The fact that the French are reputed to be gourmets has probably been heard by many. In France, people's interest in delicious food is considered completely natural and perhaps even ahead of their love interest, in which, by world recognition, the French have no equal.

 

What defines French cuisine?

 

Naturally, in France, oysters are the most common dish. Connoisseurs consider these mollusks the most exquisite food. Oysters are grown in particular plantations with seawater, where the salt content is low, or they are caught in the tidal zone, near the mouth of the rivers. French flat types of oysters are called belon, marine, and Arcachon. 

 

They sell oysters by weight from September to October. When buying oysters, you must ensure their shells are tightly closed; if the shell is open, the mollusk is dead. There is a special knife for opening oysters. After opening the shell, you need to squeeze lemon juice and take it out of the shell. 

 

When preparing many dishes, the French put a small bunch of herbs in the pan, which gives the words a unique French flavor. It is called "bouquet garni" and consists of parsley, savory, and bay leaf. Before serving, the beam is removed. It is impossible to keep silent about the chic desserts, which the French undoubtedly know. This is cherry clafoutis pie, delicious Tarte Tatin - open fruit cakes, and of course, the famous creme brulee - cream baked with caramel crust - the king and master of all desserts.

 

What are the secret ingredients French chefs use?

 

Despite regional differences (and the cuisine of Provence and the cuisine of Burgundy differ significantly), a characteristic feature of the national French cuisine is the abundance of vegetables and root crops. Potatoes, green beans, varieties of onions, spinach, cabbage of multiple types, tomatoes, eggplants, celery, parsley, and salads are used for preparing snacks, first and second courses, and side dishes. Compared to other European countries, French cooking uses fewer dairy products. The exception is cheeses, famous all over the world. A dish with cheeses and a green salad are always served before dessert.

 

France produces at least 500 varieties of cheese. Almost every French village knows its unique recipe for making cheese. Among them are Roquefort, Gruyere, Camembert, etc. Omelets and cheese souffle are typical for the French table, which is cooked with seasonings and fillings: ham, mushrooms, and herbs. The quality and characteristics inherent in each product must be preserved. 

 

Of the first courses, leek puree soup with potatoes and onion soup seasoned with cheese is very favorite. Provencal thick fish soup bouillabaisse is also widely known. French chefs use various meat products: veal, beef, lamb, poultry, and game. Dishes from the sea and freshwater fish are trendy: cod, halibut, pike, carp, and seafood such as oysters, shrimps, lobsters, and scallops. The French are considered the inventors of sauces. In their preparation and invention of new recipes, you will not find their equals worldwide.

 

French cuisine – famous dishes

 

Describing French cuisine is a thankless task. Long considered one of the best in the world, it absorbed many peoples' culinary traditions and became a source of inspiration for followers from different countries. Suffice it to say that the names of several French dishes, wines, sauces, and the methods of processing and cooking products have entered many languages ​​​​and are understandable without translation. France is considered the birthplace of almost half of the most popular dishes and drinks in Europe, and many of its "works" have long become "their own" in the cuisines of other European nations, in some cases turning into world-famous trademarks (suffice it to recall mayonnaise, fricassee, champagne or cognac ).

 

Salmon En Papillote

 

Salmon, along with fried fennel, half-boiled potatoes, shallots, herbs, a piece of butter, and a small amount of white wine, is sealed “en papillote,” that is, in a parchment roll, and baked until the fish becomes tender. Each serving is served directly in the package. There are some advantages to this baking method: ease of preparation, clean dishes, fish and vegetables steamed with aromatic additives, which are very tasty, juicy, and healthy. Serve the packages sealed so that each guest opens their portion and enjoys the incredible aroma. And next to the table put a tapenade of olives. It complements the taste of salmon nicely.

