Speak the Culture: France
Editor's Note: The folks at Speak the Culture: France have been kind enough to provide this free chapter from their very good book about French cluture. They've told us that they will provide other chapters in the future, so be sure to check back soon.
A guidebook can show you where to go, a phrase-book what to say when you get there. Speak the Culture: France will lead you to the nation’s soul. This easy-to-use cultural companion reflects what it means to have grown up with Cézanne, De Gaulle and Bardot; it captures the spirit of France. Through exploring the people, the movements and the lifestyles that have shaped the French experience, you will come to an intimate understanding of France and the French. There are many travel guides and manuals on living in France. Speak the Culture: France is different: a superbly designed, informed and entertaining insight into French life and culture and who the French really are.
7.1 Food
La cuisine. Where do you start? Nothing is more fundamental to the French cultural experience than food. It’s a sensual, sociable, twice daily homage to the aesthetics and flavours of life itself. And, despite recent swipes from a foreign media eager to perceive a decline in standards, in global terms France remains the epicurean font.
7.1.1 A national obsession: the French love of food
It is perhaps misleading to talk about a national cuisine when, like much of French life, produce and cooking are subject to extensive regional variation. True, certain staple dishes appear on most menus (cassoulet, bouillabaisseetc), but local landscape and climate still determine many of the dishes served up in restaurants and homes. For instance, in Brittany the sea yields clams, perfect topped with shallots, parsley, butter and breadcrumbs (praires farcies); while in Burgundy, the famous vineyards attract luckless snails, to be simmered in wine and then bathed in garlic and parsley butter (escargots à la Bourguignonne).Attitudes to food have changed in the last 20 years. Fewer people now linger over the two-hour lunch, are duced share of income goes on food and the diet tends to be less calorific than of old. Such are the pressures of modern life. Some cite new eating habits as indicative of the French battle between modernity and tradition. Yet the passion remains and French cooking continues to evolve. The late 20th century fad for nouvelle cuisine has abated, but its taste for innovation and for fine fresh produce is increasingly applied to the traditions of country cooking (cuisine du terroir), now back in fashion. Supermarkets have latched on to the rediscovered taste for seasonal, small-scale food production. Of course, on local market stalls and in the small town charcuterie or boulangerie the trend never went away.
What is terroir?
The word may have ancient connotations but terroir is a fashionable, if hard to quantify, facet of modern French cuisine. The term embraces land, climate, culture and produce, an intangible catch-all for that sense of place so important to the regions’ food and wine. So, that wild boar stew from just south of Orléans only tastes as good as it does because the ingredients flourished in the physical and climatic conditions unique to the Sologne forest. More traditionally, the term terroir has been applied to wine, used to describe the unique combination of soil, climate and topography that generate a particular vintage.
The name game: AOC standards
One downside of having so much great food is that everyone else tries to rip if off. In an effort to safeguard regional produce from pale imitation, the French government devised the complex Appellation d’origine contrôlée(AOC). Any food bearing the AOC standard will have been traditionally made with ingredients drawn from a specific area and will conform to set standards. Only such produce can bear the name of its locale. Butter from Poitou-Charentes, walnuts from Grenoble and mussels from the bay at Mont St Michel all wear the AOC badge with pride. As with terroir, the use of standards like the AOC has lapped over from the world of French wine.
Guilty pleasures
To the gourmand’s horror, France has developed an unexpected lust for American-style fast food. There’s a McDonalds on the Champs Elysées and a burger joint in pretty much every town across the country. On average, French people now spend nearly 70 euros a year each on les hamburgers. But not everyone has developed the taste: the Astérix-moustachioed José Bové gained folk hero status in 1999 after he and fellow farmers dismantled a half built McDonalds in the town of Millau. The Americanized Buffalo Grill chain of steakhouses has also proved a resounding hit with many diners – there are more than 250 across France. Even the accusations that their restaurants used banned British beef between 1996 and 2000 hasn’t dimmed their popularity.
7.1.2 Regional specialities: truly local tastes
North and North-west
Lush, fertile Normandy, laced with orchards and grazed by brown and white Normande cows, is the milk churn of France. The region abounds in fine cheeses such as Camembert, Pont-l’Evêque and Livarot, while rich butters and creams infuse the local cuisine. Seafood is another staple: nowhere in France catches more oysters or scallops. Normandy is also the home of brioche. In Brittany, the diet is similarly guided by fish and seafood. Towns have become famously allied to their catches: oysters in Cacale, crabs in St Malo and lobsters in Camaret. Primeurs(spring vegetables) grow well ahead of globe artichokes and leeks where the soil allows, and cereals are used for crêpesand their buckwheat cousins, gallettes. Saint Paulin and Campénéac, both semi-hard cheeses of monastic origin, are made here too. Picardy and Nord-Pas-de-Calais are largely overlooked in the gourmand’s France, yet both harbour some worthy local fare. Cuisine from the Nord takes its lead from vegetables and fish. In Picardy, highly prized pré salé lamb is reared on the salt marshes of the Somme Estuary for a distinct flavour, while the region’s opulent summer fruits are used to make sorbets.
