Fabulously Delicious
Andrew Prior
Fabulously Delicious is the podcast that's all about French food and French cuisine and the people that make it, cook it, produce it, write and photograph it, but above all love it. Each week we chat with Francophile foodies from around the world and here in France. They are all lovers and experts on a particular topic related to French food. Be it a dish, ingredient, or cooking technique in French cuisine. We explore the guest's food life from growing up to work life. Careers in and out of the food industry and their love of France, its people, and cuisine. Fun, knowledge, history, recipes and so much more are revealed in Fabulously Delicious the best French food podcast in English. Your host Andrew Prior rose to fame and started his foodie career after appearing on the acclaimed TV program MasterChef Australia. Then with a food tours business, he moved to France and made fabulous videos on Paris and travel around France which is on YouTube under the name Travelling Fabulously. Once lockdowns were put in place Andrew started cooking on YouTube under the name Cooking Fabulously and now he is exploring the world of podcasting through food, in particular, French food on Fabulously Delicious. Andrew's motto in life is, whatever you do, do it fabulously.
- 1 hour 36 minutesThe Story of Fabulous French Chefs Part Four: Vatel, Carême, Soyer, Dubois and Oliver
The Story of Fabulous French Chefs Part Four brings together five extraordinary figures in French gastronomy — François Vatel, Marie Antoine Carême, Alexis Benoit Soyer, Urbain Dubois and Raymond Oliver. Five centuries of French culinary history, from a seventeenth century maître d'hôtel whose story became one of the most dramatic in the history of French food, to the pioneering television chef who brought French gastronomy into living rooms across France in the 1950s.
We begin with François Vatel — responsible for feeding two thousand guests over three days at one of the most elaborate banquets in French history, whose story ends in tragedy. From there we move to Marie Antoine Carême — born into poverty, abandoned at ten, who went on to cook for Napoleon, Tsar Alexander I and the Prince Regent of England, invented the chef's toque and codified French cuisine into a system professional kitchens still use today. The king of chefs and the chef of kings.
The second half covers Alexis Benoit Soyer — the Frenchman who redesigned the Reform Club kitchen, fed thousands during the Irish Famine and followed Florence Nightingale to the Crimean War. Urbain Dubois — who developed the style of service most of the world still uses today. And Raymond Oliver — the chef who brought French gastronomy to television before anyone knew what a television chef was supposed to look like.
Part Four is the most varied and most surprising instalment of the series yet. Go back and find Parts One, Two and Three for more — and search Fabulously Delicious on Spotify and Apple Podcasts for the full catalogue.
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!
16 April 2026, 9:00 am - 9 minutes 42 secondsAbondance Cheese: The Forgotten Alpine Cheese That Served Medieval Cardinals
Abondance cheese — one of the great forgotten Alpine cheeses of France — has a story that stretches back to the medieval monasteries of Haute-Savoie and all the way to the papal conclave in Avignon in the fourteenth century, where it was served to cardinals from across Europe. In this episode of Fabulously Delicious, we're telling the full story of Abondance cheese — the semi-hard, raw cow's milk Alpine cheese from the Abondance Valley in Haute-Savoie that most people have never heard of, and that deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Comté and Beaufort.
The story of Abondance cheese begins with the Cistercian monks of the Abbaye d'Abondance in the French Alps, who began making this extraordinary Alpine cheese in the Middle Ages as a way of preserving milk through long mountain winters. The cheese they developed was so remarkable that by the fourteenth century it was travelling far beyond the valley — all the way to the papal conclave in Avignon, where it was served to the highest ranks of medieval European society. A tiny Alpine valley sending its cheese to the cardinals of Europe. Which tells you everything about the quality of what the monks had created.
