Many gourmets consider it a great stroke of luck to get into a popular French restaurant
French cuisine is associated, first and foremost, with elegance and uniqueness, and restaurants are considered as much attractions included in tourist itineraries as architecture, world-famous museums, royal palaces, and medieval castles. Each region of France has its own culinary recipes: some have come down to us from the depths of centuries, others have appeared recently, and still others are considered a synthesis of ancient dishes improved over many years by skilled chefs.
The main diet of the French consists of exquisite dishes made from root vegetables and various vegetables, sometimes exotic. The daily diet of locals includes green beans and potatoes, cabbage of all kinds, spinach, parsley, celery and other greens, an abundance of onions, green salad, eggplants and tomatoes. And, of course, cheeses – France produces more than five hundred types of them, although locals consume other dairy products very rarely.
The region known as the Côte d'Azur has its own very distinctive cuisine, formed under the influence of recipes from sunny Italy. Many dishes here include wine – red or white. In coastal towns – Cannes and Nice, Antibes and Saint-Tropez – visitors to local restaurants will be offered exquisite dishes of fish and various seafood: crabs and shrimp, langoustines and lobsters, oysters and squid, cooked in dry white wine with the addition of various ingredients.
Coming to the Principality of Monaco, located very close to the southern cities of France, one can also enjoy gastronomic diversity. Any restaurant will serve exquisite French or Italian dishes, and there is virtually no national cuisine per se. Residents of other southern regions – Gascony, Provence, Languedoc – have always been known as lovers of heat, spices and seasonings, which is reflected in their regional recipes.
Common to the French regardless of their region of residence is a large number of sauces. No housewife or chef will reveal the technology of their preparation. Everyone adds something of their own to the recipes; even a very ordinary dish acquires a completely new taste after dressing.
The gastronomic map of France is compiled taking into account the culinary preferences of residents of its various regions. And moving from city to city, one can only marvel at the variety of exquisite delicacies.
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