North-east
In Alsace, with its strong Germanic flavour, cuisine reaches furthest from the French norm. This divergence hasn’t stopped the recent rise in popularity of the region’s robust food across France. The fertile landscape is regal veg territory and, in the plains around Strasbourg, the white cabbage is king. Cured pork and sausage are also fundamental to the diet – charcuteriessell some 200 local specialities – while the pungent rind-washed Munster Fermier is the AOC cheese of choice. Forests yield fruits and berries that end up in breads and tarts. In the wilds of Lorraine and the Ardennes the woodland serves up wild boar, venison and mushrooms, while carp, pike and trout are all caught in the rivers and lakes. Pork here comes in many forms, from pâté to suckling pig, salt cured belly pork to saucisson, but the most famous remains the dry salted, air cured jambon d’Ardennes. iii. Paris and Île de France Paris, despite what people from Lyons may tell you, is the gastronomic mecca of France. Although the city doesn’t retain a definable menu of its own, it soaks up produce and culinary expertise from across the country, bringing together a wealth of excellent markets, delis, bistros and restaurants. Migrants have also brought Paris the flavours of world cuisine (especially North African and Vietnamese) – tastes that are gradually spreading out to the rest of the country. The capital’s hinterland clings to its shrinking agricultural backcloth. Market gardens and orchards support fruit and vegetables, and the celebrated likes of Montmorency cherries and white Argenteuil asparagus still grow in the region, even if the towns that gave them a name have been largely swallowed by the suburbs of northern Paris. Salad vegetables provide the principle crop of the Île’s main agricultural area, Seine-et- Marne, to the east of the city. Here too, the ancient province of Brie continues to make its famous cheese.
Centre and East
The realities of rural life in the Massif Central emerge in the Auvergne’s unpretentious cuisine. One-pot cooking blends humble ingredients like cabbage, green lentils, potatoes, bacon and game into hearty stews. Cured meats and smoked and blood sausages are local specialities. While terroir is similarly pivotal to Burgundy’s famous cuisine, recipes here enjoy the subtleties of wine, mustard and cream. The strong Burgundian cheese, Epoisses de Bourgogne, washed in the marc de Bourgognespirit, is eternally popular, and the region is also home to that national treasure, coq au vin. In Lyons, French produce reaches its apex. Myriad eastern elements – from Charolais beef to Bresse chicken and, above all, charcuterie– collide and the city takes full creative advantage to stake its claim as the nation’s gastronomic HQ. In Franche- Comté and the Savoyard and Dauphiné Alps, the upland herds produce some of the country’s finest cheeses and cured meats.
West
French cooking took shape in the Loire’s royally connected kitchens and tradition has it that you still find the nation’s purest palate amid the region’s fertile landscape. In Anjou and Touraine the Loire Valley’s protective climate is perfect for apples and pears, and the sandy soil ideal for asparagus. Perch, shad, zander, pike and salmon are all served fresh from the region’s rivers, often bathed in a beurre blanc(wine, butter and shallots) or simple sorrel sauce. The Loire’s legendary goat’s cheeses include Crottin de Chavignol. On the coast, the peninsula of Guérande offers up a rich harvest of sea salt. Further south, the Dordogne dribbles foodie class. Pigs (or more likely dogs these days) snout for elusive black truffesand duck and geese livers are fattened for foie grasand confit. Duck and goose fat flavours everything, from soups to sautéed vegetables. Autumn brings the region a rich walnut harvest. Foie gras, confit, cèpesmushrooms and truffles spread into the Borderlais where the warm Garonne valley also supports plums, peaches and pears. Shellfish flourish on the coast west of Bordeaux, as they do along much of the Atlantic seaboard.
South
French cuisine finds its bite in the country’s southwestern corner. Petulant red chillies are an essential ingredient in Les Pays Basque, used to flavour everything from jambon de Bayonneto ttoro, an Atlantic answer to bouillabaisse. Across the Pyrenees, the scrubby, sun drenched lands around the Mediterranean support a colourful crop. Provence, with its tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, olives and figs, enjoys a southern European diet. Traditional peasant soups and stews, often fish-based, are flavoured with the region’s bountiful wild herbs. Pieds et paquetsis famously Provençal: lambs’ ‘feet’ and tripe ‘packets’ slowly cooked with garlic, wine and cured pork. Languedoc, similarly blessed with fresh produce, reputedly cultivates the best garlic in France, while neighbouring Roussillon digests paella in accordance with its Catalan spirit. In Corsica, rosemary, lavender, fennel and thyme, sourced in the island’s wild maquisundergrowth, blend with tomatoes, olives and lemons to flavour mountain-reared mutton, pork and beef.