The Abondance Valley in Haute-Savoie is one of the most beautiful corners of the French Alps — dramatic peaks, wooden chalets, flower-rich mountain pastures near the Swiss border. And at the heart of it all is the Abondance cow — the chestnut and white breed perfectly adapted to mountain life, producing milk rich in protein and fat that gives Abondance cheese its distinctive fruity, nutty, buttery character. The cheese received its AOC status in 1990 and its AOP in the years that followed, protecting everything from the milk to the shape of the wheel — and ensuring that one of France's great Alpine cheeses remains exactly what it has always been.
Abondance cheese melts beautifully — perfect in fondue, gratins and Alpine dishes — and is at its absolute best between June and December when the cows have been grazing high in the mountains and the milk is at its most aromatic. It's the kind of cheese that makes you wonder why it isn't as famous as its Alpine neighbours. After this episode, you'll understand exactly why it deserves your attention.
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!
31 March 2026, 1:00 pm - 34 minutes 56 secondsRevisited: The Story of Alexis Soyer - The Frenchman Who Changed British Food Forever
Alexis Benoit Soyer was born in a small town in northern France in 1810, and by the time he died in London in 1858 he had changed the way Britain thought about food forever. He redesigned the kitchen of one of London's most prestigious private members clubs from scratch, invented cooking technology that had never existed before, fed thousands of starving people during one of the worst humanitarian disasters of the nineteenth century, and transformed the way armies ate in the field. He was famous in his lifetime — celebrated, eccentric, larger than life in every possible way. And today, almost nobody knows his name. This is his story.
We're going back to the beginning — Meaux in northern France, the Protestant family, the seminary he was expelled from at eleven for sounding the bells in the middle of the night, and the journey to Paris that set everything in motion. From there we follow Soyer to London, where his arrival at the Reform Club in 1837 changed the course of British food history. His revolutionary kitchen design, his extraordinary banquets, his cookbooks written specifically for the poor as well as the privileged, and the way he used his fame and his skills to address the social issues of his time in ways that most chefs of his era simply didn't think to do.
The centrepiece of this episode is the Irish Famine — and Soyer's response to it. In 1847 he travelled to Dublin, set up soup kitchens capable of feeding thousands of people a day, and developed recipes specifically designed to provide maximum nutrition from minimum resources. It is one of the most remarkable acts of humanitarian cooking in history, and it sits alongside his work in the Crimean War — where he followed Florence Nightingale to the front, redesigned the field kitchens that were making soldiers sick, and invented portable cooking equipment that the British army used for the next century.
This is a revisited episode — updated, expanded and brought back because the story of Alexis Soyer deserves to be heard by as many people as possible. He is one of the most important figures in the history of French and British food culture, and one of the most unjustly forgotten. By the time this episode is over, you will understand exactly why he matters — an
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!
29 March 2026, 11:00 am - 18 minutes 2 secondsFrench Food News — March 2026
Every month the French food world delivers stories that stop you in your tracks — and March 2026 is no exception. We're opening with the sweeping new trade deal between Australia and the European Union, which after eight years of negotiations has finally been signed — and buried inside the headlines about beef quotas and defence partnerships is a fascinating food story about naming rights, geographical indications and what it means when a country built on migrants claims the names of European cheeses and wines as its own.
From there we move into the Michelin Guide France and Monaco 2026 — the big one. 62 new stars awarded at a ceremony in Monaco, a brand new three-star restaurant in Savoie, and a guide that is clearly rewarding a new generation of chefs opening deeply personal, sustainability-focused establishments throughout France. We also cover the Bocuse d'Or Europe coming to Marseille for the very first time, with Denmark taking the top spot and France finishing fifth on home soil — with all eyes now on the grand final in Lyon in January 2027.
The second half of the episode gets into the stories that show just how politically charged food is in France right now. The government's long-awaited National Strategy for Food, Nutrition and Climate — and the extraordinary row that erupted over whether to use the word "reduction" or "limitation" when talking about meat. France's new ban on foods containing EU-prohibited pesticides, and what it says about the ongoing tension with South American agricultural imports. And a new Ipsos poll that found 97 percent of people in France have a good opinion of French food — but placed Burgundy at a somewhat controversial 28 percent in the most gastronomic region rankings. The people of Dijon will have something to say about that.
