Provincial Menus and Recipes

Every Frenchman is convinced that he is personally not very interested in haute cuisine. It is too tiring, hard on the liver, overpriced, and ostentatious. He will earnestly reassure you that the “true Frenchman” values nothing more than simplicity in food and wine. He really prizes the excellent preparation of a simple casserole far more than an elegant and elaborate sauce. If your patience lasts, he will then confide in you that the best dishes are really those of the provinces—especially the one in which he was born and brought up. And all of this talk usually occurs over an elaborate Parisian meal.