I believe that within many of us, there’s a Francophile lurking within. There certainly is for me, it was really destined given my name. I’ve been fortunate enough to visit Paris twice in my lifetime and each time it has felt like an adult’s Disneyland for pastries and cakes and food. I mean they totally understand my devotion to butter! 
If you are similarly French and food obsessed, the new Maeve O’Meara and Guillame Brahimi show that is currently screening on SBS no doubt has whetted your appetite for all things French. If you have missed it or missed a couple of episodes, do I have a delicious surprise for you! I’m giving away five copies to five lucky readers. Whenever I watch it, it makes me want to bake late at night. There are interviews and stories with Maeve, Guillaume, Alain Ducasse, charcuterie, Will Studd Masterclasses and a Bennelong kitchen tour as well as recipes such as gratin dauphinois, fish stock, mayonnaise, truffle scrambled eggs, tomato salad, stocks and caramelised pork belly.
Thanks to Madman Entertainment, five lucky Not Quite Nigella readers will each win a copy of French Food Safari on DVD worth $30 each! For a chance to win all you have to do is tell me your favourite French dish and why! Simply add your answer as a comment to the story. The competition ends at midnight AEST on the 11th of September, 2011. You can enter this competition once daily and it is open to anyone within Australia.
***The winners are:
Wendy A. of NSW
Eha C. of NSW
Cheryl M. of Vic
Weichan Y. of ACT
Connie K. of NSW***
Best of luck!
Lots of love,
Lorraine
xxx
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262 Comments | Add your own
Love French food! I love their cheese soufflés. It’s rich goodness that taste like clouds in your mouth, and they do it so well!
Creme brûlée! My favorite dessert, and it’s also French.
It’s hard to go past a good eclair!
Is it wrong to say French toast. My great grandmother was French and my father grew up with her French cooking – lucky man! I was less lucky and only came to know of my familiy heritage in recent years. It is the only way I can account for the ecstasy I feel when eating Nigella’s Doughnut French Toast. I think it must be health food because it always makes me feel so good
Apple tarte tatin – so simple and quick, yet delicious and impressive.
I am absolutely loving the French Food Safari series. I am a French teacher and I have been showing my students snippets of it online – they love it!
My favourite savoury dish would have to be Bouillabaisse although I have never made it like Guillaume did. Bones and all!
I love French food because it’s the sort of food that’s wonderful to share with friends – simple, hearty, flavoursome and comforting. My favorite French dish is Coq Au Vin for this reason. Although I have a wicket sweet tooth as well for all those beautiful pastries.
I guess it’s not really french but my father-in-law is french/algerian and he makes the yummiest dish called choukchouka. So much love goes into it and whenever he makes it the whole family comes together.
Souffles in their glory!! I love making these babies as a show stopping dessert.
What an awesome prize. I LOVE cooking shows and this is the only one my husband will happily watch again and again!
Macarons! Especially with french buttercream. I’m obsessed with making them at the moment…heaven in a mouthful
I just love beef burgandy – it is my favourite. I think of France everytime I eat it.
Salade de tomates,summer in a bowl,is my favourite Provence style dish,must have the lovely ripe fruit for a successful result,ooh la la !!!
Tarte Tatin, of course! What a divine invention – put the fruit on the bottom, not on top, and create the most amazing caramelisation with the fruit juices… Tres fantastique!
My favourite French dish is raspberry souffle. My fiance made one for me after we’ve been dating for 5 and a half years. As i dug into the soft gooey centre of tge souffle i scooped out a diamond ring and he proposed to me. It is a great memory. He tried to imitate the one on french food safari after we watched it together. He said it took him a long time to perfect it and a long search for a perfect copper pot! Ahahhahah.
Easy! Escargot!
French steak frites … Do you really need anything else ??
Frisee aux lardons every time. Makes my mouth water thinking about it.
It’s got to be French Onion Soup. All that lovely slow cooking of onions with gorgeous beef stock and topped off with a crusty, cheesy crouton. Mmmmmm, I’m off to the kitchen right now to make it…..
wee wee, madame! gorgeousifique. and who doesnt love Maeve?
I love cassoulet–reminds me of comfort and family on a cold winter’s night. I enjoy eating it with a glass of hearty red wine and the house always smells so good while it’s cooking.
Well becuase of my work I missed this whole series and all my foodie friends keep telling me how I should have got someone to tape it for me. TAPE IT???? Do people still do that?
I would love to win one of these copies.
Creme Brulee!!!!
Thin crunchy layer of toffee and velvety custard underneath. No matter how full I am in a restaurant, I always get one if it’s on the menu.
Its too hard to decide NQN – how could you choose? Brulee, Beef Burg, Tarte Tatin, Souffle – savoury and sweet, a perfect Cheese Plate? This is a hard one. I am in favour of a tasting plate!
Adore the Series and also organised a day with a girlfriend doing a French on Wheels Safari in Sydney – a FANTASTIC DAY OUT for men and women alike! Just do it.
I love pot au poulet or chicken in a pot. I had it in a small restaurant in Paris and it was the best.
Friands, madelaines, and all the scrummy bakery items you see in the windows of the bakeries that I can’t eat
but am fascinated by 
That’s why I create my own gfree versions at home.
The Francophilia in me is not just lurking, it’s THERE. The one thing I can’t resist when I’m in Paris are the Marron Crepes! Freshly made, hot off the crepe pan, filled with sweet lovely creme de marron… ahh heaven! Vraiment magnifique!!
Apple, pear and cinnamon tarte ta tin, with fresh cream.
I found it impossible to get a bad meal when I was in France ( and conversely, a good meal in Russia -sorry!) but to me the epitome was a baguette filled with salade nicoise found at every street cafe- divine!
OMG, Lorraine! I feel like getting on my knees and prostrating myself towards Sydney! I have watched everything Maeve O’Meara has done since she put on these wonderful foodie shows with Joanne Saville – and that goes a’ways back
! And in the olden days Bennelong at the Opera House was home-away- from home at least a couple of times a week!. . . And Guillaume Brahmini’s genius had still to hit it! The v first French recipe I made was Veal Marengo, as husband dear loved the meat. My own very favorites are Tripe in Caen style and Kidneys in Mustard Sauce: I think the French manage offal better than any other cooks? Roast leg of lamb with haricot beans Breton style also oft calls in the winter months 
! Am having a huge Sat am laugh: if the two of us went on a foodie tour of Paris, we probably would not see each other from beginning to end – the original ‘sweet and savoury’ couple!!!
I haven’t been able to get out of my mind the lamb with chicken liver sauce, w fennel, w lentil salad from last weeks ep. Love chicken livers, love (grow our own) fennel, love lamb, love lentils. This dish seemed so french so rustic I can’t wait to make it. Its my favorite and I haven’t even made it. I was looking up the recipe on the ad break!
Baguette au jambon – heaven!
My fav dessert is Creme Caramel. I will order it every time I see it on the menu and it is easy enough to make at home. I have just started tuning into French food safari and am really enjoying it. I envy you having already travelled to Paris two times. I hope to visit for the first time next year!
My all time favourite French dish the the croquembouche. There’s Nothing as romantic as a towering croquembouche.
