If you’re used to eating breakfast like a king and starting the day with a big meal, breakfast in France will come as a bit of a shock. Forget about plates of cold cuts, fresh fruits, eggs any which way, cheese and even the Corn Flakes. French breakfast takes simplicity to new heights and perhaps surprisingly, given the country’s love affair with food, is the smallest meal of the day. So to prepare yourself, read on to discover six things you should know before you sit down to your French breakfast.
French breakfast is all in the name
In English, the clue to what to expect with your first meal of the day lies in the name. It’s all about breaking a fast after near on 12 hours without a meal. No surprise then that a full English breakfast means a plate groaning with proteins and carbs.
The key to a French breakfast also comes in its name: petit déjeuner, literally little lunch. Unlike the English, the French aren’t filling up because they haven’t eaten anything since the night before. They’re having a little something to tide them over to the most important meal of the day, le déjeuner at lunch time. Breakfast is therefore light, simple and above all, petit.
Did you know? You’ll get more than a petit déjeuner on board a luxury hotel barge cruise where cuisine comes with a capital C for all three meals in the day. Find out more
Le petit déjeuner is all in the bread
French breakfast might be small in size, but it comes big in taste mainly thanks to its chief ingredient, la baguette. France prides itself on making the best bread in the world and a fresh, crisp French stick still warm from the oven is certainly hard to beat. Bread, fresh or toasted if it’s yesterday’s loaf, takes centre stage on the breakfast table.
Croissants do of course make an appearance, although French households usually reserve this treat for weekends. The same applies to pastries (known as viennoiseries) such as pain au chocolatand pain au raisins. Brioches and their smaller sisters, briochettes, are also popular.
Did you know? French cheeses make the perfect combination with a fresh baguette. Take your pick from our dictionary of fromages from all around the country.
Sweet breakfast
Don’t expect to find anything savoury on a French breakfast menu. Forget the eggs, meat and cold cuts. Avocado and cheese are also conspicuously absent. The petit déjeuner is all about a big sugar fix from beginning to end, right from the pastries to the bread toppings.
Did you know? A slice of toast is known as a tartine in French and acts mostly as a vehicle for the topping.
French breakfast is mostly about the jam
Which brings us to what you put on top of your tartine. In France, it’s more a case of having bread with your jam rather than jam with your bread, because a French breakfast comes with lashings of confiture. The French excel in this department too.
If you’re lucky, your petit déjeuner jams will be homemade and the most discerning households pull out all the stops when it comes to flavours. Along with the strawberry, don’t be surprised to find a jar of courgette with ginger or sloe with apple. But even if it isn’t homemade, French mass produced jam also tastes good. Whatever its origin, spread your jam very thickly indeed.
Did you know? A lot of fruit is grown in the Loire Valley, known as the Garden of France. Time your Loire river cruise for the summer to see the orchards in full fruit.
Then it’s mostly coffee
The favourite drink at the French breakfast table is, of course, coffee. If it’s au lait, expect it to come in a large bowl (not mug). Perfect for dipping your tartine (lashings of jam included) or croissant into. However, most French prefer their coffee as black as it comes in the espresso form.
Tea, usually black with lemon, or infusions, also feature as a breakfast drink while children go for hot chocolate.
As is the case with many things, it’s different in the north of France. Here, chicory often substitutes coffee at breakfast time. Made from ground and roasted roots of the chicory plant, similar to the dandelion, its taste isn’t dissimilar to coffee. The Ricoré brand combines coffee (40%) and chicory (60%) for a popular breakfast beverage.
Did you know? Exploring the north of France on a luxury barge cruise gives you a totally new perspective on the region. Check out our destinations and then pick yours.
Breakfast revolution is on the horizon
As is the case in most places, French traditions are changing. Over the last few years, many venues have sprung up in Paris offering a very different type of petit déjeuner. It usually bears more resemblance to an English or American breakfast and has little ‘petit’ about it.
Eggs, cold cuts and avocado feature heavily at this new type of French breakfast. Le brunch has also entered French vocabulary and is a popular option in the big cities at weekends.
But despite the timid arrival of a more European-style breakfast, the petit déjeuner remains very much a simple meal of jam, bread and coffee throughout France. Because when it comes down to it, the French want to leave plenty of room for the most important culinary event of the day, le déjeuner at noon.
Did you know? Wherever you go in France, you’re guaranteed a good breakfast on board a barge hotel. Not sure where to cruise to in luxury? Check out our list of destinations across the country.
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