true delicacy: imagine a circular chou, a wheel in other words, filled with praline cream, dusted with powdered sugar and sprinkled with toasted flaked almonds... The Paris-Brest has long been one of the classics of French pastry-making. In itself, it evokes Sunday family dinners ending with this hearty invention to die for! Brought up to date by a new generation of pastry chefs (Philippe Conticini, Christophe Michalak, Pierre Hermé, Cyril Lignac...), the Paris-Brest is constantly reinvented, interpreted according to the sensibilities of its creators. Since then, its sacrosanct circular shape has been transformed into a serpentine, or a long-line shape reminiscent of a chocolate éclair; others artfully deconstruct it, putting the praline filling on top. It's up to you to choose how you approach this French pastry legend!