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FOOD AND DRINK

French regional cuisine: What to eat and drink in northern France

When you're travelling through France, trying local dishes and drinks is always a good idea, so we've taken a virtual roadtrip through France to highlight some of the best regional cuisine.

Published: 13 May 2022 08:39 CEST
Updated: 19 August 2022 11:44 CEST
French regional cuisine: What to eat and drink in northern France
A cook prepares crepes in a creperie in France (Photo by FRED TANNEAU / AFP)

This part of our roadtrip takes in the northern part of France, from the German-influenced culture of Alsace-Lorraine, via Paris to the beautiful seaside resorts of northern France and out east to Brittany and Normandy.

The following is our personal pick of the regional dishes in the area that we travel through, feel free to leave your own food and drink tips in the comment box below.

Strasbourg – If you’re bored with French food (and it’s probably unlikely) you can ring the changes by head to the Alsace-Lorraine region where the historic German influences (the region has passed back and forth between France and Germany several times) can really be seen in the cuisine.

What to order: The classic dish of the region is the sausage-and-cabbage choucroute garnie, but we’re going to recommend gingerbread.

Patisseries in Strasbourg are full of beautifully decorated gingerbread especially on St Nicolas Day (December 6th) and around Christmas. If you’re visiting Strasbourg’s famous Christmas market a gingerbread snack is a must. This is also different to the pain d’épices on offer in most of France, which is really more of a bread that’s often served with savoury things like foie gras.

To drink: Hot spiced wine is ubiquitous in France in the winter (it’s not just a Christmas thing, you’ll find it on offer all winter as a tasty warmer) but a good vin chaud is the perfect accompaniment to gingerbread, especially at a Christmas market. 

Deauville – France’s northern coast is peppered with beautiful seaside resorts including Le Touquet, Etretat and Honfleur. We’re heading to Deauville to sample its long sandy beach and air of slightly faded elegance – and of course the seafood.

What to order: Moules-frites are, by rights, a Belgian speciality (in fact Belgium even lays claim to the invention of the ‘French’ fry) but let’s gloss over that because they’re available pretty much everywhere along the northern French coast and they’re also very delicious.

There are lots of different sauce options available but we think a classic moules marinières is the best – a simple white wine, garlic and herb cause lets you really taste the mussels. When you’ve finished your bucket of mussels, dip your bread and remaining frites into the sauce and let the juice dribble down your chin in a sophisticated and attractive manner.

And to drink: In the spirit of ‘nicking things from the Belgians’ we’re going to recommend beer (although maybe not with your mussels).

The French craft beer scene has really boomed the recent years and there are now hundreds of microbreweries and small businesses making delicious beers – especially in northern France. We particularly like the beers from Brasserie Melusine (near Nantes) and La Moutte (near Caen).

Rennes – We’re heading to the capital of the Brittany region to really soak up the best of the Breton culture, from language to history to architecture to food. 

What to order: It can only be one thing – crêpes. The quintessential Breton speciality is one of the highlights of our trip, delicious thin buckwheat pancakes served with a variety of savoury or sweet toppings (and yes, it’s absolutely OK to have savoury crêpes followed by sweet crêpes for dessert). There are dozens of topping options, but we’re going to recommend the classic – ham, cheese and an egg. 

And to drink: Cider is the other speciality of the region. Brittany is famous for its ciders – fresh, apple-tasting and refreshing. They pair beautifully with crêpes or with the region’s other famous food product, the Kouign-ammann cake – sweet delicate laminated dough.

Mont Saint Michel –  Brittany and Normandy have argued about many things down the years, including who lays claim to the area’s best-known tourist resort, Mont-Saint Michel. For now, it’s in Normandy and it’s well worth a visit, especially in winter when there are fewer visitors and you can really appreciate the brooding drama of the ancient structure rising out of the sea.

What to order: Mont-Saint Michel is lovely but it’s also a tourist hotspot with prices to match, so we suggest you content yourself with a snack and then come back over to the mainland for dinner.

