Category: Food & Wine
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The French Town Where Every Building Is Stained Black — and Nobody Minds
In the Charente valley of south-west France, the town of Cognac wears centuries of black fungus on its walls — and nobody minds. It’s the mark of the angel’s share.
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Why French Children Get a Four-Course Lunch at School Every Day
Every weekday at noon, around 6 million French children sit down to a proper four-course lunch. Not a sandwich. Not a plastic tray. A real meal — and France wrote the law to keep it that way.
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The Underground World That Makes Every Bottle of Champagne Possible
Beneath the elegant boulevard of Épernay, more than 100 million bottles of Champagne sleep in the dark. Here is the hidden world — and the extraordinary history — that makes every bottle possible.
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The Burgundy Harvest Week That No Travel Guide Ever Describes
Every autumn, Burgundy’s wine villages transform for the vendange — a harvest week of early mornings, shared meals, and rituals that most visitors never get to witness.
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How a Medieval Tax Cheat Led to France’s Most Beloved Alpine Cheese
Meet Reblochon — the French Alpine cheese that owes its existence to a 700-year-old tax scam, and still tastes like cold mountain mornings.
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The One Rule About Food Every French Child Knows Before Age Five
The goûter is France’s daily afternoon snack ritual that shapes how children eat for life. Discover the quiet rule behind French food culture.
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The Normandy Drink That Gives You Permission to Keep Eating
Discover the trou normand — Normandy’s ancient tradition of pausing a long meal for a glass of apple brandy. Here’s why the Normans have never stopped doing it.
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The One Thing Every French Person Does Before 9 in the Morning
Every morning across France, a queue forms outside the boulangerie. Discover the ritual, the rules, and what makes this daily bread run so uniquely French.
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Why Three French Towns Have Been Fighting Over the Same Bean Stew for Centuries
Three towns in southern France — Toulouse, Castelnaudary, and Carcassonne — have been arguing for centuries over who makes the real cassoulet. The rivalry is fierce, official, and deeply French.
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The Vegetable France Grows in the Dark and Devours Before Summer Begins
Every April, French markets transform. Handwritten signs appear, queues form, and crates of pale ivory stalks take centre stage. White asparagus season has six weeks to make its mark — and France takes every one of them seriously.