There is more to French food than croissants and
steaks. Charles Timoney reveals 10 treats to try on your holiday in France this
summer
1. Boulette d'Avesnes
When the cheese trolley arrives look closely and, if you are lucky, you may spot, lurking near the back, a Boulette d'Avesnes. It is easy to recognise as it is one of the few pyramidal ones, and certainly the only reddish one. It may very probably be the only one on the trolley which hasn't had a slice cut out of it. There is a good reason for this as we are dealing with the surprise symphony of French cheeses. It tastes stronger and spicier than almost any other cheese. It is actually delicious, once you have got used to its taste, especially if you wash it down with a glass of strong dark beer, preferably one from the north of France where the Boulette originates.Where to try
The family-run Fromagers de France, 39 rue de Bretagne, 75003 Paris.
2. Café gourmand
This is quite a recent idea, which you mainly come across in steak houses or fish restaurants that are part of a chain. You have enjoyed your "entrée + plat" but you don't really have enough room for a huge pudding, even though you fancy something sweet and chocolaty. Cottoning on to this, the restaurants have come up with the brilliant "café gourmand". The word gourmand doesn't relate to the coffee itself - it will just be the regular, small black expresso. The gourmand bit is what comes with the coffee - an artistic array of miniature puddings. You generally get three: a mini triangle of brownie, an eggcup-sized crème brûlée and a taste of something like clafoutis.Where to try
Steak house chains Hippopotamus which can be found throughout France.
3. Soupe de poisson
I have always had a soft spot for French dishes with a do-it-yourself element, and "soupe de poisson" is one that has a pleasingly high DIY content. It is a dish of orangey-coloured soup, accompanied by little dish of small slices of very crisp toast and a little bowl of "rouille". You can spread some rouille - a garlic-based spicy sauce - on a piece of toast and then dunk the resulting spicy toast in the soup and eat it. Alternatively, you can drop the spicy toast in the soup and then spoon it out again later. A final option is to drop the toast in the soup and then spoon in a bit of the rouille. You then eat the soup with the occasional spoonful tasting strongly of garlic and spice.Where to try
Fish restaurant La Criée, which can be found throughout France.
4. Canard
The presence of sugar lumps in close proximity to coffee leads to one of the many excellent reasons for going to France – dunking sugar lumps in strong, black coffee is absolutely wonderful. The act of dunking a sugar lump, preferably a large, oblong one, in a cup of coffee is known as "faire un canard" where "canard", as you know, normally means "duck". It is quite common, where several people are gathered around cups of coffee, for a person, who hasn't asked for their own cup, to pick up a sugar lump and lean over towards someone else's cup asking "Je peux faire un canard?" (Can I do the duck?). They thus get a kick of sugary caffeine without having to drink a whole cup.Where to try
Café de Phares, place de la Bastille 4th, Paris.
5. Tarte tatin
Spare a thought for Stéphanie and Caroline Tatin, two sisters who, in 1888 in their restaurant in Lamotte-Beuvron, accidentally created a gastronomic masterpiece: la Tarte Tatin. According to legend, in the lunchtime rush in the kitchens, an apple tart was inadvertently put into the baking dish upside down and then put into the oven to cook. Being upside down, the apples became all golden and slightly caramelised. In order to hide their mistake, the sisters served portions of the tart with a large dollop of cream on the top. This is how it is served to this day and it is absolutely wonderful.Where to try
Patisserie Lenotre, 44 rue d'Auteuil, 75016 Paris.
6. Trou Normand
This is a wonderful thing that can transform a heavy meal. It can leave a feeling of wellbeing where there might otherwise have been indigestion. In the more expensive restaurants, when you are in the middle of a long and extravagant meal, the waiter will arrive unexpectedly with a small glass containing a refreshing mix of sorbet and alcohol. This is a "Trou Normand" and generally comprises apple or lemon sorbet swimming in a generous shot of Calvados. It doesn't always feature on the menu but just appears at exactly the moment you are ready for it. Somehow, the mix of tangy sorbet and strong alcohol revives you from your food-and-drink-induced stupor and sets you up for the following courses.Where to try
La Tour d'Argent, 15-17, quai de la Tournelle, Paris 75005 (if budget is no obstacle!). Also, slightly less expensive would be Le Meurice, 228 rue de Rivoli, 1st, Paris.
7. Le quignon
One of the basic rules of French culture is the rigidly applied law which states that any person buying a baguette is obliged to eat the end of the loaf at some point between the boulangerie door and his place of residence. Failure to do so risks serious punishment. Happily, no one has discovered what the punishment is because it is actually impossible to carry a freshly baked baguette for more than seven metres without breaking off the end and eating it. Eating the end of the loaf – le quignon – is so irresistible that, if you are planning to go off on your own to buy the bread every day of your holiday, it is probably a good idea to try and convince your household that the loaves are actually sold by the baker without the ends on them.Where to try
Au Panetier, 10 pl des Petits-Peres, 75002, Paris.
8. Café et tartines beurrées
Rather than order the classic combination of a croissant with your café au lait when you have breakfast in a French café, order "une tartine beurée" instead. Such tartines are made from a thinner loaf than a baguette called "une flute" which is cut lengthways and generously buttered. Two such tartines and a big cup of coffee will start the day off nicely and keep you going until lunchtime. It is not obligatory to dunk your tartine in your coffee, but you very probably will.Where to try
Café de Phares, place de la Bastille 4th, Paris.
9. Chouquettes
Another relatively unknown wonder to be found in any French boulangerie. And what's more, they are very cheap. Chouquettes are chou pastry balls, the size of a plum, which are topped off with some little chunks of sugar. As they are hollow, they are very light, but taste delicious. Also, as they are sold by weight you get quite a lot for your money. Calling for "100 grammes de chouquettes, s'il vous plaït" will get you a paper bag with eight chouquettes and cost you about €1.60 (£1).Where to try
Patisserie Lenotre, 44 rue d'Auteuil, 75016 Paris.
10. Religieuse au chocolat
A chocolate éclair, only more so. When you go into a boulangerie or a patisserie, rather than buying a simple chocolate éclair try a religieuse au chocolat. A religieuse is easy to spot because it is made up of two round éclair-like parts, a little one stuck on top of a larger one. It looks a bit like a child's snowman, only covered in chocolate icing and topped off with a swirl of cream. Religieuses are perfect to share - though of course you are faced with the problem of who gets which part. If chocolate is not your thing, they even occasionally come in a mix where one part has chocolate and the other coffee flavoured icing.Where to try
Patisserie Lenotre, 44 rue d'Auteuil, 75016 Paris.
· Pardon My French: Unleash Your Inner Gaul
by Charles Timoney is published on August 2 (Penguin) £7.99
