Fishwives of Paris

A Lyon bouchon is not just a bistro with a different name, and its kitsch is part of the point. Caroline and Emily break down the codes of Lyon's famously rowdy restaurants, from checkered tablecloths to tripe and pots of house wine. They trace the bouchon back to the silk workers of La Croix-Rousse, whose revolts and shared canteens shaped the city, and explain why these touristy, joyfully dated places remain the real thing. Podcast Show Notes In this episode: • Why a bouchon is more than "a bistro, but in Lyon" • The codes that define a bouchon, from red checkered tablecloths to a gregarious owner on site • The classic bouchon menu, from œuf en meurette and salade lyonnaise to andouillette, quenelle de brochet, and the pot of house wine • The likely origin of the word bouchon, and why it was not named after a wine cork • Who the canut were, and how silk weaving transformed the Croix-Rousse hill • The silk worker revolts of 1831 and 1848, and the fight for le prix juste • The mâchon, a hearty pork feast built from the cuts nobody else wanted • How worker-led cooperative canteens gave way to bouchon restaurants as the silk industry declined • Why many Paris bistros feel like museums while bouchons remain authentic, or dans son jus • Why restaurants called Bouchon outside Lyon miss the point, and what 85 euros buys two people at Café des Fédérations Key Takeaways • Bouchons are a distinct Lyonnais tradition, not simply Lyon's version of the bistro. • A Lyon bouchon association lists 23 restaurants and has codified the style, including an owner who is present and part of the experience. • The name most likely comes from bundles of pine or sticks hung outside to signal food and drink, not from the French word for a wine cork. • Bouchon cooking is rooted in the canut, Lyon's silk workers, who needed cheap and filling food. • The original gathering places were worker-led cooperative canteens, and the restaurants came later. • The canut lost their revolts, but the episode credits them with laying the groundwork for later workers' rights. • Kitsch and tourists are part of what makes a modern bouchon authentic. • Bouchons remain accessible, with a three-hour, multi-course dinner for two and a pot of wine costing 85 euros at Café des Fédérations. GET OUR GUIDE TO BOUCHONS! https://news.fishwivesofparis.com/bouchon PLANNING A TRIP TO PARIS OR LYON? Get Emily's Paris Guide — a curated collection of our favorite places to eat, drink, and explore in Paris. https://cart.winedinecaroline.com/fishwives-guide-to-paris Get Caroline's Lyon Guide - her favorite restaurants in Lyon. https://cart.winedinecaroline.com/lyon-restaurant-guide/ • • • • • • • • • • ABOUT THE HOSTS Caroline Fazeli Caroline is a French food and wine expert, WSET Diploma holder, former chef, and founder of Lyon Wine Tastings. She has spent nearly a decade helping visitors discover French food, wine, and culture. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/winedinecaroline Substack: https://winedinecaroline.substack.com/ • • • • • • • • • • Emily Monaco Emily is a culinary journalist, author, and longtime Paris resident whose work focuses on French food culture, history, and tradition. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emily_in_france Substack: https://emilyinfrance.substack.com/ • • • • • • • • • • ABOUT FISHWIVES OF PARIS Fishwives of Paris is a podcast about French food, wine, history, and gastronomy. Every episode uncovers the stories, myths, and surprising truths behind the foods and drinks that define France. Filmed in Lyon. Follow Fishwives of Paris: https://www.instagram.com/fishwivesofparis