 

Ingredients for the recipe:

Salmon

• 1 st. l. rapeseed oil, one fennel root, cut into 0.5 cm thick slices
• Two potatoes, peeled and cut into 0.3 cm thick slices
• Four skinless salmon fillets, 140g each
• 1/4 st. white wine
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 1 tbsp minced fresh tarragon, 1/4 shallot, minced

 

Tapenade

• 1 st. pitted manzanilla olives, rinsed, dried, and finely chopped
• 1 st. l. capers, rinse, pat dry, and finely chop
• One anchovy, minced
• One garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 st. olive oil
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 st. l. chopped fresh parsley

 

Recipe preparation:

 

Prepare salmon: Preheat oven to 150°C. Bring salted water to a boil in a saucepan. Place a skillet over moderately high heat and add vegetable oil. Sprinkle the fennel with salt and black pepper. Once the oil is hot, add the fennel and fry on one side until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, boil the potato slices in water for 3 minutes, then drain. Cut out four pieces of parchment paper in the shape of a large heart, then fold them in half. Lift one side of each parchment heart, place some fennel in the center of the bottom half, then top with potatoes and salmon. Top each piece of salmon with a quarter of the white wine, butter, tarragon, and shallots: salt and pepper. Start closing the rolls of parchment, crimping the edges in small folds, so they are all tightly sealed. Place them on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 15-18 minutes, depending on how you want them to be.

 

Make the tapenade: While the salmon is in the oven, toss the olives, capers, anchovies, and garlic in a bowl. Add olive oil, lemon juice, and honey and mix until smooth. Sprinkle the tapenade with chopped parsley. Open the packages with fish on the table and put a spoonful of tapenades in each serving.

 

Quiche Lorraine

 

Quiche is an open pastry pie filled with cheese, cream, eggs, and milk. It isn't easy to disagree with such a formulation of the question. We can only add that this dish is most likely of French origin, although some consider it English. In any case, perhaps the most famous variant of quiche in the world, Loraine quiche, comes from the French Lorraine, which is where the name, as you can see, comes from.

 

Ingredients:

 

For the dough

 

• Flour, 125g
• Salt, 1/2 teaspoon
• Butter, 100g
• Icy water, 3 tbsp. spoons

 

For filling

 

• Bacon, 6-12 pieces, to taste
• Eggs, four pcs.
• Heavy cream, 1 cup
• Milk, 1 cup
• Swiss cheese, 150g
• Onion, or shallot, a little (optional)
• Salt, 1/2 teaspoon
• Nutmeg, a little

 

Recipe preparation:

 

We make shortbread dough - add finely chopped butter cubes to the sifted and salted flour.

Then mix so that it turns out as homogeneous as possible, although you can’t do without lumps.

Then add ice water one tablespoon at a time and stir constantly. It is best to put a bowl of dough on ice in addition.

We interfere until a homogeneous mass is formed, from which we sculpt a ball and send it to the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Meanwhile, fry the bacon.

We cut the bacon into smaller pieces, do the same with the onion, and rub the cheese. Cheese is needed like Emmental or Gruyère.

We put good eggs in a bowl.

Add cream, milk, salt, and nutmeg. We mix.

Stir in the grated cheese as well.

When the dough is ready, roll it out and place it in a mold smeared with butter.

Spread the bacon and onion evenly on the bottom.

Then gently pour in the cream cheese mixture.

We cook for 15 minutes at 220 C, after which we reduce the heat to 160 C and cook for another 35 minutes.

Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

 

Potatoes Dauphinoise

 

If you love potatoes, why not spruce up your "potato menu" with a good old French recipe. We offer to cook potatoes "dauphine" or potatoes "a la dauphinoise."

 

Ingredients:

 

• 500 g potatoes
• One egg
• One glass of milk
• 200 g grated cheddar cheese
• 45 g butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• a pinch of black pepper
• a pinch of nutmeg
• One garlic clove

 

Cooking:

 

Peel the potatoes and cut them into thin slices. Salt and pepper to taste, and add nutmeg and half of the grated cheese. Mix everything. Pour the milk into the potatoes and crack the egg. Mix well. Rub a dish for baking potatoes with garlic and brush with oil. Put the potato mixture in it, and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Cut the butter into small pieces and place it on top. Put the dishes with potatoes in a preheated oven for about 40 minutes. The word is ready when the potatoes become soft and a golden crust appears on top.

