The Nord-Pas-de-Calais cuisine is a French regional cuisine, whose specialties are largely inherited from the county of Flanders. The region has always been at an intersection of Europe, and traces of its history can be found in its specialties, such as the English influence on the Côte d'Opale, or dishes of Polish origin in the mining basin.
Nord-Pas-de-Calais is a major agricultural and dairy farming region, and a producer of cheeses, including the most famous, Maroilles, which is used in a variety of flamiche. Its coastline is home to France's largest fishing port, Boulogne.
Between land and sea, its primary products are herring, rabbit, potatoes and beer. Historically, this is a cuisine based on butter or lard, with little use of oil. It is characterized, among other things, by bitter-sweet flavors, such as those of braised chicory, beer cooking, or coffee chicory.
In 2023, Hauts-de-France was awarded the "European Region of Gastronomy" label.
History
A major agricultural region
The region was already known for its agriculture when it was part of Gallia Belgica. Pliny cites the great variety of vegetables grown: onions, cabbages, and broad beans, as well as different varieties of apple trees. Vast expanses of einkorn wheat and barley were used to make bread, as well as cervoise.Janine Desmulliez and Ludovicus Milis, Histoire des provinces françaises du Nord, Artois Presses Université, coll. "Histoire", p. 63 ) Sea salt works along the coast produced this product used to preserve meat and fish: Menapii ham, salted or smoked, was renowned and imported as far away as Rome.
In the Middle Ages, the region was Christianized, and the abbeys became the owners of much of the land and organized its exploitation. Tithes were paid in goods - for example, in Maroilles cheese, created around 960 A.C. by the abbey of the same name, whose "edict of the pastures" imposed affinage on every cow owner.
As early as the 11th century, the construction of dykes protected the coastline and created the first polders; in the 12th century, their drainage through the waterings system enabled new land to be reclaimed from the sea for livestock breeding, cultivation, and fish farming.Alain Derville, L'Économie française au Moyen Âge, pp. 51-52.
The Catholic Church required the practice of Lent on about 166 days a year;Alain Derville, L'Économie française au Moyen Âge, p. 97. as a result, herring was abundantly consumed by the people, making Boulogne-sur-Mer an important fishing port. The regular size of the fish meant that it was used as a unit of payment for seigniorial rents or royalties, or for tithe payment.Henriette Parienté and Geneviève de Ternant, Histoire de la cuisine française, Éditions de La Martinière, coll. "Patrimoine", 1994, , p. 103.
The grapevine, acclimatized by the Romans, remained cultivated until the Little Ice Age, but its production was very uneven;Alain Derville, L'Économie française au Moyen Âge, pp. 86-87. it also provided verjuice to accompany dishes. Beer remained the popular drink, while the courts of Flanders and Artois imported wine from Burgundy and Arbois,Roger Dion, "Le vin d'Arbois au Moyen Âge", Annales de Géographie, t. 64, no 343, 1955, pp. 162-169 (read online archive). and abbeys owned vineyards in other regions.Hans Van Werveke, "Comment les établissements religieux belges se procuraient-ils du vin au haut Moyen Âge?", Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire, vol. 2, fasc. 4, 1923, pp. 643-662 (read online archive, accessed February 24th, 2012).
In the Middle Ages, Artois was the region's granary, and bread remained an important part of the diet. After the Black Death of the 14th century, during the crisis of the late Middle Ages, the population was reduced by a third, and agriculture began a slow transformation. New crops were introduced (peas, turnips, etc.), with some regional specialization and diversification into bocage and grazing activities.J.-P. Wytteman (dir) et al, Le Nord. De la Préhistoire à nos jours, Bordessoules, coll. "L'Histoire par les documents", 1988 , pp. 118-121.
Multiple influences
From the 9th to the 17th century, the region was part of the Kingdom of France, the Burgundian, and then the Spanish Netherlands, with some towns passing from one to the other on several occasions or, like Calais, being English possessions. Cuisine, like regional culture, has therefore been influenced by many factors.
The Counts of Artois and the Dukes of Burgundy held memorable feasts such as the 1454 Feast of the Pheasant in Lille, or those at Château d'Hesdin, featuring roast poultry in multicolored jellies, fountains of fruit juices, and live entertainment. Their cooks left no cookery books,Paul Janssens et Siger Zeischka, The Dining Nobility : From the Burgundian Dukes to the Belgian Royalty, p. 30-31. but Vivendier was used, inspired by Viandier de Taillevent, which already contained the recipe for potjevleesch."Guillaume Tirel dit Taillevent" archive, on chefsimon.com.
In the major cloth-producing towns, the bourgeoisie also held banquets of this kind, such as those held annually on the Fête de l'Épinette in Lille.Évelyne Van den Neste, Tournois, joutes, pas d'armes dans les villes de Flandre à la fin du Moyen Âge (1300-1486), Droz, 1996 (read online archive), pp. 104-112.
Some recipes by Hotin, cook to the "seigneur de Roubaix",Bruno Laurioux, Le Règne de Taillevent. Books and culinary practices in the late Middle Ages, p. 228. appear in a version of Le Ménagier de Paris. Both sweet and savory tarts feature prominently; in the 16th century, flamiches were cheese tarts made with bread dough, while goyère was a sweet white cheese tart.
According to La Bruyère Champier, during the 16th century, "in Artois and Hainault, ordinary food was dairy and butter, because the country has abundant pastures; and pork, because it is easy to fatten this animal; as well as pastries, which excel in diversification and are the main table honors".De Re Cibaria, 1560, quoted by Henriette Parienté and Geneviève de Ternant, Histoire de la cuisine française, p. 147.
