Andrew Prior Fabulously

Andrew Prior Fabulously Fabulously Delicious is the only French food podcast in English in the world. You can come cook and www.patreon.com/cookingfabulously

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26/08/2026

He held three Michelin stars for thirty years and cooked for kings, presidents, Hemingway, and Chaplin — but almost nobody today has heard of him. Meet Alexandre Dumaine, chef of La Côte d'Or in Saulieu, Burgundy, and one of the most important figures in French culinary history.

In the new episode of Fabulously Delicious: The French Food Podcast, we trace his path from a working-class childhood in Digoin, through the First World War and a decade in Algeria, to thirty extraordinary years at the top of French gastronomy — and the remarkable way he chose to hand it all on.

🎧 Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts.

21/08/2026

First up is abaisser — the verb. It technically means “to lower,” but in cooking it’s your instruction to roll out the dough. When a recipe tells you to abaisser la pâte, it’s simply telling you: grab that rolling pin and get flattening.

Then there’s abaissé(e) — the past participle, and it describes the dough after the job is done. La pâte est abaissée means “the dough has been rolled out.” It’s describing a state, not an action — the rolling already happened.

And finally, abaisse — no accent this time, and it’s a noun. This is the actual physical sheet of rolled-out dough sitting in front of you. So next time a chef says “grab the abaisse,” they’re pointing at the pastry itself, ready for your tart tin or pie dish. Same root, three completely different jobs — verb, adjective, and noun, all working together in the pâtisserie. 🥐

16/08/2026

Today the Food Tour de France finishes at Le Markstein — at 1,240 metres on the Alsatian crest of the Vosges mountains, one of the great cols of the Route des Crêtes. And today we are talking about one of the most authentic and most honest meals in the whole of France. A meal where everything on the table comes from the farm you are sitting in. The animals whose milk made the cheese are visible from the dining room window. The potatoes grew in the plot behind the farmhouse. The smoked pork came from the farm's own pig. This is the repas marcaire. And it has been served in the stone mountain shelters of the Vosges high chaumes since the Middle Ages.

A marcaire is a mountain dairy farmer of the Vosges — the word comes from the Alsatian malker, the one who milks the cows. Every spring, in a tradition recognised by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since December 2023, the vaches vosgiennes make the transhumance — climbing the mountain paths decorated with flowers and bells to the high summer pastures between 600 and 1,000 metres, where they spend their summers grazing on the rich, botanically diverse chaumes of the Vosges ridge. They spend the summer producing the milk that becomes Munster cheese in the stone marcairies — the simple mountain shelters where the marcaires live in complete isolation, milking twice a day, pressing the curds, washing and turning the cheeses as they age in the cold cellar. In September they come back down. The cycle of the mountain year, still observed and still celebrated.

The repas marcaire that visitors eat in the fermes-auberges of the Hautes-Vosges is the meal that sustained this way of life for centuries. The tourte de la vallée — a pastry case filled with minced meat and spices from the Munster valley. Then the main course — smoked pork with roïgabrageldi, the Alsatian potato strips cooked for two hours in farm butter with lardons and onions in a copper cauldron suspended over a wood fire. Then Munster fermier from the farm's own herd — younger and fresher than the versions sold in the markets of Colmar or Strasbourg, still carrying the character of the summer pasture. And finally a tarte aux myrtilles if the bilberries are in season, or a Siesskass — fresh white cheese from the morning's milk with kirsch and sugar. Everything from the farm. Everything made that day or that week. One of the most genuinely honest meals in France.

The full episode is on Fabulously Delicious now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Have you ever eaten a repas marcaire in a ferme-auberge in the Vosges? 👇

15/08/2026

In the Sundgau — the southernmost territory of Alsace, a landscape of fish ponds and rolling hills just south of Mulhouse — there is a dish that has been made since the twelfth century when the monks of the Abbey of Lucelle first built their fish ponds. Carpe frite. Fresh carp raised in clear Sundgau water, briefly marinated in white wine, passed through a light breadcrumb coating and deep-fried until deeply golden and crackling. Served with chips, lemon and mayonnaise. Eaten with the fingers. Thirty restaurateurs have been defending and celebrating it along the Routes de la Carpe Frite since 1975. This year is the fiftieth anniversary. The golden fish of the Sundgau. Full episode on Fabulously Delicious now — link in bio. 🇫🇷🚴

15/08/2026

The Food Tour de France starts in Mulhouse — the great industrial city of the Haut-Rhin, gateway to the Alsatian plain, 24 kilometres from some of the most distinctive and most intimate food country in all of Alsace. Because to the south of Mulhouse lies the Sundgau — a landscape of bocage, rolling hills, fish ponds and villages set like pearls in a collar of green, sitting at the junction of the Rhine, the Vosges and the Jura mountains. And the Sundgau has a dish. A dish that has been made in its fish pond country since the twelfth century. A dish that most people in France outside this small southern Alsatian territory have never heard of. The carpe frite.

