Specialities of Lyonnais Cuisine

Find out more about the specialities of Lyon, the Capital of Gastronomy

Finally it is a high time to write properly about Lyonnais specialities.

Because of the fact that our lovely Lyon holds the name of the Capital of Gastronomy, it is a place where very good (not to say ‘the best’) food is being created, served and eaten. I would love to share with you at least a bit of this pleasure which Lyonnais & French cuisine brings into our lives. Here you are… I hope you will be tempted to try. Come over for a proper Lyonnais cuisine experience or make some of their specialities at home. Either way, I am sure you will enjoy it!

So, how could I start and make sure I will not forget about anything important? Oh well, if this happens I would love to hear from you but in the meantime, let me tell you more about the main areas of Lyonnais cuisine. These are:

Meat

This is very important aspect of the Lyonnais’ gastronomy reputation. Lets talk about the pigs then. Not of my top preferences here but it is apparently so amazingly tasteful, wonderful, yummy etc that people love Lyonnais meat straight away. Sausages are one of Lyon’s flagship products. So here we have all the cured and fresh sausages most closely associated with the city. However, the authentic Lyon sausages are those yet to be cooked. So, Lyon offers many types of sausages, the most famous are:

Cervelas which is a broad, short sausage, composed of a fine pure pork stuffing, sometimes with pistachios or truffles (would you guess that its name comes from the fact that it used to be made from brains – yeak!…and this is saying person who love snails so I should not be disgusted by it 😉
Jésus de Lyon – the coarse-textured, pear-shaped, dry sausage of a pure pork product, recognizable by its small square lardons and its dark red stuffing (and the name.. it is said to resemble the swaddled baby Jesus)
The Rosette – lager sized dry sausages with a coarser stuffing (300 g to over 1 kg) it is spindle-shaped and its name comes from its tail end which is pink..sounds yummy, doesn’t it?
Saucisson de Lyonis a large sausage made from minced beef and diced bacon.
The Sabodet – made with pig’s head and flavoured with brandy; native to the Isère region, is made from pork head, rind and meat. It has a coarser texture and a stronger taste.
Andouille— French poached, boiled and smoked cold tripe sausage made of pork. Some varieties use the pig’s entire gastrointestinal system.
Andouillette— is a coarse-grained sausage made with pork (or sometimes even veal), intestines or chitterlings, pepper, wine, onions, and seasonings. It is a popular grilling sausage

Cheese

And now it is a high time to talk about the ‘fromage’ finally! The typical (and really good) Lyonnais local cheeses includes very famous the St-Marcellin and St-Félicien varieties. They come from nearby Isère.

Saint-Marcellin is a soft French cheese made from cow’s milk. It is generally small in size, weighing about 80 grams (50% fat), with a mottled creamy-white exterior
Saint-Félicien is a cow’s milk cheese. It was originally made from goat’s milk, but since then it has become more common to produce it with cow’s milk. Its creamy interior is encased in a flower-style (fleurie) casing.

There are few very popular other cheeses like Mont D’or Lyonnais and Galette Lyonnaise. And my favourite one – Bresse Bleu. You simply cannot resist it!

Wine

Lyon is said to be the ideal city to visit French vineyards and obviously taste the best ones of different varieties. Have a look at this detailed Rhône wine region map to get the idea on what is around. As you can see, Lyon has brilliant location and so access to the North and South Côtes du Rhone, Beaujolais & Burgundy wine countries which provides Lyon with the very famous wines of the region:

The Beaujolais wines which are almost always reds made from Gamay grapes, producing a light-bodied wine. Discover more here.
Côtes du Rhône wines may come from any of several grape varietals, may be white, rosé or red, and have flavors that range from flowery to dessert sweet. Discover them all here.

And the bonus fact! Did you know that Lyon has its own brewery and beer brand – Ninkasi!

Being a country of wine, Lyonnais are very proud to be a place where Ninkasi has been born in 1997. They have been rewarded many contents for its amazing (yet different) beer for example in 2014 by “Les Rubans du Patrimone”and in 2013 they got a gold medal for wheat Beer at the Brussels Beer Challenge in 2013.

I hope I have made you hungry for some Lyonnais specialities and ready for more. Because I would love to share with you about typical meals you should eat in Lyon. It will come soon on here so stay tuned as the Lyonnais food = Buchon’s food is so interesting & yummy and an experience you will remember…In the meantime…Bon appetite!