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French Bread - Crust & Culture: Enjoying French Bread

2026-06-09T07:15:00.000-07:00

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

A boulangerie (baker’s shop) in France.
Photograph courtesy of Kimon Berlin
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kimon/16095492470/

Bread in French is Spelled Pain and Pronounced Pan.

Bread may be the most basic of all foods, but, in France, choosing bread is also an institution. The French care more about bread and the types of bread available than any other nation. So, when you visit France, look for an opportunity to try breads other than the obligatory baguette.

Baguettes straight out of the oven.
Photograph courtesy of Bob Hall
https://www.flickr.com/photos/houseofhall/8422489736/

Beginning on page four is a glossary for buying French bread with all the French you need to know.

First-time visitors to France are often surprised by the number of independent boulangeries, bakeries, which still operate in the cities and towns, and even in some villages. Nevertheless, the number of bakeries is a quarter of that from 10 or 15 years ago.

Stohrer, the oldest patisserie and boulangerie in Paris
(Founded in 1730).
51 Rue Montorgueil, Paris 75002.

Today, more French families choose to buy their bread in the evening for their next day's breakfast. Now, either buy your bread, with preservatives, the day before or prepare to begin your day with a one-and-a-half-kilometer (0.90 miles) walk to the nearest boulangerie. (Remember that that's the same distance back).

Buying French bread.

Gone are the days when the average French person could enjoy bread without any additives. Baguettes without additives must be eaten, at the most, within five or six hours. Even an ordinary supermarket baguette made with preservatives will not be fresh from one morning to the next; the family will either buy a supermarket baguette the night before or buy a pain boule (pronounced pan bool), a traditional round loaf of bread. A pain boule may be used for two to three days and continue as toast.

Bakeries are required to post the weight and price of each type of bread category they sell, and the weight must be accurate within a narrow range. As long as each bakery displays the weight of its products, apart from La Baguette de Tradition, the traditional baguette, they may use their own standards and names.

The A – Z for ordering coffee in France click here.

Buying cheese in France and taking it home click here.

All the French you need for breakfast in France click here.

The different flours used in French cuisine click here.

The croissant’s history and the different types click here.

A glossary of French bread.

Pain – Bread is the most basic of all foods. Of course, if you are like Marie Antoinette, you can get along with cake alone. (Pain is pronounced pan, with the n being light, almost indiscernible). I cannot list all the different types of bread available in France, as that would require a separate book, possibly three or four. However, I have noted the most popular types of bread seen in the boulangeries, bakeries; supermarkets, supermarchés, hotel breakfast menus, and restaurants. I have included a few others where I liked their names or their history:

Croissant - A croissant is not bread; it is a pastry and will be seen in most French homes only on the weekend. A croissant needs to be eaten fresh, as the best croissants have no preservatives; they will be bought fresh on weekend mornings. However, all cafes and hotels offer croissants for breakfast, and you will see weekday lunch sandwiches made with large croissants. For the croissant’s history and the different types, click here

A croissant at lunchtime.

Photograph courtesy of Marco Verch

www.flickr.com/photos/30478819@N08/28554316752/

Pain à l'ail – Garlic bread. In France, this may be any bread flavored with garlic and then toasted.

Pain au Blé Noir or Pain au Sarrasin – Buckwheat flour bread.

Pain au Chocolat – A chocolate croissant. Why a chocolate-filled croissant is not called a chocolat croissant is lost in the history of French pâtisseries.

Pain au Froment - Bread made from 100% wheat flour. Pain au froment with a percentage mark after the name indicates mixed flours. An example may be froment 75%; the other flour used for the remaining 25% will usually be displayed.

Pain au froment.
Bread made with 100% wheat flour.
Photograph courtesy of Emily Carlin
https://www.flickr.com/photos/emiline220/4273700153/

Pain au Levain - Sourdough bread. Sourdough bread may be made from wheat or rye flour, and ingredients such as honey may be added. Before any additions, sourdough bread is flour, water, salt, and a culture of yeast and lactic acid bacteria. The taste of sourdough bread is slightly acidic, and there are different aromas that the acid and yeast create.

Pain au Son - Bran Bread. Bran bread has the bran added to refined wheat flour (from which it was initially removed). Bran comes from the hard outer layers of the grain. There is 20% to 30% bran in pain au son. Pain au son is a bread recommended to improve your digestion.

Pain aux Noix - Walnut bread; made with whole wheat flour and walnuts. Walnuts are France's most highly rated nut. The French name for a walnut is "noix," and that word just translates as "nut." All other nuts have unique French names added to the word noix, while the walnut is "the nut."

Pain au Noix

Walnut Bread.
Photograph courtesy of Bart Everson.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/editor/8562384993/

Pain aux Raisins - The name for a Viennoiserie made with raisins. Viennoiseries are the name the French have given to their local equivalent of Danish pastries. The pastry used is mostly a puff pastry, somewhat similar to that used for croissants. The name links back to France's love for Viennese pastries.

Pain Azymes, Pain sans Levain or Pain Juif – See Pain sans Levain.

Pain Baguette - The most well-known of French breads. A standard baguette is thin and almost 70 cm (28") long and weighs 250 grams (9 ounces). NB: French breads do not have legal weights or sizes that cover every producer; every boulangerie and supermarket must clearly mark the weight of each type of bread they sell.

In many French homes, breakfast is not breakfast without a baguette. However, despite their popularity, baguettes are considered a Parisian or big city bread, and outside the cities, other breads may be preferred. An important reason for choosing another bread is the short shelf life of a baguette. NB: The word baguette also means a wand and a baton. Thinner and lighter baguettes are called ficelles, and larger ones are called flûtes. (See Pain Ficelle and Pain Flûte below).

The two schools of thought when it comes to buying a baguette:

Crisp baguettes: To order a baguette with a crisp and crunchy crust, use the term for a well-done steak, bien cuite (pronounced bien kweet). Just say un baguette bien kwee sil voo play. (There is a very slight 'T' in the pronunciation of cuit, but you'll rarely hear it.)

Soft crust baguettes: Just say pas trop cuite, not well done (pronounced pah trop kweet). Just say un baguette pa trop kweet sil voo play, and you will be offered a baguette with a soft crust. (The sil voo play is written as " s'il vous plaît and means please).

The history of the baguette and the flûte, written by a knowledgeable French correspondent:

The distinction between a flûte and a baguette is more cultural than anything else. In the 19th century, the term flûte covered all types of long and thin loaves of bread, with the moniker baguette only appearing in the early 20th century (about a hundred years ago). In the beginning, a baguette was only seen in Paris and a few other cities. Only in the 1970s was the word baguette commonly used nationwide. Some countryside bakeries will still sell flûtes, especially when they're made with a specialty flour, but today, very few bakeries sell both flûtes and baguettes, since the latter has mostly taken over.

