Food Safari

Across the many cuisines of the world,

one has travelled far beyond its boundaries,

gathering devotees with its dedication to seasonal flavour,

classic techniques and the sheer beauty of its presentation.

French food is all about the pursuit of excellence.

Welcome to the exquisite world of French Food Safari.

In this French Safari -

the relaxed style of eating at a bouchon,

a wonderful lentil salad,

Lyon's spiritual heart, its marvellous market,

the world's best chicken,

the delights of champagne,

and prune tart from its home region.

It's said that the city of Lyon is France's gastronomic capital,

home to a huge range of restaurants, cafes, bistros

and one of the oldest types of eating houses - the bouchon.

Bouchons date back to the 16th century

and have been home to good, hearty Lyonnaise food for hundreds of years.

They're the polar opposite of haute cuisine.

Just what you'd expect from establishments that have been called

the informal keepers of workers' cooking.

They were once the canteens of the silk workers who laboured close by.

Each of Lyon's 20 or so bouchons are presided over by a patron

who adds his special touch to the place.

Yves Rivoiron is the patron of the Cafe des Federations.

The 'apron of the fireman'? Right. That's tripe.

Guillaume, lentils have been part of French food

from very, very early days.

They're the food of the poor, aren't they?

I think such a humble but beautiful dish.

You know, these days some people don't eat meat,

so sometimes it's quite nice to just do a side dish...

That's pure vegetarian. ..friendly for everyone.

So these are green lentils, grown in Australia.

Yeah, organic green lentils, and they're fantastic.

I got some celery.

I got some shallots, carrots.

Very easy dish to do.

Little bit of thyme. And that's it.

And we're going to cook it for a good 20 minutes and see how it is.

And beautiful tarragon we're going to use for the dressing.

That's aniseed, isn't it? Oh!

So fresh. It's such a beautiful herb.

And were just going to do a very simple vinaigrette

with grape seed oil.

A nice cabernet vinegar from Spain.

One. And because I love it so much - two.

Some salt.

Some pepper.

You've got a great dressing. Mmm.

Beautiful.

They come up a really pretty colour too, don't they?

Yeah, absolutely. It's a great warm salad.

Mmm.

Now we're just going to toss them.

I just love the simplicity of it,

but this stuff will look so pretty now.

Instead of using parsley, what about we use some celery.

It looks amazing. Mmm.

Mmm.

They're delicious, aren't they?

They're still very much their own little...mmm.

I love it. Yum.

Perfect. And really, really good for you.

No butter. Oh, my God!

You've done something without butter.

Can you believe it?

The geographic and spiritual heart

of the beautiful food-obsessed city of Lyon is its Les Halles market.

It's dedicated to Lyon's most famous chef, Paul Bocuse,

who's said to be the father of modern French cooking

and who visits the market regularly.

This is truly a food-lover's dream,

a temple of the most exquisite produce France has to offer.

What do you think we're going to see today?

Lots of pork.

Oh, wow. That looks delicious.

Some Scottish one, some from Norway,

and this one is from the Baltic Sea and the wild one.

Wow, 'sauvage'. (LAUGHS) Yes, 'sauvage'.

And look at that. They've got this special knife.

I need to get one of them. Look at this knife. Look at that.

Look at that. That's a fantastic device.

This is all foie gras.

You've got figs with foie gras. You've got raisins with foie gras.

We've got tomatoes and basil with foie gras.

At home we do brochette with capsicum and onion.

Here they do brochette with foie gras.

And duck, as you do.

This is a creme brulee of foie gras.

Goose liver creme brulee. That is...

I've never seen anything like that before.

Do you think it'd be rich? Mmm.

But this is something you would only really ever find in France?

Oh, in Lyon. In Lyon.

So, Guillaume, nothing is opened in advance here.

Nothing. You have to do your whole shopping, OK?

So you come here first, and you say,

"Can you shuck three dozen oysters for me?"

