Before You Buy Ingredients, Think Of How They Do It In France

by

Justin Arnold

There’s no doubt at all that if you’re looking to buy ingredients for a meal, then French ingredients have a great deal to offer in helping take an ordinary meal and make it extraordinary. It isn’t just that French ingredients sound so much more appetising, because they’re written in French, but French cuisine is renowned the world over for getting things just right.

Before you head off to the supermarket to buy ingredients for a dinner party or special meal, have a think about some of the more popular French ingredients available. If you understand which are the most popular ingredients used in French dishes, and you know why they’re so popular and effective then it can enable you to transform almost any meal simply and easily.

Unfortunately most of us tend to buy ingredients from supermarkets simply because it is convenient. But whilst this may be fine for day to day food, sometimes you need something a little more special. It doesn’t have to be expensive or difficult – just different. A little less convenience and little less beige is good for all of us from time to time, and French ingredients can so very easily transform a popular dish into something quite extraordinary. Let’s look at a few popular French ingredients and see how they’re used, why they’re used, and whether they can easily be incorporated into recipes you may already know.

One of the most obvious items is olive oil, a popular oil, and certainly one of the healthiest there is. Olive oil isn’t exclusively French of course, and is generally considered Mediterranean. However, this is to make the mistake of forgetting that France is a big country, and when you travel across the country you discover that different areas of France have been heavily influenced by a range of factors, including the climate and geography, as well as the proximity to neighbouring countries such as Germany and Spain. Olive oil is used a lot in French cuisine, and its distinctive perfume makes it ideal for salads, vegetables, fish and many other popular dishes which may be considered traditionally Mediterranean.

Vinegar is another popular French ingredient, specifically the red wine vinegar which is found in a lot of French meals. However, you may also find that alternative vinegars work well in many meals, including Reims vinegar and vinegar which contains Provence herbs. These vinegars can be used in many cases in place of or in addition to olive oil, and again work well in a range of dishes from salads to fish.

Many popular French meals include mustard, but of course if you’re going to buy ingredients which really do your cooking justice then don’t just pick up ordinary mustard as the flavour can often be anything from bland to overpowering. Dijon mustard is the one to look out for when buying traditional French ingredients which will make a difference to your cooking.

Nutmeg is a very popular French ingredient, used in a wide range of meals. The perfume and flavour of nutmeg is very distinctive, yet not overpowering. Many popular recipes from France include nutmeg in them, and having a high quality grated nutmeg to hand is a good idea. However, to do your cooking the full justice it deserves there’s nothing quite like having freshly grated nutmeg.

Goose fat is a real favourite, and if you haven’t come across the delights of this ingredient then you’re in for a treat. Goose fat has a wonderful perfume and flavour, but it’s true glory is what it can do in cooking, especially with vegetables and potatoes. One example is when cooking roast potatoes. If you replace your usual fat with goose fat then your roast potatoes will be extra crispy on the outside and full of flavour. Once bitten, you’ll never go back, and neither will your family!

Of course, this is by no means an exclusive list of French ingredients, but it does show that before you head to your supermarket to buy ingredients which are plain, ordinary and beige, think about spicing things up a little by adding one or two popular French touches.

For more information about where to

buy ingredients

that will take your cooking to the next level, or to find out more about popular

french ingredients

, visit The Good Food Network.

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Before You Buy Ingredients, Think Of How They Do It In France