The story begins with a legend — a shepherdess who caught carp from the local ponds, prepared them in her own way, browned them in oil, and presented them to the Count of Ferrette. He ate one. Then another. And by the end of the meal he had given his blessing to the union of the shepherdess and his son. The fish she cooked was called the poisson d'or — the golden fish. The castle built to celebrate the marriage became Liebenstein — the stone of love. And the dish became the carpe frite. A legend that is either the most romantic origin story in Alsatian food culture or a very effective piece of regional marketing. Possibly both.

What is documented is the twelfth century monastic tradition. The monks of the Abbey of Lucelle introduced fish farming to the Sundgau — constructing ponds to maintain reserves of fish during the long weeks of Lent. The ponds dug by the monks are, in many cases, still there. The fish are still raised in them. And the carp is still being fried and eaten in the inns around the edges of those same ponds nine hundred years later. The carpe frite is served with salad, chips, lemon and mayonnaise — and eaten, as every Sundgau source insists, with the fingers. In 1975 a group of passionate restaurateurs created the Routes de la Carpe Frite — now awarded Remarkable Site of Taste status by the French National Council of Culinary Arts. In 2025 the association celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. Thirty restaurateurs. Fifty years. One dish. The golden fish of the Sundgau.

The full episode is on Fabulously Delicious now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. And if you want to hear the other great freshwater fish dish of this series, go back and find the pôchouse episode from Chalon-sur-Saône — the ancient river fish stew of Burgundy that shares the same fundamental story of a community eating the same thing from the same water for centuries. Have you ever tried fried carp? 👇

15/08/2026

In 1871, when France was forced to cede Alsace to the German Empire, tens of thousands of Alsatians chose to cross the border rather than become German subjects. Many came to the Territoire de Belfort. And they brought with them a small man-shaped enriched bread — the Mannele in Alsace — that in Belfort became the jeanbonhomme. The good fellow. The little man. Still made in every bakery in Belfort from Saint Nicolas Day through to Christmas. Not found in Alsace in this form. Not found in the rest of Franche-Comté. Specific to this territory because a community brought it here in 1871 and called it something new. A bread that carries the memory of a war. Full episode on Fabulously Delicious now — link in bio. 🇫🇷🚴

14/08/2026

Today the Food Tour de France finishes in Belfort — the Lion city, the gateway between Alsace and Franche-Comté, whose garrison held out for 103 days against the Prussian siege in 1870 and 1871. And today we are talking about a bread that arrived in this territory not through culinary invention but through displacement. A small, golden, man-shaped brioche that carries the memory of a war and a community that chose to remain French.

When the Franco-Prussian War ended in 1871 and France was forced to cede Alsace to the newly unified German Empire, tens of thousands of Alsatians made a choice. Rather than become German subjects, they crossed the border and resettled in France. Many came to the Territoire de Belfort — the one piece of the old Alsatian territory that France had insisted on retaining in the peace negotiations, specifically because of the symbolic importance of its resistance. And those Alsatian refugees brought with them their language, their customs, their recipes and their seasonal food traditions. Including a small man-shaped enriched bread that in Alsace was called the Mannele or the Mannala. In the Territoire de Belfort it became the jeanbonhomme — the good fellow, the little man. A French name for an Alsatian tradition that had crossed a border with the people who made it.

The jeanbonhomme appears in every bakery in Belfort from Saint Nicolas Day on the 6th of December through to Christmas — a seasonal tradition that is strongly Alsatian in character and that distinguishes this corner of France from the rest of the country. Rich bread dough — flour, sugar, salt, milk, eggs, butter, yeast — shaped into a small man, rested, glazed with egg yolk beaten with a little milk and baked until deeply golden. Eaten on the day it is made, warm, with hot chocolate. Some versions include chocolate chips pressed into the dough before baking — the chips marking the eyes and buttons of the bonhomme, melting into pools as it bakes. The jeanbonhomme is not found in Alsace itself in this form. It is not found in the rest of Franche-Comté. It exists specifically in the Territoire de Belfort because the Alsatians who came here in 1871 brought it and called it something new. An edible consequence of a nineteenth century war. A bread that chose France.