The early morning baguette

Photograph courtesy of Joe Shlabotnik
https://www.flickr.com/photos/joeshlabotnik/479221077/

Pain Baguette à l'Ail - Garlic bread made with a toasted baguette.

Pain Baguette au Levain or a Baguette Paresseuse - Sourdough Baguettes. There is some history to the second name, paresseuse, in most French-English dictionaries used to be translated as a 'lazy girl.' (Google Translate has since become politically correct and changed the translation of une paresseuse to 'a lazy person'). While no one I asked knew the origin of the name, no one seemed to object to its continued usage.

Pain Baguette de Tradition (La) –The traditional baguette, the original baguette that dates back to the 1920s, when it was made without any preservatives. The visual differences between traditional baguettes and today's mass-produced baguettes are not easily discerned, though many hand-made traditional baguettes do have a giveaway when they have pointed ends. Search out a boulangerie (bakery) that makes a "baguette de tradition" and experience the different taste and texture. Baguettes a have become such a prominent part of the French psyche that I have prepared a separate post for those who look for the traditional baguette. The traditional baguette contains no chemical preservatives at all; it will be fresh for just two or three hours, and after five hours, forget about it. For the post on La Baguette de Tradition, click here.

Pain Bâtard – A bastard; the name used in boulangeries that make their own bread for any loaf that comes out of the oven in an odd shape.

Pain Beignets – French for a donut and many forms of deep-fried dough. At breakfast, a French beignet, pronounced bay-nyay, will be sprinkled with Sucre Pâtissier, powdered sugar. A pain beignet will be on many French café menus, with some filled with apples or other fruits.

Donuts with a hole in the center are called Beignets Américains, American Donuts, and they are available nearly everywhere.

Pain beignets and cafe au lait for breakfast.
Photograph courtesy of thotfulspot
www.flickr.com/photos/thotfulspot/3812527313/

Pain Beurrée or Tartine Beurrée – A sliced baguette or other French bread; served in French homes with butter alongside the morning's café au lait, a milky coffee. In a French café, this tartine beurrée would be noted on the breakfast menu and offered with marmalade or jam on the side. N.B. The word tartine also indicates a sandwich, usually an open sandwich.

Pain Bis - Brown bread made with rye flour.

Pains Biologiques, Pain Bio – Organic breads. Organic bread, marked with the government-regulated and respected A.B. marking. Organic bread begins with organic agriculture and the organic flour produced. Any organic flour may be used, but all additives must be 95% organic. Within the limitations of these less than 100% organic additives, the French and E.U. regulations are much stricter than those in the USA or Canada.

Pain Blanc – Standard white bread. The shapes are different from those at home.

Pain Boule or Boule de Pain – A round loaf made from a ball of dough. Before the baguette became famous in the 1920s, the boule was considered to be the "French bread." Then and now, many families still place a large boule on the French breakfast table rather than a baguette. Unlike thinner breads, a pain boule will stay fresh for two or three days. The term boule translates to a “ball”, and gave its name to the word Boulanger, the baker of round-shaped bread.

Pain de Boule.

Photograph courtesy of Traaf

https://www.flickr.com/photos/traaf/8062413002/in/dateposted/

Pain Boulot – Another name for pain boule; a round loaf.

Pain Brié - A traditional wheat-based bread from Normandy. The bread is made with butter, which gives it a decidedly different taste. It has no connection to Brie, the cheese. The dough is shaped into long, narrow loaves with tapered ends and then scored with diagonal slashes to create a distinctive striped pattern on the crust. The bread is baked at a high temperature, which creates a crispy, golden crust.

The name Brié (with the accute accent over the é) comes from the Old Norman verb brier, which means "to pound" or "to beat," referring to the long, vigorous kneading and pounding of the dough that gives the bread its tight crumb and heavy texture.

Pain Brié.

Photograph courtesy of Frédéric Bisson.

https::/www.flickr.com/photos/zigazou76/4626256502/

Pain Brioché – Brioché is bread made with added eggs, butter, and a little sugar; the shape will vary with local traditions, as does the exact recipe. A brioché will often be the bread of choice when a recipe calls for bread stuffed with pâtés or meats. Pâtés or other products cooked inside bread will be on the menu with the words en croute as part of the name; for example, Pâté en Croûte. Toasted brioché is the bread most often served alongside foie gras, fattened goose, or duck liver.

Recipes for brioché vary considerably, and a brioché branded with the name of a particular area will be a local point of pride. Brioché is also the bread considered closest in taste and appearance to one of the loaves of bread baked for the Jewish Sabbath and called a "challah" or "egg challah."

A Rectangular Brioché

Photograph courtesy of We Like Sharing

https://www.flickr.com/photos/welikesharing/54456199169/

A few types of brioché:

Pain Brioché de Vendée, Label Rouge - A traditional braided brioché from the department of Vendée in the region of the Pays-de-Loire. The inclusion of crème fraîche and orange zest gives this brioché its distinctive taste. This brioché began as an unusually large brioché, often over five kilos. Then it was made at home or in a bakery and served at Easter. Even larger briochés would be and often still are served at family celebrations. Today, the authentic Briochés de Vendée, those awarded the Label Rouge, the red label, are baked by professionals. The importance of the quality of this brioché is seen in the named and inspected bakeries that bake this unique Pain Brioché de Vendée. This brioché is the only French bread I know of to have been awarded the French Label Rouge, the Red Label, for consistent and unmatched quality. (Gâche was the original name of the Pain Brioché de Vendée).

Brioché Craquelin – These briochés, of which there are many types, developed from a Dutch or Belgian brioché-type bread called suikerbrood that has sucre perlé, pearl sugar lumps inside the dough and on top. The Brioché Craquelin, with its hard sugared top, and some with sugar lumps inside, came later; these have a hard top covered with sugar that gives it its French name, as it "cracks" as you cut or bite into it. (In French patisserie, craquelin evolved into a crunchy topping used on éclairs, profiteroles, etc, made with choux pastry (pâte à choux). Despite the many variations, all craquelins share the crunchy crackle of sugar.

Brioché de Nanterre - A rectangular brioché from Nanterre. Nanterre is a commune in the Hauts-de-Seine department, in the western suburbs of Paris.

Brioché Parisienne –The Parisian brioché. This brioché is made by forming the base in a fluted mold with a smaller half-round ball of dough set on top.

Brioché Parisienne

Brioché Tressée de Metz - This braided brioché is associated with the city of Metz, the prefecture of the department of Moselle. Metz was the capital of the region of Lorraine in North-Eastern France that, on 1-1-2016, became part of the new administrative region of the Grand Est. The capital of the Grand Est is Strasbourg.

Pogne - A brioché-type cake flavored with orange and lemon zest. See Pogne or Pogne de Romans below.

