Wine and French gastronomy

The name of the Beaujolais means the house of Beaujeu. The trace of the first lord of Beaujeu appears around 950. Berard and his name was a wise man, whose castle, sitting above the Ardières, proudly dominated the country of Beaujeu. In the ninth, tenth and eleventh centuries, the lords of Beaujeu would earn an important territory. They made a Beaujolais buffer state between Mâcon and Lyon. In 1140, Humbert III founded Villefranche. In 1260, Guichard V gratifies the city the right to seal, thus granting it legal personality. In the fourteenth century, under Antoine de Beaujeu Beaujolais province is vast, it stretches north to Macon and the Saone-et-Loire in the west, it includes the mountains of Beaujolais to the Loire to the east, it includes a part of the department of Ain in the south, it descends to Villefranche. In 1400, Edouard de Beaujeu donated his land to the Bourbons, one of them, Pierre de Bourbon, wife Anne of France, daughter of Louis XI, known as Anne de Beaujeu. During this period, the Beaujolais benefits greatly from the patronage of this couple. On their initiative is built large portal of Notre-Dame-des-Marais at Villefranche in 1500. In 1514, Anne de Beaujeu gives his weapons and the Villefranche called capital of Beaujolais. The period ends in 1527 of the Bourbons after the treason of Constable Charles III, who sees all his property confiscated. Beaujolais becomes the prerogative of the Orleans family.

From the seventeenth century, Villefranche says its industrial activity, tanneries settled along Morgon, the textile industry is growing richer and the middle class. The revolution came, the alderman is replaced by a municipal council and the militia by a National Guard. Now, the history of Beaujolais is confused with that of the nation. In 1789, the creation of the department of Rhone-et-Loire, and then in 1793, is the separation into two departments: the Rhone and the Loire. In the nineteenth century the Beaujolais region is a large European textile as in Villefranche (making), Tarare (muslin), Amplepuis, Thizy Cours-la-Ville etc.. In the twentieth century, the region is structured progressively between the three economic sectors today: trade and industry, the vineyards, and agriculture-livestock production with forest.

The name relates to a total of 72 municipalities and two large areas composed. The first, located south of the vineyard, falls generally in a quadrangle with vertices Chazay-d’Azergues, Pontcharra sur Turdine, Chamelet and Villefranche, and is traversed in its southern part, and by Azergues its many tributaries, the largest of them, the Soanan, joined Azergues bridges Toff. South-west (between Soanan and Azergues), the slopes are placed against a small chain of mountains, the most advanced is Mount Chatard (701 m). North-eastern Azergues, peaks pop up and a succession of peaks ranging between 650 and 800 m form the backbone of which descend the slopes with gradients in spread spectrum in the Val de Saône and to Villefranche. A chain of ridges north-south (Charnay-Apples), parallel to the Val de Saône dominates (350 to 400 m) a beautiful landscape of hills covered with vineyards. The soil consists of clay-calcareous sedimentary deposits dating from the Mesozoic era, there are a variety of rock, sandstone, limestone, white limestone gryphées, golden stone. The limestone and clay or stony donate land keeping the moisture and freshness. The thickness of the soil is small (a few tens of centimeters) and pebbles numerous. Soils are often rich in limestone. These are shallow land, interspersed with sandy land.

In the late Middle Ages, the kitchen was kept track of which closely resembles that of other European countries.
From the sixteenth century things will change quickly. New products from America appear on the market: tomatoes, corn, potatoes, peppers, beans, chocolate, etc. … Others like the coffee from the East began to spread especially in the cities. With the marriage of Catherine de Medici and Henry II of France, is not only the influence of Italian cuisine makes its appearance at the royal court of France, but also of a sophistication unknown until then tableware.

While in the Middle Ages were used in each dish and even ate with the fingers, the individual plates are introduced. We call the material used to manufacture these plates, earthenware name of the Italian city best known for this type of objects: Faenza. In the following century, the French cuisine is experiencing a revolution in both the variety and how to prepare meals, in the manner of serving. While in the Middle Ages the main dishes were served one after the other,
Seventeenth century presents the dishes on the table in order and combination consistently prepared.

The French Revolution put an end to the Ancien Regime, and we see the emergence of the first restaurants and the real birth of restoration, ie the preparation of quality food sold to consumers. The nineteenth century is to say in France traditionally the period between the French revolution at the start of World War I, is the golden age of French cuisine and a period which saw the beginnings of the food industry. Then, along with the development of restaurants, the first newspapers appear and the gourmet restaurant critic as we know it today.