19 Truly French Foods You Have To Eat At Least Once

Also known as the list of meat, butter, and sugar.

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1. Baguette

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Nope, that “baguette” you bought at the grocery store doesn’t count. In France, baguette-making is so serious that each year there’s a grand prix to determine the best. A word of warning: Once you try the good stuff, you can never go back.

Where to go: Boulangerie Leroy Monti, Paris

2. L’Escargot (snails)

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You knew this was coming. Go ahead and turn up your nose, but once these rubbery little guys are doused in butter and cooked with parsley and garlic (and more butter) — just try to say no. And for under $9 you can have six to yourself.

Where to go: Bouillon Chartier, Paris

3. Crêpe

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The crêpe hails from Brittany, a region in northwestern France. And while purists stick to sugar and the area’s local salted butter, you can pile on berries, caramel, and yes, Nutella. Just keep in mind that a crêpe is usually sweet — made with white flour, milk, and sweet toppings — while a galette uses buckwheat flour and is often topped with savory goodness (think cheese, eggs, ham).

Where to go: Crêperie La Fregate, Le Faou

4. Ratatouille

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If we learned one thing from the film Ratatouille it’s that sometimes the simplest ingredients make the best dish. And that’s certainly the case in Provence where they take fresh, local veggies and cook them to perfection.

Where to go: La Rossettisserie, Nice

5. Biscuit rose de Reims (pink cookies)

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The only thing better than drinking a flute of Champagne (in Champagne) would be to pair it with a perfectly pink treat. Enter, the biscuit rose de Reims.

Where to go: Fossier, Reims

6. Boeuf bourguignon (beef stew)

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This hearty stew shows off two Burgundy staples — red wine and Charolais beef. Pair it with a glass (or half bottle) of red wine and you’ve got a warming (and perfectly boozy) winter meal.

Where to go: Ecrit'Vin, Beaune

7. Pain au chocolat (chocolate croissant)

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The French practically live on these buttery, chocolatey buns of deliciousness. It doesn’t matter if you call them pains au chocolat (like a Parisian), chocolatines (like they do in Southern France), or chocolate croissants (like an American) — just try one, and make it a good one.

Where to go: Blé Sucré, Paris

8. Coq au vin (chicken in red wine)

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Chicken is the star of this dish — and you can bet that before it lands on your table it has been marinating in Burgundy red wine for at least 24 hours. Yum.

Where to go: Le Bouchon du Palais, Dijon

9. Soupe à l'oignon (French onion soup)

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Sorry, that packet of dry French onion soup mix won’t cut it. The real stuff is topped with a thick slice of — you guessed it — baguette and plenty of French Gruyère cheese. (If you always thought Gruyère was Swiss, you're in for a surprise — it turns out there are two Gruyères.)

Where to go: La Jacobine, Paris

10. Madeleines

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These spongy shell-shaped cakes showcase one of the country’s favorite ingredients: butter. You can find them in grocery stores and patisseries throughout France (including at Blé Sucré in Paris), but to taste the original, head to the region of Lorraine.

Where to go: À La Cloche Lorraine, Commercy

11. Confit de canard (duck confit)

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There’s a reason duck in France tastes better — the meat is cured with salt, garlic, and herbs, and then baked for at least four hours in its own fat.

Where to go: Bistrot Victoires, Paris

12. Cuisses de grenouille (frog legs)

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This isn’t a dish the French eat often, if at all, but it’s one of those bizarre dishes that’s just crazy enough to warrant a taste test. For $27, you can order a plate and share the goods (and the cost) with a fellow odd food–loving friend.

Where to go: Roger la Grenouille, Paris

13. Tarte aux pommes (apple tart)

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Every patisserie in Paris is packed with adorable, doll-sized tarts topped with fruit and glazed to perfection. One of France’s most famous is tarte aux pommes. It’s like a topless apple pie, and is so pretty the first bite feels like sacrilege.

Where to go: Thevenin, Paris

14. Bouillabaisse (fish stew)

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This hearty soup is the stuff of dreams for seafood-lovers. Packed with at least three kinds of fish (and sometimes shrimp, mussels, crabs, and octopus) this dish is best eaten by the sea in the south of France.

Where to go: Chez Paul, Les Goudes, Marseille

15. Andouillette (pork sausage)

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This delicacy makes use of the pig parts most of us like to forget about — intestines, stomach, and sometimes, the neck, head, and heart. It’s all packed into a not-so-pretty but delicious crispy skin.

Where to go: Marché Alimentaire Saint-Antoine, Lyon

16. L’Escargot chocolat-pistache (chocolate pistachio pastry)

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Don’t let the word “escargot” scare you away. The shape of the puff pastry may resemble a snail shell, but that’s a good thing — each layer is filled with pistachio paste and dark chocolate chips. Our advice: order two.

Where to go: Du Pain et des Idées, Paris

17. Steak tartare

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Walk around Paris long enough and you’ll see plenty of Parisians digging into a pile of raw meat (that’s often topped with a raw egg). Order an extra side of bread to help it go down and a café to finish the meal, and you’ll feel as French as it gets.

Where to go: Les Fines Gueules, Paris

18. Salade niçoise

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This list is proof that the French have a love affair with meat and sweets, but salads still have their place. This colorful dish comes from Nice and tends to be light on the lettuce and heavy on the good stuff — tuna, tomatoes, niçoise olives, anchovies, eggs, and onions, to name a few.

Where to go: Chez Palmyre, Nice

19. Macarons

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Nothing feels quite as French as nibbling on a pastel-colored macaron with your afternoon café. Pick your poison — from the traditional raspberry or chocolate to flavors like matcha — and savor the layer of creamy ganache sandwiched between two meringue-like cookies.

Where to go: Ladurée, Paris