We also cover the BBC Eye investigation into the illegal trafficking of European glass eels — a trade worth more per kilogram than cocaine that criminal networks have nicknamed the cocaine of the sea — and finish with festivals and events, including the Fest'Oie goose festival in Sarlat, the Merci Chef French culinary week in Athens, and the French Cultures Festival running across Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas throughout April. Everything you need to know about
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!
26 March 2026, 4:00 pm - 24 minutes 12 secondsRungis: Inside the World's Largest Food Market
Rungis: Inside the World's Largest Food Market
Seven kilometres south of Paris, larger than the entire Principality of Monaco, there is a place that most visitors to the city will never see. It opens at three in the morning. It employs 13,000 people every single day. It supplies food to 18 million people across the Île-de-France. And it quietly underpins every extraordinary meal you have ever eaten in France. This is Rungis — the world's largest wholesale food market — and in this episode of Fabulously Delicious, we're going inside.
But to understand Rungis, you first have to understand what came before it. For nearly a thousand years, the beating heart of Paris's food supply was Les Halles — the sprawling, magnificent market in the centre of the city that Émile Zola called le ventre de Paris, the belly of Paris. We're telling the full story of that market, its iconic Baltard pavilions, the last extraordinary night when Parisians gathered to say goodbye with flowers and brass bands and farandoles around vegetable crates — and then the move of the century itself. Over one weekend in February 1969, 1,000 wholesale companies, 20,000 people and 5,000 tonnes of goods made the journey south in 1,500 trucks. A former general managed the logistics. US President Nixon was visiting Paris the same weekend. And according to a legend nobody has ever quite disproved — some of the rats that had called Les Halles home for generations climbed aboard the removal trucks and made the journey too.
Today Rungis is the engine room of French gastronomy. We're walking the entire site — the vast fruit and vegetable sector, the meat pavilions, the seafood hall with its nightly veterinary checks, the dairy and gastronomy sector, the organic pavilion, and the extraordinary flower market that most people never know exists. We're talking about who actually shops here, how to visit, the restaurants that serve steak frites at four in the morning, the onion soup tradition that survived the journey from Les Halles and never left, and the direct line between this market operating through the night and the quality of food on Parisian plates the following day.
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!
24 March 2026, 4:00 pm - 48 minutes 3 secondsBurgundy: The Food Capital of France You Need to Know
Burgundy: The Food Capital of France You Need to Know
Burgundy. Most people think of wine. But the food story of this region is one of the most extraordinary in all of France — and most people have never heard it properly told.
In this episode I'm taking you deep into the heart of Burgundy — through the dishes, the ingredients, the cheeses, the drinks, the sweet things, and the remarkable people who have shaped this region's culinary identity across the centuries.
We're talking Boeuf Bourguignon and the surprising history behind the dish the whole world thinks it knows. Coq au Vin and the two-thousand-year-old victory meal legend that may or may not involve Julius Caesar. Oeufs en Meurette — one of the most quietly perfect things you will ever eat. Gougères fresh from the oven. Jambon Persillé. And a chicken dish born entirely from a kitchen accident that a quick-thinking woman turned into something magnificent.
We're covering the ingredients that make this landscape so special — Charolais beef, Bresse chicken, Burgundy truffles that most people don't know exist, and a Dijon mustard story that takes a surprising detour into hip hop.
There are cheeses — including Époisses, the king of cheeses that nearly ceased to exist and was saved by one farming couple in 1956. Blackcurrants and the medicinal brochure that started it all. Crème de Cassis, the Kir, and Marc de Bourgogne. Pain d'Épices, Nonnettes, and the tiny anise candy that has been made the same way since 1591.
And there are the chefs. A man born in Dijon in 1618 who single-handedly invented modern French cuisine. A farm girl from the edge of Bresse who became the most decorated chef in the world. The largely forgotten godfather of Burgundian fine dining. And the brilliant, charismatic three-star chef whose story of ambition, pressure and tragedy quietly inspired one of the most beloved films ever made.
