It's actually quite hard to define what we mean by traditional French food. Certainly the concept of French food is synonymous with the concept of gourmet food and fine cuisine, but when asked to name a traditional French dish, the answers may be extraordinarily varied, depending upon where people have visited, their particular tastes and preferences, and the simplicity with which the dish can be pronounced in some cases!
France can be divided up into twenty two separate regions, each of which has its own traditions, its own balance of ingredients and its own form of traditional French food. France can be divided still further, into a total of ninety six individual metropolitan areas, including both Paris and Corsica, and you may even find a number of variations within a single region where these departments have developed their own variations and chosen their own combination of influences.
For it is certainly the influences which have been of most importance in helping to shape the diverse range of traditional French food, with neighbouring countries, varying climates and even soil types all contributing to the variety on offer.
If you are looking to visit France in order to sample its food, you may well be able to pick almost any recipe and enjoy it almost anywhere in the country - indeed, in many cases anywhere in the world. But France is a country very much steeped in tradition, and a journey across the country should be a journey through the wide variety of flavours available which together compile what may be vaguely referred to as traditional French food.
The heart of France is, of course, Paris, and it is here that perhaps the greatest diversity of French food and gourmet food is available, simply because all routes converge on the capital, bringing ingredients, chefs and connoisseurs of fine food from all across the country. For the richest mix of French food and cuisine, Paris is certainly one place to enjoy gourmet delights. With over nine thousand restaurants, you're certainly likely to be spoiled for choice. You could stay in Paris for a quarter of a century, and dine in a different restaurant every night!
In the Champagne area of France, known primarily for its champagne of course, the key elements in most of the traditional local or regional recipes are game and ham. Close by Champagne is the region known as Lorraine, and unsurprisingly here the French food tradition is the quiche of the same name. You'll also find a particular focus on fine fruit preserves in this area too.
France has many hundreds of miles of excellent coastline, and this has provided a wealth of opportunity for seafood specialities in many of the country's regions. Areas such as Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Picardy, Normandy and Brittany all very much specialise in French food with a seafood focus, including a range of crustaceans as well as sea bass, monkfish and herring. But even these coastal regions vary, with each offering particular specialities. For example, if you travel to Normandy you'll find much more emphasis given to ingredients such as scallops and sole, while over in Brittany you'll be delighted with the lobster, crayfish and mussels.
It's also notable that Normandy has many expansive apple orchards, and this has been a long standing tradition. It is here that emphasis is often given to traditional French food which incorporates apples, not to mention the local drinks of course, such as cider.
The Loire valley is one of the lushest regions, and fruit trees grow here especially well, giving rise to a large number of traditional French recipes which incorporate a range of fruits from cherries to strawberries and even melons.
Offering quite a contrast are the recipes and traditional gourmet food on offer in regions such as Provence and Côte d'Azur where a large number of citrus fruits are grown, and in fact it is from this region that not only are a large number of traditional French food recipes and cooking styles taken, but it continues to be the largest provider of citrus fruits, vegetables and a range of fruits and herbs to the rest of the country.
The island of Corsica is home to an astonishing number of goats and sheep, and it's for this reason that many recipes involve kids and lamb, giving rise to well known recipes and dishes such as stufato, ragouts and roasts.
From German to Spanish influences, France has a whole variety of fantastic and well loved dishes and ingredients, which means that if you enjoy traditional French food, you have your work cut out just trying to sample all of its traditions!
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