French Food Adventures: Two Yorkshire Sisters Discover French Cuisine

French Food Adventures:

Two Yorkshire Sisters Discover French Cuisine!

By

Kay Atkinson and Jill Laurillard

Woodbridge Publishers

Forest House, 3rd Floor 16-20

Clements Road Unit #2048

Ilford, IG1 1BA

Copyright © 2024 by Kay Atkinson and Jill Laurillard

All Rights Reserved

First Edition

Illustrations by Jan Gleaves

ISBN (Paperback): 978-1-917184-99-1

ISBN (Hardback): 978-1-0685144-3-2

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the publisher. You must not circulate this book in any format.

Under no circumstances will any blame or legal responsibility be held against the publisher, or author, for any damages, reparation, or monetary loss due to the information contained within this book, either directly or indirectly.

To our parents, Alan and Gwyneth,

For making us who we are, inspiring us to travel, and always encouraging us to stick together.

With love.

Contents

Introduction

Chapter One

Rouen

The Cuisine

Apples and Pears

Boudin Noir

Cheese

Cheese in Yorkshire

Other Specialities of the Region and Where To Find Them

Restaurants and Eateries

Crêperie Roland

Crazy Love

Recipe The Galette Normande au Camembert

Chapter Two

Tours

The Cuisine

La Poire Tapee - The Flattened Pear

Honey

Rillettes de Tours

Galets de Loire

Le nougat de Tours

Saffron de Touraine

Macaroons of Cormery

Saint Maure de Touraine

Restaurants and Eateries

Recipe Nougat de Tours cake

Chapter Three

Limoges

The Cuisine

The Limousin Steak

Pãté de Pommes de Terre (Potato Pie)

Clafoutis - The Speciality of the Limousine

Other Limousin Specialities and Where to Find Them

Rillettes de pork

Galetous

Beignet

Restaurants and Eateries

Recipe Pâté de Pommes de Terre

Chapter Four

Bordeaux

History

The Cuisine

Puits d’Amour

Wine

Yorkshire’s Own Beverage Tradition

Canelés

Other Specialities of the Region and Where To Find Them

Restaurants and Eateries

Recipe Caneles de Bordeaux

Chapter Five

Toulouse

Occitain Cuisine

Cassoulet

The Toulouse Food Tour

Violets

Patisserie

Other Specialities of the Region and Where To Find Them

Restaurants and Eateries

Recipe Clafoutis

Chapter Six

Bagneres de Luchon

Twin Towns

The Cuisine

Pétéram

Gateau à la broche

The Fondue

Chapter Seven

Avignon

The Cuisine

Lavender

La Maison de la Lavande, St Remeze

Yorkshire Lavender

Calissons

Protected Geographical Indication (PGI)

Pontefract Cakes

Nougat

Chocolate

The Avignon Food Tour

Recipe Provencal Ratatouille

Chapter Eight

Lyon

The Cuisine

Pink Praline (Praline Roses)

St Marcellin Cheese

Le Galette de Perouges

Other Specialities of the Region and Where To Find Them

Restaurants and Eateries

Recipe - Cheese Risotto with Peas and Prawns

Chapter Nine

Dijon

The Cuisine

Dijon Mustard

Pain D’Epice

Parkin

Crème de Cassis

Sloe Gin

Other Specialities of the Region and Where To Find Them

Chocolate

Restaurants and Eateries

The French Gastronomic Meal

Recipe – Pain D’épice

Chapter Ten

Montereau Sur Yonne

The Cuisine

Escargots – Snails

Halal Food

Chapter Eleven

Lille

Twinning

The Cuisine

Champagne

Gaufres

Moules

Other Specialities of the Region and Where To Find Them

Restaurants and Eateries

Recipe Carbonnade Flamande

About the Authors

Introduction

Nearly 40 years after we went interrailing around Europe, we are off again. 

Two sisters, whose adult lives went in their own directions, have come together for another European adventure. Although this time, we won’t be sleeping in train corridors or sharing hostel rooms with an assortment of other travellers but travelling in the luxury of our own Citroen c3 and staying at Airbnbs.

Why did we choose France?

We both had fond memories of our family holidays in France when we were teenagers, where our dad would make us drive 200 miles between each campsite to make sure we saw as much of the country as possible and, instead of trying local cuisine, we would dine on the tins of baked beans he had brought with us. Well, he was a bank manager and a Yorkshireman and was determined to get the full experience at a reasonable price. For food, we had a packed lunch and our mother’s packed lunches were legendary, though probably not in the way she wanted. They rarely varied – cheese sandwiches (maybe a baguette on occasion as a nod to France), an apple and maybe a piece of fruit cake. In the winter, a flask of tomato soup. 

Sadly, we have lost both our mother and father in recent years and so, this journey is part homage to them and part adventure as we are both now empty nesters and retired from our professional careers. We now both work as Food Ambassadors for Yorkshire Appetite Food Tours, a company set up by Kay after retiring from education. This sisters’ adventure today is a much more leisurely affair than our family camping or interrailing days and we are taking full advantage of trying the local foods and that is what this book is all about.

Food is so much part of any culture; it is woven into the fabric of our social networks and our economic livelihoods. It brings people together as producers and consumers and our traditions are based on the foods, we share every day and on special occasions. We are going to be discovering the specialities of the regional areas of France so that on your own journey to France, you can try and you can discover the range of food experiences available - restaurants, home recipes, regional speciality production, farm visits, great food markets, food tours. Food Tourism has been growing at over 8% per annum over the last few years and the market is expected to rise by 16.8% by 2027. 95% of travellers around the world can now be classed as food travellers, with 80% researching food and drink before they arrive at their destination. 70% chose their destination BASED on the food and drinks available. It is the new global trend, not only attractive to millennials fuelled by the plethora of food blogs and influencers on social media but also to the Baby Boomers and Gen Zs inspired by popular culture and the media.

