Bordeaux Cuisine - by food author Howard Hillman

Bordeaux Cuisine

French
regional cuisine

Bordeaux
a concise guide
for diners & travelers

Why the cuisine of
Bordeaux is special

Bordeaux's cuisine has become well known to the world mainly due to the illustrious Bordeaux wines. Bordeaux's food is normally prepared in a straightforward manner, without any attempt to reach gastronomic heights. However, Bordeaux does have some interesting specialties.

Leading specialties
of Bordeaux

Sauce Bordelaise

Of all the local specialties, the most renowned is Sauce Bordelaise, made with red wine, marrow-based brown stock, shallots, and seasonings. It marries well with entrecote, a grilled beefsteak cut that is much appreciated by the local cooks who love roasting or grilling meats, sometimes over the fragrant trimmings of the pruned vines.

Lamb

It is also a treat in Bordeaux, especially when the animal was reared along the seashore and riverbanks. Like a number of other dishes in Bordeaux, it is often prepared with a light touch of garlic.

Seafood

The ultimate in seafood preparations is Lamproie a la Bordelaise, eel cooked in red wine. In addition to eels, the sizable Gironde estuary yields caviar of genuine sturgeon pedigree.

Oysters

They, too, are standouts in the Bordeaux region, but when ordering, you should request the superior-tasting indigenous gravette as opposed to the more common, transplanted Portuguese variety.

Other celebrated specialties

They include the Confit d'Oie (potted preserved duck) and, from the forests, wild berries such as strawberries, and cepes, a large flat-top mushroom that is usually sauteed in butter, the preferred cooking medium in Bordeaux kitchens. From the town of St.-Emilion, come some of the best macaroons ever baked.

Wines of Bordeaux

Bordeaux wines, it goes nearly without saying, are unsurpassed. The eight great reds are: Chateau Lafite-Rothschild, Chateau Mouton-Rothschild, Chateau Latour, and Chateau Margaux of Haut-Medoc district, Chateau Haut-Brion of Graves district, Chateau Cheval Blanc and Chateau Ausone of St.-Emilion district, and Chateau Petrus of Pomerol district, while Chateau d' Yquem of Sauternes district is the noble sweet white wine.

Best city for gourmets
The city of Bordeaux is the top all around food city in the Bordeaux region. Criteria include cooking, food markets, cooking ingredients, cooking schools, beverages, dining and restaurants.

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