7.1.3 Staple diet: bread, charcuterie and cheese
Bread
Consumed with virtually every meal, bread is integral to the French eating ritual. Freshness is calculated in hours not days, and most boulangerswill bake at least twice a day to ensure both lunch and dinner are accompanied by fresh bread. The French like their bread crusty: the baguettewas an innovation designed to get more crust from your loaf. Although bread consumption fell steadily in France during the 20th century (the French eat one fifth of the bread they did in 1900), the modern taste for produits du terroirshas seen baking traditions regain ground in the last decade. In bakeries across the country the humble baguette, its even slimmer cousin, the ficelle, and the fatter painincreasingly share shelf space with crusty and chewy pain de campagne, rye breads and others made with nuts, wine, olives or meat.
Charcuterie
In France, the traditional necessity of preserving meat bred such creativity that it seems harsh to describe charcuterieas a mere staple foodstuff. Sausages, tripe, pâtés, blood puddings, cured hams, terrines, rillettes: charcuterieencompasses all manner of meat products, straying well beyond the traditional pork boundaries to embrace everything from goose to wild boar, veal to chicken. Charcuterie, like all French food, is a patchwork of regional tastes, a mélange from which a few choice cuts have emerged as nationwide favourites. And, in common with all traditional French produce, charcuterie is also enjoying something of a renaissance, from the boudin blanc(a pork or chicken sausage) of the north to the jambon de Bayonne(salted, air-cured ham) in the south-west.
Cheese
At first glance cheese seems emblematic of the nation, but in truth it’s a food defined by local variation. When de Gaulle grumbled about governing a country with 246 different cheeses, he alluded to the trials of presiding over the different regions and the French themselves. The parallel is apt: mass production and regulation attempt to harness the spirit of great French cheese, yet consumers retain most affection for the rule breakers, for the unpasteurized ( lait cru) fermiercheeses so important in the prevailing taste for terroir. Today, around 500 variations of cheese are produced in France, from the cooked and pressed Beaufort of Savoie, to the soft and creamy Gris de Lille, rind-washed for three months. Factory-made cheeses are exported around the globe; others (most will tell you the best) are produced on family run farms, in monasteries or even mountainside huts, and sold on local markets. Certain varieties of cheese can fall within more than one of these categories. For instance, the anodyne factory Brie has its cottage industry cousin.
7.1.4 Eating habits: in the home and going out
Less is more
The French society that stopped for two hours at lunch and longer for dinner has gone. Rural communities may still find the time, but for many the working day doesn’t accommodate such indulgence. Nouvelle cuisine played its part in the change: four cardio-squeezing courses of heavy food every night, just hours after the same at lunch, slipped from fashion. And yet eating in France remains fundamental to the nation’s culture. A social meal, with the family group at its core, still stretches on for hours. Also, despite the growth of ready meals, fast food and lunch on the run, unprocessed foods continue to take precedence. Indeed, the young Parisian professional living miles from the nearest whiff of country air is increasingly engaged by terroir. Amid the oft-quoted identity crisis of contemporary France, such good honest produce offers a rare chance to connect with la France profonde.
Where do they put it all? The French Paradox
The English-speaking media often ponders the French Paradox. That is, how do French women remain so trim on a diet of wickedly rich food? Similarly, when saturated fats are consumed with abandon, why are heart disease levels lower and life expectancies higher than in other Western countries? Various theories have been put forward, but the simple truth seems to be that they eat less. Portions are smaller and, in contrast to the British and Americans, the French rarely snack outside meals. The healing properties of red wine are also thought to play a role in reducing heart disease.
Behavioural problems: dinner with the neighbours
An invitation to dine at someone’s house is rare in the city – you’re more likely to be lured out to a restaurant (and whoever invites usually pays). In rural areas, however, neighbours or friends may well invite you for a meal chez nous. Etiquette dictates you keep to certain rules. Arrive 15 minutes late – they will be expecting it and may get flustered if you turn up while they’re still preparing food. Don’t wander into the kitchen unless directly invited – it’s the veritable inner sanctum. Finally, a gift isn’t obligatory, but a plant, book or something similar will be appreciated. Don’t take wine unless you’re an expert; don’t take non- French wine unless you want to be shown the door. Ideally, take a wine from the region you’re in or, if in doubt, a bottle of champagne.