Pain Campagrain – Under this name are sold several different high fiber breads; campagrain bread uses two to five grains or more. The grains used include wheat, malted corn, rye, oats, barley, etc. Some bakers may include sunflower, sesame, and flax seeds; usually, all the grains used are marked along with the percentages. The shapes of Campagrain bread vary considerably, and you may find campagrain baguettes.

Pain Complet - This is a whole wheat bread that contains the germ and bran from the wheat that is removed when refined white flour is produced. The bran contributes to the bread's high fiber content, and whole wheat bread contains wheat germ. The wheat germ contains many nutrients, including vitamin E and folate, essential for a healthy heart. Vitamin E also promotes healthy skin and hair.

Pain Couronne – A ring-shaped loaf of bread with a hole in the middle; the French name translates as a crown. Couronnes have a loyal following because they keep well, as do other round loaves, but this one is easier to slice. There are two popular sizes, a petit (small) and a grande (large), and every bakery must display its loaves' weights. Like baguettes, some patrons prefer a regular crust, and some like theirs croustillant, with a crispy crust.

Pain Corounne

Pain Cramique – A bread similar to pain brioché but including raisins.

Pain Croûte à Potage or Potage son sous Béret - A bread crust used to cover soups, and a béret is a beret, the head covering, in English. This bread covering may appear on the menu under various names, not only as béret.

A soup or stew covered with a bread covering may also surprise you when it appears on your table without any indication on the menu. NB: These coverings are not always designed to be eaten.

Pain d'Épice - Gingerbread seems to be more appreciated in France than in any other country and many of its producers are considered artists. It is made with wheat, rye, or mixed flours flavored with ginger and sweetened with honey. Depending on the recipe, other spices including fleur de muscade, nutmeg; clous de girofle, cloves, and cannelle, cinnamon, may be added. French gingerbread will often be studded with candied fruits, or served with warm chocolate and or ice cream. Gingerbread is also used to create imaginative window displays and unique birthday cakes. One of the most famous types of French gingerbread is the Pain d'Épices de Dijon, the gingerbread of Dijon. Dijon may be renowned for its mustard, but its gingerbread is second to none among the cognoscenti.

A gingerbread house.
Too good to eat?
Photograph courtesy of Kermitfrog ;-)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/muriel67/3089351975/

Pain de Campagne or Pain Miche - Country bread. A bread with many recipes and shapes; the flour used may be standard wheat flour, whole wheat flour, or mixed flours with real Pain de Campagne made with natural leavening, not commercial yeast. The taste is mild and somewhat similar to American sourdough bread, making for an enjoyably chewy bread and crust.

Pain de Campagne
Photograph and recipe courtesy of maPatisserie.fr

Pain de Gênes – An almond paste cake.

Pain de Mais - Cornbread.

Pain de Mie or Pain Carré - Pain de Mie directly translates to soft bread, and Pain Carré means square bread. The French will use this square, soft bread for sandwiches, as it is often sold sliced; it will also be used for toast. For those used to sliced British sandwich bread, this is the nearest you'll find to it in France. Pain de Mie is also sold without a crust.

Pain de Siegel or Pain Noir - Rye bread. Rye bread is made with different percentages from the flours made with rye grain. It is higher in fiber than white bread, darker in color, and more robust in flavor.

Pain Déjeunette – A shorter-than-usual baguette; about one-half the length of a full-sized baguette: the name déjeunette implies that it is enough for a petit déjeuner (for breakfast). The sandwiches offered in a French sandwicherie will often be made with a déjeunette.

Déjeunette
Photograph courtesy of Vandemoortele

Pain Doré - Golden bread; one of the names for French toast. (See Pain Perdu).

Pain Ficelle – The word ficelle translates as a string, and a ficelle is shorter and thinner than a baguette. A ficelle weighs around 125 grams (4.50 grams); you will want to eat it the same day, as it will be stale by morning. Outside of bakeries and supermarket bakery departments, the word ficelle may be on your menu with meanings unrelated to bread:

Bœuf en Ficelle - Beef tied by a string and cooked while suspended above and in a boiling broth.

Ficelle Picardie - A crêpe stuffed with mushrooms, ham, and poultry. The finished crêpe is baked in a béchamel sauce with Gruyère cheese and served gratinée.

Pain Flûte – A longer and thicker version of a baguette. Flûtes were around for at least 50 years before baguettes were officially recognized in 1919. While there are no legal definitions for a flute, most will weigh about 400 grams (14 oz); compare that with the average baguette that weighs about 250 grams (9 oz).

Pain Forgeron – A farmhouse-type bread with added sunflower, sesame seeds, and flax seeds.

Pain Fougasse and Fougassette – A traditional bread that originated in the City of Nice and the surrounding villages in Provence. The fougasse was originally just a crusty bread made of baguette dough brushed with olive oil and flavored with orange zest. That is still the tradition, but many fougasse versions have changed beyond recognition. Without a change of name, the fougasse and fougassette now come with a wide variety of shapes, recipes, and flavors spread all over Provence and beyond. The provenance of this bread is claimed by the Italians, who point to their focaccia bread. Nevertheless, in Provence, no recipe is set in stone, and most of today's fougasse breads have limited connections to any Italian ancestors.

Pain Fougasse

Photograph courtesy of Ben Demey

https://www.flickr.com/photos/fritobandito/376110873/

Pain Grillé or Toast – Toasted bread; toast. The French word toster came to England from France with the Norman invasion in 1066, where it meant grilled or to grill. The French took home the Anglicized word “toast” and now use it with its modern English meaning. Today, the word toast is just as popular in France as the correct French name for toasted bread, pain grille. The French connection created many changes in the English kitchen.

Gros Pain - A large bread sold in various shapes and sizes and traditionally sold by weight.

Pain Maison – Homemade bread.

Pain Miche - See Pain de Campagne.

Pain Nordique – See Pain Polaire.

Pain Parisien – Another name for a standard baguette; however, the name may also be used for bread shaped like a baguette but with different lengths and weights. (See Pain Baguette).

Pain Perdu - French toast. The translation of pain perdu is “lost bread”, indicating bread considered too stale to use. Despite the name, one of the few things you can do with stale bread is to make French toast. The original French version of French toast is bread soaked in milk with added sugar and vanilla or another flavoring. The bread will then be dipped in eggs and fried in butter until golden brown. Pain perdu is popular at breakfast or as a light evening snack in private homes.

Pain Polaire, also called Pain Suédois and Pain Nordique - Polar bread, Swedish bread, or Nordic bread; this is the traditional a rye-flour-based flatbread with dimples.

Pain Rassis – Stale bread; this could become pain perdu.

Pain sans Levain, Pain Azymes, or Pain Juif – Unleavened bread and the French name for the traditional Jewish matzo eaten during the Jewish Feast of Passover.

