THE GREATEST ARTS OF FRANCE - CultureShock! A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette: France - page 162

Gouda, mild and i rm, as are the goat's milk cheeses like
Valençay and Sainte Maure. Charcuteries abound, especially
game pâté and rillettes , cooked meat mixed with pâté .
Champagne and the North
The world's most famous sparkling wine comes from the chalk
hills 160 km (100 miles) north-east of Paris. Created by monks
from poor wines, real Champagne is a magic transformation,
adding sugar in a painstaking second fermentation. There
are wonderful sweet pastries that go along with the wine,
thanks also to the vast sugar beet production. Verdun dragées ,
or sugar-coated almonds, have been famous since the
13th century. The Flemish inl uence is also evident.
Also popular here in the north are root vegetables: carrots,
potatoes, onions elevated to masterful perfection in a
pot-au-feu . The local cabbage is transformed as well, into
elegant soups, braised for hot dishes and blanched for salad.
Lamb, pork and beef are also important aspects of the cuisine.
Two cheeses, the Coulette d'Avesnes and the Maroilles, are
famous, and the Andouillette is a speciality. You'll fi nd a more
Northern European attitude here: more worldly. Nothing
expresses this better than the success of Champagne.
This remarkable improvement on what was a rather
mediocre white wine produced around Epernay was
developed by a monk in the 17th century. It has enthralled
the world. Almost 200 million bottles are produced each
year, many of them selling for more than US$ 50 retail. The
UK alone buys 10 per cent of the production and the USA
just slightly less.
The Champagne-making process can be precisely
reproduced now anywhere in the world, with nearly identical
and much less pricey results, but ai cionados will accept no
substitutes. And the people of France insist. Unless the grapes
were grown in the Champagne district (AOC), you cannot
call it Champagne.
The Alsace and Moselle
North-eastern France, a territory historically disputed with
Germany, is home of the quiche lorraine , an egg pie that