A raw deal: vegetarianism in France
Nearly all main dishes served up in French restaurants are meat-based; anything green usually only appears as an accompaniment. In accommodating vegetarians, French eateries lag a couple of decades behind the UK and USA. However, the situation is improving – restaurants increasingly offer a vegetarian option on their menus and the Alliance Végétarienne says its knows of more than 180 vegetarian restaurants in France.
7.1.5 Buying food: markets, shops and supermarkets
Small is beautiful
The French have struck a food-buying balance that eludes most Western countries. Cavernous supermarkets have become a familiar facet of French life, yet the march of progress hasn’t completely crushed traditional shops and markets underfoot. Queuing in the boulangerieor browsing the market stalls remain important daily rituals for many. Some French shoppers, as in other countries, are happy to dine on whatever they can pluck from the supermarket shelf but, for most, convenience still plays second fiddle to traceable, artisanal produce.
Getting Fresh: French markets
Every French town or suburb has at least one food market a week, often more. Produce is local and seasonal, and some of the stalls will be staffed by the producers themselves. But browsing the market is about more than buying food: it’s a social experience, a place to catch up on gossip where no self-respecting French woman would be seen without her make-up. As for how to behave, watching the old dears is your best bet. They always know the best stalls, where invariably they will prod and sniff the produce before parting with any cash. Most markets are open by 8am and finished by 1pm; avoid the first hour or two, unless you want to compete with local restaurateurs.
Life on the shelf: French supermarkets
They’re huge, cheap and sell a lot more than just food. Clothes, bikes, furniture – the giant French hypermarché hovering on the edge of town offers everything under one roof. Food may be sourced more locally than in their British or American counterparts, but it remains mass- produced. While increasing numbers of French – the majority indeed – do their food shopping in supermarkets, many will simply stock up on non-perishables, heading instead to the market or to smaller shops for bread, vegetables, meat and cheese. Nevertheless, many small shops have perished as out-of town stores draw customers away from town centres.
7.2 Drink
Say what you like about New World wannabes, about pomposity or price –France remains the seat of world wine. For the French, oenology takes its place alongside literature, philosophy or cinema as a cultural deity. And then there’s the apéritifs, digestifs, beer, cider…
7.2.1 More than just a drink: the culture of French wine
Like food, wine is a part of the daily ritual, entwined with customs, festivities and local identity. However, falling exports and shifting drinking habits in France and elsewhere are pressuring the wine industry to adapt. Today, after decades of mechanization, intensification and chemicals, French vineyards are retreating back to the basics of painstaking labour, of hand-picking and sorting, re-establishing the role of the vine in producing high quality wine. In touch with the wider reawakening of rural identity and the faith in terroir, the distinct local qualities of French wine are becoming more important than ever.
The wine classifications: what do they mean?
Vin de table. Apart from the prohibition of naming grape origin on the label, there are few laws governing vin de table. Accounting for about a quarter of French wine, most vin de table is of average quality, although a handful of gems – unable to negotiate the strict AOC regulations – can be found. Vin de pays. Encompasses about 150 wines of particular regional significance. Originally a humble classification, today many vin de pays carry a higher price tag than their AOC cousins. The label tells you where the wine is from, production methods and main grape variety used. Vin délimité de qualité supérieur (VDQS). A small clutch of wines that fall between vin de pays and AOC conforming to rules of production, grape variety and yield. The VDQS classification was due to be phased out a few years ago, but new members are still being created. Vin d’appellation d’origine contrôlée (AOC). AOC classified wine should only come from the region, town or vineyard on the label. Unfortunately, duplicitous winemakers, often blending in non-AOC varieties, and the complexities of the AOC system itself have devalued its worth.
Grape provenance
While New World wines are free to experiment with new blends and to plant on virgin soil, centuries of development and classification in France have created very strict rules about wine origin and content. Thus, champagne may only contain Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes, while you won’t find a Cabernet Sauvignon grape in the vineyards of Burgundy.
An industry under threat
There’s no denying that the advent of New World wines has dramatically changed the world market for French wine. French vintners have sometimes described Australian or American wines as industrial and massproduced, dismissive of new blends using historic grape varieties. Other makers, however, have been keen to learn from Chile, South Africa, Australia and the rest, bringing new techniques back to France. One thing is certain; the French wine industry is being forced to change in response to cheaper wines from overseas. Huge EU subsidies have traditionally protected French wine, with Europe’s vast annual wine surplus bought up and distilled into industrial alcohol or fuel. In June 2006, the EU decided to drain the wine lake by paying vine growers to grub up a proportion of their plants. Many now fear for their livelihood.