The full episode is on Fabulously Delicious now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Had you ever heard of the jeanbonhomme before today? 👇

13/08/2026

Every September the historic centre of Dole — the former capital of the Franche-Comté, birthplace of Louis Pasteur, home of Marcel Aymé’s perching cat — transforms into a vast gourmet village. 150 local producers. 15 temporary food villages in Renaissance streets and squares. 60,000 visitors across a single weekend. Tasting passes through historic buildings. Michelin-starred menus alongside neighbourhood bistros. Comté, cancoillotte, Morteau sausage, vin jaune and the full food culture of the Jura — all in one extraordinary September weekend. The Week-end Gourmand du Chat Perché. 2026 edition — 25th to 27th September. Full episode on Fabulously Delicious now — link in bio. 🇫🇷🚴

13/08/2026

Today the Food Tour de France starts in Dole — the former capital of the Franche-Comté, a city of Renaissance architecture and canals known locally as the Little Venice of the Jura, birthplace of Louis Pasteur and home to the most beloved cat in French literature. Because Marcel Aymé — one of the most quietly extraordinary figures in twentieth century French writing — grew up in Dole. And his most famous creation, the series of stories known as Les Contes du Chat Perché — the Tales of the Perching Cat — gave this city a mascot, a trail, a festival and a name for one of the finest food events in Bourgogne Franche-Comté. Today we are talking about the Week-end Gourmand du Chat Perché.

Every September since 2014, the historic centre of Dole transforms into what the organisers call un grand village gourmand — a vast gourmet village. Around 150 local producers and food artisans install themselves in fifteen temporary villages across the Renaissance streets and squares of the old town. 60,000 visitors across a single weekend. Tasting passes that take you through historic buildings — the Hôtel-Dieu, the cloître de la Visitation — each one a tasting point rather than a monument for the weekend. A bell tower pass at the Collégiale Notre-Dame, where you taste with a panoramic view of the Jura beyond. A children's pass — the petit gourmet. A picnic basket for two on the Place Nationale. And every restaurant in the city — from Michelin-starred kitchens to small neighbourhood bistros — serving a special menu du Chat Perché for the entire weekend.

The food culture the festival celebrates is extraordinary — Comté from the Jura in all its different expressions of terroir and maturation. Cancoillotte — the semi-liquid unpasteurised cheese of Franche-Comté, two thousand years old and now IGP protected, eaten hot over baked potatoes with Morteau sausage or cold on bread. Morteau and Montbéliard sausages. Morel mushrooms from the Jura forests. And the wines of the Jura — including vin jaune, the extraordinary yellow wine aged under a film of yeast for a minimum of six years and three months, with its distinctive walnut and curry spice character that is unlike anything else in French wine. A festival that is genuinely the whole food culture of a region, expressed through eating and sharing for a single September weekend. The 2026 edition takes place on the 25th, 26th and 27th of September. A very good reason to go to Dole.

The full episode is on Fabulously Delicious now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Have you ever been to the Chat Perché festival — or to Dole? 👇

23/07/2026

Today the Food Tour de France finishes in Chalon-sur-Saône — a river city in the Saône-et-Loire, in the heart of Burgundian France. The Saône runs through this city for several kilometres, broad and slow and enormously productive. And at the point where the Saône meets the Doubs, about thirty kilometres south at a small town called Verdun-sur-le-Doubs, the boatmen and fishermen of the seventeenth century made a dish from what they pulled out of the water each day and the white wine that was available to them on the riverbanks of Burgundy. They cooked it in a pot on the boat, or on the bank, with what they had. That dish is the pôchouse. And it has been celebrated by its own brotherhood since 1949.

La pôchouse is a freshwater fish stew — first documented in writing in 1646 — made from a specific combination of four river fish. On the lean side, pike and perch. On the fatty side, eel and tench. The combination of lean and fatty in the same pot is not accidental — the lean fish provide clean flavour and texture while the eel and tench contribute richness and depth to the sauce. The wine used for cooking is Burgundy aligoté — the Burgundian white grape variety whose natural acidity cuts through the richness of the eel and carries the clean flavour of the lean fish without overwhelming it. Alongside the fish — lardons, garlic, herbs and croutons fried in butter. Served with steamed potatoes. And eaten, as several sources note with evident pleasure, with the fingers rather than a fork. Because this is convivial food. Sharing food. The food of the riverbank and the boat.

The name comes from the Bressane patois word for fisherman — pôchoux. The dish of the pôchoux. The Confrérie des Chevaliers de la Pôchouse de Verdun-sur-le-Doubs was founded in 1949 and still holds its annual chapters in October. Since 2016 there has been an annual festival in Verdun-sur-le-Doubs where local restaurants serve it strictly according to ancestral rules — without accompaniment, as tradition demands — while the Confrérie Saint-Nicolas des Radeliers builds a raft on the Petit Doubs to mark the occasion. The raftsmen, the boats, the river and the fish. All present, every year, as they have been since the seventeenth century. In October 2019 the Confrérie celebrated its 70th anniversary with a mass, a parade and a gathering of over 400 guests. For a dish born on the riverbank from a fisherman's catch, it has done very well for itself.

The full episode is on Fabulously Delicious now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. And if you want to hear the other great river fish dish of this series, go back and find the lamprey à la bordelaise episode from the Bordeaux stage — two ancient river fish preparations, two great French waterways, the same fundamental story told in completely different registers. Have you ever tried la pôchouse? 👇

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