French cuisine

[Angela]

Mine too. I eat Provencal cooking the most as it's so close to me, but while in Paris I found this bistro highlighting the food of the Auvergne, and I really liked that too.

Lyon, of course, is a paradise for gluttons.

Really, I can't ever remember getting a really bad meal in France, but of course I do my homework beforehand, usually.

The only thing I don't order is the organ meats which are on every menu. Other than that, I like everything.

Some more oldies but goodies.

Real French onion soup....

Coquille St. Jacques (scallops)...

Tartiflette: potatoes, bacon, and melted cheese. Is there anything not to like???

 

[TardisBlue]

French cuisine is indeed very diverse, in the North West and North East we cook more with butter or lard, in the South East it's olive oil, in the South West duck fat. All regions have their signature dishes. Even organ meats can be delicious when prepared properly - like tripes ? la mode de Caen. The secret is to let the tripes simmer veerrry slowly, for hours, on the stove, with carrots, onions, spices etc. so that they get really mellow, and coated. My grandmother knew how to do that kind of very traditional, family cooking - which is the best one. And which has nothing to do with posh 'haute cuisine'.

I love both Italian and French cuisines. I'd never say "this one or that one is the best", they're just different (except for Proven?al cuisine, which is very Italian-like). I don't like this competition trend I've observed occasionally on social networks between the Italian and the French. "We're the best, Italian cuisine is only pasta." "No, we are the best in the world… almost nobody likes French cuisine, it's overrated". But then, it's often like that between our 2 nations. The Italians call the French their cugini d'Oltralpe, yet (or therefore) we always argue about who has the best cuisine, the best art, the best fashion designers, the best Historical monuments, the best footballers etc. But we still are fond of each other

 

[Angela]

French cuisine is indeed very diverse, in the North West and North East we cook more with butter or lard, in the South East it's olive oil, in the South West duck fat. All regions have their signature dishes. Even organ meats can be delicious when prepared properly - like tripes � la mode de Caen. The secret is to let the tripes simmer veerrry slowly, for hours, on the stove, with carrots, onions, spices etc. so that they get really mellow, and coated. My grandmother knew how to do that kind of very traditional, family cooking - which is the best one. And which has nothing to do with posh 'haute cuisine'.

I love both Italian and French cuisines. I'd never say "this one or that one is the best", they're just different (except for Proven�al cuisine, which is very Italian-like). I don't like this competition trend I've observed occasionally on social networks between the Italian and the French. "We're the best, Italian cuisine is only pasta." "No, we are the best in the world… almost nobody likes French cuisine, it's overrated". But then, it's often like that between our 2 nations. The Italians call the French their cugini d'Oltralpe, yet (or therefore) we always argue about who has the best cuisine, the best art, the best fashion designers, the best Historical monuments, the best footballers etc. But we still are fond of each other

The aggressive minority often posts the majority of the comments no matter the topic. Can you imagine that almost every Maria Callas clip on youtube has closed the comment section? The internet has its negatives, and that's one of them.

I would exempt tripe from my dislike of organ meats. I do like it if it's made well. My mother made a delicious version. I can't get my children to eat it though. I try every time we're in Florence, as it's a street food there, but no luck.

My mother's version looked like this:

I think for some of them it's the texture, more than anything else, that I don't like. I do make chicken livers with onions and white wine for my husband, who got used to them because my mother made them, but while I'll soak up the juice with bread the liver itself doesn't thrill me.

Every country has recipes for organ meats, I'm sure. Who in the past would throw away perfectly good protein?

 

[dominique_nuit]

For what it is worth, most of the top French chefs in NYC are from the SW, Gascony and the Basque Country. And Duck in its various parts & guises is absolutely key.

 

[Angela]

I don't know the family history of all the French chefs in New York, but the top three currently which come to my mind are Jean George Vongerichten-Alsace, Daniel Boulud-Lyon, and Eric Ripert-trained in Perpignan certainly, but born in Antibe, although I don't know if his family originated there.

Yes, duck is always on the menu, except, of course, at an all fish restaurant like Le Bernardin.

 

[Pax Augusta]

I don't know the family history of all the French chefs in New York, but the top three currently which come to my mind are Jean George Vongerichten-Alsace, Daniel Boulud-Lyon, and Eric Ripert-trained in Perpignan certainly, but born in Antibe, although I don't know if his family originated there.

Yes, duck is always on the menu, except, of course, at an all fish restaurant like Le Bernardin.

Duck all’arancia

The Florentine origins of a French classic

Elizabeth Young
NOVEMBER 22, 2012

For those who don't take an interest in hunting, it is easy to forget that the transition from autumn to winter also marks the hunting season and the delicious promise of la caccia. Although not always readily available in supermarkets, most good Florentine butchers stock a variety of fresh local game from October to December.

There are several ways to prepare wild game, but the dish that usually comes to mind before many others is perhaps the world-famous French classic canard à l'orange (duck with orange). But just how traditionally French is this dish? It most likely has origins in Florence. Originally known as papero alla melarancia, it was invented in the Middle Ages, when it became popular in noble kitchens to use citrus fruits as a way to preserve meat. It was in this era that the powerful Medici family subsequently ordered the construction of limonaie (orangeries) in many of their villas, where they mainly cultivated lemons and oranges in large terracotta pots. Even today, these limonaie are important features of most Medici villas.

Papero alla melarancia was exported to France in 1529, when the 14-year-old Caterina de' Medici, daughter of Lorenzo II de' Medici, ruler of Florence, married the future king of France, Henry II. Forty chefs from Siena and Florence accompanied her to Paris, bringing some of their best recipes, many of which were later claimed by the French. Among these are crespelle (crepes; see TF 146), balsamella (béchamel sauce), carabaccia (onion soup; see TF 141) and, of course, papero alla melarancia, soon renamed canard à l'orange.

Along with her cooks and their recipes, Caterina de' Medici is also reported to have imported to France the fork (see TF 161), porcelain dishes, Venetian glassware, the Italian banking system, theatrical comedy and ballet, as well as the expectation that ladies would be present at dinner (previously they had been excluded, except for special occasions).

While Italians fiercely defend the theory that canard à l'orange originated in Florence, other nations, including France, have also claimed to be the source. In The Oxford Companion to Italian Food, Gillian Riley says that French recipes for duck with orange sauce existed as far back as the fourteenth century. However, the majority of food historians credit Caterina de' Medici, a veritable culinary trendsetter who brought more to France than any other noble, for this dish.

Whether fact or fiction, the possibility of the Florentine origin of duck à l'orange will add a touch of historical spice to this perfect winter warmer. Succulent, rich duck meat combined with the warming, aromatic spice of orange truly makes a delicious alternative to the everyday roast. With high levels of protein, B vitamins and minerals such as zinc, potassium, magnesium and iron, duck meat is very nutritious.

Some cooks avoid duck à l'orange, deterred by its reputation as a complex dish. Here, however, I offer a no-fuss but equally delicious version, arrosto di anatra all'arancia, in tribute to its simple Florentine origins.