Day 3393 (Wednesday) 23rd September 2026

This is Villefranche-sur-Mer

and this is Ile Saint Honorat, one of the islands off Cannes.

We have another French recipe article today, there are a few we’ve done before but most of them are new, I will post it over two days...

35 Traditional French Recipes, From Regional Specialties to Bistro Classics

Bring the best of French cooking to your kitchen with these enduring favourites.

By Jodie Kautzmann and Emily Ziemski  Updated on July 11, 2026

French cooking celebrates carefully chosen ingredients and time-honoured techniques, creating elegant dishes where simple flavours shine. Here, we’ve gathered a sampling of our traditional French favourites: rustic coq au vin, towering cheese soufflé, crisp-skinned duck confit, and more. Pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy cooking your way through these classics.

Boeuf Bourguignon

A great boeuf bourguignon requires two things: time and technique. An overnight marinade tenderises the beef, while a low-and-slow braise melts it into succulent perfection.

Baguette

With its crisp crust and tender centre, the baguette is perhaps the most quintessentially French menu item. It’s made with just four simple ingredients — five, if you count the requisite smear of best-quality butter.

Classic Duck Confit

Confit may sound daunting, but it’s a French preservation technique built on simplicity. Duck is cooked slowly in its own fat for several hours, resulting in meltingly tender meat with rich, concentrated flavour.

Ratatouille

“True ratatouille is a simple dish: rich, tender, and transcendent when made well,” writes cookbook author Rebekah Pepplar. Made with peak-season tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, onions, and eggplant, this iconic vegetable stew distills the flavours of summer into a single bowl.

French Onion Soup

Chef Ludo Lefebvre’s take on the timeless French onion soup, called “soupe à l’oignon” in France, includes beef stock, sherry, Worcestershire sauce, and a bounty of caramelised onions. Use Emmental or Gruyère cheese to create the golden, gooey topping.

Tarte Tatin

Morgan Hunt Glaze / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styling by Josh Hoggle

With its caramelized apples and exquisitely buttery crust, this classic French tarte Tatin recipe from Benoît Guichard placed first in the pastry category at the Meilleur Ouvrier de France.

Coq au Vin

This essential French dish translates to “rooster in wine” and is a celebration of rich, hearty flavours, with tender chicken braised in a robust red wine sauce alongside bacon, mushrooms, and onions.

Best-Ever Cheese Soufflé

Chef Alex Guarnaschelli’s cheese soufflé includes Gruyère and Parmigiano-Reggiano along with a touch of sour cream and dry sherry. Pair it with a vinaigrette-dressed salad and baguette for an elegant lunch.

Pan Bagnat (Niçoise Salad Sandwich)

Think of pan bagnat as a Niçoise salad made for travel. Its savoury tuna juices soak beautifully into the crusty bread, which comes packed with eggs, tomatoes, radishes, and briny olives.

Poulet Basquaise

This deeply flavourful braised chicken from France’s Basque Country gets its character from sweet peppers, plenty of onions, white wine, and the gentle heat of piment d’Espelette.

Grilled Onion Lyonnaise

Salade Lyonnaise pairs bitter, crisp frisée with salty bacon, a warm vinaigrette, and a barely cooked poached egg. Justin Chapple puts his spin on the French bistro favourite with sweet grilled torpedo onions for an extra smoky-sweet element.

Tartiflette

Combining the best of a gratin and a casserole, this French Alp dish is equal parts cozy and hearty thanks to a mix of sturdy potatoes, sweet caramelised onions, smoky bacon, and creamy, melty cheese.

Lobster Thermidor

Rich cremini mushrooms in a wine-infused sauce balance the natural sweetness of lobster in this traditional French recipe, with Parmesan cheese creating a golden brown crust.

Crepes Suzette

Jacques Pépin’s lacy crêpes are dipped in a buttery, orange-flavoured sauce and piled into a skillet before they’re doused in Grand Marnier and Cognac, then flambéed.

Classic pot au feu

For this dish, winemaker David Duband braises two cuts of beef — shank and rump roast — with marrow bones and then separately cooks leeks and carrots with more marrow bones until everything is deeply flavourful and tender.

Spinach and Goat Cheese Quiche

With an all-butter crust, a whole pound of sautéed spinach, and an entire log of crumbled goat cheese, this savoury egg custard tart is an absolutely divine addition to any brunch spread.

I'll post the rest of them tomorrow.