Budget meals from around the world: France
In France, la cuisine paysanne (peasant or country cooking) refers to traditional rustic dishes made from simple ingredients.
The Facts
- Cheap pulses, vegetables, and bones are the foundation for many classic French dishes
- Simple techniques rather than expensive ingredients provide deeply satisfying dishes
- The investment is time, not money
Traditional French country cooking features slow-cooked beans, root vegetable soups, stews, and other dishes that make a little go a long way. Cassoulet, pot-au-feu, and soupe au pistou are all built from cheap pulses, bones, and vegetables. These meals have fed rural families for centuries and remain some of the best value cooking to this day.
The French peasant kitchen was built on the key principles of wasting nothing and extracting maximum flavour from everything. Bones and cheap cuts went into the pot first, where they simmered for hours to produce a rich broth that became the base for everything else. Dried beans and lentils provided protein at almost no cost. Stale bread thickened soups and formed the base of gratins.
French country cooking proves that it’s not the ingredients that make dishes deeply satisfying It’s what a cook does with them. A cheap cut of meat slowly braised in wine and herbs tastes better than an expensive cut that’s cooked quickly. A pot of lentils finished with a little mustard and vinegar is tastier than many dishes that may cost ten times as much. The investment is time, not money.
When looking on the internet for more content on French budget cooking, try these search terms:
- La cuisine du placard: ‘Cupboard cooking’ refers to meals thrown together from pantry staples
- La cuisine anti-gaspillage (or anti-gaspis): ‘Zero-waste’ cooking focuses on using up leftovers and scraps
- Les plats du pauvre: ‘The dishes of the poor’ are meals that historically fed the poor, such as la soupe à l'oignon (French onion soup) or pain perdu (French toast/lost bread).
French budget dishes worth making:
- Soup au pistou: Provençal vegetable and bean soup finished with a spoonful of basil and garlic pistou (pesto)
- Lentilles à la Lyonnaise: Dried green lentils from France (‘lentilles du Puy’) dressed with mustard vinaigrette and topped with a poached egg
- Cassoulet : Slow-cooked white bean and meat stew from the Languedoc, often using sausage and pork belly rather than duck confit
- Soupe à l’Oignon: Caramelised onion broth topped with stale bread and melted cheese
- Pot-au-Feu: A one-pot boiled dinner of cheap beef cuts and root vegetables; the broth is served first, the meat and vegetables second
- Gratin Dauphinois: Thinly sliced potatoes baked in milk and garlic until tender and golden
- Ratatouille: Slow-cooked Provençal vegetable stew of zucchini, eggplant, tomato, and peppers
Sources for inspiration:
- Soupe au pistou by Food Nouveau
- Lentilles à la Lyonnaise by The French Cooking Academy
- Cassoulet by Analida's ethnic spoon
- Soupe à l’Oignon by This Hungry Kitten
- Pot-au-Feu by Food & Wine
- Gratin Dauphinois: by Pardon your French
- Ratatouille by La Cuisine de Géraldine