French local Food

In my last message I want to present a famous kind of restaurant in Lyon : Bouchons Lyonnais. A place where you can eat traditionnal food from the region with good red vine, too. The name 'bouchon' refers to a ball of pine branches, which hang on the door of thde cabaret. One of the specialties is the 'Tablier de Sapeur', made with 'gras-double' (a piece of the beef stomach).

Food isn't the only one criteria to have the label 'Authentique Bouchon Lyonnais', the place has to be warm, joyful and with good mood, too. By the way the label was created in 1997.

Tablier de Sapeur :

Label :

Today I would like to introduce a great chef based in Lyon: Paul BOCUSE ! His work is associated with the “nouvelle cuisine”: a way of cooking healthier than the traditional way. This chef stresses the fresh ingredients of high quality and he is famous for this high quality. Each year is given the “Bocuse d’Or”, this price rewards a chef for his work.

His world famous work is the truffle soup (“soupe aux truffes”), created in 1975. So if you want to taste this great food, you can find it in 4 brasseries in Lyon ( Le NORD, Le SUD, L’EST and L’OUEST) or near Lyon in the “Auberge de Collonges”, which is called now PAUL BOCUSE.

The price is high but the taste worths it !

The culinary specialties from Carcassonne are linked with products from the sea (Mediterranean sea) and with the products from the mountains (Massif Central).

Of course we find the famous 'foie gras' or the duck breast. This art of cooking is paralleled with old traditions : in fact in the Languedoc, they are used to drink good red vine with the duck, which is on their plate.

But it isn't finished. Carcassonne is recently recognized for its desserts. Thanks to René Timoreau, a master of chocolate who is born in Carcassonne, the citizens are well served. His father was a backer and this is a revolution in this background. He struggled to be approved but he finally succeed . One of his masterpiece was for a competition. The SNCF had to make a special convoy to transporte his cook.

A 'bugne' is a famous dessert, which doesn't come from Lyon but from the south west from France. But it has been adopted by the great head pastry chef from Lyon.

According to François Rabelais, a french writer who published Pantagruel in 1532, the bugne is a part of the Lyon's cooking.

This dish symbolises all my childhood, because my great grand mother was used to cook us some. This is delicious : so sweet and so crispy !!

You should try !!

The "Quenelle" is a french culinary speciality. It comes from Lyon. It's based on fish and specially pike.

This recipe was first made in order to transport easily this fish. It was popularized and modernized by Joseph Moyne. The success started in 1903-1904. 

Many sauces are possible to parallel this dish : but my favourite is the one with tomato sauce and mushrooms !!