7.2.2 Viti-culture: the French wine regions
Bordeaux
The world’s largest fine wine region fills 750 million bottles each year (give or take). Over 13,000 vineyards spread out from the city of Bordeaux, their wines distinguished by the area’s subtle variations in climate and soil. North-west of the city, on the Gironde estuary’s left bank, the Médoc region is the prima donna of world wine. Médoc reds like St Julian, Pauillac and Margaux are dominated by the smoky, blackcurrant twangs of Cabernet Sauvignon. South of Bordeaux, the gravelly Graves region supports similar reds and a few notable whites. On the Gironde’s right bank, Merlot grapes fair better in the clay soils of St Emilion and Pomerol while Entre-Deux-Mers produces famous AOC whites. South of Bordeaux, the world capital of sweet white wine is found in Sauternes where once every three years or so the weather delivers the perfect level of noble rot for a heavenly elixir.
Burgundy
Legendary but unpredictable, the spiritual home of both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir is subject to the climatic vagaries of its northerly latitude. Most of the estates here are small (about ten acres), family run affairs dwarfed by the heavyweights and big business of Bordeaux: often a winemaker will take grapes from a vineyard carved up by dozens of different smallholders. Growers must also work within strict legislation demanding that many Burgundian wines are pressed from a single grape variety. When grower, grape, maker and vintage are married successfully, Burgundy makes sublime wine – all you have to do is find the right one. The great dry whites of Chablis, reds and whites of the Côte d’Or and cherry twang of Beaujolais – made solely from Gamay grapes – all reside within the region.
Alsace
Sheltering behind the Vosges Mountains, the northeastern hub of French wine is unique in various respects. The varietals used give much of the region’s white wine a perfumed, fruity yet dry taste, alien to most of the country. Similarly, in contrast to colleagues in the other major appellation contrôlée regions, Alsatian vintners tend to print a grape name on the label, identifying by variety rather than location. Nearly all the wine produced in Alsace is white, with only a few pockets of Pinot Noir bucking the trend. Gewürztraminer, Riesling and Muscat are three big names – each a bit dryer in Alsatian hands than you might expect.
Champagne
It all begins innocuously enough. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes (and those three alone) are blended to make a still, often sharply acidic wine. A measure of liqueur de tirage (sugar and yeast) is added to the bottles, which are then stored for a second fermentation. Remuage, gradual turning over a two-month period, brings any yeasty bits to the top before the neck is frozen and the sediment removed (a process called dégorgement). A liqueur d’expédition (wine and sugar) is then added and a cork quickly banged in to round off the process. Essentially, this complicated, fascinating procedure, the méthode champenoise, unfurls because Champagne struggles to produce a good still wine so far north. That said, the quality of champagne remains dependent on the blend of grapes used.
The Loire Valley
As the longest river in France, the Loire’s corresponding wine region snakes along a considerable course. Viewed in their full extent, the vines curl all the way from Muscadet territory on the Atlantic coast to the Côte d’Auvergne encircling Clermont-Ferrand. Wines produced in the Loire reflect this scale with an impressive variety: dry, sweet, red, white, still and sparkling can all be tasted amid the country’s most charming vineyards. Yet, despite such diversity, many outside France associate the Loire solely with the Sauvignon Blanc grape, pressed into affordable dry to medium dry whites like Sancerre and Pouilly Fumé. Alas, as similar New World wines grown in a more reliable climate make inroads into the global market, the Loire’s rather mixed, unpredictable bag of wines struggle to maintain their overseas audience.
Rhône Valley
Another region, another global superstar – wines from the Rhône Valley grace the upper echelons of any wine list. Nurtured by warm climes on well drained slopes, it’s no surprise that this ancient corridor of oenological nirvana produces 450 million bottles a year. The region harbours a distinct north/south split, ruled from above by the big Syrah grape and from below by Grenache-led blending. Unlike most of the country’s wine producing regions, the Rhône Valley has entered the 21st century in rude health, the voluptuous character of its wines a match for any overseas competitors. In the valley’s northern reaches, the small Côte Rôtie appellation produces meaty single estate reds, while Condrieu offers peachy whites made from Viognier grapes. At the southern end, Châteauneuf-du-Pape carries its reputation well, making use of up to 13 grape varieties – Grenache and Syrah at their heart.
Unsung heroes: five other French wine regions
Languedoc-Roussillon
The vast area of vines (the largest in France) curving round the Med is beginning to shed its reputation for perpetual underachievement. As the rise of New World wines continues, Languedoc-Roussillon offers an affordable French alternative. Indeed, many of the makers responsible for raising the region’s profile learned their trade in Australia and California. At present, quality remains incredibly varied and the area’s woolly appellation zones offer little in the way of a reliable guide. What to drink: Corbières and Fitou are two of the big reds, produced from Carignan loaded blends. The Coteaux du Languedoc and Roussillon areas have been making wine for well over 2,000 years; the latter has gained a reputation for producing some dazzling reds and rosés, while the former also seems on the up with its Carignan-Syrah blends.