Pains Spéciaux – Specialty breads; this may be on a sign in a specialty baker's shop. The offering can include bread made with seeds from Épeautre or Petit Épeautre, Spelt or Dinkel Wheat, or Small Spelt or Einkorn, whose seeds come from the ancestors of modern wheat. Specialty breads may also be made with unique mixtures of grains and seeds, added fats, sweeteners, and dairy products; most will be marked with short explanations.

Pain Tresse – Braided bread; usually a brioché.

Petit Pains - Bread rolls; there are different names for each shape and recipe used for the traditional bread rolls offered in a restaurant or sold in a supermarket. However, the only name you will need for a bread roll is petite pain. Unless you are dining in a place with many tourists, your bread rolls will be served without butter on the side. When the French eat bread in a restaurant before lunch or dinner they really ask for butter. Still, you are paying the piper, so just say "du beurre s'il vous plaît" (pronounced doo bur si voo play), and butter will appear. N.B.: That's usually lightly salted butter.

Pogne or Pogne de Romans - A brioche-type cake flavored with orange and lemon zest; traditional in the area of the Rhône-Alpes. The modern variations often include rum or another eau-de-vie accent. As you travel in the Rhône-Alpes and look at local menus, you will find towns and villages that have created variations with slight changes in the recipe and the name. You may be told that the name is linked to the Romans, but that's unlikely as it's probably a medieval recipe, and the word Romans used here came from the Occitan language.

Tartine - At breakfast, a tartine beurrée means bread and butter. However, tartine is also the French word for an open sandwich, and the word tartine will often be used interchangeably with the English word sandwich. While most tartines are open sandwiches, that is by no means a rule set in stone; the ingredients in or on a tartine vary with the area, the season, and the sandwich's creator.

Tartine with avocado, smoked salmon,

and fresh goat’s cheese.
Photograph and recipe courtesy of Fourchette & Bikini

Tartine Beurrée or Pain Beurrée - Bread and butter.

Tartine Italienne – The French take on the Italian bruschetta. Slices of toasted bread, sometimes toasted garlic bread; served with hot or cold cooked vegetables, chicken livers, or pate.

Who bakes the best bread?

Excellence in baking bread is an essential requirement for any would-be French chef. No chef will receive a full graduation diploma from any serious French cooking school if their bread-making does not make the grade. In the better French restaurants, you will be offered three or more different, home-made petite pains, bread rolls. French diners will judge a restaurant's offering of bread rolls with the same discerning eye that they use to assess its other offerings. In many towns, restaurant chefs take part, with independent boulangeries (bakeries) in good-natured, local, bread-making competitions. Some excellent restaurants in France bring in bread and bread rolls from famous bakers and promote their links to one of France's Meilleurs Boulangers, master bakers. Good bread is very important in France!

The breads in this post.

I could not include all the breads available in France in this post; that would require a book, possibly two books. Included are the popular breads seen in most bakeries, supermarkets, on hotel breakfast menus, and in restaurants. Excluded, unfortunately, are many fun and interesting types of bread that are typical of specific regions. When you encounter one of these different breads on your travels, taste and enjoy; fifty kilometers (30 miles) away, there may be different traditions and recipes.

Many cities have competitions built around baguettes and other breads made in the traditional manner without preservatives. For more on those competitions and how to find the winning bakeries, see the post: Searching for the perfect baguette?

Finally, a picnic in France.

A picnic in France is an opportunity to rendezvous with different breads of your own choosing; including the option of a lunchtime picnic in a city park. Buy two or three different breads and be careful about buying too much cheese or pâté; I have made that mistake more than once.

If your picnic includes 2 or 3 kinds of cheese and a pâté, then 25 grams (3.5 oz) per person of each cheese and pâté is more than enough. If locals were organizing the same picnic they would recommend 20 grams (2.50 oz) of cheese and pâté per person. To that, add half a bottle of the wine per person that nearly everyone believes they will consume. If you add any of those incredible croissants and the amazing chocolate eclairs that you saw in the shop, cut the other quantities in half. But, don’t forget the different breads.

Bon appetite!

Bread in the language of France's neighbors:

(Catalan - pa), (Dutch - brood), (German - brot), (Italian - pane), (Spanish – pan).

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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
Copyright 2010, 2013, 2019, 2024, 2025.

bryangnewman@gmail.com

Bœuf à la Bourguignonne, Beef Burgundy and dishes à la Bourguignonne,

2026-06-08T10:24:08.540-07:00

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
bryangnewman@gmail.com

Bœuf Bourguignon
Photograph courtesy of Yun Huang Yong
https://www.flickr.com/photos/goosmurf/5253343296/

Bœuf à la Bourguignonne, Bœuf Bourguignon - Beef Burgundy is probably the most well-known of French beef stews. It is so much a part of French cuisine that it will, in the winter, be on menus all over France. As the dish’s name indicates, it requires local ingredients, the most important of which is a red wine from Burgundy,

The key to an authentic and well-made Bœuf à la Bourguignonne lies in the preparation. The beef will be marinated for 24 hours, and that is the secret, along with the red Burgundy wine. After marinating, the meat will be allowed to cook slowly with added wine and veal stock and local vegetables that may change with the season. Still, it will always include onions, carrots and mushrooms. Bacon, in the form of lardons, small bacon pieces, may be added for flavoring, and the dish will, traditionally, be served with boiled potatoes. However, mashed potatoes are also a fairly common offering today.

The cut used for this stew will be the Paleron (the Flat Iron or top blade from the chuck, see chapter 16), the Macreuse à Pot-au-feu (a cut from the chuck, specifically recommended for stews), or the Basses Côtes, another French cut from the chuck (see chapter 8).

In Burgundy, the beef is often a cross of the local Charolais with Angus or Hereford cattle, though the best restaurants may offer the Bœuf Charolais, the Bœuf de Charolles AOP , which is one of the four top French breeds (see chapter 35).

Lardons - Small cubes of fatty Bacon and very much a French kitchen essential. Lardons may be salted or smoked, depending on the taste required and will be used to add flavor to many different dishes. Lardons may be stuffed inside a roast chicken or may be added to a stew for flavor. (Lardons may also be fried until they are crispy and then added cold to a salad.)

Bœuf à la Mode - Beef à la Mode is a traditional French dish (and from my experience today is more often seen on menus outside of France than inside). However, this dish is 100% French and the original recipe appeared in one of the first professional cookbooks, Le Cuisinier François, written by the chef François Pierre de la Varenne (1615–1678). The book was first published in 1651, and you can read or download the recipe online through the Bnf, the French National Library.

There are many modern versions of Bœuf à la Mode, though they may all seem similar to a pot roast (which is not too far from La Varenne's original). The cut most often used is the Gîte à la Noix the US round, the UK topside) or the Paleron, a cut from the chuck (see chapter 15).

