Normandy, what a wonderful place?

It has been more than four months since I left Rouen and moved to Paris. I often think of the days and nights I spent there over the years. In this small town in Normandy, northwest France, I lived and studied here, and experienced these daily experiences day after day. When I left, I once thought that there was nothing worthy of my nostalgia in this simple town, but only a few months ago, I found that it was deeply engraved in my memory.

Normandy, like many parts of northern France, is cold and rainy for most of the year. Cold air with cumulonimbus clouds is blowing from the nonstop Mansh Strait. Except for the four or five months in summer, the intermittent light rain is the main theme of Normandy. However, this typical maritime climate and abundant rainfall also brought rich products to Normandy. Almost all the food in Normandy comes from the gift of nature. The food in Normandy is definitely not as meticulous and elegant as the French food in people's impression. Even if it is a rough cooking method, as long as it has the most natural and fresh raw materials, it must be the most fascinating food. Therefore, the best way to talk about Normandy cuisine is not to talk about one restaurant after another, but to start with what ingredients are special in Normandy.

Cuisine Normande

The coastline here in Normandy is long and tortuous. le Havre of Normandy on the Seine River flows into the Atlantic Ocean, usually at the mouth of big rivers. This natural environment where salt and fresh water meet will breed the best quality seafood. Fishing has always been an important means of livelihood for coastal residents in Normandy. Now, residents in coastal towns in Normandy still insist on traditional fishing. Fishermen only build a one-leaf boat, get the freshest sea goods offshore, and then sell them at the market that day.

There are many excellent seafood restaurants in Rouen. I like leTerre-Neuvas, the first shop on the left hand side of Rouen vieux marché, which is a small shop with grounded gas and affordable price, but their dishes have no feeling of coping at all, even if you order the cheapest 19.99 menu, fresh oyster head dish, and suck it directly into your mouth with the residual seawater in the shell, or with their own sauce. The tender and slightly sweet taste can make many diners who eat oysters raw for the first time fall in love with this food in an instant.

The main course of this restaurant is not limited to seafood. You can order a steak with Normandy cheese camembert as sauce. This soft cheese is more easily accepted by China people's stomachs, and it is also the entry choice for many cheese lovers. In addition to this store accident, there is also a slightly graded la maritime around the old market, which is famous for its seafood. If you can afford it, you must try his 65-euro menu dégustation surprise. All the dishes on this menu are played by chef himself according to the special ingredients of the season. I once ate fried foie gras, which impressed me deeply. Some fatty foie gras was crispy after frying and baking, and the taste was not too fat.

In addition, both of them have a classic seafood chowder, Cassolettes Normandes, which stews different kinds of seafood and vegetables in a small casserole, seasoning with whipped cream to make a pot of delicious and juicy seafood chowder, and finally sprinkles some basil and rosemary on it. After eating the content, I will brush all the soup with bread, which is considered complete satisfaction.

Apple Paradise

The second characteristic product in Normandy is apples, and Normandy is the largest apple producing area in France. In Rouen's supermarket, you can see an entire shelf belonging to Apple. Crispy, noodles, sweet and sour. Cheap and fresh, besides that. On a fixed number of days a week, there will be a market run by the surrounding farmers on the edge of Rouen Cathedral and Little Square in mont saint aignan, where they can buy very fresh apples produced and sold by themselves. In addition to eating directly, apples are of course processed into various other products, such as apple tower tard de pomme and cider cidre.

And they also constitute two important parts of Normandy-style French cuisine, cidre as an aperitif and Apple Tower as a dessert. In fact, the apple tower is the most common French dessert, not only in Normandy, but you can almost buy an apple tower when you enter any patisserie. However, the Normans used the best apples as ingredients and were deeply obsessed with the apple tower, which almost reached the extreme.

What's more interesting is that Rouen holds an Apple Tower Competition concours de tarte aux pommes every year, just like the French Stick Competition in Paris, but the winner of the competition didn't send an Apple Tower to the Elysee Palace. Cidre comes directly from apple juice. After not too deep fermentation, most of the sugar is preserved and gas is produced. As a kind of wine with little alcohol, Normandy people treat it as soda water, buy it home and put it in the refrigerator. Opening a bottle of Cidre in hot summer is more enjoyable than carbonated drinks. In addition to drinking, cidre was also widely used by Normans for cooking. Like Lille, which is also a northern city, Normandy people also like to eat green mouth moule. Apart from those traditional practices, moule à la Normande here is moule seasoned with cidre. These two things are everyday foods that can't be everyday, ordinary foods that can't be ordinary. You can buy the same thing in any patisserie or supermarket in France, but in Normandy, you can buy cidre made by fruit farmers themselves and sell them together with the apples they just picked. If you have a good talk with them, or buy their apples, they won't mind giving you a bottle at all, so that you can taste their family's craft of brewing cidre. And the best apple tower doesn't have to be in a famous dessert shop. Maybe your classmate's mother has a better skill.

Camembert in Normandy, Camembert in France

"It is really difficult to manage a country with 365 kinds of cheese"-General Charles de Gaulle.