Bordeaux is the most famous fine wine region in France, and also one of the most misunderstood. Caroline and Emily sit down with Bordeaux expert and author Jane Anson to explain Bordeaux wine, from the en primeur futures system to the Left Bank and Right Bank divide. They also dig into climate change, the Robert Parker era, white Bordeaux, and what the Bordelais actually drink. Podcast Show Notes In this episode: • What en primeur means and how Bordeaux futures are sold • What it is like to taste 800 young wines in one April • The Left Bank, the Right Bank, and Entre-Deux-Mers explained • Why many Médoc châteaux are younger and showier than they look • How Saint-Émilion and Pauillac work for wine tourism • Why Bordeaux has always been a port and an export region • How small estates are turning to direct sales and wine tourism • The comeback of white Bordeaux and Sauvignon Blanc's roots • New grape varieties and climate experiments in Bordeaux vineyards • Why a flat Médoc makes wines that age so well • Bordeaux Mentor Week and the next generation of wine professionals • How Robert Parker reshaped Bordeaux style and the backlash since • What the Bordelais really drink Key Takeaways • En primeur is a wine futures system where wine is sold before it is bottled, and it applies to only about 5 to 10 percent of Bordeaux wines. • The Left Bank, centered on the Médoc, is mainly Cabernet Sauvignon on gravel, while the Right Bank is mainly Merlot on clay and limestone. • Bordeaux is not all expensive, and prices run from about five euros to thousands of euros a bottle. • Bordeaux has shrunk from about 120,000 hectares of vines to about 80,000 as growers balance supply and demand. • White Bordeaux is making a comeback and is likely to keep gaining share as the market asks for it. • Experimental grape varieties are being tested in Bordeaux, with results due around 2030. • Robert Parker's influence pushed many Bordeaux wines toward riper, oakier, bigger styles, and the region is now moving back toward freshness. • Bordeaux is for everyone, and the Bordelais themselves enjoy wines from around the world. JANE ANSON'S BORDEAUX LINKS Jane's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jane.anson Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux (subscription site): https://janeanson.com Bordeaux Chronicle: https://www.vendomepress.com/products/bordeaux-chronicle Inside Bordeaux: https://janeanson.com/book/inside-bordeaux Bordeaux Mentor Week: https://janeanson.com/meet-our-scholars-for-the-2025-bordeaux-mentor-week PLANNING A TRIP TO PARIS OR LYON? Get Emily's Paris Guide — a curated collection of our favorite places to eat, drink, and explore in Paris. https://cart.winedinecaroline.com/fishwives-guide-to-paris Get Caroline's Lyon Guide - her favorite restaurants in Lyon. https://cart.winedinecaroline.com/lyon-restaurant-guide/ • • • • • • • • • • ABOUT THE HOSTS Caroline Fazeli Caroline is a French food and wine expert, WSET Diploma holder, former chef, and founder of Lyon Wine Tastings. She has spent nearly a decade helping visitors discover French food, wine, and culture. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/winedinecaroline • • • • • • • • • • Emily Monaco Emily is a culinary journalist, author, and longtime Paris resident whose work focuses on French food culture, history, and tradition. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emily_in_france Substack: https://emilyinfrance.substack.com/ • • • • • • • • • • ABOUT FISHWIVES OF PARIS Fishwives of Paris is a podcast about French food, wine, history, and gastronomy. Every episode uncovers the stories, myths, and surprising truths behind the foods and drinks that define France. Filmed in Paris, Lyon, and Bordeaux Follow Fishwives of Paris: https://www.instagram.com/fishwivesofparis

Asking for substitutions in French restaurants rarely goes the way American diners expect. Caroline and Emily unpack why swapping fries for salad earns a firm non. They trace the refusal to French values of equality, expertise, and shared meals, explore the research on choice and culture, and share practical advice for dining in France with allergies or dietary restrictions. Podcast Show Notes In this episode: • Why asking for substitutions at French restaurants gets a firm "non" • Liberty versus equality, and how France and the US chose differently • The American love of choice, from side dishes to 31 ice cream flavors • Why the French prefer short menus and fewer options • How fewer choices can lighten the mental load • The UNESCO-listed structure of the French gastronomic meal • Classic French pairings, from blanquette de veau with rice to saucisse purée • Why the chef, not the customer, is right in a French dining room • Hofstede's power distance and individualism scores, and the French paradox • Universalism, commensality, and why the French share the same food at the table • How to handle allergies and dietary restrictions when dining in France Key Takeaways • French restaurants treat a dish's side as part of the dish, not an interchangeable option. • Research suggests the French expect fewer choices and less variation in their food than Americans do. • The gastronomic meal of the French was added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2010. • France scores high on both power distance and individualism, a rare combination. • French dining culture values the expertise of chefs and servers over the diner's preferences. • Sharing the same food at the table matters, so personal swaps can feel antisocial. • Real allergies should be flagged when booking, and choosing an accommodating restaurant helps. • Personal dislikes are best handled quietly on your own plate.

The Marché des Enfants Rouges, the oldest covered market in Paris, burned overnight on October 11 to 12, 2026. This episode is a tribute to the market and the 17 purveyors who worked there. Emily shares what is known so far, and Caroline and Emily trace its history from the early 1600s, its place in the Marais, and the community that fought to save it more than once. They explain how listeners can help. Podcast Show Notes In this episode: • What is known so far about the overnight fire of October 11 to 12, 2026 • How firefighters reached the market on foot and kept the fire from spreading to neighboring buildings • Why the tight streets of the Marais made access so difficult • Why the loss matters to the neighborhood, to regulars, and to the 17 purveyors • How the idea of protecting architectural heritage took shape after the French Revolution • The history of Les Halles and the Marché des Enfants Rouges, the oldest covered market in Paris • How the market got its name from a local orphanage where children wore red • How neighbors and filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier helped stop plans to turn the market into a parking garage • A look at the restaurants, counters, and stalls that made the market a place to eat as well as shop • The mayor's pledge to rebuild, and how listeners can support the purveyors Key Takeaways • The Marché des Enfants Rouges burned overnight from Sunday, October 11 to Monday, October 12, 2026, and the cause of the fire is not yet known. • The market was closed at the time, and the only reported injury was a minor one to a firefighter. • Firefighters kept the fire contained to the market itself, but the market was almost entirely destroyed. • Built in the early 1600s, it was the oldest covered market in Paris, with 17 purveyors working there. • The name Enfants Rouges refers to a nearby orphanage where children were dressed in red as a symbol of Christian charity. • Local associations and artists helped save the market from demolition plans in 1982 and again in the 1990s, and it was renovated before reopening. • Its mix of traditional stalls and restaurant counters made it unusual among French markets, and Food & Wine ranked it fifth-best market in the world in 2026. • Mayor Emmanuelle Grégoire has said the market will be rebuilt and that a place will be found for the purveyors to keep working in the meantime, though rebuilding will take years. Support the purveyors of the Marché des Enfants Rouges. Noémie Wagner, president of the association that represents the market's purveyors, has launched an online fundraiser (cagnotte). Donate here. https://www.fondation-patrimoine.org/les-projets/marche-des-enfants-rouges/106147 Share a memory of the market with us at [email protected]. • • • • • • • • • • ABOUT THE HOSTS Caroline Fazeli Caroline is a French food and wine expert, WSET Diploma holder, former chef, and founder of Lyon Wine Tastings. She has spent nearly a decade helping visitors discover French food, wine, and culture. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/winedinecaroline • • • • • • • • • • Emily Monaco Emily is a culinary journalist, author, and longtime Paris resident whose work focuses on French food culture, history, and tradition. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emily_in_france Substack: https://emilyinfrance.substack.com/ • • • • • • • • • • ABOUT FISHWIVES OF PARIS Fishwives of Paris is a podcast about French food, wine, history, and gastronomy. Every episode uncovers the stories, myths, and surprising truths behind the foods and drinks that define France. Filmed in Paris and Lyon. Visit Caroline at Lyon Wine Tastings: https://www.lyonwinetastings.com Get 20% off your wine tasting with the code FISHWIVES Follow Fishwives of Paris: https://www.instagram.com/fishwivesofparis