Fondue Bourguignonne –The original beef fondue is claimed as its own by Burgundy (Bourgogne). It's a really social dish that's all about sharing a fun culinary experience; a dish for all the diners at the same table. To start, cubes of raw beef are prepared for each diner, and a pot of hot oil is placed in the center of the table. Each diner will have been given their own fourchette à fondue, a distinctive, long, fondue fork that keeps the diner's hand away from the hot oil in which the cubes of beef will be dipped. Each diner dips and cooks their cubes of beef in the communal pot. When the meat is cooked to the diner's satisfaction, you dip the fried beef into a variety of sauces before eating.

The dipping sauces allow the diner a wide range of tastes; they will include Classic Mayonnaise, garlicky Aïoli, the lightly spicy pink cocktail called Sauce Rosé, Sauce Marie Rosé or Calypso sauce, Sauce Bearnaise and, if requested, ketchup. The cut will be from the filet, the fillet in the UK, the tenderloin in the US (see chapter 20) or the Romsteck, the US sirloin and the UK rump (see chapter 19). Other cuts may be used, and the choice will affect the texture and the price.

N.B. Fondue forks become extremely hot at the tip, and they have burned many a tongue, I speak with experience! So, look after your tongue, and enjoy the meal; transfer the meat to your plate, and then to an ordinary fork before dipping into one of the sauces and eating.

Fondue Bourguignonne
Beef fondue
Photograph and recipe courtesy of Papilles et Pupilles.

Hachis Parmentier – The dish is named after the man who brought the potato to French menus (they initially were thought to be poisonous).

It's ground beef and chopped onions fried in butter, flavored with nutmeg and a light touch of garlic. When the beef and onions are ready, they are placed in a casserole that has been prepared with mashed potatoes on the bottom. Finally, all will be covered with more mashed potatoes and breadcrumbs, or Gruyere cheese will be sprinkled on top. The dish is placed under the grill, and when the top turns a golden brown, the dish is ready to be served. This particular dish would become the English cottage pie (and when made with lamb, shepherd's pie).

Hachis Parmentier may not have been the earliest recipe named after Antoine Parmentier, but it was already on French restaurant menus by the 1830s. The same dish made with lamb is Hachis Parmentier d'Agneau,

The traditional British cottage pie and Shepherd’s pie appeared on British menus 50 years after the first English tourists began visiting France and enjoying Hachis Parmentier. The British shepherd's pie and cottage pie will be made without the garlic or the grilled cheese on top and with the addition of Worcester sauce. (For more about the French connection and the British kitchen click here).

Parmentier died in 1813, aged 76 and is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. France honored him with a Metro Station in the 11th arrondissement in Paris and the Avenue Parmentier that runs through the 10th and 11th arrondissements.

Hachis Parmentier Façon Grand-Mère indicates a Hachis Parmentier prepared as Grandma did. Foods made like grand-mère did are French comfort foods.

Hachis Parmentier with a cheese topping

Photograph courtesy of elPadawan

https://www.flickr.com/photos/elpadawan/2353134601/

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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
bryangnewman@gmail.com
Copyright 2010, 2025.

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Pignons de Pin - Pine Nuts from Pine Cones. Pine Nuts in French cuisine.

2026-04-10T04:28:00.000-07:00

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Stone pine nuts.

Also called umbrella pine nuts

Photograph courtesy of Nuts.com

Texture is just as important as taste in French cuisine, and fresh pine nuts add texture with a soft buttery taste. Toasted or grilled pine nuts add a slight crunch and a nutty flavor.

France’s love for pine nuts began with Catherine de Medici, who brought Italian tastes and techniques to France. Then, at the age of 14, she came from Florence, Italy, in 1533 to marry France’s future King Henry II. One of the recipes she brought was Italy’s original pesto sauce with pine nuts. (Pesto sauce on French menus is pesto or pistou).

The stone or umbrella pine, home to the best pine nuts.

Photograph courtesy of Ettore Balocchi

www.flickr.com/photos/29882791@N02/8299375995/

Nearly all pine trees have pine cones, and from the outside, many look very similar; however, finding the cone with the tastiest nut is not that simple. The best European pine nuts come from the stone pine and its cones, seen in the picture below; the tree is also called the umbrella pine. No serious French or Italian chef would ever consider using any other pine nut.

Balance is important and in salads, pine nuts create harmony between soft, springy vegetables and other crunchy ingredients.

Look at the role of pine nuts in French salads:

Salade de Chèvre Chaud sur Toast, Lardons, Haricots Verts, Pignon de Pin –A salad of warm goat’s cheese served on toast accompanied by bacon pieces, fresh green beans, and pine nuts.

Salade de Roquette aux Oignons Caramélisés et Pignons Grilles – A rocket salad served with caramelized onions and grilled pine nuts.

Salade de Jeunes Pousses aux Pignons de Pin Torréfiés – A salad of young vegetable sprouts and leaves prepared with toasted pine nuts. N.B. Grilled, toasted or roasted pine nuts have a crunchy texture and a stronger taste than fresh nuts.

The stone pine cone

Photograph courtesy of S. Rae

www.flickr.com/photos/35142635@N05/16354375616/

The stone pine had been growing all around the Mediterranean for tens of thousands of years before the Catherine de Medici brought the recipe for pesto sauce to France. Furthermore, long before Catherine came those two Mediterranean imperialists, the Greeks and Romans had come to France with their own pine nut recipes. The Greeks came to France around 600 BCE, where they founded the port that would later be called Marseilles, followed five hundred years later by the Romans who colonized the whole of France beginning in 53 BCE. For pine nuts in a French cuisine, the fight was led in the 1600s by François Pierre de la Varenne, who broke with Italian traditions and added new interpretations that would bring pine nuts into the developing French cuisine.

Pine nuts on French menus:

Filet de Caille Poêlé Servi sur une Salade Tiède, Pignons de Pin et Coulis de Framboise et Balsamique - Lightly fried quail’s breast served on a warm salad with pine nuts and flavored with pureed raspberries with balsamic vinegar.

Gambas Marinées à l'Ail, Huile d'Olive, Citron, Ciboulette, Pignons de Pin, Choux Chinois – Large shrimps flavored with garlic and marinated in olive oil, lemon, chives, and served with pine nuts and crunchy Chinese cabbage.

Huîtres Chaudes Gratinées aux Pignons de Pin Cèpes et Jambon Serrano – Warmed oysters lightly covered with cheese and browned under the grill served with pine nuts, French porcini mushrooms, and serrano ham. (Serrano ham is a dry cured ham; the name is generic and translates as mountain ham).

Soupe Froide de Concombre à la Menthe, Feta et Pignons de Pin Torréfiés – A cold cucumber soup flavored with mint, feta cheese, and roasted pine nuts.