Bonjour! Je t’aime fresh baguette with brie or camembert or pont l’evèque. Always brings back memories from my visits to France. 20+ years ago as a back-packer it was a staple meal (although the cheese may have been “plastic” cheese back then) to 2 years ago having a picnic in the Luxembourg Gardens. C’est magnifique.
Escargot…they’re slippery little suckers!
I love boeuf bourguignon, it was one of the first things I ever cooked! I used my grandmothers recipe, and it’s still one of my favourites to this day – yum!!
well I can never resist a creme brûlée!!! I could eat them day in, day out, breakfast, lunch and dinner…
It would have to be chocolate moelleux! I had my first one in a little cafe in Bayonne near where my brother lives. Soft, rich chocolate cake and a warm, oozing centre when you spoon into it – Mmmmmmm.
We had a picnic in a park overlooking the Eiffel Tower. Fresh Cherries, strawberries, baguettes and cheese with a bottle of wine. Not sure it counts as a dish but it was one of my most memorable food experiences!!
Souffles,pastries, tarte tatin, etc, etc. all are great! and so much love put in them!! that is the key ingredient. The French don’t eat just anything when they are hungry it has to be something delicious!!! Viva la Frande!! Marita Grant
It is madeleines for me. I made them for my grandchildren for an afternoon snack,and one tray just wasn’t enough. They are delicious.
My favourite French dessert would be creme brulee too – and I so wish I could make it well. The soft texture and that rich sauce are delicious when you find a good one!
Yes, this is a great show,
I love the french potatoe dish my mother makes, thinkly sliced potatoes with cream nutmeg and cheese…and s & p! Its a winner, and a world away from the healthy baked potatoes with no cream or butter that the health authorities tell us to eat!! no way…
Aligot!…because who can resist potatoes, cheese, garlic and BUTTER!
…or a charcuterie plate; because meat, bread and butter, are the substances of champions!
Oh my where to start! I absolutely adore this show. So educational and inspiring.
One word, truffles. I can’t ever go past these amazing ugly things. The episode last week was a pleasure to watch. Guillame ‘s roast chicken with truffle looked perfection. Turned a simple chicken into a top class dish. I have now found these at my local market. Chicken with truffles, fresh herbs and a glass of vino… What more could anyone ever wish for?
——–Well, I can’t win anyhow, but my fave dish would be any of the french patries. I would love to walk thru all of the French
bake shops & sample EVERYTHING. Especially the buttery, silky, flaky fattening cream filled delish croissants….Ohhhhhhh, La La la. xxxxx
Nicoise salad is my favourite french dish, with a nice tuna steak – because it is so fresh and tasty and colourful, and reminds me of my holiday in France! mmmm yum!
Steak and pommes frites. Simple but elegant and a classic French main course. I never know how they get so much flavour in the steak.
Something very simple, lovely freshly baked French Bread…. even with a bit of Aussie Vegemite.
Breton Galettes filled with Egg, Emmmental Cheese and Garlic Mushrooms, Salad Verte on the side and a classic cup of Cider for lunch – happy memories of times spent with dear French friends.
Escargot with garlic butter and baguette. It was the first french food made by my french friend on my first visit to France. Still brings back great memories of that trip…
Easy – croque monsieur. Simple, but so tasty!
My favourite is Bouillabaisse with a nice crusty baguette, to me it’s the perfect winter dish.
French Food. An absolute favourite. Butter,butter,butter. Where ever possible especially in mashed potatoes, beans, and pastries. A fantastic steak cooked bleu with bernaise sauce and frites and a mashed haricot bean puree. Yum!! As a starter french onion soup with gruyere croutons and dessert , creme caramel is a must. Breakfast is french egged brioche with nectarine jam and ricotta in the centre ,fried in of course hot melted unsalted butter. Not for the fainthearted.
Just wanted to add that I bought Guillame’s book Food for Friends and it’s full of beautiful recipes. Also, proceeds of the book go towards Chris O’Brien Lifehouse so great cause to support.
My favourite French food item has to be croissants! Especially because my litte boy and I eat them in bed for breakfast, with melted chocolate and fresh raspberries each Mothers Day. I believe this is an awesome French Breakfast by any means!
Mmm… French food… so rich & tasty it’s almost sinful. My favourite is a twice cooked cheese souffle. Magnifique!
my favourite of all time is french onion soup… I will ALWAYS order it whenever we eat at a french restaurant … sadly i can never seem to replicate it at all well!
A good warm almond croissant is hard to beat – mmmmmmm. Creme patisserie, almonds and sugar. Fantastique!
This series is great. Thanks for offering this great prize.
Has to be Moules Marinier(?) with frits. Heaven and the sea all in one.
Creme Brulee. I can’t cook it but i looooveeee to eat it!!!!
Oh hell yes I love any french food
Though nothing beats a really good almond croissant!
But give me a bouillabaisse, macaron or creme brulee anyday!!!
I absolutely adore Pot au Feu! So tasty and hearty in the winter and eating it takes me back to a bistro in France where I enjoyed this dish with friends on a freezing night
Ah French Foood!!
Love souffles. They are the best french food. So light and delicous especially berry souffles.
Oh, Lorraine, you know how I fell for Paris last year, so choosing one dish is impossible!
Except, maybe, a Mont Blanc. And Pain d’Epice. And Goat’s Cheese salads. And bouillabaise. And…
Well, I’m just going to say the whole spectrum of French food! It’s impossible to single it down to just one.
There’s no aphrodisiac like Lobster bisque!
Very hard to pick just one thing, but the French do bread like no-one else. I love a good baguette and have never been able to find anything like it here.
Escargot! Snails…. There is something completely disgusting and childlike in eating garden slim. Lol. The texture is amazing, and dang, the smooth buttery goodness that coats your taste buds on the way down. This dish is liquid gold.
Gosh Lorraine, 2 times to Paris, I’m so envious. Hope your having a fabulous weekend.
Mmmm…. Creme Brûlée is my favourite although it’s sooo naughty! I’m currently holidaying in France so ive missed what sounds like a great series. I got the chance to use the blowtorch to toast the sugar on the top of the brûlée! It’s probably a good idea that I don’t own a blowtorch, less chance of me making and eating more desserts! The DVD sounds like a safer and still very enjoyable prize!
You can’t go past the good old baguette. It was the first thing I bought (and then ate) when I got off the Metro in Paris from London for the first time – bleary eyed and hungry. Add some mayonnaise, chicken and French cheese, and you’re pretty much set!
Ratatouille as a starter,
Coq au vin as the main,
Choux à la Crème as dessert,
With this French food I don’t complain.
To me the epitome of French cooking is never skimp on the ingredients. That’s what makes it so elegant and delicious. The French use the best of everything. From a peasant dish of Ratatouille to something as extravagant as Bouillabaisse (to me anyway), it caters for all palettes and it never lets a good foodie starve.
Mine would have to be Apple Tatin it is just the simplest yet tastiest thing, flaky pastry sweet/tart apples and some vanilla bean ice cream, life just doesn’t get better than that
Coq au Vin because it is the first French dish I ever made. The recipe was from The Womens Weekly French Cookbook – and it was very good.
Unctuous, syrupy, beautifully glazed duck l’orange, delicious mouthfuls of tenderest meat falling off the bones. Does it get any better?
