The Nord-Pas-de-Calais cuisine is a French regional cuisine, whose specialties are largely inherited from the county of Flanders. 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.
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. 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 A. 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.
The Catholic Church required the practice of Lent on about days a year; [ 3 ] as a result, herring was abundantly consumed by the people, making Boulogne-sur-Mer an important fishing port.