You go, and come back and pick them up.

Mmm.

That is intensely salty.

Sorry, I just have a dip in the ocean here.

Wow! It is. It's like swimming. (LAUGHS)

Yeah, fantastic.

And look at that, Maeve. They have saucisson.

The tiniest little sausages. Yeah.

You've got some with Roquefort blue cheese.

No! You've got some with walnut.

You've got some with chorizo, and you've got the normal one.

Look at all these goat cheese. Oh!

Can I ask who buys these tiny little cheeses?

They're like a thimble.

In France you eat the cheese after the meat.

But the fromager decided one day to start going out

and see what was happening in the world,

and they realised it's OK to have cheese at the start of the meal.

Oh, really? Like we do in Australia.

Hey! We're leading the world. For once we're leading!

So, now, Maeve, we are very privileged to see

the best chicken in the world.

The best chicken in the world. That's a big call.

The poutarde de Bresse. Look at that.

Wow. With their heads on! Look how big are they.

Look at the meat of it. It's just so beautiful.

The skin looks different to the chicken that we're used to seeing,

and the colour of the flesh looks darker.

Oh, my. But, look, that fat is so yellow.

It's a very old variety of chicken. It's a variety of chicken?

But a very old one. But Bresse is a place.

So this is the chickens brought up in Bresse,

and they're a Bresse variety.

Have I got that right? Absolutely. Bravo.

The rolling countryside around Bresse, in central France,

is like a picture book scene of tranquil country life.

The rich soil is perfect to grow lush grass

and is home to a chicken that's prized throughout the country.

What makes Bresse chicken so amazing?

Oh, look at the little ones!

Christian Picard and his wife Veronique

delight in producing food that's top of the range,

raising their flock from chicks,

which spend the first five weeks of their life

in specially heated houses

and eat a special diet.

Every aspect of their care is strictly controlled.

So this is the ultimate free-range chicken?

Now, the chicken is the three colours of the French flag.

So Christian has to knock on the door

so as not to frighten the chicken.

It's so lovely. Hello! I'm coming. Hello. (CHUCKLES)

So how long are they in here for?

They're going to be here for one month.

One month? Mmm.

So that they can grow their fat and become tender.

So they eat and sleep and...

They eat and sleep, right, yeah.

Like retired chicken. (LAUGHS) Retired chickens.

They will be about between three and four kilos.

Sometimes they can be as heavy as five kilos.

That's an enormous chicken.

Yeah, that's an enormous chicken.

But they say once you've had Bresse chicken, you're spoilt.

You can't eat other chicken.

Yeah, that's really true.

Have you tasted supermarket chicken?

Not good?

Eugh!

So, tell me, you're a son of the Bresse region of France,

the chicken region.

Yeah.

Is chicken something close to your heart?

Oh, for me, if you ask me what is the last thing you want to eat,

I will say a chicken, a Bresse chicken.

Born in the Bresse region of France,

chef Jacques Reymond is truly a master in the kitchen.

Surrounded by his highly trained team of young chefs,

the greatest care goes into every aspect of a meal,

his Melbourne restaurant Jacques Reymond

booked well in advance.

While Jacques spent some years in Brazil before coming to Australia,

it's the French techniques learnt as a young chef

that he uses to create his take on French cuisine.

And when he's after comfort food at home

one of the dishes of his childhood, the famous coq au vin,

is something he loves to prepare.

So, we're going to cut it in half.

Look at this. This is not white. It's pink.

The bones are grey. That's fantastic.

So you can cut it in whatever.

In four, in six, in eight - that's up to you.

So we're going to cut it here in a few pieces.

So, that's it. That's one part.

Now, the next step we have to do is to prepare the marinade.

So we're going to roast a bit of beetroot, garlic,

celery, onion and carrot.

We put a little bit of pepper. We put the herbs at this stage.

Always put a bit of sugar when you cook with some red wine.

It just balances the acidity.

A good red wine.