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FOOD AND DRINK

What you need to know about France’s new museum of food

France is generally pretty content to think of itself as the world centre of food - and UNESCO agrees - but now it has opened a new museum to share its gastronomic secrets.

Published: 18 October 2019 15:46 CEST
What you need to know about France's new museum of food
The museum is housed in the city's historic Hotel-Dieu. Photo: AFP

Opening to the public on Saturday the Cité internationale de la gastronomie is the first of its kind in France. Here is what you need to know about it.

1.  It's in Lyon.

The eastern French city is generally regarded as the foodie centre of France, so it has been given the honour of hosting the first museum. Although it will be followed by sites in Dijon, Tours and Rungis – just outside Paris and the home of France's biggest food market. The Lyon site will very much be paying homage to the city's foodie tradition, which include the famous bouchon restaurants and the Lyonnaise pink pralines.

2. It's thanks to UNESCO

The network of gastronomy hangouts was dreamed up after UNESCO placed French cuisine on its list of 'intangible cultural treasures'. France was the first country to have its traditional cuisine honoured in this way when it was added to the UNESCO world heritage list back in 2010.

READ ALSO The full details of Paris' new WWII French resistance museum


Mayor of Lyon Gerard Collomb speaking at the launch of the project back in 2013. Photo: AFP

3. It has the theme of health

Traditional French cuisine, with its heavy use of meat, butter and cream, has never been exactly renowned for its healthiness (although it doesn't seem to do the French much harm, as they have consistently long life expectancies).

But a major theme of the Lyon museum is creating good health through eating. This doesn't mean there is no cheese (obviously) but its stated goal is for 'the visitor to come out with the feeling that eating well offers all the keys to ageing well'.

4. It's expected to be very popular

Organisers are predicting 300,000 visitors a year to the museum which is housed in a historic former hospital in the centre of the city. It's divided into a number of sections which include a history of Lyonnaise cooking, a section on wellbeing through food, a kids section with interactive exhibits and a chef's table.

 

5. Yes, of course you get tasters

There's no point just looking at food, right? The visit ends with a 'chef's table' on the top floor, which will feature a team of chefs doing live preparation of seasonal products, which you then get to sample.

The practical details – It's situated on 4 Grand Cloître du Grand Hôtel-Dieu, 69002 Lyon and is open every day from 10am to 7pm apart form December 25, January 1 and May 1. Tickets are €12 for adults, €8 for children and €3 for the unemployed and those on social benefits. Find out more details on the website.

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FOOD AND DRINK

9 delicious French dishes to try this summer

It’s almost impossible to imagine a ‘bad time’ for food lovers in France – summer certainly isn’t one, with a huge range of fresh, flavourful and light produce easily available. Here’s a few of our favourites.

Published: 8 August 2024 08:14 CEST
Updated: 10 August 2024 16:06 CEST
9 delicious French dishes to try this summer

Salade niçoise

Summer is the season of salads and seafood in France. Which brings us immediately to arguably the most classic of French summer classic dishes, traditionally made with tomatoes and anchovies, dressed with olive oil.

All the extra stuff you’ll see in a modern version – hard-boiled eggs, olives, lettuce, green beans, tuna were added later and French people can get quite agitated over the question of potatoes in a salade niçoise.

Speaking of . . .

Pan bagnat

A pan bagnat is, basically, salad niçoise in sandwich form. But the secret to a proper pan bagnat is in the bread. It’s a traditional, rustic sandwich made using stale bread that has been refreshed by a trickle of water.

The clue is in the name – it literally means ‘bathed bread’. And a proper pan bagnat can only come from and use ingredients from Provence. Otherwise it’s just a (mostly) vegetable sandwich.

Tomates farcies

Potagers up and down France have tomato plants in them right now, and they’re all – hopefully – giving good fruit. Enter the many stuffed tomato recipes to cope with the glut. Expect variations on a sausage meat, onions, garlic, salt-and-pepper theme.

Of course, a simple tomato salad (perhaps with a little cheese and a sprinkle of basil) is also a joy to behold.

Flan de courgette

As it is with tomatoes, so it is with courgettes. Gardeners the length and breadth of France are wondering what to do with the sheer mass of fruit their plants are giving out.

The simple and delicious courgette flan covers many a base – and also incorporates French cuisine favourites ham and cheese. Usually served warm.

Ratatouille

It’s probably illegal not to mention the famously rustic ratatouille in any piece about French summer recipes.

The dish you probably know – with tomatoes, courgettes, aubergines, pepper and garlic – is from Provence. But there are variation on this vegetable stew that you’ll find across the Mediterranean arc – think piperade, from southwest France, bohémienne, from Vaucluse, or chichoumeille, from Languedoc. 

They’re all delicious and they’ll all give you your five-a-day.

Tarte au chèvre et au concombre

Cucumbers are typical salad fare. They can be added to drinks, used to make chilled soups and detox cocktails. But you can also cook with them. Seek out a recipe for goat’s cheese and cucumber tart.

Vichyssoise

A chilled soup, perfect on a summer’s day, with a French name, created by a French chef. This chilled leek-and-potato soup actually first appeared, around 1910, as a dish at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in New York. But it has its basis in France. The chef who created it, Louis Félix Diat, said that it was inspired by his mother, who taught him how to cook. 

Chilled soups are a great bet on a hot day and you’ll see dozens of variations on menus, from cucumber to melon via variations on gazpacho (which is Spanish but the French very sensibly embrace it).

Tapenade

Black olives, garlic, anchovies, capers, olive oil. A blender. And you’ve got a delicious, simple ‘tartiner’ for a slice of toast or crusty bread. Try it. You’ll thank us.

Moules à la crème

Shellfish and summer go hand in glove. Moules-frites are hugely popular, with good reason.

But this summer moules recipe is, despite the creaminess, a little lighter overall. As always, there are always regional variations on a theme – do look out for moules à la normande, in particular.

What’s your favourite French dish on a hot day? Share your recommendations in the comments section below

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