French cuisine is so diverse and its ingredients are so closely dependent on regional products that preparing it beyond the borders of France is virtually a mission impossible. The exception to this rule is the culinary experience of Paris, which has a plethora of traditions and is oriented towards tourists. Statistically, Paris is the most visited city in the world, meaning that most people learned about French cuisine precisely in the home of the Eiffel Tower
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French Onion Soup (Soup de l’oignon)
This is the most well-known French country soup and the national culinary anthem of France. Onion symbolizes peasantry, the wheels of yellow cheese – the king, cream – the upper crust of society, white wine (receiving communion) – spirituality and croutons – abundance and the bourgeoisie.
The version of onion soup for tourists is a puree in a pot of bread. In the classic variant the ingredients are distinguished by taste and their visual appearance. The creme de la creme of French onion soup, pardon the Parisian pun, is a layer of melted cheese on top that you must break through like the caramel topping of a creme brulle.
Native Parisians eat onion soup in the morning and around five o’clock. This tradition began in Parisian cafes next to the busy marketplace Le Ventre de Paris (The Stomach of Paris).
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Truck loaders would start work there at two o’clock in the morning where this delicatessen was especially prepared for them. In those times croutons were not covered with cream as is today. Instead, they were rubbed with egg yolk.
Where to find: Cafe Champagne on Velyka Zhytomyrska St. in Kyiv. The owners of this quaint restaurant decorated with brise-bises (folded curtains) modestly and without false pretenses describe French onion soup as exquisitely “delicious”.
Eggs pachotte – eggs cooked without the shell
This is a traditional French breakfast. The egg yolk is soft like cream with a creamy taste. Preparing egg-pachot without training is not that easy. A fresh egg is cracked into a pot of boiling water with small bubbles. For this the egg is accurately poured into a crater so that the yolk is not damaged. Though some add balsamic vinegar to the water in order to preserve the form of the egg, perfectionists believe that vinegar spoils the taste of the egg.
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If you place small slices of meat or ham fried in desi covered with thinly chopped greens, an egg and Hollandaise sauce and there you have what’s known all over the world as eggs Benedict.
Where to find: at the Fellini restaurant in Kyiv famous for its breakfasts served from small hours in the morning as the place is open around the clock.
The French baguette is another symbol of France
This long thin white bun has a crispy crust and a soft interior. It is customary to break off chunks instead of cutting them with a knife. Every day half a million baguettes are sold in Paris. The standard weight of a Parisian baguette is 200 grams. Up until the 1920s, the main morning bread in Paris was round. That changed after the municipal ban on starting work in local bakeries earlier than four in the morning. Seeing as baking round bread consumed a lot of time, the bakeries came up with an alternative “quick” variant, which today we know as the baguette.
Where to find: Volkonskiy confectionary, where the famous French baker Eric Kaiser runs the show.
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Breton crepes
A culinary gem of Breton. Thin round pancakes with fillings and fried on a special large flat pan without handles or a large piping hot circular pan. Sweet crepes are made of wheat, while salty ones are made of buckwheat flour, also known as gallettes. They are filled with anything your heart desires: liverwurst, sausages, fish, ham, seafood products, eggs, lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms, apples, honey, strawberries and anything else that one can find in Breton.
The etiquette in eating crepes calls for salted gallettes folded into a square to hold the juiciest part inside. Before digging in one should eat all four crispy corners. Sweet crepes are folded into triangles and are eaten from the edge into the middle.
Where to find: at the Svitlytsia restaurant on St. Andrew’s Descent, the first establishment in Kyiv to offer Breton-style crepes.
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Quiche Lorraine
Another hit of rural cuisine that originated in Lotharingia, which is in the name of this dish (Lotharingian pie). Initially, dought that was left over after baking bread was used to make this pie. Quiche is an authentic rural dish that was considered an appropriate meal three times a day: as a full breakfast in the morning, an ideal snack in the afternoon and with a glass of boullion in the evening. After masters of the kitchen began making quiche from granular and layered dough, it became much tastier.
Contemporary quiche Lorraine is an open salted tart with a diversity of fillings covered with a fried egg. One of the most popular quiches is Alsatian onion.
Where to find: the Belmondo restaurant, which offers apple cider to accompany a delicious quiche.
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French cider is none other than brewed apple juice
It is prepared exclusively in three regions of France – Normandy, Breton and Gascogne. Light exquisite cider with dancing bubbles and a subtle taste goes perfectly with salty quiche, Breton buckwheat crepes and Normandy camembert. The sweetest, juiciest and lightest French cider is Cidre doux (alcoholic content of 1.5-3%). This cider is perfect to quench one’s thirst and it is impossible to get drunk from it. Cidre brut (4.5%) is sour with a taste of tannine that goes perfectly with Breton crepes. Cidre Tradition (more than 4.5%) is a traditional unfiltered cider with a sharp bouquet of over-ripened apple and a strong apple taste. It is served with camembert cheese.
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