France is the home of the Eiffel Tower, the Mona Lisa, high fashion, and exquisite cuisine. While other cultures in the world offer their own experience with unique regional cooking, in France quality is king. They have set the culinary standard high, and skilled French chefs have turned creative food presentation into an art form.
However, Parisian cuisine is so much more than small, artfully arranged plates of food. The best way to experience the French culture is with great food where skill, quality ingredients and originality all join hands in culinary perfection.
Parisian cuisine begins by understanding and using the basics:
The French baquette
The French take their bread very seriously. Whether at breakfast, lunch or dinner, a baguette (French word for a loaf of bread) is always on the table. Crusty on the outside, but soft on the inside, the French pride themselves on their superior bread-making skills. Unless a loaf of bread is made from scratch, a bakery cannot call itself a true boulangerie.
World-famous cheeses
Or, as the French say fromage, is an equally important food in their cuisine. Perhaps the two best known French cheeses are Brie and Camembert. Both are soft cheeses with a white crust. Lesser known, yet equally delectable is Boursin, a soft crumble cheese flavored lightly with herbs. Parisian cuisine also favors Chevre, a distinctive tart cheese that is made from goat's milk.
The selection of cheese doesn't stop there though. With over 400 cheeses to choose from, the Parisian fromageries have something for everyone. And what is the Parisian way to serve cheese? On top of their favorite baquette, of course!
Wide variety of cold meats
In the charcuteries, the equivalent of a delicatessen, a selection of cold meats awaits you. Be prepared to be overwhelmed by the amount of cooked and smoked hams, sausages and pates. In addition, there are the specialities such as beer sausage, blood sausage and Kassler that is made of smoked pork.
Famous French dishes
Of course, French cuisine is not limited to bread, cheese and cold dishes. The most famous French beef dish is perhaps boef bourguinon. You haven't eaten chicken until you've tasted coq au vin. And when it comes to fish, the French have 101 recipes. Whether you prefer wine-poached salmon, cognac shrimp, lobster bisque, or coquilles Saint-Jacques, each one is more delicious than the other in Parisian cuisine.
Decadent desserts
In Parisian cuisine, no meal would be complete without fruit. Like everything else, the French take pride in their freshly grown fruit like Montmorency cherries, Faro apples and Groslay pears, available seasonally at Parisian open-air markets. French cuisine also favors combining fresh fruit with liqueur. Peaches soaked in Cointreau, cherries with cognac, pears with Grand Marnier, and the never-to-be-overlooked Parisian cuisine favorite, strawberries with champagne.
When it comes to desserts, crepes, creme brulee and chocolate mousse are important staples in Parisian cuisine that have been copied in unique ways in many countries around the world. The French are proud that their desserts have become the standard of excellence when satisfying the world's sweet tooth.
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