Gironde Cuisine

A PERFECT ILLUSTRATION OF GASTRONOMY 

Bordeaux and Gironde are internationally renowned for the production of their fine wines, but this south west region of France also holds an excellent gastronomic reputation. 

Sea products, freshwater products and local products…the quality and variety of the products combined with the skill of the cooks play an important role in the flavours and diversity of the dishes. The art of cuisine in Gironde is a mixture of exceptional products and culinary heritage.

Here the traditional cuisine or chef cuisine goes together with the tasting of wine, pairing and selecting wines give unlimited possibilities. 

With its 57 wine appellations, each dish can be served with a different wine. Many recipes « à la bordelaise » are prepared with a red wine sauce: rib steak “à la bordelaise”, fish “à la bordelaise”, lamprey “à la bordelaise”, snails “à la bordelaise”…it became an expression to define simultaneously a tasty, savoury and gastronomic cuisine.

Bordeaux and Gironde have a tradition of providing good food. Cooking is part of the cultural heritage. Sitting round a table sharing laughter while chatting with family and friends is part of the way of life in Bordeaux and Gironde.

Bordeaux and Gironde are a land of the gourmet, the quality of the products and the variety of the recipes are part of the French gastronomy listed in the Humanity World Heritage Site.

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LET’S COOK!

Eels stew with Bordeaux wine (AOC Bordeaux or Bordeaux superior)

For 4 persons

• 1 kg eels
  
• 100gr smoked bacon
  
• 1 bottle of red wine, 5cl cognac
  
• 3 onions, 1 garlic clove
  
• 2 carrots
  
• 1 bouquet garni
  
• 200gr of button mushrooms

Prepare the eels: remove the skin, head, tail, gut them, rinse them and cut them in pieces of 4 to 5 cm.  

Prepare a marinade with the red wine, the onions, the garlic, the carrots, the bouquet garni, and the pieces of eels. Marinate for 6 hours.
Dry the eel pieces and roll them in flour. 

In a saucepan, brown the bacon, add two table spoons of oil and cook the eel pieces, add the marinade, and let cook for 30 minutes.
Cook the mushrooms. 
When the cooking of the eel is finished, filter the juice of the cooking and add it to the sauce pan with the eel pieces, the mushrooms, let cook at reduce heat for few minutes.

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Cannelés

• 50cl milk
  
• 2 eggs
  
• 2 egg yolks
  
• 1/2 vanilla pod
  
• 1 table spoon of rum
  
• 100g flour
  
• 250g granulated sugar
  
• 50g butter
  
• 1 pinch of salt

The difficultly of the recipe is the cooking time. You also need canelés molds.

Boil the milk with the vanilla pod.
Mix the sugar and the butter, add the eggs, the flour, and the milk. Add the rum. 

Let stand for one hour in the fridge.
Preheat the oven at 240°C with the bake sheet on which the canelés are to be cooked (If you use a silicone mold, preheat the oven at 220°C maximum).
Butter the molds and pour the mixture until half. Place in the oven for 12 minutes at 240°C or 20 minutes at 220°C for a silicone mold, then reduce the temperature at 180°C and carry on cooking for 1 hour. The specificity of the canelé is a brown crust lightly caramelised and a most interior. 

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Broiled oysters

For 4 persons

• 24 oysters
• 20cl dry white wine
• 6 shallots
• Butter, fresh cream, gruyere (or cheddar cheese) 

Another way to savour the oysters of the Arcachon Basin

Chop the shallots, and brown them in a frying pan. 

Add the white wine, the fresh cream and season (salt and pepper), reduce heat to low and cook gently for 5 minutes. Open the oysters, remove the water and stand them flat on the baking sheet. Pour the mixture on the oysters and sprinkle with cheese. Place in the grill for few minutes and let them broil. 

A wine from Entre-deux-Mer would accompany perfectly this recipe.