Gastronomy in the Alsace region

The Alsace Region offers a rich gastronomy to its visitors. Home of the French white wine, the Alsace Region is also famous for its food and beer.

The Wines

The Alsace wines are coming from 7 grape varieties (cépages):

• The Sylvaner wine is light and fresh, with a discret fruity taste.
• The Tokay Pinot Gris wine has special taste of undergrowth, sometimes slightly smoked.
• The Pinot Blanc wine is rond, fresh and delicate.
• The Muscat d'Alsace wine is dry, aromatic, with a taste of fresh fruit.
• The Riesling wine is dry, slightly fuity and sometimes offer a mineral or flowers taste.
• The Pinot Noir wine is the only red wine of the 7 Alsace wines and has typical cherry fruity taste.
• The Gewurztraminer wine might be the most famous Alsace wine. It has a rich taste of fruit, flowers and spices. Gewurz means spices.

All the Alsace wines are bottled in their production areas and proposed in a typical long neck green bottle. You can find more information about the wines of the Alsace Region at the Official Web site of the Alsace Wine Committee: http://www.vinsalsace.com/en/index.htm.

The Food

The Alsace Region is very famous for its food. A mix of French and German cuisine originated special dishes in the area. Alsace is the region of France that owns the largest number of highly ranked stars restaurants.

Traditional starters:

• The foie gras (premium duck mousse) was invented in Strasbourg in 1780.
• The cooked pork meat (charcuterie).
• The spicy bread (pain d'epices).

Traditional dishes:

• The Baeckeoffe is a dish composed of 3 kinds of meat, potatoes and white wine.
• The Choucroute is the most famous traditional dish of Alsace. It is composed of sliced and cooked cabbage, sausages and meat.
• The Riesling Cock (coq au Riesling).

Traditional cheese:

• The Munster cheese.

Traditional desserts:

• The soft white cheese cake.
• The Kougelhopf.

The beers

Strasbourg is the home of numerous breweries:

• Brasserie Kronenbourg. Kronenbourg is famous in England for the 1664 beer.
• Brasserie Fisher.
• Brasserie Adelshoffen.
• Brasserie Saverne.
• Brasserie Schutzenberger.

The various beers can be tasted in the bars and pubs, especially around the cathedral of Strasbourg.