Hello! Welcome back 🙂 This time, we’re back on my home continent.
France was another one of those countries I’d probably get some negative feedback for not covering in regions simply because of the sheer importance of French cuisine in the world.
You know what’s kind of funny, though? Everyone talks about French chefs and cuisine being top-class, but when you think of actual French dishes, other than croissants, baguette, and maybe coq au vin not much comes to mind! Well, at least for me. So, as part of my journey, I’m trying to change that.
Bretagne is an interesting region of France; very rustic and windswept, sitting along the northern Atlantic coast. It has a more hardy, down-to-earth feel, if that makes sense.
It’s also home to the delicious galettes savory buckwheat crêpes filled with, honestly, anything under the sun. I loved having them when I visited a crêperie in Giverny, near Paris, and I definitely wanted to make some myself.
So, here’s the French platter: cotriade, a soup built around the catch of the day (or in my landlocked case, the available fish of the day, lol); galette complète, with ham, cheese, and a runny egg yolk to tie it all together; and for dessert, a pastry much like a croissant — but as a cake! Kouign-amann.
Honestly, this one turned out reaaally well and the cider went along with it perfectly. It was also one of the easier countries to cook, so if you ever feel like cooking along with my journey, this is a great place to start. The only involved part was the dessert. The kouign-amann isn’t the easiest bake, but it’s manageable if you follow the steps closely.
Here’s what I brought from Bretagne (2025/09/28)
Click on the arrows to show the full recipe!
Cotriade
A rustic coastal soup from Brittany – hearty, fragrant, and filled with the day’s catch.
Serves 6–8. Thanks to Bretagne-Netz for the recipe inspiration! (bretagne-netz.de)
Ingredients
- 2 kg mixed fresh fish (e.g. mackerel, haddock, seabream, pollock, eel — or add shrimp, mussels, or crab)
- 3 onions, sliced
- 1 small leek, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 sprig thyme
- 3 parsley stems
- 2.5 L hot water
- Coarse sea salt (gros sel de mer)
- 4 large potatoes, diced (about 2 cm cubes)
- 5 shallots, finely chopped
- 5 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- White pepper, to taste
- 50 g clarified butter
- Fresh parsley, for garnish
- Baguette, to serve
Directions
- Cut the fish into thick pieces. Shell the seafood, keeping a few in their shells for garnish.
- In a large pot, bring salted water to a boil with onions, leek, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, and parsley. Simmer covered for 20 minutes.
- Add diced potatoes and cook for 10 minutes more.
- Add fish and seafood, reduce heat to low, and gently simmer for 5–8 minutes until just cooked.
- In a small bowl, whisk shallots, vinegar, mustard, olive oil, and white pepper into a light vinaigrette.
- Serve the soup hot with a drizzle of vinaigrette, fresh parsley, and warm, fluffy baguette on the side.
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Galette
A savory Breton classic.
Serves 4–6. Thanks to Moey’s Kitchen for the recipe inspiration! (moeyskitchen.com)
Ingredients
For the batter
- 125 g buckwheat flour
- 250 ml cold water
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 tbsp melted salted butter
For the filling
- 4 slices French cooked ham, torn into pieces
- 80 g grated French Emmental cheese
- 6 fresh eggs
- Salted butter, for cooking
Directions
- Whisk flour and water until smooth. Add egg and melted butter; mix well. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours (or overnight). The batter should be cold before cooking.
- Heat a crĂŞpe pan or nonstick skillet over medium heat and brush with a little salted butter. Pour in a small ladle of batter and spread thinly.
- After about 30 seconds, flip the galette carefully. Crack one egg in the center, keeping the yolk intact.
- Scatter ham pieces and grated cheese over the egg white, leaving the yolk visible.
- Cook about 30 seconds, then fold the sides inward to form a square “parcel.” Continue cooking until the egg white sets and the cheese melts.
- Serve immediately, repeating for remaining galettes.
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Kouign-Amann
Flaky, caramelized, and unapologetically buttery — the pride of Brittany’s pastry tradition.
Thanks for recipe inspiration: La Paticesse
Ingredients
Dough (Pâte à pain)
- 250 g all-purpose flour (Type 550)
- 160 g water
- 4 g salt
- 5 g fresh yeast
Filling (Garniture)
- 200 g sugar
- 200 g lightly salted butter (beurre demi-sel)
- 2 tbsp milk
Preparation
- Knead flour, salt, water, and yeast into an elastic dough. Shape into a ball, cover, and let rise for 60 minutes at room temperature.
- Stretch and fold the dough a few times, shape back into a ball, and let rise another 60 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 200°C (390°F). Roll out the dough into a circle. Pound the cold butter flat, place it on the dough, and sprinkle all the sugar on top.
- Fold the dough several times, roll it out lightly, and repeat the folding process to create layers.
- Fold the edges toward the center to form a ball again, flip it over, and roll it into a round matching your baking pan.
- Place in a parchment-lined round pan, brush with milk, and score a diamond pattern on top.
- Bake 35–40 minutes until golden and caramelized (cover if it browns too quickly). Let cool 5 minutes in the pan, then remove and serve slightly warm — ideally with vanilla ice cream.
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In a Nutshell:
Bretagne was great – honestly there’s a pattern here. Every country is great haha. But I think it once again shows that France does buttery indulgent flavors like no other.
The Cotriade, while good, was honestly the weakest point of the platter for me, with the Galette and the Kouign-Amann bringing it back up to a solid 7/10 for me, though. Mrs. W2P now loves herself some dessert – giving the kouign-amann a
Hope to see you back next time! Leave a comment if you try any of these!
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