I’m not entering, but I love French food, and have also been fortunate to visit it several times, and travel throughout. I think my favourite thing to make is beef burgendy, as it’s one of the first French dishes I made after my first visit there. But also coq au vin and of course, crepes, savoury and sweet! Actually, pretty much anything French, even a simple pastry or baguette, is divine.
My favourite French dish? Manu Feildel of course!! Why? Because he’s French and a total dish!
Just foie gras with a rocket, walnut salad with crusty bread & a great red. Mmmmm
I was in Paris once and had a steak with a slightly seared piece of foie gras on top.. it was DEVINE… I know it’s wrong but loooove it…
Love the charcuterie and creme brulee best. But I could probably add about 50 other fevourites!
Pretty much any pastry-related item…I have very low levels of self-control when it comes to pastry! Particularly ones stuffed full with some sort of cream or custard tastiness, like profiteroles or a very very good vanilla slice (is this French? Not sure…but it definately is tasty!)
A perfect baguette or croissant for me (Especially a well-made almond croissant Yum!)
Forgot to add my why (and mistyped my name, well done to me) I find that nothing can beat good food with good company, my sister and I love to have a nice warm croissant or a baguette sandwich at the markets together.
Crepe Suzette is my most favourite French recipe; this light, totally magic dessert does it for me every time.
Coffee eclairs…my own version of food ecstasy!
Oh goodness….where to start?!?
Freshly baked croissant or pain o chocolat, baguette with a delicious wedge of gooey soft cheese, the simplicity of steak and pomme frites with melted butter glistening over the steak, and desserts/pastries – the list is never ending.
I was super excited to read that guillame may be opening a French bistro in perth, on the same day I stumbled across an episode of the French food safari….love! My now husband and I were engaged in Paris, and having our belated honeymoon on a gourmet food and wine tour of Bordeaux…can’t wait!
I cannot say I have an all time fave French dish as there are so many that I love. I will mention three that I love but may not be on everyones list. Steak Tartare,Lambs Brains with a burnt butter sauce and any Terrine.
Most desserts are to die for, which has got me thinking about the bread, oh dear.
Paris is absolutely my favourite city on earth. My husband and I were lucky enough to spend a week there for our honeymoon and it was absolute bliss. I am a bit torn out nominating a favourite food, but I think I have to go with a pain au chocolat and a cafe au lait by the Seine in spring! Does it actually get any better???
My favourite french dish was eating a choc eclair on top of the Eiffel Tower. It was a misty, romantic kind of day and I carried an eclair all the way to the top and ooh and aahed with my best friend while covering myself with chocolate and cream. Oh so romantic!
I absolutely love the Food Safari series! The Italian one was FABULOUS!!!!
I discovered the crepes in Paris the last day I was there, so disappointed that I only got to eat them ones! They were to ddddiiiieeeee for! So simple yet so delicious!
Just give me a serve of the wonderful chocolate pud in the last episode of F/S and oh for the vanilla cream and don’t forget the crumble! To die for.My husband (an art teacher) thought he would like to become a pastry chef!
My favourite french dish is Mille Feuille, because if it’s meaning isn’t pretty enough (“a thousand leaves”) it is a special dessert from my childhood. My mother and I have always liked to pretend we are french, and every year we cook a special three-course Bastille day dinner for the family, and, at my request, she would always make Mille Feuille as the dessert. (it’s tonight’s dessert, too!) In December this year, we will be making our first trip together to Paris, and I can’t wait.
The macaron is my favourite French food at the moment. Good examples are really very hard to find! The closest I have come is La Belle Miette in Melbourne – a little slice of Paris in Hardware Lane. And macarons taste best with ganache filling, not buttercream!!
I know I might sound boring but I love the way they make their steak with a slice of butter on top and a side of french chips. Simple, delicious and best of all satifying.
are macarons a ‘dish’
if not… then one of my favourites from lots of little bistros in Paris…. steak with garlic butter, beans and frittes – ohhhh what memories.
basic and simple – i looove french onion soup, NOTHING can beat it for a wintery lunch!
I once had a French girlfriend named Louisa who was my favourite french dish
but seriously I love omelettes for their ability to conain any ingredient you feel like but still maintain their independence
I love their herb-tarragon chicken. Their BREAD and cheese, Poulet à l’Estragon, tarte de poulet, feu en poulet, pot en feu du poulet, hazelnut chocolate cakes/pastrey!!!
Great giveaway, Lorraine, and you’re so right about a Francophile lurking within most of us, lol!
Oh dear, how can I say which is my favorite French dish! Steak tartare frîtes is close to the top. If the tartare is prepared correctly. How can I explain why? It just is! My husband though makes fabulous Onion Soup and Daube de Boeuf aux carottes.
I loveee everything and anything to do with french food, even their simple butter with fresh baguette… yummm… but I can’t ever ever say no to eclairs
No matter how full I am…
How could you go past a selection of magnificent French cheeses. Gorgeous gooey chevre, creamy oozy camembert, Roquefort
Oh where to start, Creme Brulee, Tarte Tartin, Steak Frite, or Cheese and baguette. All or any
I missed the first couple of eps of this as there was *something* on another channel, but when my interest there waned Food Safari certainly filled the culinary gap. Simple potato gratin is one of my most used French recipes – potato, cream, garlic – how can you go wrong!!
I love to taste every (national) food and my favourite French recipe is not surprisingly *Chocolate marquise*
THE INGREDIENTS for 6 Serves:
7 egg yolks
3/4 cup (165g) caster sugar
200g good-quality dark chocolate, roughly chopped
250g unsalted butter, chopped, softened
65g good-quality cocoa powder, sifted
600ml thickened cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
Halved strawberries and thickened cream or creme anglaise*, to serve
Lorraine you must try it, it is *tres délicieux*
Niçoise salad! First time i tried it, totally changed my perception on what defines a salad. Prepared well, it’s delicious.
My favourite French dish is Coq au Vin. I love its beautiful richness and it takes chicken to amazing heights.
“Crepes” (called ‘Galette’)- they are delicious either sweet or savoury using buckwheat flour, the oldest tradition which makes delightful ‘galettes’.
I make them topped with swiss cheese, ham slices heated and then seasoned and placed into the crepes and served with tomatoes on a bed of lettuce. Very healthy and quite light!
24 hours later: what a fabulous, almost emotional ‘foodie read’! Personally forgot bouillabaisse, ’cause can’t get all the ingredients here in the country, and ratatouille ’cause tend to ‘do’ this more in the Italian manner. BUT, can’t wait for the summer months to start having salad nicoise again! And, if I remember back, those slippery beasties called escargots were the fave food for both my kids!!
!
Creme Brulee for sure – great to share and amazing textures
definitely creme brulee – nothing quite beats cracking the sugar top.
A beautiful Chocolat souffle, it’s so beautifully sweet and decadent
Fresh,buttery,crispy croissants for breakfast, especially if you can walk to get them.
Ooh la la…it just has to be Crepes Suzette! The divine combination of light as a feather crepes with orange juice and flaming brandy, prepared and served at the table. C’est magnifique!