Burgundy doesn't announce itself. It just quietly produces some of the most extraordinary food in the world and waits for you to pay attention. This episode is your invitation.
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!
19 March 2026, 9:00 am - 28 minutes 46 secondsThe Story of Clotilde Bizolon
The Story of Clotilde Bizolon
Clotilde Bizolon, known throughout Lyon as Mère Bizolon, was one of the city’s most beloved figures, yet her story remains surprisingly little known today. In this episode of Fabulously Delicious, Andrew Prior explores how a widowed shopkeeper became “the mother of the soldiers,” offering warmth, food, and comfort to men passing through Lyon-Perrache during both the First and Second World Wars. Her life blends French food culture, community care, and the human side of wartime history.
Listeners will discover how Mère Bizolon created a simple refreshment stand that became a lifeline for soldiers: coffee, broth, chocolate, bread, and a moment of kindness served from a modest board-and-zinc shelter. Her generosity earned her the Légion d’Honneur and made her one of the most respected women in Lyon. Her work sits alongside the traditions of the Mères Lyonnaises, the women whose cooking and hospitality helped shape the city’s culinary identity.
This episode also explores the final, tragic chapter of her life: the assault in 1940 that led to her death, the unanswered questions surrounding the investigation, and the deep shock it caused across Lyon. Andrew recounts her funeral at the Basilica of Saint-Martin d’Ainay, the crowds who came to honour her, and the ways the city chose to preserve her memory — from a street named after her to her famous ladle now held at the Musée Gadagne.
For listeners passionate about French food history, Lyonnaise cuisine, and the women who shaped France’s culinary landscape, this episode offers a moving and insightful journey. It pairs beautifully with Mères Lyonnaises, The Story of Eugénie Brazier, The Story of Paul Bocuse, and Soup Onion with Beth Fuller. Join Andrew as he brings to life the legacy of Mère Bizolon, a woman whose simple acts of care left a lasting mark on Lyon and its food culture.
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!
5 March 2026, 5:00 pm - 13 minutes 47 secondsFrench Food News: March 2026 — Michelin Moves, Bocuse at 100, and What’s On in France
French Food News: March 2026 — Michelin Moves, Bocuse at 100, and What’s On in France
This month on Fabulously Delicious, we’re serving up a full plate of the latest French food news — the stories, openings, trends, and tasty tidbits shaping the world of French cuisine right now. From Michelin Guide movements to cultural conversations and culinary anniversaries, this episode is your quick, delicious way to stay up to date with what’s happening across France and beyond.
We dive into the BBC’s renewed look at the French Paradox, explore the legacy of Paul Bocuse on what would have been his 100th birthday, and break down the newest Michelin stars lighting up the French dining scene. You’ll hear about rising chefs, shifting food culture, and the restaurants everyone is talking about — plus a few that deserve more attention.
If you’re planning a trip to France, dreaming of one, or simply love knowing what’s cooking, we also round up the major food events happening in March — from artisanal fairs and wine festivals to international shows where French producers shine. It’s your monthly guide to where the flavours are, who’s making waves, and what to look out for next.
And if this episode leaves you hungry for more, there’s a whole back catalogue waiting for you. Explore deep dives into French food history, regional specialties, iconic dishes, and the chefs who shaped them. Make sure to follow the show and come back next month for another fresh serving of French food news — toujours délicieux.
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!
24 February 2026, 2:00 pm - 24 minutes 54 secondsLife Is Better With Butter: The French Beurre Episode
Life Is Better With Butter: The French Beurre Episode
Life Is Better With Butter: The French Beurre Episode explores the rich history, culture, and craft behind one of France’s most iconic ingredients. From ancient butter-making traditions to modern French dairy excellence, this episode traces how butter or beurre, became a defining pillar of French cuisine, baking, and everyday cooking.
