A bouchon is a type of restaurant found in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, that serves traditional

Lyonnaise cuisine Lyonnaise cuisine refers to cooking traditions and practices centering on the area around the French city of LyonKindersley, Dorling (2011)''Ultimate Food Journeys: The World's Best Dishes and Where to Eat Them'' Penguin. p. 49. and historical ...

, such as sausages, coq-au-vin, "salade lyonnaise" duck pâté or roast pork. Compared to other forms of French cooking such as '' nouvelle cuisine'', the dishes are quite hearty. There are approximately twenty officially certified traditional bouchons, but a larger number of establishments describe themselves using the term. Typically, the emphasis in a bouchon is not on '' haute cuisine'' but, rather, a convivial atmosphere and a personal relationship with the owner.

History

The tradition of bouchons came from small inns visited by silk workers passing through Lyon in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. According to the dictionary '' Le petit Robert'', this name derives from the 16th century expression for a bunch of twisted straw. A representation of such bundles began to appear on signs to designate the restaurants and, by

metonymy Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept. Etymology The words ''metonymy'' and ''metonym'' come from grc, μετωνυμία, 'a change of name' ...

, the restaurants themselves became known as bouchons. The more common use of "bouchons" as a stopper or cork at the mouth of a bottle, and its derivatives, have the same etymology.

Today

Since 1997,

Pierre Grison Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

and his organization, ''L'Association de défense des bouchons lyonnais'' (The Association for the Preservation of Lyonnais Bouchons), bestow annual certifications to restaurants as "authentic" bouchons. These restaurants receive the title ''Les Authentiques Bouchons Lyonnais'' and are identified with a sticker showing the marionette Gnafron, a Lyonnais symbol of the pleasures of dining, with a glass of wine in one hand and a napkin bearing the Lyon crest in the other.Cuisine des Gones
(French) Retrieved May 13, 2010. The following list, subject to some fluctuation as the certification is bestowed annually, contains most of the certified bouchons: ''Abel'', ''Brunet'', ''Café des deux places'', ''Café des fédérations'', ''Chabert et fils'', ''Daniel et Denise'', ''Chez Georges le petit bouchon'', ''Les gones'', ''Hugon'', ''Le Jura'', ''Chez Marcelle'', ''Le Mercière'', ''La mère Jean'', ''Le mitonné'', ''Le Morgon'', ''Le musée'', ''Chez Paul'', ''Les Trois Maries'', ''A ma vigne'', and ''Le Vivarais''. While many bouchons are now oriented strongly towards the tourist market, with increased prices and less traditional fare as a result, a typical meal in a real bouchon costs around €12-15 .

Cuisine

Typical items in the bouchon repertoire include: ;Soup:

Tripe Tripe is a type of edible lining from the stomachs of various farm animals. Most tripe is from cattle, pigs and sheep. Types of tripe Beef tripe Beef tripe is made from the muscle wall (the interior mucosal lining is removed) of a cow's st ...

soup, pumpkin soup ;Salads and cold appetizers: Chicken liver salad, pork

head cheese Head cheese (Dutch: ''hoofdkaas'') or brawn is a cold cut terrine or meat jelly that originated in Europe. It is made with flesh from the head of a calf or pig (less commonly a sheep or cow), typically set in aspic, and usually eaten cold, at ...

, ''groins d'âne'' salad (literally, "donkey snout" salad),moulinhuile
(French) Retrieved May 13, 2010. marinated

herring Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae. Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, i ...

s, ''salade Lyonnaise'' ( lettuce with

bacon Bacon is a type of salt-cured pork made from various cuts, typically the belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central ingredient (e.g., the bacon, lettuce, and tomato sand ...

, croutons, mustard dressing, and a poached egg) ;Hot appetizers: ''gateau de volaille'' (chicken liver cake), '' boudin noir'' (blood sausage, usually served with warm apples) ;Offal:

Andouillette Andouillette () is a French coarse-grained sausage made from the intestine of pork, pepper, wine, onions, and seasonings. Andouillettes are generally made from the large intestine and are in diameter. True andouillettes are rarely seen outsi ...

(

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved; ...

offal sausage), assorted offal gratin, tablier de sapeur ;Fish: Stingray,

quenelle __NOTOC__ A quenelle () is a mixture of creamed fish or meat, sometimes combined with breadcrumbs, with a light egg binding, formed into an egg-like shape, and then cooked. The usual preparation is by poaching. Formerly, quenelles were often us ...

s (ground fish dumplings), grilled fillets ;Meat: Coq au vin,

pot-au-feu (; ; "pot on the fire") is a French dish of boiled beef and vegetables, usually served as two courses: the broth and then the solid ingredients. The chef Raymond Blanc has called ''pot-au-feu'' "the quintessence of French family cuisine, ... ...

( pot roast), chicken thighs stuffed with

morel ''Morchella'', the true morels, is a genus of edible sac fungi closely related to anatomically simpler cup fungi in the order Pezizales (division Ascomycota). These distinctive fungi have a honeycomb appearance due to the network of ridges with ...

s ;Vegetables:

Cardoon The cardoon, ''Cynara cardunculus'' (), also called the artichoke thistle, is a thistle in the family Asteraceae. It is a naturally occurring species that also has many cultivated forms, including the globe artichoke. It is native to the wester ...

''à la moelle'' (in bone marrow), '' barboton'', ''pailasson de Lyon'' ;Cheese: ''

Saint-Marcellin Saint-Marcellin is a soft French cheese made from cow's milk. Named after the small town of Saint-Marcellin ( Isère), it is produced in a geographical area corresponding to part of the former Dauphiné province (now included in the Rhône-Alpes ...

'', '' Saint-Félicien'', '' Rigotte de Condrieu'' ;Desserts: ''tarte praline'' ( praline tart), lemon meringue pie, caramelized apples, '' bugnes de Lyon'' (miniature beignets)

References

Bibliography

*{{cite book, title=Les Bonnes Recettes des Bouchons Lyonnais, author=Everylen et Jean-Marc Boudou, publisher= Libris, year=2003, isbn=2-84799-002-X Entertainment in Lyon Restaurants in Lyon Restaurants by type

History

Today

Cuisine

See also

References

Bibliography