Duration: 1 hour
Cultural historian Andrew Hussey takes us on a gastronomic tour through French history, from Versailles, the spiritual centre of French power politics and the birthplace of French cuisine, via the French Revolution and the creation of the Michelin guide, through to nouvelle cuisine and ethnic fusion food.
For Hussey, France emerges as the 'Republic of Food', a place where the health of both its democracy and its civilisation can at any one time be gauged by how well its people are being fed. Some of France's top chefs, including Paul Bocuse and Pierre Gagnaire are among those he meets on the way.
This programme was part of Exquisite Cuisine - a BBC Four season that served up a mouth-watering menu of programmes in search of perfection in food.
Find out what else was shown in Exquisite Cuisine
BBC © 2013 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.
