According to wikipedia, French cuisine is characterized by its extreme diversity. It is considered to be one of the world's most refined and elegant styles of cooking, and is renowned for both its classical ("haute cuisine") and provincial styles.
The French take light breakfast. It usually consist of some bread (example:baguette) with jam and spreads (butter in Brittany), cereals, a hot drink such as coffee, tea or chocolate flavored milk, some fruit or fruit juice and some viennoiseries (examples:croissant, chocolate bun).
 Breakfast |
 Baguette |
 Croissant |
 Chocolate bun |
A normal complete meal consists of apperitif, first course, main course, salad (not mandatory), cheese, dessert and hot drink. Some bread is served throughout the meal especially baguette. The meal may be preceded by an apéritif, follow by some wine. Champaigne is drunk usually for an event or celebration.
An aperitif or apéritif is an alcoholic drink usually enjoyed as an appetizer before a large meal. It is often served with something small to eat, like olives or crackers. The purpose of the appetizer is to whet the appetite; if there is a long waiting period between when the guests arrive and when the meal is served. It can include canapés (Crackers or small slices of bread or toast cut into various shapes serve as a base for such savory foods as meat, cheese, fish, caviar, foie gras, purees or relish), crudités (raw vegetables that are cut up), snake foods, cheese and sausage. Foie gras is one kind of pâté, which is made from the fattened livers of forcefed geese.
 Kir Breton |
 Melon and ham |
 Cheese |
 radis |
 Caviar |
 Sausage |
An entrée is a smaller course that precedes the main course, except in North America. It is also called a starter in UK.
 Foie Gras |
 Melon |
 Slice Meat |
 Crab Plate |
 Salmon and shallots |
 Gruyère Cheese Gougères |
 Crabs |
 Crawfish |
 Lobster |
 Shrimp and Oyster |
 Fish |
 Snow Crabs |
 Scallop and asparagus |
 Salad Combo |
 Chicken and chestnut |
|
Salmon |
 Pork Leg |
 Steak |
 Boeuf Bourguignon - Burgundy |
 Rôti de Canard (duck) - France |
 Matelote (fish stew) - Normandy |
 Salade landaise - Southwestern |
 Coq au vin - several regions |
 Bouillabaisse - Côte d'Azur/Provence |
 Choucroute - L'Alsace |
 Raclette (cheese fondue) - Alps |
 Pot au feu (Beef Stew) |
Photos sources: L'hotellerie, Cuisinez comme un Chef, wikipedia, recettes.viabloga.com, lycos.fr
France and Italy are the nations with the most diversity in locally made cheeses— today with approximately 400 each. (A French proverb holds there is a different French cheese for every day of the year. France is the second biggest consumer of cheese, with 24 kg by inhabitant. Emmental (used mainly as a cooking ingredient) and Camembert are French favorite cheeses.
 Small Cakes |
 Lyche and starfruit |
 Ice Cream |
 Le Far |
 Cremebrule |
 Raspberry Charlotte |
 Crepe |
 Raspberry Tart |
 Tiramisu |
 Lemon Tart |
Frog legs and escargots are considered typical of French cuisine in some foreign countries, but actually are rarely eaten in France.
In large cities a majority of working people and students eat their lunch at a corporate or school cafeteria, which normally serve complete meals as described above; it is therefore not usual for students to bring their own lunch food. It is common for white-collar workers to be given lunch vouchers as part of their employee benefits. These can be used in most restaurants, supermarkets and delis; however workers having lunch in this way typically do not eat all three dishes of a traditional lunch due to price and time considerations. In smaller cities and towns, some working people leave their workplaces to return home for lunch, generating four rush hours during the day. Finally, an also popular alternative especially among blue-collar workers is to lunch on a sandwich possibly followed with a dessert; both dishes can be found ready-made at bakeries and supermarkets for budget prices.