After the discovery of the New World, new vegetables were slowly introduced and, at first, tomatoes were only cultivated as an ornamental plant;Pierre Feillet, La Nourriture des Français. De la maîtrise du feu aux années 2030, Éditions Quae, 2007 (read online archive), p. 34. turkeys, on the other hand, were appreciated from the outset,Patrick Rambourg, De la cuisine à la gastronomie, p. 84-85. with the Premonstratensians of Licques Abbey raising them as early as the 17th century.
Industrial revolution
Coffee was introduced in the 17th century and became a popular product with the Industrial Revolution, as a hot drink to keep you awake during a long working day. In Germinal, Zola describes it as a basic necessity, second only to bread."Germinal" archive, on en.wikisource.org, p. 99.
In the early 19th century, continental blockage led to the development of sugar beet cultivation to compensate for the lack of cane sugar. It was also at this time that chicory began to be roasted, in the absence of coffee. Around 1850, the city of Lille began to grow barbe de capucin, the ancestor of chicory."La barbe de capucin" archive, on mphalempin.com.
Beer production in the abbeys gradually declined in the region, with Trappists settling instead just over the border in Chimay, Westvleteren, and Orval."La bière, secret des moines", article in Pays du Nord, March–April–May 2011, pp. 32-33. It gave way to numerous artisanal breweries, reaching about a thousand in the early 19th century,"La brasserie régionale a survived thanks to a niche strategy", L'Usine nouvelle, December 7th, 1995 (read online archive). and almost two thousand in the first half of the 20th. The number of estaminets also increased, as they were the ideal places for workers to relax.J.-P. Wytteman (dir) et al, Le Nord. De la Préhistoire à nos jours, Bordessoules, 1988, p. 260-261. To distract them, allotment gardens were created at the instigation of Lemire abbey; the corons also had gardens, where miners grew vegetables and raised poultry or rabbits for feast days.Les Cuisines régionales, Larousse, 2005, p. 40.
Despite rapid industrialization, agriculture remained dynamic.J.-P. Wytteman (dir) et al, Le Nord. De la Préhistoire à nos jours, Bordessoules, 1988, p. 228. Potato cultivation developed to cope with the population boom; the popular diet consisted of soups, vegetable stews, and dairy products since meat was too expensive.Jacques Duquesne, Les vents du Nord m'ont dit : chroniques, souvenirs et rêves, Paris, Albin Michel, 1989, 214 p. , pp. 73-74. By the end of the 19th century, working-class children were chronically undernourished, especially those in the textile industry.J.-P. Wytteman (dir) et al, Le Nord. De la Préhistoire à nos jours, Bordessoules, 1988, p. 256-257. Hygienists encouraged the consumption of horsemeat, which was presented as healthy and inexpensive.Pierre Éric, "L'hippophagie au secours des classes laborieuses", Communications, no. 74, special issue "Bienfaisante nature", 2003, pp. 177-200 (read online archive). Meat, particularly in the form of charcuterie, only became more common on the working-class table at the end of the 1920s, between the rationing of the two world wars.Jacques Duquesne, Les vents du Nord m'ont dit : chroniques, souvenirs et rêves, Paris, Albin Michel, 1989, 214 p. , pp. 81-82.
For wealthier circles, the standard of gastronomy at the time remained Parisian cuisine: when tourism began to develop on the Opal Coast, regional cuisines were not popular, hence special trains were used to transport cooks and other hotel staff to holiday resorts such as Le Touquet.Jean-Robert Pitte, see bibliography, Gastronomie française. Histoire et géographie d'une passion.
Today's traditions
Just as in the rest of France, eating habits in Nord-Pas-de-Calais changed from the late 1960s onwards. Cradle of modern French mass retailing, the region also saw the emergence of fast-food chains such as Flunch in 1971, and Paul bakeries, which aimed for a higher standard of quality. Most meals, however, were eaten at home, with the family.Nutrition, sports practices and sedentary lifestyle in Nord-Pas-de-Calais archive, PRS cardio-vascular study.
In family cooking, oil was still used very little, but margarine, which has long been held in low esteem, replaced lard as a substitute for butter. The habit of eating soup in the evening fell into disuse; the region produces many vegetables, but Northerners eat very little of them: less than two fruits or vegetables a day among two-thirds of young adults.
French fries are widely consumed,"Nord-Pas-de-Calais strong in hard-discount" archive [PDF], LSA (accessed April 7th, 2012). and the baraque à frites remains a regional specialty. In the 2000s, there were around 300 in the region, compared with almost 8,000 previously. In the 21st century, despite some communes prohibiting them, the business was integrated into buildings in certain neighborhoods.Pierre Bonte, "Baraques... à frites!" archive, Orange, 2012 (accessed November 8th, 2013). In Lens, France's first drive-through friterie opened in 2012.Claire Serre, "Ils lancent le 'Fritodrive' à mi-chemin entre le fast food et la friterie traditionnelle" archive, La Voix du Nord, 2012 (accessed April 9th, 2012).
The region remains one of the world's leading beer consumers, but young people are turning away from this beverage, which was mainly enjoyed by adults, and turning to sodasL'état de santé de la population archive, INSEE survey 2002-2003. and, occasionally, premixes.Atlas régional des consommations d'alcool archive Données INPES OFDT 2005. Daily consumption remains high, however, particularly among men over 55.