French Recipes

By: Laura Sommers

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

France is a country in Western Europe. It encompasses medieval cities, alpine villages and Mediterranean beaches. Paris, its capital, is famed for its fashion houses, classical art museums including the Louvre and monuments like the Eiffel Tower. The country is also renowned for its wines and sophisticated cuisine.

French cuisine has been influenced over the centuries by the many countries that it borders, including Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium.

French cuisine can be traced back to medieval times. Back then, nobility dined on multi-course meals composed of wild game, meat, fruit, and grains, while peasants ate diets high in vegetables and legumes. Expensive salt and imported spices were widely used in the kitchens of the elite and were considered a status symbol.

Then, during the Middle Ages cooking began to lighten and dishes in France began to shape into a cuisine we would more readily recognize today. In the 1600’s, the first French cookbooks were written. Eventually, people began to cook for themselves and knowledge of French cooking spread to other parts of the world.

Haute cuisine, which translates to “high cuisine” refers to cooking that emphases moderation and quality over abundance and quantity. French cooking focuses on techniques. Methods such as saute, braise, confit and flambe are some of the many popularly known techniques in French cooking.

This cookbook contains a wide variety of the simpler traditional and inspired French recipes.