Steak frites may be the most iconic dish in any Paris bistro, but almost nothing about it started in France. Caroline and Emily trace the fries to Belgium and the street carts of the Pont Neuf, the steak to England, and the dish itself to a 1950s national myth. They also explain why French beef tastes so different, how to order your cuisson, and why the sauce may be the most French part of all. Podcast Show Notes In this episode: • Why frites trace back to Francophone Belgium, not France • The fish-fry legend about how fries were invented, and why it falls apart • How French fries likely got their name from World War I soldiers • A Belgian historian's theory about pommes Pont-Neuf sold from Paris street carts • Why "steak" is an English word, and why the French call the British les rosbif • How beefsteak à l'anglaise arrived in France by way of an England-based chef's cookbook • Roland Barthes and the 1950s birth of the steak frites myth • The story of Le Relais de Venise and its one-dish menu, launched in 1959 • Why French beef is butchered, raised, and aged differently than in the US and UK • Ordering your steak in France, from bleu to saignant to à point • The sauces that make steak frites French, from Café de Paris to béarnaise Key Takeaways • French fries most likely originated in Francophone Belgium, and American soldiers in World War I helped popularize the name. • The legend that fried potatoes replaced fried river fish in 1680 doesn't hold up, since potatoes weren't yet common in the region. • Steak is an English word and an English technique, served on 19th century French menus "in the English style." • Historically, French cattle were raised for work and dairy, then slow cooked, which is why braises like pot-au-feu and boeuf bourguignon came first. • Steak frites became a French national dish in the 1950s, when Roland Barthes described steak as a shared national myth. • French beef is mostly grass-fed and slaughtered at roughly 28 to 38 months, compared with about 18 months in the US and two years in the UK. • Leaner, older beef is one reason French steak is served rarer and paired with rich sauces. • Well-done steak is rare in France, and diners who prefer it are often better off ordering something else. Get Emily's guide to the best steak frites in Paris here! https://news.fishwivesofparis.com/steak-frites 🇫🇷 PLANNING A TRIP TO PARIS OR LYON? Get Emily's Paris Guide — a curated collection of our favorite places to eat, drink, and explore in Paris. ✨ https://cart.winedinecaroline.com/fishwives-guide-to-paris Get Caroline's Lyon Guide - her favorite restaurants in Lyon. ✨ https://cart.winedinecaroline.com/lyon-restaurant-guide/ • • • • • • • • • • 🎙️ ABOUT THE HOSTS 🍷 Caroline Fazeli Caroline is a French food and wine expert, WSET Diploma holder, former chef, and founder of Lyon Wine Tastings. She has spent nearly a decade helping visitors discover French food, wine, and culture. 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/winedinecaroline • • • • • • • • • • 🥐 Emily Monaco Emily is a culinary journalist, author, and longtime Paris resident whose work focuses on French food culture, history, and tradition. 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emily_in_france 📰 Substack: https://emilyinfrance.substack.com/ • • • • • • • • • • 🇫🇷 ABOUT FISHWIVES OF PARIS Fishwives of Paris is a podcast about French food, wine, history, and gastronomy. Every episode uncovers the stories, myths, and surprising truths behind the foods and drinks that define France. 🎙️ Recorded in Lyon. 🍷 Visit Caroline at Lyon Wine Tastings: Use code FISHWIVES for 20% off! https://www.lyonwinetastings.com 📸 Follow Fishwives of Paris: https://www.instagram.com/fishwivesofparis