Cuisine and specialties of Nord-Pas-de-Calais

The Nord-Pas-de-Calais cuisine is a French regional cuisine, whose specialties are largely inherited from the county of Flanders. The region has always been at the intersection of Europe, and traces of its history can be found in its specialties, such as the English influence on the Côte d'Opale, or dishes of Polish origin in the mining basin. Nord-Pas-de-Calais is a major agricultural and dairy farming region, and a producer of cheeses, including the most famous, Maroilles, which is used in a variety of flamiche. Its coastline is home to France's largest fishing port, Boulogne. Between land and sea, its primary products are herring, rabbit, potatoes and beer. Historically, this is a cuisine based on butter or lard, with little use of oil. It is characterized, among other things, by bitter-sweet flavors, such as those of braised chicory, beer cooking, or coffee chicory. In 2023, Hauts-de-France was awarded the "European Region of Gastronomy" label. The region was already known for its agriculture when it was part of Gallia Belgica. Pliny cites the great variety of vegetables grown: onions, cabbages, and broad beans, as well as different varieties of apple trees. Vast expanses of einkorn wheat and barley were used to make bread, as well as cervoise. Sea salt works along the coast produced this product used to preserve meat and fish: Menapii ham, salted or smoked, was renowned and imported as far away as Rome. In the Middle Ages, the region was Christianized, and the abbeys became the owners of much of the land and organized its exploitation. Tithes were paid in goods - for example, in Maroilles cheese, created around 960 A.C. by the abbey of the same name, whose "edict of the pastures" imposed affinage on every cow owner. As early as the 11th century, the construction of dykes protected the coastline and created the first polders; in the 12th century, their drainage through the waterings system enabled new land to be reclaimed from the sea for livestock breeding, cultivation, and fish farming.