Bastille Day, the French way

Five actual Frenchmen weigh in on le Quatorze Juillet's elusive food traditions.

Would a salade niçoise be served on le Quatorze Juillet? Maybe, maybe not. Photo: Leslie Brenner

Every year I whisk myself into an emulsion trying to conjure some spectacular Bastille Day food extravaganza to write about and possibly execute on the actual day.

The truth is, not many things sound right for the occasion. Quiche? Doesn’t sound very festive. Coq au vin? Boeuf bourguignon? French onion soup? Way too wintry. Magret de canard? Hard to share with celebrants. Ratatouille? Feels more late-summer.

Niçoise salad is where I usually land, as it’s always so hot mid-July where we live. A glass of rosé would be nice. Maybe a fruit tart, or chocolate mousse.

Nothing super exciting, right?

This year, I wondered: What do people actually do in France? What is traditional? Somehow I’m never there for the holiday. So I turned to the experts: Five Frenchmen — three chefs and two civilians — and asked them.

My apologies, Anglophone Francophiles — je suis vraiment désolée — but the consensus is this: Bastille Day is not a food holiday.

In fact, unlike every other day of the year, when what’s on the table is a matter of urgent and obsessive national concern, in France, le Quatorze Juillet is a big fat food non-event.

Here’s what they told me:

Frenchman #1: Thierry Pérémarti

My husband. Occupation: poet. Birthplace: Bordeaux

“For the last 30 years I’ve been telling you: It’s bullshit. First of all we don’t call it Bastille Day; it doesn’t make any fucking sense. It’s le Quatorze Juillet.”

Frenchman #2: Yves Beauvais

Man of the world. Currently based in Mexico City. Birthplace: Paris

“Absolutely no food tradition for July 14. Two things dominate that day - le défilé militaire sur les Champs-Élysées and le Tour de France, which as you know is month-long. But not a family-type holiday, no big meal, and certainly no specific food. Nada. Sorry! And of course, fireworks and street balls (known as bals du 14 Juillet) at night.”

Frenchman #3: Alain Giraud

Bon Appétit’s 2003 Chef of the Year, Los Angeles-based, known for the restaurants Bastide and Anisette back in the aughts. Cooking mostly for private clients these days. Born in Paris, went to culinary school in Nîmes, in the South of France.

In 2004, when I was Food Editor at the L.A. Times, we convinced Alain to put together a Bastille Day picnic, which we covered, including his recipes. It was a spectacular Provence-inspired feast: Cavaillon melons scooped out and filled with wine-marinated melon balls; the juicy sandwiches called pan-bagnat; veal paupiettes called alouettes sans tête; a zucchini and parmesan cake (forerunner of the savory cakes now in vogue all over France); cheese, cherry tomatoes, nuts, saucisson de Lyon; and a fig-and-almond tart.

The idea of doing that for Bastille Day amused him, because, as is becoming abundantly clear, in France, the holiday is not exactly a food festival. Instead, said Alain:

“They just wheel a bar into the square. Every village has a portable bar. And they start drinking. It’s not related to food. Zero. Nothing.”

Though I’ll always remember that magnificent picnic, I’d forgotten his explanation of the tradition till I went back and reread the story.

I asked Thierry about that portable bar thing.

“Yeah. I would say that,” he said. “People are dancing and drinking. That’s why there’s no tradition of a meal.”

OK, maybe there is a kinda-sorta tradition: barbecue. I know; it doesn’t sound very French. But the other two chefs I interviewed mentioned it.

Frenchman #4: Christophe De Lellis

Longtime Executive Chef at Joël Robuchon in Las Vegas, about to open a French restaurant in Dallas, Mamani. Also grew up in Paris. Christophe’s assessment:

“For Bastille Day, I don’t think there is a food tradition around it. Unless in different regions of France, maybe in Savoie, Bretagne or Marseille, they possibly have a tradition for it that I don’t know. In Paris, it’s just barbecue usually.”

Ah, oui? how do they barbecue in Paris apartments?

“I lived in the suburbs,” explains De Lellis.

And what went on the grill?

“Côte de boeuf, merguez, saucisse.”

Oh, the light stuff — so summery!

Frenchman #5: Bruno Davaillon

Culinary director and partner at Travis Street Hospitality in Dallas. Grew up in the Loire Valley. Says Bruno:

“Usually Quatorze Juillet is kind of grilled meat and fish outdoors day. Different salads, like tomato salad; rosé wines; seasonal fruits; desserts like cherry clafoutis, peach cakes. Usually really casual.”

Now we’re talking! Not something we could sell tickets to, but at least it sounds lovely for the season.

Me? I’ll probably fall back on the old standby. The holiday falls on Monday this year, a workday chez nous. So we’ll play it cool.

But yeah, we’ll crack of bottle of rosé.

Here’s the recipe:

Salade Niçoise, Beautifully Bastardized

Happy Bastille Day! Strike up the band! Have a bal! Off with their heads!