Taste Of France

With beautiful wine regions flanking the winding course of the river and small Provençal towns preserving fiercely-guarded secret recipes, the Rhône region offers a foodie tour into the heart and belly of France. Few places in the world can boast so much heritage and forward-thinking culinary ambition in such abundance as this beautiful stretch of the continent.

At Emerald Waterways, we know that for many of our guests, food plays a central role in the holiday experience, and we truly believe you can learn a lot about new cultures from their favoured fare. So, to provide everyone with a taste of one of our favourite river cruise routes through Europe, we are taking a tour through the Rhône in five delicious recipes. 

Simple, rustic peasant cooking at its very finest; legend has it coq au vin can trace its history back to Julius Caesar and the Roman rule of France (or Gaul as the region was known at the time), when rooster or other ‘tough’ birds were braised in wine for a long time to make the meat more tasty and tender.

Coq au vin is one of the most popular French dishes outside of the country, largely thanks to the hugely influential cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, released in 1961. The dish became a staple in homes in the UK, with families desperate to recreate the sophistication of our Gallic neighbours.

Eaten throughout France, coq au vin is perhaps most synonymous with the Burgundy or Beaujolais regions – using the famous red wines these vine-rich stretches produce. Sometimes called coq au violet when using wines from the Beaujolais region of Provence, this is the recipe we’re going to follow thanks to its proximity to the Rhône.  

Here’s our recipe for coq au vin.

Serves: 4. Prep Time: 30 Mins. Cook Time: 1 Hour.

In 1935, famed food critic Curnonsky heralded Lyon as the ‘world capital of gastronomy’ in recognition of the delightful fare on offer. At the very heart of Lyonnaise cooking are two basic principles, simplicity and quality.

These principles largely derive from the mid-19^th century, when many middle-class women of the city left their homes and worked as chefs, using their regional roots to inspire new culinary traditions. This period oversaw a huge selection of new dishes emerge from the bouchons (traditional Lyonnaise restaurants) of the city, many of which still delight visitors to this day.

One of the simplest yet most enduringly popular dishes to emerge from the city is salade Lyonnaise, a hearty yet stylish greens dish topped with crisp bacon, fluffy egg and piquant vinaigrette. It makes a wonderful lunch or sophisticated starter for a dinner party.

Here’s our favourite recipe for a stylish and delicious salade Lyonnais.

Serves: 4. Prep Time: 15 Mins. Cook Time: 35 Mins.

Or French onion soup if you can’t get your tongue around those Gallic syllables; soupe a l’oignon follows a well-beaten path explored in this blog. Another dish which dates back to Roman rule with roots in rustic peasant cooking, and which really came to the attention of UK diners in the 60s during the French food revolution. 

A wonderfully hearty dish, there are few more welcome sights on a winter’s eve than a bowl of steaming, thick onion broth topped with a large cheese-covered crouton. Although variations of soupe a l’oignon had been eaten by the poor of France for centuries, using different recipes — the version we know today with beef broth and caramelised onions originated in the 18^th century.

While you’ll rarely find two identical bowls of soupe a l’oignon, we’ve pulled together a recipe reminiscent of those you’d enjoy in the towns down the Rhône.

Serves: 4. Prep Time: 30 Mins. Cook Time: 30 Mins.

Another dish with Lyonnaise roots, matefaim aux pommes toes the line between cake and crêpe – two wonderfully-French desserts. Packed full of tart apples, this traditional dessert offers sweet and sharp tastes with every forkful.

A little more refined than many other classic dishes of the Rhône, matefaim aux pommes is a popular dish to celebrate special occasions. But, given it consists of mostly cupboard staples (and pear alcohol, if you fancy); you don’t need to wait for a special occasion to treat the family to this delicious pud.

Here’s a wonderfully traditional matefaim aux pommes.

Serves: 4. Prep Time: 30 Mins to 1 Hour. Cook Time: 2 Hours 30 Mins.