Day 3424 (Saturday) 24th October 2026.
This is Peillon
I found this interesting article about classic French food, it's quite long so I'll post it over two days...
20 iconic French dishes everyone should try
Without doubt, one of the most iconic things about France is its food. The vast array of its famous dishes you see repeated around the world on restaurant menus is testament to this. But these iconic French dishes often taste so much better on their ‘home soil’, by using locally grown ingredients and staying true to the original recipe and method.
French cuisine is so admired that in 2010 UNESCO added the “gastronomic meal of the French”, the ritual of a good long lunch with its courses and matched wines, to its list of intangible cultural heritage. But there is no single “French food”. What defines it is terroir: the idea that a dish belongs to its place, made with local ingredients to a recipe handed down on home soil. That is why the same dish so often tastes better in the village it came from.
The French dishes included below are:
Tarte Tatin
Boeuf Bourguignon
Moules Marinières
Blanquette de veau
Soupe à L’oignon (French onion soup)
Steak Tartare
Cassoulet
Confit de canard
Bouillabaisse
Pissaladière
Fondue Savoyarde
Tartiflette
Coq au vin
Coquilles Saint-Jacques (Gratinéed scallops)
Escargots
Soufflé
Foie gras
Crêpes
Salade Niçoise
If it helps to think about French food by the town or region is hails from, consider this brief overview:
The Alps and Savoie give you warming mountain food built on melted cheese and potato: fondue, tartiflette, raclette.
Provence and the Riviera lean on olive oil, tomatoes, garlic and the sea: bouillabaisse, salade niçoise and pissaladière.
The south west (Bordeaux, Gascony, Aquitaine) is the land of duck, beans and bold reds: cassoulet, confit de canard, foie gras.
Burgundy turns its great wines into slow red braises like boeuf bourguignon and coq au vin, and Lyon, often called the gastronomic capital of France, sits in the middle of it all.
Brittany is the home of crêpes, galettes and salted butter.
Normandy supplies cream, apples and Calvados.
Quick reference: 20 iconic French dishes
DISH REGION MEAL TYPE CLASSIC WINE PAIRING
1. Tarte Tatin Sologne / Loire Dessert Vouvray (off-dry) or cider
2. Boeuf Bourguignon Burgundy Main (beef) Burgundy Pinot Noir
3. Moules Marinières Atlantic coast / Normandy Main (seafood) Muscadet
4. Blanquette de Veau Paris / nationwide Main (veal) Mâcon-Villages
5. Soupe à l’Oignon Paris / nationwide Soup Beaujolais or Alsace Riesling
6. Steak Tartare Paris / nationwide Main (beef) Beaujolais or Côtes du Rhône
7. Cassoulet South west (Languedoc) Main (stew) Cahors Malbec
8. Confit de Canard South west (Gascony) Main (duck) Madiran or Cahors
9. Bouillabaisse Provence (Marseille) Main (seafood) Marsanne or Bandol rosé
10. Pissaladière Provence (Nice) Starter / snack Bellet or Provence rosé
11. Fondue Savoyarde Savoie / Alps Main (cheese) Apremont (Savoie white)
12. Tartiflette Savoie / Alps Main (cheese/potato) Roussette de Savoie
13. Coq au Vin Burgundy Main (chicken) Mercurey or Givry
14. Coquilles Saint-Jacques Normandy / Brittany Starter (seafood) Saint-Véran
15. Escargots Burgundy Starter Chablis or Aligoté
16. Soufflé Paris / nationwide Starter or dessert Champagne or Banyuls
17. Foie Gras South west Starter Sauternes or Jurançon
18. Crêpes / Galettes Brittany Dessert / savoury Brittany cider
19. Salade Niçoise Provence (Nice) Salad Provence rosé
20. Crème Brûlée Nationwide Dessert Sauternes or sweet Vouvray
Tarte Tatin
Tarte tatin is one of the most iconic French dishes
Region: Sologne, south of the Loire, where the Hôtel Tatin still stands.
Let’s start with a classic French dessert. This upside-down pastry contains fruit (usually apples) that is caramelised before being baked. It is usually served with crème anglaise or ice cream.
This is a dish that French children learn to make at school and the teacher tells the story of how Stephanie Tatin first created by mistake back in 1898 – she was trying to make a traditional apple pie when she accidentally left the apples in the sugar and butter for too long. In a hurry, trying to rescue the dessert, she put the pastry base on top of the browning fruits and then placed the pan in the oven. A mistake that is loved around the world even today.
How to spot the real thing: a true Tatin is caramelised to a deep amber and turned out so the fruit sits glossy on top, not a pie with sauce poured over.
2. Boeuf Bourguignon
Boeuf Bourguignon is an iconic French dish from Burgundy
A firm family favourite, this delicious red wine beef stew is always a winner. Dauphinoise or Lyonnaise potatoes go well with it.
In Burgundy you won’t be short of chances to try the region’s signature dish, but be warned, variations vary wildly.
How to spot the real thing: the beef should be braised long enough to cut with a spoon, in a glossy sauce built on red Burgundy, lardons, mushrooms and pearl onions, never thin or watery.
3. Moules Marinières
Region: the Atlantic coast and Normandy, though served nationwide.
Many a café and brasserie will serve this popular lunch dish. A big pot of mussels cooked in white wine with shallots and parsley, and served with bread or French fries. As with most fish and seafood dishes on a French menu, a glass of Muscadet – a crips Loire white made for shellfish pairing – is the perfect match, but a beer is often seen being sipped alongside this dish and it works.
4. Blanquette de Veau
Region: Paris and nationwide; a classic of home cooking.
A creamy veal stew made with lots of butter, cream, and carrots. Traditionally the stew is thickened with a roux and typically it is served with rice. It consistently ranks in the top ten when the French are asked to name their favourite dish. Pair it with a white Burgundy wine or other rounded Chardonnay to bounce off the creaminess of the sauce.
5.Soupe à L’oignon (French onion soup)
Region: Paris and nationwide.
French onion soup is made with meat stock and browned onions garnished with gratinéed croutons and cheese on top. It is very filling so good for a substantial lunch if you are spending the day doing some sightseeing. It’s a deeply flavoursome broth-like soup, hearty for a winter’s day.
6. Steak Tartare
Region: Paris and nationwide; a brasserie staple.
Steak tartare is made from finely chopped or minced raw beef or horsemeat. It is often served with onions, capers and seasonings, often with a raw egg yolk on the top. Most restaurants will serve it ‘deconstructed’ for you to mix to your own liking, but occasionally you will find it served as a premixed patty.
7. Cassoulet
Region: the south west, around Castelnaudary, Carcassonne and Toulouse, on the Canal du Midi.
Cassoulet is a rich, slow-cooked casserole of white beans with duck, garlic sausage and pork originating in the south of France. Traditionally containing duck, garlic sausage, pork skin and white beans, nowadays you’ll find any kind of cassoulet on menus: sometimes just sausage, sometimes beef. The dish is named after its traditional cooking vessel, the cassole, a deep, round, earthenware pot with slanting sides.
I'll post the rest of them tomorrow...
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