Suprême de Pintade Label Rouge aux Pignons de Pin et Orange, Légumes - Breast of red label guinea fowl prepared with an orange sauce with pine nuts accompanied by vegetables. (Label Rouge, red label poultry are among the best that France has to offer).

Toasted stone pine nuts

Photograph courtesy of Carlos Varela

www.flickr.com/photos/c32/4656900305/

There are stone pine forests all over France from the department of Haut-Rhine in the region of Le Grande Est in the north to the center in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, and down to the north of Corsica. Despite all the trees, most of the stone pine nuts in French cuisine and in French supermarkets will have come from Spain; they cost less.

The cost of pine nuts

Pine nuts must be extracted from the pine cones by hand, and that makes them expensive. Most of the cheaper pine nuts come from the Korean pine, (botanic name pinus koraiensis), and are they are imported from China. (The European stone pine’s botanic name is pinus pinea). The Chinese pine nuts are pear-shaped and shorter and have been an important part of Chinese cuisine for far longer than the stone pine nuts in Europe. With arguments over the taste and texture of different pine nuts going on forever most French chefs still insist that the stone pine nuts are better; they use them despite prices that can be five or six times higher than the Chinese pine nuts.

Chinese pine nuts

Photograph courtesy of Ash Chuan

www.flickr.com/photos/yevon/8017042065/

Are there organic pine nuts?

Pine nuts come from trees that will never have seen an insecticide and so long as they are handled correctly they automatically qualify as organic.

The long pine needles from the stone pine.

Photograph courtesy of Olive Titus

www.flickr.com/photos/96064256@N04/28006367625/

The Tree:
The Stone Pine, Parasol Pine, Umbrella Pine, or Italian Stone Pine, Pin Parasol, Pin Pignon, Pinier, Pin d’Italie in the languages of France’s neighbors:
(Catalan - pi pinyer, pi ver), (Dutch - parasolden), (German – pinie, Italienische steinkiefer), (Italian - Pino domestico ), (Spanish -pino piñonero, pino doncel), (Botanic name - pinus pinea).
The Nuts
Pine Nuts, Pignons de Pin, in the languages of France’s neighbors: (Catalan – pinyons), (Dutch – pijnboompitten), (German – Pinienkerne), (Italian – pinoli), (Spanish – piñones), (Latin – pinus pinea).

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Searching for the meaning of words, names or phrases

French menus?

Just add the word, words, or phrase that you are searching for to the words "Behind the French Menu" and search with Google. Behind the French Menu’s links include hundreds of words, names, and phrases that are seen on French menus. There are over 470 articles that include over 4,000 French dishes with English translations and explanations.

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com
Copyright 2010, 2018, 2023, 2026.

Pommes Granny Smith – Granny Smith apples. Granny Smith Apples on French Menus.

2026-04-01T03:11:00.000-07:00

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Pommes Granny Smith
Photograph courtesy of Pierre Tourigny
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pierre_tourigny/129235076/

Pommes Granny Smith are much appreciated in France, and in season this tart, but lightly sweet apple will be the apple of choice for a genuine Tarte Tatin. They maintain a crisp, clean flavor and hold their shape well, not becoming mushy like some sweet apples. (When the Granny Smith apple is not available, the French Reinette apple will often be used. While they may not hold their shape as well, some chefs prefer an apple that is less tart.) Granny Smith apples are immediately recognizable from their bright green skin and are usually chosen because they maintain their crisp, clean flavor.

Strawberry, Granny Smith Apples, and Kiwi Fruit Pie

Photograph courtesy of liz west

https://www.flickr.com/photos/calliope/98277344/

The history of the Granny Smith Apple.

Granny Smith apples are probably the most well-known of all cooking apples. However, it is neither a British, French, European, or even an American apple. Neither was this apple brought from the New World by the Conquistadores, and not even the Romans, the Greeks, the Phoenicians, or Egyptians knew about Granny Smith apples. Neither did Granny Smith apples come from China. This unique apple was developed from a seedling discovered on her farm by a British immigrant to Australia, Maria Anne Smith (1799–1870). Mrs. Smith, later in life, would become the Granny behind the apples.

Granny Smith Apples on French menus:

Tartare de Crevette au Saumon Fumé et Pomme Granny-Smith – A tartar of shrimps and smoked salmon with Granny Smith apples.

Filet de Bar Marinade au Citron Caviar, Julienne de Légumes et Pomme Granny Smith. – A filet of European Seabass marinated with the Australian Finger Lime (lemon-caviar) fruit, accompanied by a julienne of vegetables, (a julienne is vegetables cut into 2mm by 5mm long thin strands), and served with Granny Smith apples. The name lemon-caviar given to the Australian Finger Lime fruit relates to its small globules of lemon-lime tasting juice that burst on your tongue in a similar manner to a good caviar. Despite that name, the fruit is not related to the citrus family.

Cucumbers Julienne

Photograph courtesy of Stacy

https://www.flickr.com/photos/notahipster/4670390442/

Jambon de Sanglier d'Alsace Salade de Mâche aux Pommes Granny Smith Noix et Raisins – Ham from a farm-raised Alsatian wild boar served with mache, field lettuce, Granny Smith apples, walnuts, and grapes. France farms wild boar and many other animals that elsewhere may be considered wild game. If the wild boar on this menu's listing had been truly wild, the listing would have read Sanglier Sauvage.

Single serving Granny Smith Tarte-Tatin

Photograph courtesy of ayustety

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ayustety/337343867/

Hareng Fumé, sur une Émulsion de Pommes de Terre à l’Huile d’Olive Pomme Granny Smith – Smoked herring served on a thick potato mousse flavored with olive oil and Granny Smith apples.

Salade de Viande Séchée de Cerf aux Pommes Granny Smith Huile de Noix et copeaux de rebibes de Beaufort.
A salad of air-dried deer meat served with Granny Smith apples, walnut oil, and curled shavings from Beaufort cheese.

Just picked Granny Smith Apples

at Plunkett Orchards, Australia.

Photograph courtesy of Apple and Pear Australia Ltd

https://www.flickr.com/photos/applesnpearsau/25522579543/

Carpaccio de Saint-Jacques des Côtes Bretonnes, Betteraves, Cumbawa, Pommes Granny Smith – Carpaccio of King Scallops from the coast of Brittany served with beetroots, kaffir lime, and Granny Smith apples.

Granny Smith apple crumble.

Photograph courtesy of David van der Mark

https://www.flickr.com/photos/d_vdm/22010727401/

The Smiths

Mrs. Smith and her husband Thomas were farmers and not ex-convicts, and they worked an orchard they bought and developed in Ryde, New South Wales, Australia. Maria, the future Granny Smith, found the original seedling, growing on their farm. It was Maria who nurtured these seedlings that would create the huge Granny Smith apple industry.

