Gastronomy

Burgundy abounds with regional specialities. It is famous throughout France for its excellent food - a reputation that is very well deserved! The restaurants offer rich, varied menus based on traditional recipes and local produce.

Many famous French dishes actually originated in Burgundy, including beef bourguignon, coq au vin and snails! The region also produces Charolais beef and Poulet de Bresse chicken.

Other local specialities include poached eggs in red wine, or œufs en meurette, ham terrine with parsley, or jambon persillé, and a fish stew known as matelote. Delicious hams and sausages are produced in and around the Morvan area. One of France’s strongest – and best! – cheeses, Epoisses, is made in the Côte d’Or department. Flavigny, a village in northern Burgundy, is famous all over France for its aniseed flavoured sweets. Dijon is both the mustard and gingerbread capital of France.

However, it is Burgundy’s wines that are the very heart and soul of the region. Some of the best wines in the world are produced in the Chablis, Côte de Nuits, Côte de Beaune, Côte Chalonnaise and Mâconnais vineyards.

The typical cheese, wine and charcuterie of Franche-Comté have greatly influenced its cuisine, giving it a very distinctive character. Comté, with its somewhat nutty flavour, is probably the most widely used cheese in French cooking. Bleu de Gex is a blue cheese whose subtly ripe flavour comes from the rich pastures where the cattle graze. Mont d’Or is a creamy cheese produced between April and September. Morbier is another rich, creamy cheese, that has a charcoal-coloured layer through the middle. Raclette is an uncooked, pressed cheese often served with a raclette grill. Cancoillote is another regional speciality. These cheeses can be found in many Franche-Comté dishes, such as cheese tarts and little choux pastry buns filled with comté cheese.

Find out more about Kir

Kir is one of the region’s traditional pre-dinner drinks, made with 1/3 cassis liqueur and 2/3 Aligoté white wine. Despite being named after him, the drink was not actually invented by Canon Kir, as is widely believed. But he did increase its popularity by giving all his guests a glass of white wine and cassis in the ducal kitchens, when he was Mayor of Dijon.