Bordeaux: The Food Capital of Southwest France You Need to Know is the latest episode of Fabulously Delicious — and it makes the case that this UNESCO World Heritage city is one of the most extraordinary and most underrated food destinations in all of France. Most people arrive in Bordeaux for the wine. This episode is about everything else — the lamprey, the canelé, the Aquitaine caviar, the markets, the chefs and the two thousand years of trade and cultural collision that made this port city on the Garonne one of the great eating cities of Europe.

The first half covers the full history of Bordeaux — from the Celtic tribe who first settled on the crescent of the Garonne around 300 BC, through three centuries of English rule following Eleanor of Aquitaine's marriage to Henry Plantagenet in 1152, to the eighteenth century golden age that built the Grand-Théâtre, the Place de la Bourse and one of the most beautiful waterfronts in Europe. We cover what makes Bordeaux cuisine unlike anything else in France — a cuisine built at the crossroads of Atlantic, Mediterranean and Iberian influences, shaped by what arrived at the docks and what grew in the surrounding countryside.

The second half goes deep into three of the most extraordinary food products Bordeaux has given the world — the canelé, born from the leftover egg yolks of the wine trade; lamprey à la bordelaise, the true à la bordelaise dish that most visitors never discover; and Aquitaine caviar, the only PGI protected caviar in the world, farmed in the rivers of the Gironde. We also cover the remarkable figures Bordeaux has given to French gastronomy — from Adolphe Dugléré, who served the Dinner of the Three Emperors in 1867, to Raymond Oliver, Philippe Etchebest and Hélène Darroze.

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My book Paris: A Fabulous Food Guide to the World’s Most Delicious City is your ultimate companion. This is a new 2026 update for the book and you’ll find hand-picked recommendations for the best boulangeries, patisseries, wine bars, cafés, and restaurants that truly capture the flavor of Paris. You can order it online at andrewpriorfabulously.com

For those who want to take things further, why not come cook with me here in Montmorillon, in the heart of France’s Vienne region? Combine hands-on French cooking classes with exploring charming markets, tasting regional specialties, and soaking up the slow, beautiful pace of French countryside life. Find all the details at andrewpriorfabulously.com

You can help keep the show thriving by becoming a paid subscriber on substack where you'll also get fabulous extra content. Every contribution makes a huge difference. Join here at Substack , Merci beaucoup!

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Brie de Meaux — the king of cheeses and arguably the most famous soft cheese in the world — has one of the most extraordinary stories in the entire history of French food. This episode of Fabulously Delicious tells the full story of Brie de Meaux, from Charlemagne ordering cartloads of it in 774 to the Congress of Vienna in 1815 where Talleyrand staged a tasting of 52 European cheeses and Brie de Meaux was crowned the greatest of them all. Raw cow's milk, a soft white rind, a straw-yellow custardy interior with notes of hazelnut, almond and mushroom — and a history that spans more than a thousand years.

The episode covers the full history of this remarkable AOC and PDO protected cheese — from the monks of the Abbaye Notre-Dame-de-Jouarre in the Seine-et-Marne who first produced it, to King Philippe-Auguste sending 200 wheels to his courtiers as New Year gifts in 1217, to Louis XVI stopping to finish a plate of Brie and a glass of red wine while fleeing the French Revolution. And there is one gloriously aristocratic detail that tells you everything about this cheese — there is exactly one farmhouse producer of Brie de Meaux making it from their own herd today. That producer is the Rothschild family.

The second half of the episode covers everything you need to know about buying and enjoying Brie de Meaux — how it is made, including the extraordinary hand-moulding process using the traditional pelle à brie that cannot be replicated by machine, the two-month production time from fresh milk to finished wheel, the best season to buy it, how to store it, what wines to pair it with, and why you should always eat the rind. This is French cheese history, French cheese culture and practical French cheese guidance all in one episode.

Brie de Meaux is one of the great cheeses of France and this episode is the story it deserves. Whether you are a devoted fromage enthusiast or simply curious about why one soft cheese from a small region east of Paris became the most celebrated in the world, this episode will change how you think about it. Search Fabulously Delicious on Spotify and Apple Podcasts for more French food stories every week.

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Support the show

My book Paris: A Fabulous Food Guide to the World’s Most Delicious City is your ultimate companion. This is a new 2026 update for the book and you’ll find hand-picked recommendations for the best boulangeries, patisseries, wine bars, cafés, and restaurants that truly capture the flavor of Paris. You can order it online at andrewpriorfabulously.com

For those who want to take things further, why not come cook with me here in Montmorillon, in the heart of France’s Vienne region? Combine hands-on French cooking classes with exploring charming markets, tasting regional specialties, and soaking up the slow, beautiful pace of French countryside life. Find all the details at andrewpriorfabulously.com

You can help keep the show thriving by becoming a paid subscriber on substack where you'll also get fabulous extra content. Every contribution makes a huge difference. Join here at Substack , Merci beaucoup!

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