This is a comprehensive account of France's rich culinary history, not only full of tales of haute cuisine, but seasoned with myths and stories from a wide variety of times and places; from snail hunting in Burgundy to female chefs in Lyon, and from cheese appreciation in Roman Gaul to bread debates from the Middle Ages to the present. It examines the use of less familiar ingredients such as chestnuts, couscous and oysters, French food in literature and film, the influence of France's overseas territories on the shape of French cuisine today, and includes historical recipes for readers to try at home.