This material was prepared for the students of the Basic Training courses in the specialty of Cooking that are prepared at the Training Center of the Territorial Delegation of MINTUR in Matanzas.
This tool can also be very useful for chefs who wish to learn and / or improve their preparation in the French language in order to offer an excellent service to customers.
Here you will find general information about the food in France, the differences of the French regions as far as their cuisine is concerned, as well as about French bread. On the other hand, you will also find useful specific vocabulary on these pages, such as: general information about French food, French regions and their cuisine, French bread, useful vocabulary in the kitchen, breakfast, starters, dishes strong, seafood, garnishes, cereals, nuts, legumes, vegetables, fruits, oils, spices, other useful products in the kitchen, dairy products, basic products, table, of the verbs most used in the kitchen, of cooking techniques, of sauces, of the types of cuts, of wines and their glasses, of preserves, of sweets,of varieties of dishes and sausages.
In addition, you can see a similar vocabulary but with the peculiarity of being accompanied by images, which makes it more attractive and useful in French classes or as a tool for students to deepen their knowledge.
The proposed objective is to provide affordable material to students of Basic Training courses in the specialty of Cooking and Bakery, Bakery, Basic Training and to those interested in the study of French, contributing to the improvement of language programs.
NOTE: You will find the elements in Spanish and French. (See PDF)
GENERAL INFORMATION ON FRENCH FOOD
In France food is considered one of the main pleasures in life, and great care and attention is paid to the preparation of food as well as to the traditions and ceremonies surrounding crops and their sale. Part of the main attraction of French cuisine is the enormous regional variety that characterizes it. The distinctive culinary personality of each region was largely determined by the climate, soil, foreign influences, and local tastes.
A recent survey of French eating habits revealed that sauces are disappearing, especially among young people, who prefer simpler dishes with fruits and vegetables. These trends are temporarily put aside during the holidays when French tourists reveal their interest in regional dishes and it turns out that slow cooker stews such as le boeuf bourguignon, tripes and civet de lapin or lapin à la havraise are the favorites. they are very rarely eaten in French homes.
Formerly the existing trends in the diet of the French were the following:
- The light breakfast (coffee, with or without milk, toast with jam, or butter, or bread).The lunch was traditionally the most important meal of the day (starter, meat with vegetables, salad, cheese, dessert and all accompanied by wine The food was lighter (pottage or soup, main course, cheese and dessert).
Currently the French diet has undergone changes. The French have a tendency to eat less. In cities, lunch, which is generally made outside (dining rooms or cafeterias), consists of a snack and a coffee. The food that is made as a family is the most important. However, lunch in the country continues to be a real feast.
Eating is one of the pleasures of the French, especially at family parties, with friends or at business lunches. Usually you have an aperitif before starting and a digestif at the end, although the dishes are accompanied by wines. Sometimes it even happens that in the middle of the feast a glass of calvados is offered that allows a pause to continue later.
Eating and talking is a ritual at the French table, not only enjoying eating but also talking. French cuisine is considered the mother of gastronomy.
This European cuisine defends a lot the authenticity of regional products, also giving receptivity to the influence of other gastronomic cultures, called nouvelle cuisine, it is simply novel cuisine, it is combining sweet and salty, sour and sweet, non-greasy and the spices. The basis of this cuisine are fresh and quality products, short cooking, light and reduced sauces, steam cooking, fine doughs from Morocco and Greece, spices from the East, as well as pasta and risottos from Italy.
If we talk about wine, France tops the list of wine-producing countries together with Italy with more than seven thousand reserves and more than eighteen thousand denominations of origin.