 

Bouillabaisse

 

When the Marseille fishers cooked soup from the remains of an unsold catch in the evening, they did not suspect that in the future, this dish would become a delicacy that would be served in the best French restaurants. The first Marseille bouillabaisse was made from pieces of dry bread, small fish, shrimp, squid, and shellfish, and now lobsters and expensive fish are added to this soup, so the cost of a bowl of soup sometimes reaches 200 euros. According to the French legend, the goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite, was engaged in the preparation of bouillabaisse. She fed her husband Hephaestus with it because she was born from sea foam and the sea element was almost native to her. However, let's go down from Mount Olympus and go to the kitchen to understand how to cook bouillabaisse at home.

 

So, if you follow the recommendations of experienced chefs, to prepare a classic bouillabaisse, you will need:

 

• 2 kg of any medium-sized sea fish and some vegetables - fennel bulb
• Three tomatoes
• Three garlic cloves
• Two leeks
• Two heads of onion
• Three celery stalks

 

From spices, take a bouquet garni, which includes parsley, bay leaf, thyme, basil, rosemary, tarragon, sea salt, and olive oil will also come in handy.

 

Cooking method:

 

Finely chop the celery, the whole leek, one clove of garlic, and one onion. Fry, constantly stirring, vegetables in 7 tbsp. l. olive oil. Rinse the fish, clean it from the insides, remove the tails, heads, and fins, and place it in the pan with the roasting vegetables. Add water, so it is above the level of the fish trimmings, and then simmer for 20 minutes. Pour boiling water over the tomatoes, remove the skin from them and grind the pulp into a puree. Finely chop the fennel, one more onion, and two cloves of garlic, and fry the vegetables in a pan in a small amount of oil. Add chopped tomato pulp to vegetables. Strain the cooled fish broth, remove the heads, and wipe the vegetable grounds through a sieve. Pour the broth into the fried vegetables, mix with the mashed vegetables from the broth, salt, and add seasonings. Put the pieces of chopped fish into the broth and cook it until soft. Serve the broth separately - with a toasted baguette and Provence garlic rui sauce, which you can cook yourself. The fish is laid out on a plate, and everyone adds it to the broth on their own.

In 2022, the 109th "Great Loop" in history will take place; the cycling race will take place from July 1 to 24. The Women's Tour de France will return to the calendar under this name after 33 years.

The men's Tour de France (3328 km) starts in Denmark. The Danish start of the Great Loop was planned for 2021, but due to the postponement of the football EURO 2020, the matches of which were also hosted by Copenhagen, it was decided to implement this idea a year later. So the peloton will spend the first three days of the Tour in 2022 in Denmark, the riders will pass the first "cutting" (13 km) in Copenhagen, then they will move to France, a day of rest and a bit of "Northern Hell" - more precisely, 5- th stage with paving stones and finish in Arenberg. The stage is a quote from the route of the famous "classic" "Paris - Roubaix".

The sixth stage of the "Tour" starts in the Belgian Banshee. In addition to Denmark, France and Belgium, riders will also visit Switzerland: the eighth stage will finish in Lausanne, the next one will start in the same country, in Aigle, where the headquarters of the International Cycling Union (UCI) is located.

Separately, it is worth noting the ascent of Alpe d'Huez, which is included in the route of the 12th stage. It falls on July 14, Bastille Day. For every French rider, winning the Tour on Bastille Day is considered an extra motivation.

In total, there are six mountain stages in the race route, five with an uphill finish. There are two individual races, on the first (13 km) and penultimate (40 km) stages. “The route of this Tour has everything,” said Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, two-time winner of the “Big Loop”, after the presentation. “There are paving stones, cuts, and mountains. A real Tour.

The 2022 Women's Tour de France kicks off on the day the men's Grand Loop finishes on July 24 at the Champs Elysées. The route includes eight stages, two of which are mountainous. In total, the racers will cover 1029 km. For women's cycling, which this year included in its calendar an absolutely male "monument" "Paris - Roubaix", the return of its "Tour de France", even if it is still held in eight stages, is certainly a long-awaited and historical moment. Previously, the organizer of the men's "Tour" ASO held a women's version of this Grand Tour, but only until 1989. In 1992, this race was replaced by the Tour Cycliste Féminin, later renamed the Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale. Then ASO began the revival of the project with the La Course, and by 2022 approved the multi-day format for this race already called the Tour de France.

