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French Dishes
The French are famous for their sophisticated cuisine and dishes such as escargots (cooked snails) or frog legs that only some foreigners dare to try. If you're not a real thrill-seeker there are many other traditional French dishes that you can taste. The two kinds of stew, cassoulet and ratatouille are said to be delicious and quite easy to prepare. And after dinner, treat yourself to a French dessert: crepes or creme brulee should be your first choices!
The fattened liver of force-fed ducks and geese has been a special favourite of the French for generations. Served in the form of pate, mousse or parfait, it's rich and smooth in flavour and delicate in texture. Though early versions of foie gras...
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Cassoulet is a thick stew of beans, vegetables, sausage, bacon and various kinds of meat, such as pork, mutton, duck or goose. Popular all over the country, it's thought to have been developed in Castelnaudry, a region in southwestern France which...
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A classical vegetable stew from Provence, ratatouille can be served both as a main course and a side dish to another specialty. The name of this traditional dish probably derives from the French verb
touiller, meaning 'to stir.' The first ...
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Though Bouillabaisse was first prepared in Marseille, today it's considered a culinary symbol of the entire country. In its most traditional form, it's a stew of various kinds of fish flavoured with garlic, basil, bayleaf, saffron and a selection of...
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This traditional baked dish is basically a mixture of eggs, milk and cream in a pastry crust. Optional ingredients that can be added to the filling include cooked chunks of meat and vegetables. Many modern versions of the dish are topped with...
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Escargots is a world-famous French dish of cooked land snails. First meticulously cleaned, the snails are removed from their shells, cooked in garlic butter and flavoured with parsley, pepper, wine, cognac, etc. Fitted back into the shells,...
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If there's a dish more commonly associated with France than cooked snails, it's frog legs. Most typically, the French prepare them in a butter, garlic and herb sauce and serve accompanied with a simple salad or a portion of steamed rice. Depending...
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In France,
confit is a term used in reference to various kinds of food that have been treated with a substance that allows their preservation. Confit can last several months, if it's stored in a cool place and sealed. It's one of the oldest...
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