Jura and Savoie
Jura has pulled back from the brink as a wine region, gradually clawing back the land under vine after decades of decline in the 20th century. However, it remains a region where wine (and idiosyncratic grape varieties) has progressed little in centuries. What to drink: the area is famous for vin jaune, a yellow wine made from the Savagnin grape with its nutty hint of sherry. Here too you find vin de paille, a sweet white traditionally made by drying the grapes out on straw. Both are something of an acquired taste. Arbois and Côte du Jura are the main growing areas, producing vin jaune, vin de paille and a few Pinot Noir-led reds. The scattered Vin de Savoie appellation, harbouring a light white made from the Jacquère grape, is about as close as wine gets to the Alps.
Provence
From the Rhône delta around to Nice, Provence harbours some rewarding wines, most of them overlooked outside the region. What to drink: Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence and Côtes de Provence are the largest appellations. Both are dominated by fruity reds, made with Grenache grapes in Aix and Carignan in Côtes de Provence; certain vineyards have also taken to bolstering their wines with Cabernet Sauvignon but are forced to sell them as mere vin de table in accordance with AOC rules. Côtes de Provence is also home to some famous rosé wines, again with the Carignan grape at their heart. The rosés’ colour and taste are achieved by reducing the amount of time the wine spends in contact with the grape skins.
Corsica
In wine, as in most things, Corsica is something of a law unto itself. Italian grape varieties play an important role in wines for which AOC status seems to have been granted arbitrarily. What to drink: Vin de Corse is an appellation applying to the entirety of Corsica and is thus largely obsolete as an indicator of quality. Meaty, herb tinged reds, dry whites and full-bodied rosés all fall within its bounds. Other AOC regions are more precise: Patrimonio reds blend Italianate grapes for wines with longevity and clout, while the whites are made exclusively from herby Vermentino grapes. Vermentino is used in Ajaccio whites too, although here the blended reds, led by the Sciacarello grape, take precedence.
South-west
Large co-ops and tiny smallholders operate side by side in the south-west. Bordeaux’s domineering grape varieties overlap into the vinous mélange, yet you also encounter little known local varieties making distinct if untrendy wines. What to drink: While Bergerac is still regarded as the cheaper sibling of Bordeaux, its reds are granted increasing prestige. The tannic ‘black wine’ of the Cahors appellation is produced from the Malbec grape, although today many makers moderate the brooding red with Merlot. At the foot of the Pyrenees, the dry and sweet whites of Jurançon carry a pineapple bouquet. A few miles north, the Madiran appellation produces a bullish red traditionally made with the Tannat grape.
7.2.3 Drinking culture: beyond wine
Beer
While French beer has always lived in the shadow of wine, the wider renaissance in artisanal produce has seen microbreweries mushroom of late. But it’s a long road back – the French brewing industry declined steadily throughout the 20th century. The thousand or so regional breweries in existence in 1900 went flat in the competition with a clutch of industrial pilsner-style beer producers, Kronenbourg and Pelforth among them. Two decades ago the decline slowed. It’s not that more people are actually drinking beer in France (that figure dips year on year), rather that those who do enjoy ale are seeking out the smaller brewers. The growth of these microbreweries has been spearheaded in Alsace and Nord-Pas-de-Calais (where monks began brewing in the Middle Ages), the traditional heartlands of French brewing and beer drinking. In Alsace, the German love of blonde beers seeps into the region’s drinking habits, while in Nord-Pas-de-Calais the local brews have a distinctly Flemish twang. Brittany has also joined the microbrewing fraternity over the last decade with a handful of producers, while the brewpub phenomenon (whereby bars brew their own) creeps through the north. All over France, the English style pub is making a gradual appearance.
Cider
Find an orchard in France, from Picardy to Les Pays Basques, and it’s highly likely that someone nearby will be making cider. However, the undisputed home of French cider is the north-west. Brittany boasts a sizeable cider industry, but general consensus states that the Normans of Pays d’Auge, with their AOC status, make the best. In contrast to the US and Britain, France has spawned few industrial giants in cider production. Like French wine, cider often originates from single estates: some small farms may well sell you cidre fermier direct. If the label says cidre bouchê, the drink, bottled like champagne, will have undergone a second fermentation. Cidre doux is a weak sugary drink, rarely stronger than 3%, while cidre brut is a strong, dry variant of 5% or more. Brittany and Normandy also produce poiré, pear cider, in large quantities.