The organizers also attended to the increase in prize money - the women's Tour de France will become the race with the highest prize money in 2022. The winner of the overall standings will receive 50,000 euros. The total prize fund will be 250 thousand euros against 2.3 million for the men's Tour de France. By the way, this amount of prize money will be a record for the women's peloton. Prior to this, the record for prize money was held by the RideLondon Classique-2019 race - 100 thousand euros.

The Great Loop in 2022 will stretch in addition to France through the territory of three more countries - Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland. This is the largest number of countries on the route since 2017. Denmark will be the 10th country to host the Grand Depart Tour de France, and the northernmost in Tour history.

From 21 stages:

• 6 flat,
• 7 mid-mountain,
• 6 mountain with 5 mountain finishes (La Planche de Belle Fille, Col du Granon, Alpe d'Huez, Peyraud, Hautacam),
• 2 individual time trials,
• 2 days of rest
• 1 day transfer.

The Tour de France 2022 prize fund will be €2.3 million, including €500,000 for the winner of the general classification.

The total length of the Tour de France 2022 route will be 3,328 km. 29 lifts - 2nd, 1st and highest categories.

 The 2022 Tour de France kicks off in the Danish capital Copenhagen with a 13 km individual time trial. Danny will host the first three stages of the Great Loop. On the day of rest, the peloton will return to France, where the riders will find 20 km of classic Paris-Roubaix paving stones, and the first mountain finish at La Planche des Belles Filles, and the legendary Telegraph, Galibier, Col de -Croix de Fer and Alpe d'Huez, and the final week in the Pyrenees. The 109th edition will end with an individual time trial and a traditional friendship stage, finishing in Paris, on the Champs Elysees.

The Tour de France 2022 will pass through four mountain ranges - the Vosges, the Alps, the Massif Central and the Pyrenees.

On the stage up to Arenberg (Porte du Hino) riders will have to pass 19.4 km of paving stones - 11 sectors from 1.3 to 2.8 km long.

The week in the Alps starts with stage 11, with a mountainous finish at the Col de Granon, which returns to the Tour de France after 36 years. 2413 m and the same roads where Bernard Hinault in 1986 wore the yellow jersey for the last time in his career.

On July 14, on Bastille Day, a stage will take place with a finish at Alpe d'Huez. The last time 21 “hairpins” of the legendary climb took place four years ago.

On the way to the Pyrenees, sprinters will be able to write their name into history on the stages of Saint-Etienne and Carcassonne. Pyrenees - Col d'Aspin, Hourquette d'Ancizan and Peyragud, Otacam, Obisk and for the first time in the Tour's route - Col de Sandelle (1378 m).

There will be two mountain finishes in a row in the final week in the Pyrenees - stages 17 and 18 will finish at Peyragudes and Hautacam.

On the way to the top of Peyragude, you will have to overcome Col d'Aspin (Col d'Aspin), Hourquette d'Ancizan and Col de Val Louron-Azet and the culmination of the stage - 8 km from 7.8% to the peak of Peyragude.

The next Pyrenean mountain stage to the top of Otakami includes the passage of the Col d'Aubisque (Col d'Aubisque) and the Col de Sandelle (Col des Spandelles) and the final climb of 13.6 km from 7.8% to Otakami.

The total length of the individual time trials will be 53 km - 13 km in the opening race and 40 km in the penultimate, 20th stage from Marivalay to Rocamadour.

