14-Day France
Itinerary

Croissant

The greatest achievement of laminated pastry — 27 to 729 alternating layers of dough and butter folded by hand, shaped into a crescent, proved overnight and baked until each layer separates into a honeycomb of amber, shatteringly crisp exterior and a molten, buttery interior; the best in Paris require 72 hours of work before they reach the window.

Boeuf Bourguignon

France's greatest braise — beef chuck marinated and slow-cooked in a full bottle of Burgundy wine with lardons, pearl onions, mushrooms and a bouquet garni for four hours until the collagen dissolves and the sauce becomes glossy and deeply complex; Julia Child's version introduced it to America in 1961; its perfume transforms any kitchen.

Foie Gras

France's most debated delicacy — the fattened liver of a duck or goose, cooked en terrine and sliced to reveal a smooth, ivory-gold slab of extraordinary richness and mineral depth; spread on toast with Sauternes; a product of artisan tradition in the Périgord and Gascony; France's most legally protected food product.

Quenelles de Brochet

Lyon's masterpiece of classical French cooking — pike mousse bound with panade (cooked flour paste) and poached into pillow-soft, cloud-light ovals; sauced with a Nantua crayfish bisque of coral-orange intensity; served at the bouchons of Lyon, the city Paul Bocuse declared the gastronomic capital of the world.

Crêpes Bretonnes

The two faces of Breton tradition — buckwheat galettes for savoury (ham, egg and melted Comté in a fold) and white flour crêpes with Breton salted butter caramel for sweet; made on a round bilig griddle by a crêpière who has mastered the single-spread technique; Quimper's crêperies set the standard; eaten as a full meal.

Steak Frites

France's great everyman dish — an entrecôte or faux-filet cooked to a precise saignant (bloody) over fierce heat so the crust chars while the interior stays cold-centred; served with thin frites fried twice in beef fat and a knob of maître d'hôtel butter; the Relais de l'Entrecôte serves nothing else and has queues around the block.

bouillabaisse