My favourite french dish..I was about eleven years old then.It would have to be cassoulet that my mother bought premade in Prisunic..a supermarket in Marselles.We were living there for a year living in one room in a hotel there was a sink and a hot plate to use only.My mother would bring this wonderful dish home after work of haricot beans smoked pork, braised onions, incredible smoked sausages, pungent garlic..it was divine. She would heat it up and we would have it with a crusty baguette and very fresh butter.I looked forward to fridays and cassoulet.
The ubiquitous green beans served at every bistro, which are perfectly cooked, coated in butter and tres magnifique with the food served. Why are beans not tender and delicious like this in Australia?
I also adore EVERYTHING at Laduree and La Notre, but the waistline does not!!
My favourite french dish is nicoise salad, with a nice tuna steak cooked rare – because it is so fresh and tasty and colourful, and reminds me of my holiday in France! mmmm yum!
I’m taking you back to the 70′s with my favourite-Coq au Vin. There’s nothing nicer than this dish on an cold night accompanied with delicious vegetables. Great comfort good!
my favourite french dish has to be manu feildel!!!! x
My favourite French dish would have to be a large tray of baguettes with camembert cheese and sliced cucumbers! Its a refreshing snack and one can never have enough baguettes and cheese!
Couldn’t go past the pastries when we were in Paris, yum….. Really regretted not gaving more!
I love France and have been wanting to watch this but our flat doesn’t get TV reception. (I was totally out of the loop in office conversation all through Master Chef season!) A French Fruit flan would be my favourite. There was a beautiful one I saw in the Women’s Weekly French Cookbook as a child, and immediately coveted: the gleaming concentric circles of glazed apricots and strawberries mesmerised me. I had to wait until I was an adult to actually try it, as all the fiddly instructions put my mother off attempting to make it, even though I begged each birthday (sob.) But it was worth the wait…
A Croque Monsieur on the steps at Monmarte! Made me feel truly great and a little bit french!
Cheese Souffle..when I was 19, newly married & couldn’t cook, I bought myself a Cordon Bleu cook book. It didn’t occur to me that I wouldn’t be able to master the recipes. Confidence & youth were on my side & I mastered Cheese Souffle from the get-go,(cooked in a wood stove!)Recently had my 1st trip to Paris & adored so much of their food, from cafe to fine dining..but..the Cheese Souffle will always have a special place in my heart.
In Paris I’ve always liked the Crepes Flambees au Grand Marnier they’re always delicious, or I have to say that I’ve had some of the best pizza in Paris.My favorite tho maybe the cheese souffle at Le Souffle it’s a bit touristy but it’s always good.
ohhhhhhh……so many choices…..so many good things to eat in France…. for me it has to be duck confit, yummo, maybe with a little hot chilli on the side if i am eating it in australia…
Rillette thickly spread over a fresh baguette served with a glass Ricard pastiche and water. Love it because of the rich indulgent flavours, the combination of textures and it’s simplicity. It’s as French as a bicycle mounted onion seller with a big tashe and beret.
Creme caramel for dessert and beef bourguignon is our face winter warmer dish…yummm!
Cassoulet accompanied by Paris mash, a good red and shared with friends.
I known I’m in a very small minority, but French food doesn’t do it for my … maybe watching this series will turn me around.
On our first trip to Paris, we found a little bistro (cant recall the name) in Montmartre….I ordered the Chef Salad. Crispy lettuce and thinly sliced garlicky potatoes, green beans and the sweetest little pearly onions ive tasted…mmmm. Tried to duplicate it but no luck. One of those dishes that will remain in my ‘most memorable travel experiences’.
Crepes, smothered in an amazing choc hazelnut sauce, served with the most delicious ice-cream…. oh and the view of the eiffel tower whilst eating them was simply divine. The simple pleasures.
Favorite French Food?
CONFIT DE CANARD!
Ah, memories – sitting in a small bistro in the Marais, eating the most wonderfully moist confit of Duck. A nice glass of french red and good company.
Wish I was there now!
I don’t know whether you could call it a dish but it would be macaroons.
I have yet to try and make them, but if I ever got to France I would have to taste test any I see !
Apple tart tatin because it is easy to make, tastes fabulous and has an amazingly quaint story behind how it was invented.
Oh my, the comments are making me drool. All the usual suspects have been mentioned and I love them all, but nothing reminds me more of paris that a street side crepe with nutella. How they love theur chocolate spread!
I don’t think I can go past boeuf bourginon – of course that could be because it’s winter at the moment and nothing sounds more appealing than a hearty stew!
For me it’s all about Terroir, with each region offering their fresh produce and specialty foods that are so very unique to each area and then transformed into such traditional favourites. Each region with their local specialities and their own style of cooking and choice of ingredients. I love Provence for its olive oil, herbs and tomatoes, Haute Savoie for its famous cheese dishes such as raclette, Normandy for its Omelettes and crepes, Marseille the seafood capital of France so I can only say MERCI et VIVE La France for giving us such pleasures.
On the weekend my sister and I cooked an amazing French feast for my father’s 60th birthday (he specifically requested this theme after being inspired by the Food Safari programs) – we had among other things – escargot, Coq au Vin and my favourite Coquilles St Jacques served in the Scallop shell – delicate pieces of scallop with a delicious creamy mornay topped with gruyere – yummo
Hi Lorraine, I think that you should try this délicieux le français recette that is a préféré of ma famille and amis
Bouillabaisse Ingredients (serves 4)
pinch of saffron threads
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 leek, pale part only, washed, thinly sliced
750ml fish stock
3/4 cup (180ml) white wine
500g tomato passata
400g canned tomatoes
300g firm white fish fillets (such as ling), cut into 3cm cubes
12 green king prawns, peeled, deveined, tails intact
salt and cracked black pepper
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
Capsicum Rouille (sauce)
4 slices white bread, crusts removed
100g roasted capsicum, drained
1 birdseye chilli, deseeded
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
salt & cracked black pepper
crusty bread, to serve
My husband and I had a trip booked to the US last year. Then we watched a documentary about France. We cancelled our trip and rebooked a 3 week driving holiday in France. We drove/ate ourselves around the country and had the most amazing time. Our fave? A leek & scallop crepe made in a converted 14th century Boulangerie in Bordeuax.Sigh….
How fabulous! You’ve struck on where my food obsession started – on TV! I love that you get to see the places and where the food really comes from. My favourite French dish is Coq au Vin – because it sounds so gorgeously pretentious but is really good old peasant food
best with a baguette on the side and Amelie on the TV 
For me, I love anything made from foie gras especially if it’s pan fried and serve with salad or made as pates and serve with toast.
I’d have to saw the boudin blanc although I do love a good creme brulee. Oh the French can have it all, why cant we
I’m a vegetarian so most french foods are out for me, but I do adore french desserts and pastries, particularly croissants. But pommes frites are good too. ;P
I absolutely adore aioli – You can eat it by dipping bread into it, eat it with seafood and meat, put it in a sandwich, as a salad dressing, it’s so versatile and makes a fabulous accompaniment to most dishes, except chocolate fondant!! If only there was a way.
My favourite French dish is boeuf bourguignon – after seeing my now favourite movie ‘Julie and Julia’ for the first time, I made Julia Child’s version of boeuf bourguignon and was totally hooked. It’s so warming and deliciously French and I feel that little bit closer to France whenever I make it.