1.07 Friday. Stage 1: Copenhague - Copenhague (ITT), 13 km

2.07 Saturday. Stage 2: Roskilde - Nyborg, 199 km

3.07 Sunday. Stage 3: Vejle - Sonderborg, 182 km

4.07 Monday Rest day.

5.07 Tuesday. Stage 4: Dunkerque - Calais, 172 km

6.07 Wednesday. Stage 5: Lille Metropole - Arenberg Porte du Hainaut, 155 km

7.07 Thursday. Stage 6: Binche - Longwy, 220 km

8.07 Friday. Stage 7: Tomblaine - La super Planche des Belles Filles, 176 km

9.07 Saturday. Stage 8: Dole - Lausanne, 184 km

10.07 Sunday. Stage 9: Aigle - Châtel Les Portes du Soleil, 183 km

11.07 Monday. Day of rest.

12.07 Tuesday. Stage 10: Morzine Les Portes du Soleil - Megève, 148 km

13.07 Wednesday. Stage 11: Albertville - Col du Granon, 149 km

14.07 Thursday. Stage 12: Briancon - Alpe d'Huez, 166 km

15.07 Friday. Stage 13: Bourg d'Oisans - Saint-Étienne, 193 km

16.07 Saturday. Stage 14: Saint-Étienne - Mende, 195 km

17.07 Sunday. Stage 15: Rodez - Carcassonne, 200 km

18.07 Monday. Day of rest

19.07 Tuesday. Stage 16: Carcassonne - Foix, 179 km

20.07 Wednesday. Stage 17: Saint-Gaudens - Peyragudes, 130 km

21.07 Thursday. Stage 18: Lourdes - Hautacam, 143 km

22.07 Friday. Stage 19: Castelnau-Magnoac-Cahors, 189 km

23.07 Saturday. Stage 20: Lacapelle-Marival - Rocamadour (ITT), 40 km

24.07 Sunday. Stage 21: Paris La Defense Arena - Paris Champs-Elysées, 112 km

This world's largest cycling race is a national landmark that France cherishes almost as much as the Eiffel Tower and 360 cheeses! Tour de France is held annually in July and passes through the most picturesque places of the French metropolis. We will tell you about it.

In fact, for the fans and the athletes themselves, the Tour de France does not begin on the day the race starts, but at least a year in advance, with the presentation of the route. The route of the 21st stage is different every year, but the organizers of the Tour de France always give riders of various specializations a chance to prove themselves: sprinters, station wagons capable of climbing small mountains, mountaineers, individual time trial specialists. The Tour de France is a Grand Tour, a race that lasts three weeks.

There are three Grand Tours in total: the first is the Italian Grand Tour - the Giro d'Italia, then it's time for the French - Tour de France, and finally, the final three-week race, which is held in Spain - the Vuelta. But the Tour de France is the oldest and most prestigious of all three Grand Tours, traditionally starting in early July. During the 23 days of the competition, riders cover more than 3,000 kilometers. The route of the Tour can be laid clockwise or counterclockwise through the territory of France. Often, not only the Grand depart goes beyond the borders of the Tour's home country, but some stages go beyond the borders of France. So, at the mountain stage, the peloton can go to Andorra or Italy, and then return to France again.

Bemorepanda collected some funny memes.

1.Doing it right?

2.Look guys

3.Lost a bit of time

Usually, the cities that host the start and finish of the stage are famous for their rich history, sights, because the Tour is broadcast by television companies around the world, the spectator audience of the race is huge, which means that the French regions get the opportunity to attract tourists, advertise architectural monuments and natural beauties . Thus, the Tour de France is also an exciting journey through France, which opens up new interesting routes and corners of the country for cycling fans. The race is usually attended by 22 teams, each of which has 9 cyclists. The most powerful cyclists in the world set the Tour de France as their goal and prepare for it in advance.

For its more than a century of existence, the cycling race has seen the country and reeled up the mileage. Currently, the annual route is 3,500 kilometers and is covered during the first three weeks of July by 22 teams of 8 cyclists. On the most beautiful roads in France, 176 participants compete for 23 days, the cycling race consists of 21 stages. The route, which passes through more than a third of the French departments, changes every year.

