Cervelle de Canut

In the French city of Lyon, the silk-workers—or canuts—of the nineteenth century were in the habit of preparing a white cheese and cream mixture flavored with herbs and wine, which they called in self-mockery Cervelle de Canut, or canut’s brain. “Regular” people in Lyon called this preparation claqueret because it was beaten “as if it would be your wife” (a claque being a slap in the face). There is still plenty of this preparation to be found in Lyon nowadays.</