I love my chewy snails!! The texture is so unique!
I’m a avid watcher of television cooking shows and in these shows the presenter always has this ah-ha moment when they taste the dish on show. Like some how this new taste has sent orgasmic shivers straight from the mouth down to the toes. No matter how many times I looked for this ah-ha moment (and yes I really did try) for me it happened in bistro in Paris. Sitting a tiny table, a half carafe of house red on hand, I tried for the first time a croque monsieur. Absolutely divine. How could a toasted ham and cheese sandwich taste so good? Years of practise, combining the right bread, with the right cheese and the right ham and of course, lots of butter. I have been loving this series of French Food Safari and think owning the DVD set would be a absolute treat. One day I will attempt Guilame’s Cassoulet
Cassoulet, without a doubt
Coq au vin – so delicious at this time of year, and it’s a bit magical how the sauce turns kind of creamy without having any cream in it.
It’s too hard to pick one dish as French food is one of my favourite cuisines! I can’t go past a good steak frites though… yum!
French Onion Soup – my all time favourite – Made with 100gr French Gruyere cheese + a little extra for grating, 4-5 brown onions, 1 glass wine and a baguette. This recipe is so simple melting butter, adding finely sliced onion and cooking for 25 minutes until the onion is deep golden brown. Then adding 50g four and stirring, add wine and 2 liters water & season with salt and pepper. Add cubes of French Gruyere Cheese and cover and simmer for 20-30 mins. Slice the baguette and sprinkle with grated cheese until melted. Put the soup in serving bowl and serve with the toasted baguette on top of soup. This is such a simple recipe and the taste is so ‘French’ – you would never go back to the packet variety!!
My fave dish is Coq au Vin – its so simple and delicious.
Yes, the French do amazing desserts but I just love ALL French food.
Simply beautiful fresh bagette & choice, soft cheeses with fruit & nuts all washed down with a great bottle of red. Perfect for lazy sunny days.
Tarte Tartin is a pie with caramelized butter, sugar and apple with a rich pastry base that started as its top. Said to have originated from the the Tartin sisters as in a resucue mission saving burnt apple, its my favorite as it tastes great, is simple and always works. My favorite version is from the Roux brothers. Its great no matter the season. Granny smiths make a wonderful Tarte Tartin, but if you change the apple you change the dish and its still fantastic.
“Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity.” ~Voltaire
My fav French dish would be confit de canard (aka Duck Confit)
délicieux!!!
Hi Lorraine, this is the third & last préféré délicieux le français recette of ma famille and amis
I know that you will also apprécier ce dessert
Cherry & almond clafouti
Ingredients (serves 6)
Melted butter, to grease
1 x 400g can pitted whole cherries, drained
40g (1/3 cup) almond meal
70g (1/3 cup) caster sugar
185ml (3/4 cup) milk
2 eggs
Pure icing sugar, to dust
Whipped cream, to serve (optional)
My husband and I both love to eat Cassoulet, especially on cold winter nights. It has a wonderfully rich earthy smell and taste that just makes you want to curl up with you honey; a loaf of crusty bread and butter; a bottle of wine; and a fire in the fireplace.
Does Manu Feildel count?! If not, then it has to be the macaron. In Paris in 2008, we bought 4 macarons to share between 4 women…each macaron was carefully cut into 1/4′s so we could all savour the delicious flavours. Heaven.
Souffles will have to be my favourite ^.^ I love how they are served hot and fresh from the oven and that they are easy to make at home. There are so many variations of it, sweet and savoury. I recently made a passionfruit souffle and it was divine. Such a burst of delight when you gently break the top with a small, delicate teaspoon – even better if you make a sauce to pour into the centre :>
I love the Food Safari series! I bought the Italian Food Safari on DVD and have been wanting to buy the French one so it’d be awesome if I could win a copy! (I’ve never won anything so far in my life >.
Beef Bourgignon as it offers a complete meal of meat, vegetables and red wine all in the one dish.
French desserts are ‘devine’. This one is so simple to make and oh la la – so decicious!!
Named Coeur a la creme d’anjou (Anjou is a region in France) with raspberries, this is a delicate dessert made with a fresh soft cheese called fromage blanc (‘smooth quark’)
The Recipe:…
200ml whipping cream
2 egg whites,pince cream tartar
6 tablespoons castor sugar
250g smoth quark(buy from good deli’s, or Thomas Dux stores)
Juice of 1 1/2 lemons
600g raspberries
Juice 1 orange
To make – beat egg whites, and
cream of tartar till stiff peaks form. Add 2 tbspn caster
sugar beating till whites are well combined.
Beat cream till it is still
Beat quark with 2 tbspn sugar and juice 1/2 lemon. Fold in whipped cream & gently fold in beaten egg whites.
Place mound on tray and fill with mixture. Cover with damp muslin and refrigerate for 4-5 hours or overnight.
Blend 1/2 raspberries with the remaining lemon juice, orange juice and 2 tbspn sugar to a puree. Refrigerate . Carefully un-mould the Coeur onto a serving plate. Top with the remaining whole raspberries and dust the top with icing sugar. Serve with raspberry sauce.
It sounds a lot to do but this recipe flows quite easily and the preparations are mostly done the day before. Well worth trying this one. As I said Oh, la la!!!
Although it’s a ‘cheat’s version’, my favourite French dish is ‘student’s Charlotte’, which I read about in Elizabeth Bard’s book ‘Lunch in Paris’. I love the simplicity (there are only 3 ingredients) but the focus is the flavour combination of great produce. It’s my fail-safe dessert recipe when I’ve got hardly anything in my pantry but still feel like indulging my inner Francophile.
Excusez-moi.Creme brulee.
Sil vous plait
Creme Brulee. There’s no better sound in the world than the crack made when you start eating. I’ll always love Creme Brulee because it was the first recipe I ever mastered and that gave me confidence to pursue cooking.
Cassoulet! The duck, smoked pork, Toulouse sausage and creamy white beans. Heaven in a pot!
Hmmm, this a hard one… I could say any number of cake / pastry items, but I dont know if they qualify as a dish, so I will say Steak au Poivre – delish!
How can you go past french toast…totally a classic and so very tasty.
French food has so many wonderful choices, it’s impossible to choose a favourite! But if I had to, it’d be croissants. When made the proper French way they are simple, delicious and you can eat them frequently without getting tired of them – perfect
You’re going to hate me but mine are quiche Lorraine and creme brûlée. Oh and cheese on fresh bread is what I’m hoping to have for lunch tomorrow after I get to Paris. Eee
I could quite happily eat an entire camembert cheese to myself (admittedly the indigestion might not be quite so happy-inducing but I’d consider it worth the cost!). French cheeses are definitely my favourite aspect of their cuisine.
Croc Monsieur. Simple as. What could be more comforting and delicious as a ham and cheese toastie – French style?
I love anything with ham and cheese but especially in a croissant, toasted – It’s like the delicious croque monsieur, it’s just so sublime.