If you have lived in France, you can certainly understand the French love for cheese. But when you want to try it for the first time, you may immediately spit out the little piece of cheese that you just put into your mouth. For you with China's stomach, many kinds of cheese are dark dishes for us, but if you ask the French, which cheese is more suitable for newcomers? They will definitely tell you, "Try Camembert".

camembert, which is produced in Normandy, can be said to be the most representative cheese in France. Compared with other cheeses, it is a clean stream in fromage. It has a soft taste, rich milk fragrance and, most importantly, it is not too smelly. Because its taste is relatively easy to be accepted by foreigners, many airlines will provide a small piece of Camembert on flights to France. (When I came to France, I ate a piece on the plane of Air France.) The authentic Camembert must be in good shape, with white mold on the outer skin and red lines, and the inner core is soft and creamy yellow.

The inner core of a good Camembert will melt into a liquid state in hot weather. The key to judge the quality of a Camembert is to gently press it with your fingers. Soft and elastic cheese is the best cheese. Normandy people not only cut into pieces and eat them directly, but also use it to cook dishes. The steak with camembert sauce mentioned above is a classic practice.

In addition, there are camembert pork Melaleuca Cake and tartine which baked camembert on black bread slices. Cheese is the basic seasoning element in French cuisine, and the side dishes made from these cheeses test the creativity of chefs, thinking that the essence of French cuisine is mainly concentrated on the exquisite and unique entrée e. In Rouen, I especially like some creative small restaurants. la petite Bouffe is in the alley behind Rouen Cathedral. The decoration style is simple and modern. chef and boss in the store are very young, and they often make creative side dishes. What's more valuable is that they often use Asian elements such as curry and even pepper to develop their dishes. So every time I go to eat, I can taste some fresh and bold practices, which will be amazing.

Others

Of course, Rouen also has a lot of exquisite food. Normandy and Britain across the strait are not only very close geographically, but also because of historical entanglements and many cultural similarities. So it's not hard to explain why Rouen has an amazing afternoon tea.

At dame cake salon de thé on the left side of the cathedral, there is a long queue starting at 2 pm every day. Walking into this teahouse, I found that his style is really girlish. Fabric furniture with light pink as the main color and tableware with pink patterns are the most popular shops for many girls.

The dessert menu in the teahouse is changed 6 times a year. There are many choices of desserts, such as French soufflé, English cupcake and, of course, local gellée de pomme in Normandy.

In addition to this tea room for girls, there is also la Gouronne, a Michelin-starred restaurant, which has been in the most prominent position in the old market since 1345. It started as a small hotel, and in later years, it expanded into a hotel with four salon. Because of its long history and excellent location, many celebrities and politicians stayed here when they visited Rouen. So they have been committed to bringing the most authentic Normandy flavor to his guests. It's a pity that I have been considering his slightly expensive price before, and I didn't taste his home. But now that I think about it, I regret it very much. In fact, for food, its function is not only to make people feel full, but also to make people feel happy. Sometimes, the satisfaction after a good meal can sweep away the negative energy accumulated in my heart for weeks.

For me, Rouen and Normandy are the most common and realistic French life. Paris is so beautiful, life in Paris is so rich, and this beauty and richness sometimes give people an unreal feeling. Walking on the streets of Paris at night and watching the neon flashing, we still feel that we still don't belong here. For Paris, we are all passers-by. Rouen's life brings me a realistic stability. You can know that there won't be too many ups and downs in your life here. You can calm down and think seriously, plan carefully and enrich yourself seriously. In the past two years in France, the situation has become increasingly complicated, the severe security situation and the uncertain future political situation have made us wanderers feel more and more nervous. Especially in Paris, an international metropolis with a population of 4 million, you never know what will happen next second and tomorrow. Sitting on the subway in Paris, you will be unconsciously alert to the surrounding environment. But Rouen, a quiet small city, has brought me the most practical sense of security in the current chaotic situation. On a rainy night, it's raining cats and dogs outside, but you're under the covers and doing what you like. No matter what happens outside, your heart is quiet. I have traveled many places in Europe and lived in four cities for a long time, but every time I drag my suitcase out of Garerouen R.D., I feel "I am finally home".

When I asked my friends around me what Rouen means to you, I got this answer:

Steel Mushroom: "Where are you in France? Rouen, what, Leon? No, Rouen. Rouen is a person to me, and I am willing to go to great lengths to explain to others where Lyon is not. This is the capital of Normandy, where there are stories of Joan of Arc, and there are many beautiful bell towers and churches. Rouen is a person who will think that I am going home when I get off the plane and arrive in Charles de Gaulle. "

Hugo Tu: "Eat thousands of kilos of raw seafood and drink a dozen bottles of malic acid wine. I lived next door to one or two churches, and it was rainy for half my life. "

Qian Qian: "More sunshine, thank you."

A local information blogger in France is good at buying in buy buy. From daily life to boutique niche, he is not afraid to eat dirt, but only wants value for money. ID：francepromo