THE FRENCH REGIONS AND THEIR CUISINE
Brittany and Normadía:
Seafood (shrimp, lobster, crustaceans)
Sea fish
Breton crepes
Salted butter
Tripe, leg of lamb
Cheeses: Camembert, Pont-L'Evêque
Drinks: citron, calvados
In the South and Provence:
Great use of: olive oil, garlic, herbs de Provence
Fish soup (la bouillabaisse et la bourride)
Pasta
Ratatouille niçoise (Ratatouille with tomatoes, olives, peppers, cucumbers, aubergine)
Fruits (pears, grapes, apricots)
Cheeses (Roqueforts)
Wines (Côte du Rhône, Rosé de Provence)
In Auvergne:
Sausages (ham, salchichón)
Stew (potée: bacon soup with sausages and vegetables) Cheeses: Bleu d'Auvergne, Roquefort
In the Southwest: Crêpes de Bordeaux
Foie gras from Landes and Périgord
Goose jam
The cassoulet (Toulouse region)
Bayonne ham
All Bordeaux and Cahors wines
In Champagne: River fish
Sausages (white blood sausage, ham, andouillette)
Cheeses (Briè, Couloummiers)
Reim's cookies
Meaux mustard
In the Lyon and Burgundy region:
The specialties are very numerous in these gastronomic regions:
Brochet quenelles (species of croquettes with fish or meat
Bresse hen
Burgundy snails
King prawns, hot salami
Cheeses: Chiva, Bleu de Bresse
All Beaujolais and Burgundy wines
In Alsace-Lorraine:
Sausages Foie gras
Quiche Lorena Big game
Sausages Fruits (cherries, plums)
Cheeses: Munster, Romatour Fruitcakes and the Kouglof
Beer and all Alsace wines
Strasbourg sauerkraut is a highly regarded dish, eaten with dry white wine or beer.
In Corsica:
Mediterranean fish
Corsican sausages
Island wines and cheeses
THE FRENCH BREAD
The French are very demanding when it comes to bread, it must be fresh, baked almost before being eaten.
The bread is eaten in this country in the three meals of the day, the one that is left over in addition to being toasted is used to make pudding or fillings.
The most popular bread is the baguette: an elongated golden wheat flour bread, another is the petit parisien, shorter and thicker than the baguette and softer in the center.
Many of the breads known in France originate from the provinces of other countries. Most whole grain breads such as tourte d'Auvergne rye black are provincial breads, while natte ordinaire and natte aux cumins are originally Austrian and pain espagnol from Spain, however French bakers have created their own breads like: the petit saint oven, parisian. Another bread that deserves consideration is the croissant with a slight crescent shape and known worldwide.
Brioche is one of the most famous French breads, whose characteristics is to be a thin egg bread with a lot of butter, its shape varies depending on each city, but the classic one is round with a dark golden ball on top. They are always served at breakfast accompanied by butter and jams.
We can assure you that bread has a very well-deserved place in French gastronomy.
PRESERVES
Types of preserves
Jams: they are obtained by cooking whole fruits or in pieces in a syrup with a high percentage of sugar (between 65 and 100% with respect to the weight of the fruits). The syrup is prepared, the prepared fruits are added and it is cooked until it is ready. The time will depend on the kind of fruit and its size.
Jams: in general, they are prepared with fruits cut into small cubes that are marinated with sugar before cooking. They are left for at least six hours or until the sugar is completely dissolved. Then cook about 45 minutes or until it reaches the desired point.
Compotes: cut fruits are cooked in a light syrup or in wine with sugar in a variable proportion, depending on each fruit. They can also be prepared with dried fruits by previously soaking them in warm water. If species of different hardness are mixed, they should be cooked separately.
Jellies: they are preparations based on fruit juices rich in pectin cooked with sugar and with a thick and transparent consistency. The fruits are not peeled or core and seeds are removed, they are only washed and cut into cubes and cooked with or without water to soften them and facilitate the extraction of the juice, and then they are crushed and strained.
Arrope: it is a different technique from the other preserves since in the cooking, must cooked with honey is used. In general it is made with pumpkin, green melon and watermelon rind and its consistency is similar to that of syrup.
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