How do you choose one absolute favourite above all else from a culinary repertoire exceedingly rich in diversity and delights. The cheeses, yes certainly they are magnificent and endless; thick cut chips quickly fried in goose fat, amazingly good; the precious black truffle, foie gras,confit duck,rabbit rillettes,chickens from Bresse – national treasures all of them. Boeuf Bourguignon, ratatouille, a bowl of chewy black Provencal olives and crusty bread; all enough to make my mouth water. The luscious fruit tarts, macarons and cherry clafoutis, the list of sweet enticements is enough to weaken the steeliest of reserves. But somehow one dish for me evokes the romance and beauty of France and that is a steaming bowl of bouillabaisse cooked with seafood caught fresh by the fishermen whose boats now bob rhythmically on the waves outside the rustic beachside restaurant. And what better way to savour this most fullsome of dishes than to have the Mediterranean lapping at your feet while you do so. Surely you would hear the Angels sing. So have I been to France to partake of any of these delicious morsels; no I haven’t as yet.Instead I avidly read cookbooks and travelogues like others devour the weekly entertainment magazines and dream of one day.
And the Opera Cake! It’s my birthday tomorrow and I’m making one tonight so I can bring it to work tomorrow.
I’m thinking of substituting the coffee powder with green tea powder. I’ve made green tea cheesecake, green tea ice cream and green tea creme brulee before but this will be a brand new attempt! I’ll let you know how it goes :>
Decadent, sleep in until brunch time, FRENCH TOAST. I know it’s not what you meant, but my man makes such amazing FRENCH TOAST it curls your toes up.
Does French toast count as a French dish? I love french toast!
Dear Lorraine
Following my 18th Aug post, the opera cake turned out really well! :> The addition of green tea powder added a nice twist to the flavour. I included a white chocolate cream layer and the bitterness of the green tea sponge complimented the sweetness of the white chocolate really nicely. (I simply used a standard opera cake recipe and added green tea powder to the almond sponge mixture and to one of the cream layers)
Best regards,
Ravel
P.S. I watched French Food Safari last night (I NEVER miss the show!) and they made creme brulee! Did I mention that if you are a green tea dessert fan you could add matcha powder to your creme brulee mixture? (Masuya Japanese Restaurant in Sydney CBD has a version of this on their menu :> )
Garlic snails. My dad took me to a French Restaurant in a small regional Qld town when I was a little girl. I was so scared I wouldn’t be allowed to go as children had to be over 8 years of age. We had these delicious garlic smails that came in the shell. Later I found out they put the snail into the reusable shell. Lots of buttery garlic made the snails so delicious. I think I could loads of those especially during this cold weather.
Garlic snails. My dad took me to a French Restaurant in a small regional Qld town when I was a little girl. I was so scared I wouldn’t be allowed to go as children had to be over 8 years of age. We had these delicious garlic smails that came in the shell. Later I found out they put the snail into the reusable shell. Lots of buttery garlic made the snails so delicious. I think I could eat loads of those especially during this cold weather.
Baguettes with french butter and cheese. I spent a week in Paris doing the hungry yet poor backpacker thing, where I would go buy a baguette, some cheese or some creamy butter and jam, maybe a little fruit and some amazing wine and then sit somewhere beautiful and eat and marvel that I was in Paris eating the best bread of my life.
duck a l’orange – because it’s such a lovely combination of flavours, and it sounds so French!
hard to choose between beef bourginon or French onion soup…. I think I’ll go with french onion soup, it’s simplicity but complex flavours are sublime!
Am laughing at a memory of having a rather formal ‘ladies lunch’ at a pretty early stage in my marriage. Had been to France and was enamoured by cassoulet. Had a very good recipe and husband dear helped me pick the wine. The absolute horror on the faces of some of my guests when I unveiled what I believed to be a ‘masterpiece’ – ‘But, Eha – what about the gas?’! Well beans to this day do NOT give me gas and garlic somehow is NOT malodorous nor has ever been! I just stood there dumbfounded and then tucked in!! A good time was actually had by all – how much did that have to do to copious amounts of soft burgundy??
Mergeuz sausages….. the best snags I’ve EVER had. My partners’ stepdad is a Frenchman, and he and his French pal make kg’s worth of delicious Mergeuz every so often and I lurrrve going over there’s for dinner when we’re having a barbie!
I dont really have any special preference, but I love all French foods!
After watching ‘Julie & Julia’ the movie, Julia Child’s story inspired the French passion for ripe tomatoes, buttery sauces, decadent desserts. I tried Julia’s first recipe ‘Beef Bourguignonne’ and was surprised that it turned out just right.
scargo very tasty and good with some white wine
My favourite French dish was first day in Paris in a bistro by the marche Bastille. I had fois gras with cornichon and pickles, and toasted baguette. A glass of gammay and warm summer sunshine completed a totally memorable meal.
Gigot a la boulangere (baker’s lamb) or “gigot patates” as I still remember my grandfather calling it. A leg of lamb spiked with garlic and roasted on a bed of sliced potatoes – delicious and still a firm favourite in our family (and I always think of my grandfather when making it as it was his favourite too)
My favourite french dish is… baguette! Ok, so it’s not really a ‘dish’ but I have so many fond memories of those unctious tubes of goodness from my gap year trip to Paris. Aside from it being one of the few food items I could easily afford to buy on my meagre late teenage budget, I just felt so darn Parisian picking up one of these little beauties, popping it under my arm and strolling down the avenue, tearing off chunks and lazily chewing as I made my way down to Pont de Sully Beach – though always being mindful to watch those pesky doggie do-do’s that litter the Paris sidewalks! What is with that?!
Dear Lorraine
Thank you so much for this fabulous prize :> as I mentioned in my previous post I am a huge fan of all the Food Safari series and I was quite devastated last Thursday after watching the last episode of French Food Safari (what am I going to do on Thursday nights?)
Another French dish that I really like is the mousse. It’s so fun to make and you can make it in just about any flavour that you like. Add mango puree, coconut cream and macadamia nuts…sounds like my favourite Weis Bar flavour!
:>
My favourite French dessert is creme brulee because of its simplicity – the contrast between unctuous custard and thin, burnt sugar top and the excitement of cracking that caramel for the first time with your spoon to reach the good stuff beneath.
French bread from victoire in rozelle with lashings of Beurre St Isigny, miriam is a baking genius.
yummy i love french food so tasty and mouth watering…I love a simple crossiant the flakey delight especially with chocolate..
Dear Lorraine,
Actually, creme brulee is probably my favourite (I’ve decided this after watching last week’s French Food Safari – Guillame ate it once a week as a kid…so jealous :p)
I got a bunch of (mostly) French cookbooks for my birthday on the weekend, plus a bottle of French brandy to complement those in my cooking. But I didn’t get a copy of the French Food Safari show on DVD! If I go on to win a copy I’ll be glad I didn’t get one for my birthday though
Best regards,
Ravel
I just made cabbage soup and I am now a convert. I love how French food can be so simple yet so tasty.
La tarte Tatin! I love this dessert and I love the story around it: from a simple mistake one of the most popular french desserts was born!
Chocolate Eclairs are my absolute fav!!
I made chocolate mousse last night ^.^ I was sad that French Food Safari was no longer on, Gourmet Farmer has to do me for now!
Petit Sale aux Lentils. Fattening, Rich and oh so tasty. It’s a once a year dish.