Once you get to the cheese course there is one you simply have to sample – camembert. You might think you’ve had a camembert but forget the chalky, flavourless supermarket version – in Normandy the ubiquitous cows convert the lush green grass of the region into moist, creamy, ripe camembert. Look out for an AOC camembert to be sure you’re getting local produce.

To drink: Both Brittany and Normandy grow apples and both make cider (and have a complicated regional rivalry about the correct drinking vessel) but Normandy has something even better – the powerful apple brandy Calvados. 

Paris – you could write a book (and many people have) about great restaurants to try out in Paris, so we won’t try and replicate that here. Instead we suggest doing what the locals do – have a picnic. 

The banning of traffic from the quais of the Seine has created a lovely space by the river which on summer evenings is full of young people who have taken down a blanket, some food and bottles of wine or beer. So enjoy a reasonably priced dinner, the lively atmosphere and what is easily one of the best views in Europe. 

. . . and to mention.

It’s not technically a French speciality, but according to the annual poll plat préférés des français France’s favourite dish is couscous.

Brought to France via its north-African immigrants, the couscouserie is now a fixture of the French high street. In most places, the custom is that you get a heaped plate of couscous and a tureen of vegetarian tagine and then order your meat – eg lamb kebabs, merguez sausage – separately. 

Not only is it delicious, it’s also usually very reasonably priced. 

READ ALSO

What to eat and drink in southern France

What to eat and drink in central France 

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FOOD AND DRINK

Did Austria really invent France’s iconic croissant?

It's often said that Austria in fact invented the croissant - and some even claim that Marie Antoinette brought it to France - but the real story is a little more complicated than that.

Published: 17 April 2024 15:43 CEST
Updated: 20 April 2024 12:47 CEST
Did Austria really invent France's iconic croissant?

The croissant is probably the food product most closely associated with France (tied with the baguette) but is it even French? Well, it depends on how you look at it.

The French croissant is usually credited to a couple of Austrian migrants – August Zang and Ernest Schwartzer, who opened a bakery in Paris in the 1830s. They specialised in the pastries and cakes of their homeland and are generally agreed to have popularised the kipferl in France.

Listen to the team from The Local discussing croissants in the latest episode of the Talking France podcast. Listen here or on the link below

The kipferl shows up in records in Austria at least as early as the 13th century, so it definitely pre-dates the croissant.

In the 1800s the French went crazy for Austrian pastries, which is why we talk about viennoiseries (referencing Austrian capital Vienna) to refer to breakfast pastries such as croissants, pain au chocolat and pain au raisin.

But is a kipferl a croissant? The original recipe called for the roll to be made of bread, not pastry, and modern recipes call for a light yeast dough, often scented with vanilla.

Delicious, undoubtedly, but a croissaint . . .

It wasn’t until the early 20th century that the French baker Sylvain Claudius Goy created a recipe using puff pastry instead.

His instructions specified that the croissant be made of rolled puff pastry, laminated with butter to create layers – and this is how modern day croissants are made.

The pastry layers are what creates the distinctive crumb-scattering deliciousness that is a croissant.

So did the Austrians invent the croissant or did they just invent a curved bread roll? Or should France and Austria share the credit and chalk this one up to another great success from international cooperation?

One thing that is certainly French is the name – croissant in French simply means ‘crescent’ and refers to the shape of the breakfast pastry.

It’s used in other contexts too – for example Le Mouvement international de la Croix-Rouge et du Croissant-Rouge – is how the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is referred to in French.

And Marie Antoinette?

This historical rumour is almost certainly rubbish.

Although Marie Antoinette was indeed Austrian, the first record of the croissant does not appear in Paris until at least 40 years after her death and the two Austrian bakers credited with introducing the croissant weren’t even born when she met her end on the guillotine in 1793.

Also, she never said ‘let them eat cake’.

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