The atlas · A cuisine · Lyon and its hinterland — the Rhône and Saône valleys, from Bresse to the Dauphiné

Lyonnais

Also Lyon, Cuisine lyonnaise, Bouchon cooking
One of French cooking's regional kitchens · all 7 side by side

A city's cooking, rich and unfussy: pork and offal in the bouchons, cream and butter from Bresse, fish from the rivers, and the wines of the Beaujolais to wash it down.

Where it comes from

Lyon sits where the Rhône meets the Saône, with Bresse's poultry and dairy to the north-east, the Beaujolais vineyards to the north, the Dauphiné's mountains to the south-east, and fish from the rivers and lakes around it. It has long been called a capital of French eating, a title writers in the twentieth century did much to fix.

Its most famous tables are the bouchons, small, crowded restaurants serving charcuterie, offal and pots of local wine. They are often tied to the silk workers, the canuts, and to the mères lyonnaises — women cooks who ran their own restaurants, some of them for families of the city's bourgeoisie before that, and who became celebrated for a short list of dishes done perfectly.

Lyon's influence on grand French cooking is real, and several of the country's best-known chefs trained or worked here. But the everyday food of the city stayed thrifty and generous: nothing from the pig wasted, and cream where other cities might use stock.

Where in it

  1. LyonThe city of the bouchons, the silk workers and the mères lyonnaises: quenelles, tripe, cervelle de canut, sausages cooked in brioche, and bright pink pralines.Quenelles de brochetSalade lyonnaiseTablier de sapeurCervelle de canutTarte aux pralinesBugnes
  2. BresseFarmland north-east of Lyon, around Bourg-en-Bresse, famous for its blue-footed chickens, raised outdoors under a protected name, and for rich butter and cream.Poulet de Bresse à la crème
  3. The BeaujolaisGranite hills of Gamay vineyards north of the city, whose light red wine is Lyon's everyday bottle — poured by the pot in the bouchons and used freely in its sauces.
  4. The Dauphiné and GrenobleThe old province south-east of Lyon, from Grenoble's mountains to Romans on the Isère: potatoes baked in cream, tiny cheese ravioles, and walnuts from the Isère valley.Gratin dauphinoisRavioles du Dauphiné

How it cooks

The panade
Flour, milk and butter cooked into a thick paste and beaten with eggs — the base that makes quenelles light rather than dense.
À la crème
Poultry or mushrooms finished in cream reduced in the pan until it coats a spoon, with no flour to thicken it.
Breading and frying offal
Tripe, calf's head and other cuts poached until tender, then marinated, crumbed and fried in butter, served with a sharp sauce.
Gratin
Potatoes sliced thin and baked slowly in milk and cream until the starch thickens it and the top browns.
Vinegar and mustard
A sharp dressing or sauce — vinaigrette, gribiche — to cut the richness of pork, offal and eggs.

Always in the kitchen

butterdouble creamcrème fraîchefromage blancshallotsDijon mustardred wine vinegarsmoked baconsaucissontripepikeBresse chickenComtéwalnutspink pralinesBeaujolais wine

Cook from it

Its classics

LyonnaisQuenelles de brochetLight dumplings of pike and a flour-and-egg panade, poached and then baked until they puff, usually in a crayfish sauce Nantua.No one here has made it yetLyonnaisSalade lyonnaiseBitter frisée tossed with hot bacon, croutons and a sharp mustard vinaigrette, topped with a soft poached egg.No one here has made it yetLyonnaisTablier de sapeurSquares of ox tripe marinated in white wine and mustard, breadcrumbed and fried, served with a sauce gribiche.No one here has made it yetLyonnaisPoulet de Bresse à la crèmeA Bresse chicken browned gently in butter, then simmered and finished in thick cream, often with mushrooms.No one here has made it yetLyonnaisGratin dauphinoisThinly sliced potatoes baked slowly in milk and cream with garlic, until soft underneath and golden on top.No one here has made it yetLyonnaisCervelle de canutFresh white cheese beaten with shallots, garlic, chives and parsley, a little oil and vinegar, eaten on bread.No one here has made it yetLyonnaisTarte aux pralinesA pastry case filled with crushed pink sugared almonds melted into cream, which sets into a glossy, vivid pink filling.No one here has made it yetLyonnaisBugnesStrips of enriched dough fried until puffed and crisp, dusted heavily with icing sugar, made for Carnival.No one here has made it yetLyonnaisRavioles du DauphinéTiny squares of pasta filled with cheese, fromage blanc and parsley, poached in stock for a minute or baked in cream.No one here has made it yet

Cooked here

No one here has cooked Lyonnais yet.