The English and the French have a history. We have fought many a war over the last two thousand years and before. We have both been invaded by Vikings and we have shared kings with William the Conqueror invading us from Normandy in 1066 and the English temporarily ruling parts of France in the 12th century.  The year 1815, however, brought peace and in 1904, the Entente Cordiale was signed, and France became our ‘most dear enemy.’ 

Now, with 300,000 French people living in Britain and 250,000 Britons living in France, we would argue we mostly like each other and are not so different after all. Of course, Brexit has brought change, but it’s an equal balance for both countries.

This book is the story of two sisters discovering the culinary traditions of France and promoting the links with Yorkshire’s own.

Yorkshire Appetite on Tour in France.

Chapter One

Rouen

A few centuries after the Romans, the Vikings arrived in Normandy, and many of them settled there, adopting the language, customs, and religion of the region. They became known as Normans and thus, this area of France became Normandy.

The climate of the region is characterised by cold winters and mild summers, lacking the gulf stream in winter yet cooled by the Atlantic breezes in summer. The rain comes in and the land is lush and green. With this climate, much flat land and the calcaneus soil, it is ideal for agriculture and so, in that way, begins its similarity to Yorkshire, God’s own country.

The city of Rouen is situated 78 km from Paris, a little far to be known as a commuter town. Plus, the Rouennais see themselves as unique and really quite apart from the Parisiennes. With nearly half a million inhabitants, Rouen is a busy city and has been a bustling port for centuries despite being around 75 km inland. The Seine winds its way from Hon fleur on the coast through Rouen to Paris and it is seen as the outer port of Paris.

The characteristic houses of the Normandy countryside, single-story raised from the land with their tall, slanting roofs, give way to the tall, half-timbered buildings of the centre of this medieval city, evoking the millennia of history seeped into their walls. Some of the backstreets were so evocative that if it wasn’t for the odd track-suited youth on a mobile phone, we could have been wandering around in the 14th century (lack of open sewers notwithstanding).

There is much evidence of their love and pride in their most famous daughter, Joan of Arc. A mere teenager of local peasant stock born in 1412, she managed to get the ear of Prince Charles de Valois, who was fighting the English, the area at that time being ruled by Henry V, King of England and France. Joan purported that she had heard voices from God choosing her to lead the French to victory and she was put in charge of French troops at the siege of Orleans. She managed to break the siege and enter the city, which was surrounded by the English Troops and inspired the citizens to defeat the English. She went on to lead more battles until she was defeated at the Siege of Paris and captured by the English. Joan was charged with blasphemy for wearing men’s clothes and listening to demonic messages and was burnt at the stake in the Old Market Place in Rouen at the age of 19. You can still see the scorch marks.

(JK, you can’t!)

The Cuisine

We asked many a Norman about their culinary specialities and the list became longer and longer, so we are picking a few that we kept coming upon time after time.

Normandy provides a gourmet escape. With fertile, lush land and a long coastline, the area has an abundance of natural resources, so there is plenty of local produce, but also, there is an international element with the port bringing spices and exotic ingredients from around the world. While there are many who rave about the oysters and seafood from the coast, we are concentrating on specialities that come from the land, both in France and with a nod to Yorkshire.

Apples and Pears

That these are their main crop becomes obvious as you drive around the Normandy countryside with rows and rows of carefully tended orchards lining the straight roads.

Apples were first mentioned in history in Normandy during the reign of Charlemagne in 742-814 and it is known that large quantities of apple trees were imported from Biscay in the 15th century. Like the Basque country, Normandy has clay soil, which is rich in potassium and relatively free of stones. The mild yet damp climate makes the area ideal for the cultivation of high-quality cider apples. 

You are ideally placed there to really investigate the production of cider.  The cider route is well known, a 25-mile route around the Pays d’Auge, an hour west of Rouen, that winds its way through several picturesque villages and takes in over twenty cider farms. You would be hard-pressed (ha!) to visit every one and we chose Calvados Christian Drouin, north of the cider route at Pont L’Ėvèque.

Christian Drouin Senior first began producing cider on the family estate at Gonneville-sur-Hon fleur and as production increased, Christian Junior moved production in 1990 to its current site, a former cider farm that dates back to the 17th century.  The architecture of that time, with its half-timbered buildings, reflects the age and tradition of this craft and touring the site, you can take in the press house, the still room, and the bottling plant, as well as the original distillery and a small manor house. Junior wasted no time planting a high-stemmed orchard, the trees that produce the apples, although they also use apples from the original estate in Hon fleur and several neighbouring farms.   

Cider production is complex. There are a range of apple varieties, and getting the right flavour requires a careful blending of sweet, bitter, and acidic apples.  The fruit is still harvested by hand. When the apples are at their maximum ripeness, the trees are shaken and the apples are picked up by hand and placed in sacks. Some are stored for several weeks until they are at the right maturity and then stored on a cement floor, piled up to 70 cm high.

When ready, the apples are crushed in a grater and squeezed to obtain the pulp, which is kept wrapped up in cloth and separated by wooden trays.  The pure juice is pumped into cider barrels. These barrels can be used for years and the information is chalked onto the side. New barrels are avoided as the many tannins can adversely affect the taste, and once the cider is drawn off, the barrels are cleaned for the next use. In the old days, they used to put children into the barrels to clean them – better or worse than sending them to the mine? When I say they like to reuse them, the oldest barrel is from 1889!

From the cider barrels, they prepare three drinks: apple juice, of course, and then Pommeau, which is similar to a fortified wine with three-quarters apple cider and one-quarter calvados. Calvados itself is apple brandy using