France’s Finest Comfort Foods: A Tour of the Greatest

During the cold winter months, most of us swap salads for warm and nourishing fare – Joanna Leggett takes us on a tour of some of France’s finest comfort foods…

As the days become shorter and A temperatures drop -even here in France we yearn for rich, warming, unctuous food; at least, I do. Walking into a restaurant or coming home to the scent of simmering casseroles or luscious baking is one of the best things about winter, like a big hug And when it comes to ‘comfort food’, does any other country do it better? That said, the notion of ‘comfort’ is not a term commonly used for food in France-after all, every meal is an occasion full of seasonal interest and made using the freshest of ingredients available.

Of course, it’s customary to start every meal with soup here in restaurants, a bowl is often placed on the table so customers can serve themselves. Soup is just the prelude to the plat du jour. One of my favourite memories of Paris was walking along the banks of the Seine on a winter’s day. The sky was blue, the river looked amazing while we remained in a sunny sheltered spot, then we turned a corner into the wind and realised warmth and suitable sustenance were needed.

Off a narrow street, leading up towards St-Germain-des-Prés, we spotted a billboard outside a pretty bistro promoting plats du jour headed by soupe à l’oignon, A couple of minutes later, we were seated by the window and had ordered. Enormous steaming bowls of soup arrived laden with bubbling cheese and croutons-divine. Our waiter assured us the soup was the chef’s own recipe and included copious quantities of white wine. Delicious, memorable, true comfort food!

Other seasonal ‘comfort’ soups include Garbure from Gascony made with beans, cabbage and ham hock; full of seasonal vegetables and intentionally thick, it’s said to be ready when the ladle stands upright in the pot! Classic French lentil soup is hearty, filling and ideal for supper, but it’s soupe paysanne that takes centre stage on many French family tables in winter. Laden with cabbage, leek, carrots and smoked port sausage in broth, it warms the cockles of your heart. Another favourite is watercress soupe de cresson. I’ve fond memories of consuming this when visiting Champagne, its peppery flavour really warms the soul. Watercress is best grown in freshwater streams over limestone, so perhaps it’s small wonder it is grown around here.

An honourable mention has to go to Provençal garlic soup (aïgo boulido). Widely consumed in the south of France to aid digestion or ward off winter ills, it’s also believed to cure hangovers. The broth is made of garlic and sage with eggs. Powerful stuff-just duck when you talk to anyone!

Can there be any better way to discover a country than through its food- or its wine, for that matter-shopping at local markets, where organic seasonal vegetables freshly harvested from the soil are heaped high, while other stalls are laden with every type of seafood artfully arranged in a style befitting the Harrods’ food hall. With vast mountains of ice keeping everything in prime condition, it all smells sweet and of the sea.

Then you spot a patient queue beside a bread stall, another by a van, which opens up to show a display cabinet full of every type of cheese imaginable. It was General de Gaulle who famously lamented in 1962, “how can you govern a country where there are 246 kinds of cheese?”. Well, I’d suggest just try one each day with salad before dessert, as is customary here- after eight or nine months you could be discovering new favourites!

When you visit the butcher, they discuss how you are proposing to cook the meat and ask about recipes not critically, just interested. They ask how large they should cut the pieces for your bourguignon and, best of all, show you exactly what meat they are using before putting any through the mincer for steak haché, then all is wrapped in greaseproof paper -no nasty plastic packaging disguising lumps of gristle or fat underneath here.

As we’ve just mentioned boeuf bourguignon, I have to say, to me, it represents the ultimate comfort food. Rich, unctuous and laden with wine nominally from Burgundy, where wine and cattle ‘grow’ it’s a stalwart of Parisian bistro menus. The secret is to braise the beef and marinade it in copious amounts of wine, before cooking long and slow. I was told “one glass of wine for the pot, with one to drink for the cook” by a suspiciously ruddy-faced chef. Flavourful with good beef stock, carrots, onions and bouquet garni, it’s probably American chef Julia Childs’ best-known dish. It’s sually served with potatoes; if the mash seems very yellow, it’s probably due to the amount of butter that’s been used.

Cassoulet from Toulouse, and served all along the Canal du Midi, right fully deserves its place on any list of comfort food. Full of haricot beans, duck confit, tomatoes and Toulouse sausage, slowly cooked to perfection and served under a dark brown crust, it’s another dish that brings back vivid memories. I recall eating it for supper sat within the walls of the citadel of Carcassonne.

Lyon is, of course, a veritable temple to gastronomy with more Michelin-starred restaurants than you can shake a stick at. Local dish poulet Célestine is more than a sidenote, comprising chicken sautéed with mushrooms and tomatoes then flambéed with cognac and white wine, finished with a sprinkling of parsley and garlic. Chicken from nearby Bresse, Poulet de Bresse, is known as the poultry of kings and has had its own appellation contrôlee status since the 1950s.

I can’t finish this article without mentioning the holy trinity’ of potatoes, cheese and cream, which form the base of so many wonderful comfort dishes – dauphinois naturally, tartiflette when cheese from eastern France is layered with smoked lardons of bacon, potatoes spiced with wine and garlic; the list goes on and is making my mouth water.

Not only is Bordeaux famed for its wine, but also for the seafood caught along the Atlantic coast nearby – I’ve many happy memories of consuming oysters or plateaux des fruits de mer here too. Marseille brings in North African flavours. Brittany and Normandy have crêpes galettes and seafood in abundance.
From cheese fondue to onion soup, croque monsieur to cassoulet, bourguignonne to coq au vin, there’s food to tempt, fill and ‘comfort’ everyone.

Joanna Leggett is the Marketing Director at Leggett Immobilier -see their portfolio of properties for sale at leggettfrance.com

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