Texts in this French cuisine section are taken and modified from:Wikipedia French Cuisine
There are many reasons why French wine is considered to be among the most excellent wines throughout the entire world. France has been producing wine through its entire history, and has developed techniques and dedicated such a great amount of time in order to find fertile spots which are able to produce several different wines of a quality that could never be equaled in other places of the globe.
 Vineyard in Côtes du Luberon, Provence |
Photo source:Techno-Impressionist
Wine is part of France's culture and French cuisine would not be the same without this drink. Drinking wine with meals is a common French tradition and it is possible to see families enjoying their dinners accompanied by a glass of wine at most French regions.
Those tourists who visit France and are looking for experiencing the French culture and traditions in the best possible way should make sure of enjoying a French meal accompanied by a French wine. A good combination of a French wine with a typical dish can be a great and unique experience which visitors should not miss.
French wine regions |
 A glass of French wine |
Photos sources:Lunar Halo Studio, Dininginfrance.com
There are around 365 different types of French wine from different origins. This number can easily show the important bond existing between French culture and wine, and the important amount of work, experience, and time employed in order to produce this product.
Starting from the main varieties of red wine, rose wine, white wine, and sparkling, a broad range of subcategories and different wines can be found in the French production. This amazing amount of different wines turns the task of choosing one into a much harder goal to accomplish than many people would expect, and it is often recommended to follow what the instincts tell in such cases.
French wine offers a very wide range of different tastes to choose from. Many wine experts would need an important amount of time in order to taste them all and be able to decipher each one of them, since the difference from one to the other might be almost imperceptible sometimes. Wine is among the most important elements of not only French cuisine but of the French culture and traditions as well.
Text is written by Jakob Jelling and is taken from:Winewebber
Though many people use the term "champagne" to designate all sparkling wines, in truth Champagne is a specific type of French sparkling wine. Champagne comes from the region of the same name in France. The area has produced sparkling wine since the days of the Roman empire, and still bottles some of the best vintages in the world.
The Champagne region, includes over 312 villages |
 Vineyard in Champagne |
The producers of Champagne carefully guard the right to use the name Champagne on a bottle, and have done so since 1891, when the Treaty of Madrid was signed. The treaty declared that only wines made in a particular region could use the name on the bottle. In 1919, the Treaty of Versailles, the peace agreement ending World War I, reaffirmed that rule.
Why, then, do we often see bottles marked "champagne" that are produced in the United States? The U.S. never signed the Treaty of Versailles, but rather had a separate peace agreement with Germany. That agreement did not include regulations regarding spirits. The U.S. was in the midst of Prohibition in 1919 and did not see the need to agree to rules dealing with alcohol, since liquor was banned in the U.S.
Long after prohibition was lifted, some vintners in the U.S. took advantage of the loophole, and bottled American champagne. This is also why you'll see bottles of Burgundy, or Chablis or other French regions adorning the labels of American wines.
Text is taken from:CNN
Cider is usually produced by fermenting or brewing apple juice. Original cider has no any additional components; the production process is exclusively based on natural yeast that primarily exists in apples and gives rise to fermentation of juice. Traditional cider is made of apples that are specially grown for the purpose of production of cider. Cider can be aerated or non-aerated; from dry to extremely sweet – depending on sugar content. In Europe cider is considered as fermented apple juice possessing a certain amount of alcohol, whereas in USA fermented apple juice is called strong cider, and freshly pressed juice – sweet cider.
France is the greatest producer of cider in the world. According to the legal French laws, cider can only be made of fresh apples or of a mixture of apples and pears. The original French cider is very light and sparkling, it is mostly bottled into champagne type bottles. Production of cider is concentrated in northern regions of France – in Normandy and Breton - that are famous for their sweet cider. At some restaurants it is a tradition to serve one litre bottle of cider for 4 persons free of charge instead of a usual bottle of wine at other places.
Today cider is produced throughout the world – in Europe, Canada, Central and South America and Australia. France, Spain and Great Britain are the greatest producers of cider in Europe.
Text is taken from:Alita
