{"id":2083,"date":"2014-04-14T11:55:46","date_gmt":"2014-04-14T11:55:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?p=2083"},"modified":"2014-04-14T11:56:31","modified_gmt":"2014-04-14T11:56:31","slug":"10-extreme-french-cuisines-food-you-may-want-to-try","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/10-extreme-french-cuisines-food-you-may-want-to-try\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Extreme French Cuisines: Food You (May) Want to Try"},"content":{"rendered":"

The French are well known for their culture of gastronomy and gourmet offerings, but there are a few traditional dishes which will make some visitors think twice before eating them \u2013 unless they\u2019re on an episode of Fear Factor!<\/p>\n

Some of the following dishes grace the tables of fine dining establishments, some cause debate both in their native France and internationally, and one is even banned in its place of origin \u2013 but you can always say one thing about the French, their cuisine is never dull!<\/p>\n

1. Steak Tartare<\/b><\/h3>\n

This dish is really not that strange, and definitely not uncommon \u2013 made up of raw mince meat, raw eggs, capers, onion, mustard, and Worcester sauce, this very traditional French dish is a delicacy, and not all that different from a very, very rare hamburger!<\/p>\n

2. L\u2019Escargot (Snails)<\/b><\/h3>\n

L\u2019escargot<\/i> is a very popular entr\u00e9e made up of a special species of snail, which are usually cooked in garlic and parsley butter, and taste a bit like a garlicky chewing gum. The hardest part of eating this culinary delight is mastering the art of operating the specially designed utensils that hold the shells while you dig out your tasty morsel of slug!<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>

Photo by J. Patrick Fischer<\/p><\/div>\n

3. De Jageur (Snail Eggs)<\/b><\/h3>\n

So, we\u2019ve all heard of l\u2019escargot<\/i>, but de jageur<\/i> goes that one step further on the unusual food spectrum, in the form of snail eggs!<\/p>\n

Basically this is l\u2019escargot<\/i> caviar. Invented by the sole supplier in France, the process involves a lot of frisky snails, and an arduous harvest of the perfect eggs, before being sold at the not so delicate price of \u00a340 an ounce.<\/p>\n

4. Boudin (Blood Sausage)<\/b><\/h3>\n

If you\u2019ve eaten black pudding or you\u2019re a vampire, this congealed blood sausage isn\u2019t going to make you that squeamish \u2013 and if you didn\u2019t know what it was, I guarantee you\u2019d love this beautifully seasoned sausage the way the French do.<\/p>\n

In fact, boudin<\/i> sausage is so keenly associated with keeping the French Foreign Legion going that its name is used in the Legion's\u00a0anthem.<\/p>\n

5. Andouillette (Pig Intestine Sausage)<\/b><\/h3>\n

This sausage is a bit more divisive than its boudin<\/i> cousin, with regional variations of this coarse grained sausage using everything from pork intestines to tripe, served in the skin of a pig\u2019s colon.<\/p>\n

Most of France treats this dish with reverence, but in the west and coastal areas it\u2019s often treated with disdain. Personally, despite a cast iron stomach, I have trouble swallowing this dish \u2013 even after getting over the smell!<\/p>\n

6. Cuisses De Grenouille (Frogs\u2019 Legs)<\/b><\/h3>\n

Frogs\u2019 legs are so associated with France that the French are affectionately (mostly) known as Frogs, but in fact, this dish is only a couple of centuries old there, compared to countries like China and Korea where it\u2019s been a popular dish for much longer.<\/p>\n

But I digress - despite a \u2018save the frogs\u2019 legs\u2019 campaign, they can still be found on many menus around France, usually bread crumbed and deep fried, and they live up to the old adage and do actually taste a lot like chicken.<\/p>\n

7. Viande De Cheval (Horse Meat)<\/b><\/h3>\n

The horse meat scandal that rocked the UK last year hardly made a blip in the news in France, except for the fact that most of the suppliers were from there \u2013 because viande de cheval<\/i> is still a specialty meat across the ditch.<\/p>\n

8. Fromage De T\u00eate (Head Cheese)<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This sounds innocuous enough, but there\u2019s not much cheese involved, in fact there\u2019s none \u2013 it\u2019s a gelatin terrine made up of parts of a cow head, mixed up with some feet or heart bits for good measure.<\/p>\n

9. Canard A La Rouennaise (Pressed Duck)<\/b><\/h3>\n

Part of this dish is not strange at all \u2013 breast and leg of duck cooked succulently \u2013 it\u2019s the served with a sauce of its pressed blood, bone, and marrow that makes you sit up and take notice.<\/p>\n

Considered the height of elegance, this dish was designed in the 19th<\/sup> century, and involved the strangulation of a young, tender duck, removing its breast and legs, and the rest of the carcass cooked in various liquors, herbs, and spices, then crushed in a specially designed press for your viewing pleasure, before being poured over its reserved extremities!<\/p>\n

10. Ortolan (Roast Bird!)<\/b><\/h3>\n

As we\u2019ve discussed already, the French like to push the boundaries of cuisine, but even this dish had such strong opposition to it that it is now an illegal practice.<\/p>\n

Roast bird itself is fine, it\u2019s what leads up to it that caused the protest. In a nutshell, the Ortolan birds are small nocturnal birds that were trapped in a dark box, and without any light they got confused and kept eating until they grew to almost three times their normal size, at which time they were drowned in brandy, then roasted!<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>

Photo by Sergey Pisarevskiy<\/p><\/div>\n

Call me old fashioned, but I\u2019m glad even the French think this is going one step too far in the extreme cuisine stakes!<\/p>\n

One of the best things about travelling is experiencing the local cuisine and dining customs, but if you French language skills aren\u2019t up to scratch, you may find yourself enjoying a blood and marrow gravy with your canard \u2013 but then again, you may not mind! If you\u2019d like to stick to the safe side of eating, test your French skills here<\/a> before jetting off!<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The French are well known for their culture of gastronomy and gourmet offerings, but there are a few traditional dishes which will make some visitors think twice before eating them \u2013 unless they\u2019re on an episode of Fear Factor! Some of the following dishes grace the tables of fine dining establishments, some cause debate both(\u2026)<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t \t\t\t\tCONTINUE READING »<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2084,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,236,28],"tags":[203,240,39,66,44],"class_list":["post-2083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food","category-must-know","category-culture-travel","tag-food-2","tag-france","tag-french","tag-language","tag-travel"],"yoast_head":"\n10 Extreme French Cuisines: Food You (May) Want to Try<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Travelling around the world you can discover some strange dishes, but you only have to cross the channel to experience some extreme cuisines!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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