Creme Brulee. Went and bought a blow torch today and am going to make Guillaume’s off the show for tonights dessert!!!! Can’t Wait!!!
The heavenly simplicity of a perfect pain au chocolat, and of course accompanied by a cafe au lait. The experience becomes even more perfect if its bought in France, served by a local who’s been serving them for years and then eaten out in the sunshine watching the world wake up for the day. Bliss!
Hi Lorraine, it has to be coq-au-vin. It is such a simple one-pot dish but whenever I cook it I always get raves and requests for the recipe. Kind regards, Lynette
Tonight I am making impoverished student white bean cassoulet, it may not be authentically French but tastes amazing, especially with white wine and baguettes with cheese.
Bouillabaisse it’s so good on these cold winter days, and so Nutritious as well, and we have the best seafood here so why not!
Lobster Bisque – perfect for the tail end of winter
I wrote in an earlier comment that my favourite french ‘dish’ was the baguette. I said this mainly due to memories I have of my trip to Paris, but I also realised it was because I really don’t make anything ‘frenchy’ in the kitchen. See, I associate french food with too much prep time (hello, cafe de paris butter!) and I really can’t be bothered that much with time spent in the kitchen. However last Saturday I experienced a french foodie revelation after my hubby came home from the hardware store with a chef’s blow torch and suggested I ‘whip up one of those burnt sugar custardy things’. Hmmmm. I figured he was talking about Creme Brulee but I feigned ignorance as I wasn’t feeling a whole lot of love for the kitchen/cooking/mess/cleaning caper. He was so excited by his purchase though and went on in great detail about how easily Gary or George ‘whipped it up’ in Masterchef’s Masterclass. Grrr. Damn Masterchef and it’s creation of irritating back seat driving cooks… Anyway, his enthusiasm eventually wore me down and after he downloaded me a recipe we set to work. The result was amazing; this incredibly luxurious dessert was an absolute cinch to whip up and SUPER cheap too. Eggs, cream and sugar definitely didn’t break the bank and 5 hours later (chilling time – sigh!) we were scoffing into a scrumptious mess of toffee and smooth custard. Revelation? Yes. New favourite French dish? Absolutely
Argh. My comments are always so embarrassingly long!
#blush#
Almond croissant is also divine…I love the thick custard inside it. The French bakery down the street makes ones that have a meringue topping (which has almonds on top) which is very interesting :>
Best regards,
Ravel
Has to be french onion soup! Bistro Thierry in Melbourne makes the most amazing soup that everytime I eat there I pass on dessert just so I can have their soup…and i hate onions! Its the comfort of this soup and the deep flavour that gets me everytime!
Have had a few bad experiences with French food. A visit in Germany to a cousin’s home economics course in high school had us preparing a French Onion Soup. It was absolutely disgusting. I thought French food was all about fatty sauces and cream. Well, all that’s changed. We sold a van to a gorgeous French backpacker couple. We became friends and they stayed with us a while. After a few too many drinks they suggested we go to France and they would show us a good time. I said “why not” and booked tickets the next week. Apart from the heady romanticism and sights, the perfume, the fashion, it was all about the food for me. As soon as we arrived we sat and had a cheese in a wooden box similar to brie but I just couldn’t stop eating it. Must get the name. My arrival saw me obsessed with snails. In 4 weeks I was ducking out in secret to order snails, having them at hosts houses (because they knew I loved them) and buying vacuum packed packs very cheaply in supermarkets (50 snails for $20). I was crazy for them. My host’s family also created a fantastic degustation feast for us. Yes, I got my snails but they made another little known traditional dish called Ceralic Salad (to die for). We were taken to a farmhouse at Normandy for 2 days and found this amazing ducks liver pate and a homemade very strong liquid nightcap. My host, on our arrival had also filled the fridge with lots of macroons – before they were made popular on Masterchef. Every day we would go across the street, grab a fresh baguette (and it had to be a real baguette), have some ham and cheese and of course use the George Clooney Nespresso. Another thing my male host craved on his arrival back from Australia was Raclettes (basically a special machine that toasts cheese and bread). I’m sorry this is so long but I want to educate people on little known secrets they can try in Paris. I’ll never forget my foodie experience there, the picnic on the Seine and visiting the awesome food markets. Lorraine, you would go crazy with your camera.
Dear Lorraine
I am attempting to re-create Masuya’s green tea creme brulee this weekend! :>
I keep seeing the ads for the French Food Safari DVD on SBS, and my housemate keeps asking me why I haven’t bought it. Little does he know that the lovely Ms NQN is offering me the chance to win a copy ^.^ I’ve never won anything in my life but hopefully this will change soon :>
Best regards
Ravel
I really like Chateaubriand as I really enjoy roasted tenderloin with wine sauce, it is quick and easy to make.
My favourite french food would be frangipane tart. I had this tart for first time when I was a trainee. The teacher was a french pastry chef. He taught me how to make it. He was so precise and everything have to follow what he says if I didn’t follow him I would be punished, like military style teaching. Actually I didn’t enjoy during his class, nevertheless pastry class is one of my requirements to pass my course. I never eat and heard it before. I tried my best to follow his instruction than my first frangipane done. I ate my first bite, OMG… immediately I felt in love with this dessert. Since than, wherever I go to pastry/cake shop I always look for frangipane tart even in my kitchen where I work, everyday I always ask the pastry chef if there is any frangipane tart in the kitchen. I love frangipane tart….
i dont know what is french food
absolutely LOVE french food! My favourtie french food is creme brulee! and the best I’ve tasted is in this small little cafe in Paris! We were on a family holiday and my dearest brother brought me to this cafe and I fell in love with it ever since!
At the moment one of my favourite ‘breaks’ during the day is to come back to this column
! I learn s’thing every time and so enjoy the writer’s memory journeys! Have especially loved all the ‘developments’ – ‘I did not enjoy French food, but . . .’ comments! MY latest one: sitting in the outdoor verandah restaurant of ‘Hotel de Paris’ just next to the Casino in Monte Carlo on a lovely summer evening. Two small daughters in tow! Huge menu. Younger daughter LOVED tongue: saw one lifted out for display at the next table. Part of pot-au-feu, of course. No more menu: in this very ‘posh’ restaurant we all made veritable ‘piggies’ of ourselves on a rustic peasant dish cooked sans pareil 
! All the trolleys of meats brought out for choice: I do believe my two scalliwags had totally rounded tummies when we could finally tuck them into bed upstairs! 
!
French bistro food, heavy on the animal protein! I’m a newly converted meat lover
Salad Nicoise. It was my first French dish I ever made and it was for a French class assignment that I got great grades for
A rich duck rillette served with a lightly toasted chunk of sourdough spread with duck fat and topped with tangy slivers of cornichons! Heaven. ^_^
fav french food is crepes suzette. As I have a sweet tooth, crepes suzette sate delicious and I love the theatre of my dessert being prepared before my eyes
Cassoulet. Earthy peasant food that is fit for a king. This is clean food yet complex, flavoursome yet simple. It encompasses the whole of France in one delicious heartwarming claypot. It brings together the farmer to the city dweller, from the paddock to the plate. It will forever be the soul of France and the love of my parents to me…as I prepared this humble dish for the first time just for the 3 of us this past Easter Sunday…because it was all I could afford…and it turned out, it was more than I could have ever wanted. I have only ever heard of this series and would love to watch it some time with my elderly parents on Sundays when I visit and cook for them. Au revoir!