Five popular apéritifs
To really appreciate seven courses of fine French food you must, of course, entice the gastric juices out with an apéritif. Many of the famous French pre-dinner drinks have evolved into popular tipples, sipped irrespective of food. Pastis: The Midi’s favourite only became popular after 1915 when absinthe was banned and makers concocted a wormwood-free substitute. Star anise became the governing flavour. Provence harbours many artisanal variants: some blend more than 70 herbs and spices to get the right anise flavour. Dry vermouth: Vermouth is actually Italian, but dry vermouth has its origins in France. In the early 19th century, traders found that white wine became fuller and developed an amber colour when barrels were exposed to the sun and spray of sea travel. Today the effect is achieved by leaving oak barrels out in the Mediterranean glare for a year. The addition of herbs and spices gives a nutty flavour. Noilly Prat is the big name. Kir: A DIY apéritif, kir is made with crème de cassis topped with white wine. Dijon mayor Félix Kir pioneered the drink after the Second World War, serving it up at official receptions. Various kir variations exist: the most famous, Kir Royale, uses champagne. Pineau des Charentes: Fresh, unfermented grape juice is blended with cognac or eaux de vie and then aged in wooden barrels for a sweet, fruity taste. Apparently discovered by accident in 1589 when a winemaker put new grape juice into a barrel containing cognac. Today, the genuine Charentes variety has AOC status. Pommeau: A bit like pineau but with apples. Unfermented cider is mixed with year-old Calvados and left to age in a barrel for over two years. The richly coloured result has a smooth sweet vanilla taste. Both Pommeau de Bretagne and Pommeau de Normandie have AOC status.
Five popular digestifs
Like their pre-meal companions, digestifs aren’t the staple of after dinner rumination they once were. However, many still take a little something with their coffee, or at any other convenient time. Cognac: The original masterclass in distilling grapes twice takes place in the Charantais department. Distillers’ cellars are rich in the aromatic fug of la part des anges (the angels’ share) that evaporates into the atmosphere. The youngest, labelled VS, must be at least two years old, VSOP four years old, and the finest, XO, a minimum of six years. In truth, many cognacs produced in each classification are much older. Two of the most famous were initiated in the 18th century by an Irish mercenary, Richard Hennessy, and a Channel Islander, Jean Martell. Armagnac: Gascony’s answer to cognac isn’t quite as famous. It lacks the internationally renowned merchants, instead boasting some fine small-scale fermier brandies. While cognac has two distinct distillation periods, Armagnac matures in one continuous process. Calvados: An apple brandy produced predominantly in Normandy’s Pay d’Auge, in the Calvados département, by distilling cider. Double distillation takes place in giant copper cauldrons before aging slowly smoothes out the wrinkles in wooden casks. The youngest, trois étoiles, is a minimum of two years old, but the best are much older, sometimes aged over decades. Eaux de vie: The so-called waters of life are basically fruit brandies, and thus technically include cognac, Calvados and Armagnac within their ranks. However, typically eaux de vie will refer to the fiery, clear aperitifs made with plums, pears, cherries, raspberries and other fruits. Each region has its own variations, although the artisanal eaux de vie of Alsace are particularly renowned. Marc: Another eau de vie, this time made by distilling the grape pulp (pomace) left over from wine production. Some makers even throw in the grape stalks. The most popular versions are made in eastern France, from Marc de Gewürztraminer in Alsace, to Marc de Champagne and Marc de Bourgogne.
Fairy liquid: the artist’s choice
Absinthe is a bitter anise flavoured spirit, of which the supposedly mind-bending wormwood is a minor constituent. It takes the nickname la Fée Verte (the green fairy) from its emerald colour. Originally a Swiss elixir, absinthe was first produced in France in the early 19th century. It became hugely popular, to the extent that France was knocking back over 35 million litres annually by 1910. The corresponding social ills of this mass consumption and the growing belief that absinthe created psychosis and criminality led to its prohibition in many European countries – it was banned in France in 1915. This ban hasn’t been officially repealed, although you can now widely buy and drink absinthe in France. The bottle will be labelled spiritueux à base de plantes d’absinthe – spirit with a wormwood base – rather than merely absinthe. While the accusation that absinthe is more harmful than any other drink with an equally high alcohol content remains unproven, the drink’s cultural prestige is undeniable. Manet, Degas, van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec and Picasso all drank and painted it, while Oscar Wilde and Ernest Hemingway lauded its effects in print.