Dive into the regional and cultural story of French butter, including why beurre demi-sel (salted butter) holds a special place in Brittany and Normandy, and how terroir influences flavor, aroma, and texture. Learn what sets prestigious AOP butters like Isigny, Charentes-Poitou, and Bresse butter apart, and why seasonality, cow feed, and traditional churning methods still matter to chefs and artisans today.
This episode also breaks down the science and craft of butter, from fermentation and cream maturation to industrial production and legal standards in France. You’ll discover the differences between salted and unsalted butter, raw vs pasteurized butter, cultured butter, clarified butter, compound butters, and why the French are among the world’s highest consumers of butter per capita.
Finally, you’ll get practical tips for cooking, baking, tasting, and pairing butter like a French chef. Including when to use unsalted butter for pastries and sauces, how to finish dishes with butter for maximum flavor, and how this humble ingredient elevates everything from croissants to classic French sauces. Whether you love French food, baking, or culinary history, this episode proves one delicious truth: life really is better with butter.
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!
12 February 2026, 5:00 pm - 14 minutes 10 secondsThe Cerise de Montmorency — A Very French Cherry
The Cerise de Montmorency — A Very French Cherry
In this episode of Fabulously Delicious, we’re diving into the story of one of France’s most iconic fruits: the Cerise de Montmorency, a bright, tangy sour cherry with centuries of history behind it. From its first written descriptions in the 17th century to its status as a prized delicacy for Parisian nobility, this small fruit has played a surprisingly big role in French food culture.
We explore the cherry’s deep roots in the town of Montmorency, just north of Paris, where it became a local treasure and a seasonal obsession. You’ll hear how thousands of baskets of cherries once traveled daily from the Montmorency valley to Paris, why Parisians rented cherry trees by the hour in the 19th century, and how the famous “gaudrioles” became part of everyday life and leisure.
The episode also follows the Montmorency cherry’s journey beyond France, tracing how it spread to North America and became the most widely grown sour cherry in the United States and Canada. We look at modern production, culinary uses, and how this tart cherry continues to thrive in pies, preserves, juices, kirsch, and both traditional and contemporary French cooking — even as cultivation in France has become more limited.
Finally, we turn to the present and the future, including the 2023 publication of the cherry’s fully sequenced genome and what that means for growers, researchers, and flavor lovers alike. It’s a story of agriculture, gastronomy, and heritage — all wrapped up in one vividly red, unapologetically tart, and very French cherry.
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!
10 February 2026, 10:00 am - 17 minutes 13 secondsVoices of the Market Les Cris de Paris
Voices of the Market: Les Cris de Paris
Voices of the Market: Les Cris de Paris takes listeners back to the bustling streets of medieval and Renaissance Paris, where markets weren’t just places to shop — they were stages filled with sound, rhythm, and theatrical flair. Long before advertising, signage, or social media, street vendors relied on their voices, crafting memorable cries to attract customers and sell everything from food to household goods.
In this episode, we explore the origins of the Cris de Paris — the shouted calls of market sellers, travelling tradespeople, and street merchants — and how these cries evolved from simple sales pitches into a distinctive form of urban poetry and performance. You’ll discover how these chants shaped daily life, reflected what Parisians ate, and became part of the living soundtrack of the city.
We’ll also uncover how the cries were preserved through history, from illustrated engravings and literature to music by composer Clément Janequin, whose famous Cris de Paris transformed street calls into choral art. Along the way, we visit historic Parisian landmarks like Les Halles — once known as the “belly of Paris” — to understand where these voices rang out loudest and why they eventually faded.
Finally, we dive into some of the most fascinating food-related cries themselves — from coconut drinks and roasted chestnuts to oranges, oublies, tinware, and root vegetables — revealing how vendors turned everyday commerce into creativity, charm, and spectacle. Voices of the Market: Les Cris de Paris is a sensory journey into the sounds, flavors, and stories of a Paris that once sang through its streets.
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!
5 February 2026, 2:00 pm - More Episodes? Get the App