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Paris has a culinary history and a dining attitude all its own. The ingredients and dishes aren’t based so much on what grows in the region, but instead the lifestyle and preferences of its notable citizens. The standard of service is high, which isn’t the same thing as fast. In other words, when people refer to fine dining, they’re making a nod to the French.
Here are a few typically Parisian dishes.
Soupe à l’Oignon is a thick, hearty onion soup topped with gruyere melted cheese. Originally it was the soup of the workers at Les Halles, Paris’ central food market. It’s also perfect for late night, post-party fortification.
Salade gourmande, foie gras with a string bean salad, was invented in 1969 by 3-star chef Michel Guérard at his bistro Le Pot au Feu.
Langouste à la Parisienne. Langouste is better known in the States as crawfish. In this dish, it is served cold, with a mixed vegetable salad and mayonnaise dressing.
Whatever the fish, if it is followed by the word “Dugleré,” it was created around 1870 by Adolphe Dugléré at Café Valois. The dish involves a white flour-based sauce, enriched by shallots, white wine, tomatoes, and parsley. Sole Dugleré is our favorite. Absolument Delicieux!
Another dish named after a famous chef is Sauce Choron: Béarnaise sauce tinted pink by tomato puree (Alexander Etienne Choron was the chef at Restaurant Voisin at the end of the 19th century).
Interestingly, it's Choron who created Tournedos Rossini for the great Italian composer. Tournedos are small, round slices of beef, cut from the end the tenderloin, while the “Rossini” part of the dish includes foie gras and truffles.
The beef in France wasn’t so great during the 19th century. Oftentimes they had to soak it in wine for hours in order to cook it. You can still get Entrecote sauce Bercy, steak with a thick wine sauce. “Bercy” refers a district of Paris on the Seine where wine from all over France were unloaded from the barges.
Here are a few restaurants with varying degrees of French authenticity.
Ribouldingue
Chez Rene
Au Bon Saint Pourcain
See more French restaurants.
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