CULINARY TOUR DE FRANCE – ÎLE DE FRANCE –

Yes, why Île-de-France (France island)? It appears that the name of the region would come from the distant time when the Franks imposed themselves on the territory occupied by the Romans. We have to wait  until 1387 that the name appeared for the first time in a text, Les Chroniques de Froissart , in place of “Pays de France”. It’s in 1976 that the name “Île-de-France” was applied to designate the administrative region that we know today.

The culinary specialities I will propose you today are : 

* the baguette,

* the croque-monsieur (French toastie),

* the Fontainebleau dessert (with whipped cream).

It is not easy to find a genuine history of the baguette. It seems it had been invented at the turn of the 20th century, with its long shape as previously, the bread was in the form of a loaf to be kept for a long time…Is it to imitate the shape of the Viennese baguettes, discovered in Paris at the end of the 19th century, that Parisian bakers set out to give this new shape to their bread? Another version gives the paternity of the baguette to the worksites of the Parisian metro. To avoid the many knife fights between the workers created by the promiscuity, the site manager would have asked to create loaves that could be broken without using a knife…

Find the recipe : baguette HERE

Already mentioned by Marcel Proust in one of his novels, the croque-monsieur is a simple and quick meal, found from the beginning of the XXe century, in Parisians cafes and brasseries with its combination of sandwich bread, cheese and ham, all grilled in a pan.

Find the recipe : croque-monsieur HERE