Bonjour and welcome to the Blog by Nina!
As B&G’s brand ambassador and seasoned bonne vivante, I’m here to share my adventures through the stunning and varied wine regions of France. Come with me as I reveal the fruits of the country’s rich terroir: a refined gastronomy and of course, world-class wine.
Not only will you discover French food and wine, you’ll also learn about the country’s vibrant history, culture, and tradition. Tune in for travel tips, guides, recipes, and more to see what the B&G way of life is all about.
Nina
Scallops, which are farmed extensively in Normandy and Brittany, are a staple of holiday meals in France. Their delicate flavor pairs nicely with a rich and creamy sauce, which is why scallops in beurre blanc is always a big hit. Plus, it couldn’t be any easier to prepare. This lightly charred and buttery dish is practically foolproof and makes for a perfect entrée to your Christmas dinner!
There are some French dishes that just seem too intimidating to attempt. For many, duck à l’orange is one of them, but trust me when I tell you it’s actually quite approachable. The flavors meld so effortlessly that it’s hard to mess up, and the result is sure to impress.
Serve this as your main course at Christmas dinner and watch the compliments come flooding in!
The history of French toast is hotly debated, but one thing is for sure—it isn’t actually French. In fact, it dates all the way back to the Roman Empire. Fast forward a couples of millennia and cultures around the world have their own rendition of this classic dish.
In France, the most basic rendition of this dish is called pain perdu. Literally “lost bread,” its name comes from the fact that it is traditionally made using old bread that would otherwise be thrown away. Simply soak the old bread in some eggs and milk and you’ve got an easy, delicious breakfast.
However, to turn this recipe into something truly French, all you need to do is replace the bread with brioche and voilà, you’ve got brioches perdues! The rich, buttery flavor of French brioche makes this version of French toast much more decadent and more suitable as a dessert than as a breakfast.
Treat yourself to this delectable dish for National French Toast Day!
Looking for a hearty recipe to keep you warm on chilly autumn nights? We’ve got the recipe for you!
Simple, yet flavorful, this one-pot dinner is just as good for entertaining guests as it is for an easy weeknight meal. Braising the veal shanks makes them fall-off-the-bone tender and the stewed carrots add a welcome hint of sweetness.
But the best thing about this recipe is that it gives you an excuse to open a bottle of white wine! Add two glasses to the pan while cooking, then pour a third glass just for you, to be enjoyed while you wait for dinner to be ready!
Les Sables d’Olonne is a little seaside town south of Nantes and north of La Rochelle, home to France’s fourth-largest fishing port. Here, fishermen specialize in trawling fish like hake, sole, and tuna. Meager is another fish that is abundant in Les Sables d’Olonne.
Delicate in flavor, but firm in texture, meager makes a practical canvas for playing with flavors and textures. In this recipe, enjoy the diversity of textures—the crunch of fried onions, the tenderness of cooked eggplant, and the smoothness of the white beans.
Preparing this dish with meager from Les Sables d’Olonne gives it a local touch and special flavor, though any meager filets will do.
You could say that ratatouille is the epitome of French cuisine—simple, local ingredients lovingly seasoned and prepared with care. Although the eponymous film, which takes place in a high-end restaurant, might make it seem like a fancy dish, it actually couldn’t be more simple. It is, after all, just a vegetable stew, like many others you might find around the Mediterranean.
However, there are a couple things that make ratatouille stand out above other veggie stews. The first is local seasoning. Stewing your vegetables with a bouquet garni consisting of the traditional herbes de Provence (rosemary, marjoram, thyme, oregano, and even lavender) will infuse your ratatouille with the unmistakable flavor of the South of France.
The second tip is to cook each of the vegetables individually before stewing them together to make sure each ingredient maintains its flavor as much as possible. This little touch might add a few extra minutes to the preparation, but trust me, it’s totally worth it!
OK, you got me. Pesto is not French. However, it does do a good job of representing the regional flavors of the South of France. After all, Genoa, the birthplace of pesto, is just a short jaunt down the coast from Nice—not even three hours by car.
This tangy, and verdant sauce is a timeless indulgence. In the summer, it adds rich flavor to light vegetable and seafood dishes. But now that we’re approaching the Fall, I thought it’d be more timely to pair it with hearty pasta and fresh burrata to make it extra filling!
Although you can easily find pesto in any grocery store, it’s 100x better when you make it yourself. Here, you’ll learn how to make it with a food processor, but if you want to be really traditional, you can go at it by hand with a mortar and pestle.
I think it goes without saying that the Mediterranean Coast is a paradise for seafood lovers. Fresh fish and shellfish take center stage in so many Provençal specialties, such as cured, dried fish, aromatic fish soup, and of course, bouillabaisse—Marseille’s famous seafood stew.
As amazing as all of those dishes are, there is a much simpler dish that, for me, is unbeatable. And that’s palourdes en persillade. Palourdes, known elsewhere as carpet shell clams, are some of the finest and most popular clams in the Mediterranean and along the Atlantic Coast.
Every culture and region of the Mediterranean has its own ways of preparing clams. In the South of France, they are tossed in an herb-rich and creamy persillade sauce that is as delicious as it is simple to prepare. Learn how to make this timeless dish below!
Like many other specialties from Provence, aïoli goes back a long, long way. In fact, the first recorded mention of it dates over 2,000 years! When you taste it, you’ll understand why it’s stood the test of time.
Creamy, garlicky, and mouth-wateringly delicious, aïoli is the perfect partner for fresh veggies—raw or cooked. But that’s not all…you can also spread it on sandwiches, dollop it onto roast meats, use it as a dip for seafood, or as a topping for hard-boiled eggs.
Making aïoli is very similar to making homemade mayonnaise. It involves lots of stirring and patience. You can use a whisk to make the job a bit easier, or you can do it the traditional way with a mortar and pestle, as described in the recipe below. This way may require a bit of extra effort, but it’ll be worth it for the authentic taste!
The Mediterranean city of Sète on the Languedoc Coast doesn’t attract quite as many tourists as the beach hubs of the Côte d’Azur, making it a low-key destination for seaside fun and also, of course, for food and wine.
In this port city, you’ll find docks lined with fishing boats and trawlers bringing in the catch of the day. As a result, the city is abundant with fresh sea food, like this sea bass I had the pleasure of trying during my visit.
Sea bass, also called branzino, is a popular fish all across the Mediterranean. Here, it’s prepared in the style of Italian carpaccio, which gives you a sense of Sète’s local gastronomy. As a port city connecting hubs around the sea from North Africa to Italy, Sète is home to an interesting mix of cultures, especially when it comes to food.
This simple, delicate dish is perfect as an appetizer or a light meal. A wonderful choice for the summer and a perfect companion for a glass of white wine!