French food culture is its own unique, delicious universe. There are things here that are completely foreign to an American kitchen — not just in terms of flavors, but in how they’re cooked, served, and even thought about.
I quickly learned that my idea of “gourmet” was a little different from the French, and that I had a lot to learn about how simple, everyday foods could be turned into something so much more. Let’s talk about French food culture and get into five foods I didn’t know about until I moved to France.
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Salut! I’m Diane, an American who has lived in France since 2012 and the creator of the blog/YT channel Oui In France. My channel’s focus is “Everyday French life and beyond.” I make videos on French culture topics, France vs. US culture comparisons, with a sprinkling of food, travel, and language topics and give you my thoughts about what it’s like living in France as an American in the Loire Valley. Thanks for being here and if you enjoy this sort of thing, please share with friends and subscribe!
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27 Comments
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Little suggestion, you're doing a video about food, you should put more images and clips of the actual food instead of filming yourself all the time
Paté is already good, but have you tried porc rillettes. It's my absolute favourite.
I grow rhubarbs in Quebec, very common! We do jam and strawberry / rhubarbs tarte with it. Endive roasted with Balsamic vinegar is great!
The capital of forced rhubarb is in a defined area of Yorkshire (north UK). It's forced in the dark to make it sweeter. Lots of British and French gardens have a rhubarb patch. Rhubarb Crumble is a staple dessert, served with custard.
How funny I think of Rhubarb and leeks as very british items but now you say that you’re right leeks certainly very French too and I have only seen rhubarb jams in France. Endives are not huge here in the uk you do need to search for them in the supermarket but I am going to try the ham and cheese gratin. I have tried both white pudding and pate and must say both hard no for me but it was more a texture thing for me.
You can swap Germany for France. You get the same food. Even the blood sausage (mmmmhhh lecker).
Endives or Witloof in Dutch, were invented in Brussels in the early 1800's by Frans Bresiers. Belgian, ot French 🙂
Honestly. Offals are missing in this video.
C'est bon le boudin noir.
Family food in France is not fancy. It’s good basic fresh ingredients.
Rhubarb seems more of a British thing to me. Got rediscovered in trendy restaurants over the last 10/20 years. It’s so easy to grow in your own garden. Leeks too.
Had no idea pâté was novel in the US!
I do like endives but for me it's a bit of a hit or miss; most of the time they're mild but every now and then they're quite bitter
I discovered dressed endive and grated carrot salads on school exchange in France in the 1970s. So simple so delicious, especially with a basket of bread on the table.
When I moved to California 35 years ago…..I had lost so many vegs on my list. IE endives, salsifies, wild mushrooms and chesnuts etc etc. I m now back in Europe and rediscover all of them..😊
Diane if you find boudin noir disgusting….don't go near andouillettes or tripe.
boudin noir >>>>>> boudin blanc
The first thing I thought of when I saw the title is rillette all the veggies are in US. I grew up with rhubarb and we have strawberry rhubarb pies.
So sorry to hear that you don't like the boudin noir. All over europe some kind of boudin noir is known as a way of using the pigs blod. People were poor, and nothing went to waste.
The classic belgian recepie is fried black and white boudin, mashed potatoes and mashed appeles. 😋
Quick tip for boudin blanc, if you want it to cook faster: cut it into medium slices (say 5 mm) and sear it in a pan at medium heat. Goes wonderfully well with leek too!
There are red endives that are not as bitter as white endives.
France is one of my favourite countries to visit. One thing I learned is not to order a burger and fries. Do yourself a favour and order steak frites! If in Paris, try Le Rosebud restaurant in Montparnasse. I am adventurous when it comes to food and almost always order the local cuisine even if I don't know what it is. In all my visits, I have only had one experience when I couldn't eat what I ordered. It was a restaurant in Paris and I ordered the specialty without asking any questions. It was tripe. There was nothing wrong with the restaurant. It was lovely and my partner was very happy with his meal. It was just me adding to a short list of foods I can't handle no matter how much I try. My Rule is try it. You just might like it!
One thing I discovered in France was Frisee. Served with heated goat cheese and a vinegar-olive oil on top. Somewhat bitter, but I really like that dish. Frisee is hard to find here in Canada, but it can be found in specialty stores from time to time.
Best simple recipe with leeks is just cut them in 2cm, put some butter and little water, salt and peper and let it melt… it's called 'fondue de poireau' ( melted leeks). This is perfect sauce for fish and seafood.
MMMM, rhubarb. Strawberry rhubarb anything. And endive/radicchio salad with crumbly bleu cheese and sugared pecans or walnuts.
These food aren't particularly French. Most of them are popular all around the world.