Granny Smith apples. The most popular apples in the world.

The worldwide popularity came about too late for Granny Smith to benefit, but, by the early twentieth century, Granny Smith apples had become the premier cooking apple in the British Empire. Today, close to two hundred years after their discovery, virtually every country in the world grows Granny Smith apples. Australians, with a degree of reason, grumble, that the world does not recognize their country’s contribution to the apple pie or apple crumble industry.

Paying homage to Mrs Smith and the Granny Smith Apple/

Now you may love France and French food, and that may be expected if you are reading this post and other posts from the blog. If, in addition, you also are a world traveler and a Granny Smith apple aficionado, then you have a secondary duty. A real lover of Granny Smith cooking apples must visit New South Wales, Australia, with a side trip to Ryde, now a suburb of the City of Sydney. There, in the churchyard of St Anne’s, you may visit and, in season, place Granny Smith apple blossoms on Maria and Thomas Smith’s graves.

Maria and Thomas Smith’s Graves

In the Churchyard of St Anne’s, Ryde, Australia.

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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
Copyright 2010, 2017, 2026.
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Morille, the Morel Mushroom. Morel mushrooms on French Menus. The Mushrooms of France V.

2026-03-28T06:38:00.000-07:00

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Morels in a farmers’ market.
Photograph courtesy of Al
www.flickr.com/photos/wessel1943/7170856890/

La Morille – The Morel Mushroom

Morels are a family of tasty mushrooms with a decidedly different look to most other mushrooms. Morels lack the gills and domed caps of many other mushrooms, but they all have white-to-ivory colored stems and a conical cap. Dried morel caps that you may see in the market look tube-shaped, but that is part of the drying process and when rehydrated the conical cap returns. The morel’s taste and texture make them a French favorite; they will be served fresh from early spring through to the beginning of June. (The idea that morel stems are not edible is an urban legend, though they are a little tougher than the cap).

Now that a few members of the morel family have been cultivated, mushroom farmers all around the world are trying to produce mushrooms all year round. Nevertheless, it is still a work in progress and not enough product is reaching the markets to change the prices. On the wild side, each member of the morel family has its own short six-to-eight weeks of glory in France between late February and June. The morel is providentially an easy mushroom to dry and so they may be on menus all year round. Some French chefs freeze morels and extend their "almost fresh" shelf life by a month or two. two.

Dried morels in the market.(The row in the center).
Photograph courtesy of Tom Bridge

www.flickr.com/photos/tbridge/5559121011/

The two most common members you will encounter in France are:

The Yellow Morel, the Morille ronde or Morille blonde – This is the most famous member of the morel family; identified in the markets by its rounded or egg-shaped cap and its honey-yellow to pale brown color. Unlike its cousin, the Black Morel, the ridges on the Yellow Morel are irregular and look like a sponge or a honeycomb. The flavor is mild, nutty, and creamy.

The Black Morel, Morille noire or Morille conique – This variety is identified by its pointed, conical shape and dark brown to black ridges. It appears earlier in the season and is highly prized by chefs for its intense, smoky aroma and stronger flavor.

Morels can grow quite large.

Photograph courtesy of Jena Fuller

www.flickr.com/photos/jsf539/14038716515/

French chefs like wild mushrooms and wild herbs and most will have long-term contracts with ramasseurs: professional wild mushroom and wild herb gatherers. These professional gatherers know the exact season for each member of the morel family, as well as other mushrooms, herbs, fruits, berries, and more. These gatherers keep the places where they find the mushrooms close to their chests; they know they can expect the same wild mushrooms and herbs to appear every year. Importantly, they also know how to keep well away from the false morel and other "look-alike" mushrooms which can be poisonous.

Veloutéd'Asperges Blanches aux Morilles Fraîches- A creamy white asparagus soup served with morel mushrooms. Veloutés are smooth velvety soups and were made from, at least originally, a sauce base; veloutés were one of the five mother sauces of French cuisine

Émincé de Veau aux Morilles – Thin slices of veal served with morel mushrooms.

Filet de Féra du Léman aux Morilles, Risotto à l’Ail des Ours, Tomate Confite - A filet of the broad whitefish caught in Lake Leman (Lake Geneva) prepared with morel mushrooms. The dish is accompanied by a risotto flavored with wild garlic and a tomato confit. The broad whitefish is a relative of salmon and trout and a very tasty fish. When this fish is on your menu in France it will come from a lake or a river, while outside of Europe they may be caught at sea. When this fish comes from Lake Leman, it is considered particularly tasty and so its provenance will be on the menu. The wild garlic in the risotto has a much lighter and delicate taste than cultivated garlic, but do ask the waiter as not all wild garlic plants will have read this post! The tomato confit that accompanies this dish is made with tomatoes cooked very slowly until they reach the consistency of a tomato jam.

Morel Mushrooms

with a Tomato and Pinot Noir Reduction and an Artichoke Pasta

Photograph courtesy of Janet Hudson

www.flickr.com/photos/veganfeast/4803891520/

Poêlée de Ris de Veau aux Morilles à la Crème, Jus au Porto. – Lightly fried veal sweetbreads served with creamed morel mushrooms and flavored with a port wine sauce.

Suprême de Chapon au Vin Jaune et Morilles – Boneless capon breast prepared with the yellow wine of the Jura and morel mushrooms. A capon is a cockerel, a rooster, that was castrated as a chick and they grow to 3 or 4 kilos and have very tender meat. The Vin Jaune, the yellow wine from the Jura is a very aromatic dessert wine; it will have been aged for a minimum of six years in oak barrels. The Vin Jaune is a very unique wine, apart from its preparation, taste, aroma, even its bottle shape and size is different to other French wines.

The season, in France, for Fresh Morels.

Outside of the late February to early June season when one member or another of the morel family may be collected fresh the morels on the menu will have been dried. When dried morels are rehydrated, there is only a little change in the taste and texture, and for morel aficionados, any morel is better than none.

None of the members of the morel family has ever been truly cultivated, and there are nearly fifty members. However, in Europe, only five or six morels grow abundantly and it this small number who reach the restaurants and markets in quantity. There are slight differences in taste and texture between the different family members but you will need a lot of exposure to tell the difference.

Nearly enough for breakfast

Photograph courtesy of Jacob Kaplan-Moss

www.flickr.com/photos/jacobian/8689783655

Dried morels are anywhere from 2.5cm (1”) to 5cm (2”) long, without the stem. Wild morels are often larger with some wild morels more than three times that length.

Gathering wild mushrooms.

If you gather wild morels in France be aware of the false morel that the uninformed can mistake for the real thing; false morels are poisonous! Every town and village in France have a trained mycologist, a mushroom expert and local pharmacists have these expert’s addresses. All mushrooms should be shown to these volunteer experts before being eaten, and, in any case, all morels must be cooked.