Drinks order
Carthusian monks near Grenoble have made the beguiling green Chartreuse liqueur since the 18th century. It’s not the kind of tipple you can brew up at home – the recipe takes 130 different herbs, flowers and various secret ingredients and blends them with a wine alcohol base. Various imitators, including the French government, have tried and failed to reproduce Chartreuse. Only two monks, so the monastery blurb suggests, know the recipe. A sweet yellow Chartreuse is also available. The green original has strong literary connections: Gatsby drank a bottle in F Scott Fitzgerald’s famous novel, while Hunter S Thompson, himself a Chartreuse drinker, spiked his work with the green stuff.
Water
No one has taken to bottled water quite like the French. In 2005 the Parisian authorities handed out free designer carafes in a bid to draw people back to the tap, but they had their work cut out – France produces and drinks more bottled water than anywhere else in the world. Eau de source is simple spring water, while eau de mineral may have health benefits – a declarée d’intérêt public, granted by the Ministry of Health, will indicate as much on the label. Of course, the French have their favourites.
Hot drinks
When the French order a coffee they expect a small cup of espresso, referred to as un express or un petit noir. For breakfast they may slurp a large cup or bowl of café au lait. In between, there are various subtleties of size and content; a café crème (just ask for a crème) is an espresso with milk or cream, a noisette the same but with a smaller dash of milk. If you want it decaffeinated, ask for déca. Tea is usually served black or, if requested, accompanied by milk or a slice of lemon. Herbal teas, particularly camomile, are popular as digestifs. Hot chocolate continues to be a popular breakfast drink.
7.2.4 Drinking habits: when and where to indulge
When do the French drink?
Drinking habits are rapidly evolving in France but traditional practices remain relevant. Café au lait and hot chocolate are still the breakfast drinks of choice, and the traditions of a mid-morning coffee shot remain intact. When it comes to lunch and dinner, wine no longer sits at the head of the table: more and more people, in particular young adults, drink only water as an accompaniment to food. Dining is more likely to unravel with the help of wine in a restaurant, sipped alongside the ubiquitous bottle of water. The evening rituals of the apéritif and digestif are less prevalent than of old, and when time does allow for a drink either side of the meal, these days the French are just as likely to drink whisky as anything peculiar to France. When taken, spirits are enjoyed in moderation – usually no more than two. Similarly, a wine glass is never filled to the brim. Coffee is still standard at the end of a meal, although increasing numbers are sipping on infused teas.
Where do the French drink?
Many may still grab an early coffee from their neighbourhood café on the way to work, and the traditions of sitting in a city centre café for hours on end haven’t died altogether (thanks in part to widespread unemployment amongst graduates). Cafés, bars and wine bars all cater for evening drinkers in towns and cities. In villages, the café provides a hub for any late drinking. However, people don’t go to cafés and bars in droves anymore. Better living standards are encouraging people to stay at home of an evening – many used to go out simply to escape the drab living conditions in the house or apartment. When they do go out, 21st century urbanites are often more inclined to chat over a soft drink than a glass of wine. Out in the regions, change has been less swift. The tradition of drinking cheap, rough red wine in the local café remains an important, albeit diminishing, routine for older generations.
Changing tastes: alcohol consumption
Alcohol consumption in France is decreasing. Sales of wine have shrunk dramatically in the last 20 years, while beer and spirits have struggled to hold their ground. Health conscious young adults and progressively tighter drink driving laws have been blamed. However, while the French drink less, they’re spending more on what they actually consume, seeking out higher quality AOC wines from small-scale producers. But let’s not get carried away. Even though French wine consumption has halved over the last 40 years, it would be wrong to envisage anything like widespread abstention. France remains one of world’s leading consumers of alcohol. The rituals of episodic, heavy drinking among older generations have brought their own severe health problems – alcohol abuse remains the third largest cause of preventable death.
Sobering thoughts
Being publicly drunk in France isn’t acceptable. At almost any level of society, within any age group, open displays of intoxication are frowned upon. In France, drinking machismo comes from being able to remain in control irrespective of how many you’ve knocked back. In contrast to other northern European nations, most notably Britain, French youngsters are taught how to drink sensibly and to remain within certain boundaries. Consistently high levels of consumption may continue to be a scourge in terms of liver cirrhosis, and alcoholism is no small problem, but the French have yet to embrace binge drinking.
Attitudes to drink driving
Wine producers in France have blamed strict drink driving laws on falling sales – in 1995 the legal blood alcohol level was reduced to 0.5mg/ml (it’s 0.8mg/ml in the UK). But with ingrained drink driving habits responsible for a third of deaths on the French roads, the government had to act. Since 2002 the drink driving laws (along with other laws of the road) have been rigorously enforced in line with a new system of penalties. Annual road deaths have duly fallen by nearly 2,000. As with drinking habits in general, young French adults are far less likely to offend than older generations.
