French food

« Baguettes and croissants, snails and frogs’ legs, cheeses and wines, that’s French cuisine. »

« Why do you like eating snails and poor harmless frogs? »

« I drank hot chocolate from a bowl, which is apparently quite usual for breakfast in France. They also dunk their bread in the bowl. It’s delicious. »

It is impossible to talk about a French national dish because each of the 22 regions has its own sweet and savoury specialities. According to a recent opinion poll, though, the dish the French like most (which used to be " quiche lorraine ") is now mussels and chips . It’s easy to make and it can be ordered in brasseries all over the country. But who invented chips?

Although you will find bakers with their baguettes and croissants all over France, bread comes in different shapes with different names in the north and south of the country.

A cheeseboard is always served as part of any special meal. For a quick meal, such as the evening “dîner”, some French people just have soup or a salad, followed by a tasty piece of cheese with a nice glass of wine for those who drink.

You will often find snails on the menu in French restaurants. They are served in dozens or half-dozens, like oysters . The biggest and best known are the snails from Burgundy. When the sun comes out just after it has rained is the ideal time to collect snails, because they come out of their shells.

On the other hand, many young French people have never eaten frogs’ legs and it’s very unusual to find a recipe for them in a cookery book. You only really find them in restaurants where lots of tourists eat. They cook them for their foreign visitors.

But the legend lives on and the English, of course, still call the French “Frogs”. There is an English restaurant in Paris with the funny name of "Froggies & Rosbif". It’s strange to have this reputation and we have to laugh because, in France, frogs are a protected species. Commercial farming of frogs has been forbidden since 1977 and you are only allowed to catch them for two weeks in every year. So most of the frogs’ legs served up for tourists in restaurants are frozen imports from Asia and Eastern Europe.

In the town of Roscoff and along the nearby Brittany coast there were once lots of pirates, but times change! In 1852 it was no longer possible to rob foreign merchant ships so the pirates had to find other occupations. Some decided to become fishermen whilst others took up farming, for the local soil is very fertile and is known as Brittany’s market garden .

Henri Ollivier was the first one to dare try selling his red onions over the Channel, without knowing a single word of English. Soon father, son and neighbours all became involved in what was sometimes a dangerous venture because at that time they had only sailing boats.

So that’s how the English and Welsh came to expect Breton peasant farmers to turn up every year. And, as they all seemed to be called Jean,  they became known as "Johnnies".

There were 1200 of them in the 1920s, but today only about ten "Johnnies" are left. They run a highly organized business from August (when the onions are picked) until the following March. During the season they take over a warehouse and do onion deliveries by van, but for old times’ sake they also use bicycles.

In Roscoff, there is now a Johnnies Museum (“La Maison des Johnnies”) in the St. Anne Chapel near the harbour. There you will find the story of these men of yesteryear who seem so fascinating to British children of today:

"Is it really true that the French wear berets, and blue and white striped jumpers, with a string of onions hanging round their neck?"

Did you know this?

In the time of the Egyptian pharaoh Cheops, workers building the Great Pyramid at Giza were paid with onions , and for small change they were given garlic and parsley.

Long ago in Central America, the Aztecs and Mayas apparently used the cocoa bean to make a drink called " xocoalt "... which over time has given us the word " chocolate".