Archive for 'Food and Wine in France'

While we can't easily go travelling to France at the moment, we have been talking about travelling there with our taste buds recently by looking into some of her most famous and representative dishes, which can be recreated in the comfort and safety of our own kitchens. It's the perfect pairing to a session of browsing our incredible and beautiful villas in France and looking forward to when our next French getaway can happen!

Last time we discussed the controversial Salade Niçoise, which would make for a great starter to a homemade French meal, but today we thought we'd talk about a delicious and beloved French dessert with which to follow it up: the iconic Tarte Tatin. Hailing from the town of Lamotte-Beuvron in the region of Centre, this classic French treat is named for the two sisters who accidentally invented it in the 19th century.

A trip to Nice may be a bit away yet but if you have been browsing our incredible vacation rentals in Nice and are looking ahead to your next holiday in this stunning city on the French Riviera, then why not bring a little bit of it into your kitchen to help tide you over? The easiest way to recreate memories of a place, or to get a literal taste of what a visit may be like, is to make a typical dish of the region to enjoy at home in the comfort and safety of your kitchen. If you're talking about Nice, then one of the most obvious dishes of the city that first comes to mind is the somewhat controversial salade niçoise. A traditional French favourite that is now served all over the world, it is a dish that people have incredibly strong opinions on and are very passionate about, with traditionalists and innovators alike arguing about the exact ingredients that should be used and how exactly it should be prepared.

Salade niçoise, known as niçoise salad in English or la salada nissarda in the Niçard dialect of the Occitan language, is traditionally made of tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, Niçoise olives, and anchovies or tuna and is then dressed with olive oil. Described as, "one of the best combinations of salad ingredients ever invented," by Delia Smith and, "the finest summer salad of all," by Gordon Ramsay, it dates back to at least the 19th century. The version known in Nice at this time was made up of just tomatoes, anchovies, and olive oil and, like so many of both France and Italy's most beloved dishes, comes from peasant food traditions, being described in the late 19th century as, "simple food for poor people".

If you've ever stopped for a snack while exploring Paris, you have probably seen Croque Monsieur written on the menu. This tried and true sandwich is one of France's most famous and representative dishes and is just the thing to pick you up as you explore the City of Lights. However, as travel to Paris and France is not quite yet possible for most of us at the moment, it might be a while until you can bite into one between greeting the Mona Lisa and climbing the Eiffel Tower. Fear not, though, we've got a handy recipe for the beloved French favourite so that you can make it at home and bring a little bit of Paris into the safety of your own kitchen!

The Croque Monsieur is a hot cheese and ham sandwich that originated in French cafés and bars as a quick snack. Named for the verb “croquer”, which means, “to bite,” or , “to crunch”, and the word “monsieur,” meaning, “mister,” its first recorded mention is on a Paris café menu from 1910.

Once again, we have somehow all made it to another Friday and, once again, we feel that that means you are very much deserving of another little culinary treat to enjoy from the safety of your own home. As the weather continues to get warmer and the evenings begin to stretch in earnest, there is no better way to kick back at home than by making yourself a fancy cocktail, sitting down, relaxing, unwinding, and forgetting about all of the uncertainty and chaos of the world at the moment for just a little while. This time around we are looking to France for some inspiration and the Between the Sheets cocktail, which is believed to have been created as a variation on the Sidecar cocktail.

Like so many of France's favourite and best-known cocktails, the Between the Sheets is thought to have been invented in the famous Harry's New York Bar in Paris. Although, like so many cocktails, in general, the exact circumstances of its actual birth are shrouded in confusion and debate, with multiple stories and sources claiming different tales of origin and claims to its authorship.

Probably the most commonly accepted origin tale is that the cocktail was invented in Harry's New York Bar in the 1930s by Harry McElhone, who is often also credited with creating many of the most famous cocktails in the world, including the Bloody Mary, Sidecar, the Monkey Gland, the Boulevardier, and an early form of the French 75. It is also usually thought to be a derivative of the Sidecar, which is also claimed to be a McElhone invention, differing only from the Sidecar by using less cognac and adding rum. Maiden's Prayer, a name sometimes used interchangeably for the Between the Sheets, is actually another variation from the same family that uses gin instead of rum and cognac and adds orange juice to the lemon juice.

If you have found a vacation rental in France and were thinking of heading to the world-renowned wine-making region of Champagne (made up of five wine producing districts located within the historical province of Champagne, including Aube, Côte des Blancs, Côte de Sézanne, Montagne de Reims, and Vallée de la Marne) in order to sample some delicious sparkling wines, then you might be looking for a snack to enjoy along with your drink. If so, we have the perfect accompaniment, which also makes for a great souvenir and gift to bring back to your loved ones: Biscuits Roses de Reims.