The first Tour de France took place in 1903. Then there were only six stages, but what! Paris-Lyon, Lyon-Marseille, Marseille-Toulouse, Toulouse-Bordeaux, Bordeaux-Nantes and Nantes-Paris - this was the program, and 60 cyclists came to the start. In those days, the participants in the race pedaled for 18 hours in a row (day and night) and rode on highways and dirt roads. By the finals, they covered 2,300 kilometers. What a load on the legs!

4.Not even once

5.Best sprinter

6.So wrong

Mountain trials are the most controversial and best known. It must be seen: cyclists climb the passes, having risen in the saddle, and descend from them at a speed of more than 100 km / h! The ascents of the Galibier and Tourmalet passes in the Pyrenees and the Alps became the legends of the Tour de France and gave the best cyclist a very elegant polka-dot jersey.

France leads the race in terms of national wins with 36 bike rides, followed by Belgium (18) and Spain (12). But Eddy Merckx remains the darling of the race with a record 111 days in the yellow jersey. This Belgian is a 5-time Grand Loop champion along with Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hino and Miguel Indurain.

The yellow jersey is awarded to the leader in the overall standings (the time shown at each stage is summed up). This tradition began in 1919. It has nothing to do with the July sun or sunflower fields on the roadsides. Yellow color is the color of the pages of the newspaper "Auto" (L'Auto) - the founder and organizer of the first competitions.

In 2018, as in 2011, the race started from the island of Noirmoutier in the Vendée. On June 30, a group of participants set off for the continent along the Passage du Gois, a 4-kilometer underwater highway that is flooded by the sea at high tide. Woe to those who lag behind!

7.Beaten

8.Jens Voigt

9.Drugs

The Tour de France is the third most important sporting event in the world after the Olympic Games and the World Cup, and is covered by 600 media outlets and 2,000 journalists. The race is broadcast by 100 television channels in 130 countries and is watched by 3.5 billion viewers, the broadcast time is 6,300 hours. The numbers speak for themselves!

Every year the cycling race starts in a new place - in one of the cities of France or neighboring countries. But since 1975, the triumphant finish of the participants has always taken place on the Champs Elysees in Paris. For a swift final spurt, of course, you need the most beautiful avenue in the world!

If you shoot with a helicopter or drone, then from a height a group of participants in a cycling race resembles a long colored ribbon unwinding in the midst of the most beautiful French landscapes: from Normandy copses to Alpine peaks, from the coast of Brittany to the beaches of the Côte d'Azur. In 2017, the Col d'Izoard mountain pass in the Hautes-Alpes, which is 2361 m high, was chosen as the "most beautiful scenery of the Tour de France". 

Another tradition of the race - the last, final stage takes place in Paris, its route is laid along one of the most famous and beautiful streets in the world - the Champs Elysees, which every year await a new winner of the Tour de France.

10.Live dangerously

11.Involved in a crash

12.Muttonchop

13.Good question

14.Never finished in top

15.Let’s retire

16.No idea

17.Blocking roads

18.Opi is antivaxxer

19.This is not a joke

20.Sharing a cigarette

21.Dont preorder

22.Tour de Iceberg

23.Le Mans

24.Pay attention to her

25.Who would win

26.Go out

27.Help

28.That explains

29.Retour

30.Stop

31.Good crush

32.Nani

33.Why I watch this

34.Grand parents

35.My mental health

36.Post title

37.Very long

38.Far more interesting

39.Winner

40.He is ok

41.Student loans

42.Rare photo

43.Good

44.Dont preorder

45.Evolution

46.Freeze frame

47.Mordor

48.Long time ago

49.I don't see a problem

50.Who would win

The French Sex Workers Protection Association asked President Emmanuel Macron for help in connection with a drop in income amid the spread of coronavirus infection.

The head of state is asked to create a special fund to prevent the risks of sex workers who are unable to work in quarantine, reports Le Parisien.

“An emergency fund should be created that can replace income for the period of the lockdown,” the letter of the Federation of Red Umbrellas, which is involved in protecting the health of workers in the industry, said.

Some sex workers in France have the status of self-employed, but the majority of workers in this field cannot apply for cash assistance from the state.

Earlier, a Polish citizen in France "self-isolated" in a hypermarket with alcohol and porn.