The French gastronomy is known all over the world for its quality and diversity.
It is the fruit of a secular heritage and is also constantly evolving thanks to its professionals who continue to revisit their classics to always surprise and satisfy us.
To taste the French gastronomy is to taste ‘l’art-de-vivre à la française’. It involves finding local producers and passionate chefs who convey their passion into their food.
From Normandy to Provence, from Brittany to Alsace, passing through Burgundy, South West or Corsica. Through its gastronomy one can know all the diversity and wealth of the French territory. Each region invites us to taste their specialties and their cuisine in moments of sharing and conviviality.
Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO
The French Gastronomy, in 2010, inscribed for the first time in the list of the intangible heritage of Humanity a patrimony related to the gastronomy.
These are the components of French gastronomy taken into account for this insertion: the purchase of good products, preferably local, whose flavors harmonize well together; the careful choice of dishes that reflect the diversity of regions and terroir; the marriage between food and wine; the quality of the kitchen; the aesthetics of the table.
In all the happy circumstances of their existence, the French are gathered around a good meal. Whether it’s an “apero” among friends, a commercial meal or a banquet, this meal praises for conviviality, for humanism at the table and for well-being.
The stages involving the feast
A typical French meal involves a real ceremony.
A succession of immutable rituals in a context of permanent conversation. It starts with an appetizer and ends with a digestive, between the two there are at least four dishes: a starter, a main course with fish and / or meat, cheese and dessert.
From the choice of the menu to the tasting there is a long route. Meals start with a trip to the market and fairs for the the product selection.
The seasons of the year, the occasion to be celebrated, the tastes of each other determine the menu and the dishes that make it up. Throughout the process, knowledge, advice, skills and references are exchanged.
Back in the kitchen with produucts acqired at the market, the preparations are made together with the family. Parents pass the gestures and knowledge to the children, either to make a cake or to prepare the table. Prepare the table, put the different cutlery, fold the towels, knowing the use of each glass is an important transmission to the French.
Finally when the time comes for tasting, there are successions of specific gestures, where all the senses are required: the smell is requested with all the good odors that come from the dishes, the view is enchanted in front of the decoration of the table and the presentation of the dishes. The palate then comes into play as well as tact according to the dishes offered and hearing with the sound of cutlery and conversations.
Find out more about French gastronomy during our food tour “The French Gastronomy”.