The Mushroom Gatherers

Painting by Henry Herbert La Thangue (1859 – 1929)

Yellow Morel, Morille ronde or Morille blonde), in the languages of France’s neighbors: (Catalan – múrgola, rabassola, or morilla), (Dutch – morielje), (German – Speisemorchel or Rund-Morchel), (Italian – spugnola or spugnola gialla), (Spanish – morilla, mazorquita, or pancita), (Latin – Morchella esculenta),

Yellow Morel in other languages: (Chinese (Mandarin) – yángdǔjūn / 羊肚菌), (Greek – manitári morchéla / μανιτάρι μορχέλα), (Hebrew – morel / מוריאל), (Hungarian – kucsmagomba), (Norwegian – Morkel), (Polish – smardz), (Romanian – zbârciog), (Russian – smorchki / сморчки), (Swedish – Murkla),

Black Morel, Morille noire or Morille conique, in the languages of France’s neighbors: (Catalan – múrgola negra), (Dutch – morielje), (German – Spitzmorchel), (Italian – spugnola nera or morchella conica), (Spanish – colmenilla negra or morilla), (Latin – Morchella conica).

Black Morel in other languages: (Chinese (Mandarin) – hēi yángdǔjūn / 黑羊肚菌), (Greek – mávri morchéla / μαύρη μορχέλα), (Hebrew – morel shakhor / מוריאל שחור), (Hungarian – ízletes kucsmagomba), (Norwegian – Spissmorkel), (Polish – smardz wyniosły), (Romanian – zbârciog conic), (Russian – smorchok konicheskiy / сморчок конический), (Swedish – Toppmurkla), (Turkish – sivri kuzu göbeği). (Turkish – kuzu göbeği).

Other mushroom posts:

Rosé des Prés or Agaric Champêtre – The Field or Meadow Mushroom in French Cuisine. French Mushrooms X.

Bolet, Cèpe Jaune des Pins or Nonnette – The Weeping Bolet Mushroom in French Cuisine. The Mushrooms of France IX

Shiitake or Lentin du Chêne –The Shiitake Mushroom in French Cuisine. The Mushrooms of France VIII

Corne d'Abondance, Craterelles or Trompette des Morts, - The Horn of Plenty, the Black Chanterelle and the Black Trumpet Mushroom. French Mushrooms VII

Pleurote – The Oyster Mushroom in French cuisine. The Mushrooms of France VI

Chanterelle Mushrooms. The Most Famous Four. Chanterelle Mushrooms on French Menus. The Mushrooms of France IV

The Cèpe, The Porcini Mushroom, Grows Wild in France. Enjoy the Tasty Wild Mushrooms Of France III.

The Mousseron or St. George's Mushroom, The Wonderful Wild Mushrooms of France II.

Mushrooms in France I, The Champignon de Paris, the ButtonMushroom. -

Soup on the French Menu. A Soup by Any Other Name, but France has So Many Names for Soup.

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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

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French Bread - Crust & Culture: Enjoying French Bread

A boulangerie (baker’s shop) in France.Photograph courtesy of Kimon Berlinhttps://www.flickr.com/photos/kimon/16095492470/

Baguettes straight out of the oven.Photograph courtesy of Bob Hallhttps://www.flickr.com/photos/houseofhall/8422489736/

Stohrer, the oldest patisserie and boulangerie in Paris (Founded in 1730). 51 Rue Montorgueil, Paris 75002.

Pain beignets and cafe au lait for breakfast. Photograph courtesy of thotfulspotwww.flickr.com/photos/thotfulspot/3812527313/

A gingerbread house.Too good to eat? Photograph courtesy of Kermitfrog ;-)https://www.flickr.com/photos/muriel67/3089351975/

DéjeunettePhotograph courtesy of Vandemoortele

Bœuf à la Bourguignonne, Beef Burgundy and dishes à la Bourguignonne,

fromBehind the French MenubyBryan G. Newmanbryangnewman@gmail.com

Bœuf BourguignonPhotograph courtesy of Yun Huang Yonghttps://www.flickr.com/photos/goosmurf/5253343296/

Fondue BourguignonneBeef fonduePhotograph and recipe courtesy of Papilles et Pupilles.

Pignons de Pin - Pine Nuts from Pine Cones. Pine Nuts in French cuisine.

fromBehind the French MenubyBryan G. Newmanbehindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

The Tree:

Behind the French MenubyBryan G. Newman behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.comCopyright 2010, 2018, 2023, 2026.

Pommes Granny Smith – Granny Smith apples. Granny Smith Apples on French Menus.

fromBehind the French MenubyBryan G. Newmanbehindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Pommes Granny SmithPhotograph courtesy of Pierre Tourignyhttps://www.flickr.com/photos/pierre_tourigny/129235076/

Behind the French MenubyBryan G. NewmanCopyright 2010, 2017, 2026.behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Morille, the Morel Mushroom. Morel mushrooms on French Menus. The Mushrooms of France V.

fromBehind the French MenubyBryan G. Newmanbehindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Morels in a farmers’ market.Photograph courtesy of Alwww.flickr.com/photos/wessel1943/7170856890/

Dried morels in the market.(The row in the center).Photograph courtesy of Tom Bridge

Behind the French MenubyBryan G. Newmanbehindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

A boulangerie (baker’s shop) in France.
Photograph courtesy of Kimon Berlin
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kimon/16095492470/

Baguettes straight out of the oven.
Photograph courtesy of Bob Hall
https://www.flickr.com/photos/houseofhall/8422489736/

Stohrer, the oldest patisserie and boulangerie in Paris
(Founded in 1730).
51 Rue Montorgueil, Paris 75002.

Pain beignets and cafe au lait for breakfast.
Photograph courtesy of thotfulspot
www.flickr.com/photos/thotfulspot/3812527313/

A gingerbread house.
Too good to eat?
Photograph courtesy of Kermitfrog ;-)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/muriel67/3089351975/

Déjeunette
Photograph courtesy of Vandemoortele

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
bryangnewman@gmail.com

Bœuf Bourguignon
Photograph courtesy of Yun Huang Yong
https://www.flickr.com/photos/goosmurf/5253343296/

Fondue Bourguignonne
Beef fondue
Photograph and recipe courtesy of Papilles et Pupilles.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com
Copyright 2010, 2018, 2023, 2026.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Pommes Granny Smith
Photograph courtesy of Pierre Tourigny
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pierre_tourigny/129235076/

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
Copyright 2010, 2017, 2026.
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Morels in a farmers’ market.
Photograph courtesy of Al
www.flickr.com/photos/wessel1943/7170856890/

Dried morels in the market.(The row in the center).
Photograph courtesy of Tom Bridge

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com