Souffle, souffle, souffle! Cheese, Berry, Chocolate it doesn’t matter! I recently discovered that I could make a delicious berry souffle, the key to its success? Have a few glasses of wine, keep chatting to your girlfriend and you forget that the mixer is still whizzing the eggs! They rose perfectly. Delicious.
LOVE crepes! I make them on sundays. I can’t make croissants but enjoy buying them especially when freshly baked. YUM!!!!!
Oh La La The French are so romantic and their food is what you want to eat when you’re in love !!
Cheese Souffle, teases the tastebuds.
Nothing like eating under the aweful tower.
It would have to be buckwheat crepes. My husband is French and makes them for me regularly – savoury with ham, runny egg and gruyere inside, or brown sugar and butter for a sweet treat. Everyone he makes them for love them, and buckwheat is even gluten-free! They are called Gallettes in France.
Ooh, I’d have to say my favourite French dish is Escargot, I was always too afraid to try it, but wow when I finally did I just loved it!
Croquembouche as I will never be able to master it like the French pastry chefs make it.
The rich and indulgent Chocolate Eclair, a heavenly concoction combining a light crisp pastry shell with a dreamy creamy filling and topped with a slick of sinful chocolate. Je t’aime!
my favourite french dish is the classic crossiant yummmmmy
Coq au Vin, particularly when eaten in the town of Beaune in Burgundy. And of course…. the cheese
Tartiflette is one dish that fills me full of warm fond memories of my time in the savoie region of France. To be specific a lovely little village called Morzine. It was a dish I learnt to cook whilst running a chalet. A dish I still make evry now and then when I can find Reblochon cheese.
Fromage, bread and a glass of wine! Perfect at any time of the day!
Brioche! My sons partner made a brioche in Sydney at 3 in the morning and brought it to us, by plane,in Adelaide. It was still warm and absolutely scrumptious! Mmmmmm – soft and gentle, with wonder – as Maeve would say.
After seeing Julia Child cook book ‘The French Chef’ I was inspired to cook using butter and cream. Saw the movie just recently Julie and Julia and that made me cook even more French recipes. Now I’m getting a new kitchen to cook in.
French onion soup – had it in Paris cafe one hypothermically cold day and it was not like any soup I had ever had before – it had bread and cheese on top, full of delightful strands of onion,it was hot, and defrosted me beautifully, as well as tasting delightful.
I don’t think I’ve ever had an authentic French dish. After watching Food Safari I’m pretty sure I haven’t. Omelet & quiche a la Oz don’t count any more. I think I need culinary direction via French Safari DVD!
I am a little bit obsessed with anything French. After just returning from my third trip to Paris, I loved watching French Food Safari and agreeing with everything they said! I’m just as obsessed with food as the French! ONE of my favourite French dishes is the humble baguette with fromage (I love roquefort!) and Jambon. You may think this is quite simple, but the apartment we were staying in, in Montmarte was right between two boulangeries, with one wining the best baguette in Paris in 2010 and the other wining in 2011! So I was in heaven! They just melted in your mouth, like nothing I have ever tasted and a lot of the time the baguette wouldn’t make it back to the apartment, I devoured it on 1 minute walk back to the apartment!! It’s so hard to limit it to one dish, I could ramble on with all my favourites all day!!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE cooking esp french please let it be me that wins
cream! cream! cream! i love cuisine bourgeoise ooh laaa
Creme Brulee!! My daughter is a fantastic cook but her Creme Brulee is to die for. Smooth velvety custard and thin crisp toffee – mmmmmmmm
How can one go past a perfect cassoulet? With a confit duck leg hiding in the middle of white beans and that perfect crust it is the ultimate all-in-one comfort food!
have loved watching this series and would love to be able to watch it over and over again
Back in the late 60′s I discovered a tiny little charcutiers in Miller St just around the corner from Falcon St. You stepped through the door into another world, a gorgeous little frenchman encouraged me to try his wonderful fare, and to have a go at making it myself. So because of the memories and my ability to now make a good pate served with warm crusty bread and a nice wine.
Maeve’s food shows have long been a favourite of mine, her genuine interest in all things food and her people skills make her DVD’s a fabulous “watch”. I’ve not yet been to France but it’s on the Bucket List, I have much to look forward to.
And, after all this time: everyone is still ‘arguing’ – no, ’tis not that – just the wonderful memories linger and we remember what we had in a certain place with a certain person . . . and, we would so dearly like to be back and we would so dearly like to have the to DVDs to remember . . .
Absolutely love the french dish potato gratin! Growing up as a fussy eater, my parents would sometimes make this as I was sure to eat it! I now see it as nothing but comforting and delicious!
Crepe Suzettes or any crepe sweet or savoury the French do it best.
croissants–so fresh they’re still warm
Boeuf Bourguignon. The sight of tenderly cut, juicy beef on a thick warm stew of onions, carrots and mushrooms, flavoured with Bordeaux-St. Émilion or Burgundy, amidst a combination of fresh herbs, really provides the most comforting feeling (appetite wise) on any cold winter or rainy days. It tastes heavenly whether served with rice or French toast. When cooking Boeuf Bourguignon, I always insist on using Julian Child’s proven recipe from ‘Mastering the Art of French Cooking’. Yum!
Oops. typo it’s Julia Child, not Julian Child
Even though it’s not really a dish, I love eating hot crispy croissants for breakfast! Yumm
Tarte Tatin in all its glory. I enjoy all varieties including mixed berry, peaches, apricot, apple but, have yet to try a banana Tarte Tatin – perhaps next time.
The best French dish I ever had was the remains of the Bouillabaisse from my boyfriend’s lips when we were travelling in Provence together. Just one of those memories that lingers and would love to revisit France vicariously through ‘French Safari’.
Nicoise salad for wholesome tasty goodness….crepes with lemon sugar because i have a sweet tooth too!
Strangely enough this is not a tricky one to answer; it simply has to be Moules frites; there is nothing more evocative of France for me than the sweet fragrance of the winy juices, the clatter of the shells against one another and the crunch of double fried chips against the teeth. One of my most memorable culinary experiences ever is of devouring this meal at rough hewn wooden tables by the plan d’eau in Frayssinet-le-Gélat and quaffing carafes of Cahor red, dipping the crispy fries in the rich, salty mussel juice and using the mussel shells to scoop out creamy mounds of delectable mussel flesh. It doesn’t get better than this!
My favourite French dish is a lovely Parisian lady I met called Elizabeth. Je t’aime Elizabeth!
I guess I may never get to travel to France but the series brings an experience of being there.I love the bakery lines including Almondine tarts, croissants ,creme brulee and so many more. But for a main I like food inspired from Provence like Fish en Papillotte with Lemon Aoili – so easily adapted to our Australian fish.
Boeuf en Croûte – lightly browned puff pastry with a delicious filling of beef tenderloin filets and mushroom – cooked to perfection Boeuf en Croute melts in your mouth.
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