Burgundy and the Lyonnais

Burgundy can justly claim to be the place where good French eating began. Starting in the 14th century, when Philip the Bold extended his Duchy by marrying Marguerite of Flanders, the Burgundian court at Dijon became a centre for all the arts. A century later the reigning duke added a stupendous kitchen to his palace, the better to serve his guests. Its ample construction, featuring an octagonal chamber with four stone fireplaces leading to a single chimney, prompted the gastronome Curnonsky to exclaim, ‘Some have built a hearth in their kitchen, but the dukes of Burgundy, they made a kitchen from their hearth.’