Gastronomy from Lyon

Lyon is also very famous for its cooking, especially with Bocuse, one of the most famous chefs in the world. "Gratin d'andouillette au Saint-Marcellin", "Assiette de cochonaille chaude", "Riz de veau meunière"... As you can see on that picture, and on the menu of the local "bouchons lyonnais", it is not the most vegetarian-suitable one ever. But if you ask for "Quenelles", or "Cervelle de canuts", you can get some yummy local food without meat. Do not trust any restaurant claiming to be a "bouchon" to attract as many tourists as possible... According to some locals, the most suitable one is the "Bouchon de l'Opéra", which you can see on the following weblink.

Here is the recipe of the "Cervelle de Canuts", a dish that is usually served as an "entrée". That meal has a name that can firstly sound weird: it means "Canuts' brain". The Canuts were silk workers from Lyon who rebelled at the XIXth Century because their living conidtions were too hard after the Le Chapelier law forbade corporations and created a climate of competition and increased poverty. The name "Canuts' brain" refers to the fact that instead of buying cows' brain to eat (do not say "What? Yuck!" The French eat every piece of the meat, it is something you already know...), all that they could afford was to cook a meal with potatoes and yoghourt to replace it.

Cervelle de Canuts

Ingredients (four 4 people):

- 6 potatoes

- 250 grams yoghourt

- 3 red onions

- garlic

- a little bunch of parsley and chives

- lemon

- salt, pepper

Preparation:

- Boil the potatoes during 20 minutes and cut them in cube shapes.

- Cut the onions, the garlic, the parsley and chives in thin slices

- Mix them and the potatoes with youghourt, add some lemon juice, salt and pepper according to your taste.

Le Bouchon de l'Opera

Le Bouchon de l'Opera, 11 rue des Capucins, 69001 LYON. Tel: 04 78 28 49 47

http://bouchondelopera.com/