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The Ile-de-France, as the region including and surrounding Paris is known, is often said to lack a distinctive regional cuisine. Instead, it is supposed to have acted as a sort of magnet for dishes from the outlying areas, and then to have appropriated the resulting synthesis as its own. This is where the French nobility built their fabulous palaces and were they served feasts in the grandest style, so it is often thought that attitude and presentation take precedence over the food itself.

Not all the great chefs to the nobility were imported. Antonin Carême, for example, was born here. And though he certainly had attitude, the area is so well stocked with inspiring raw ingredients that he -- and the top-notch chefs who gather in Paris today -- could hardly fail to think up a few delicious dishes of their own. A wide array of fruits and vegetables grow in the farms and orchards that surround the city. The Parisian butchers are famed for their skill and their varied supply of good meats. The forests shelter game, as well as morels and wild strawberries, and the rivers and streams provide a plentiful supply of fish. As a consequence, Paris may be given full credit for having a fine array of charcuteries, matelotes, the freshest of vegetable side dishes, numerous sauced beef and veal preparations -- the culinary distinction of Paris is in the quality of the ingredients.