Gastronomy tour of Burgundy

As a welcome to Burgundy my university arranged a gastronomy tour for the international students – I signed up of course! Before coming here I knew that Burgundy was famous for its food culture – one of my favourite meals is boeuf bourguignon after all – but I did not realize just how many local dishes there was here. Add to this, there is also the wine, and this trip was my first time discovering the Route des Grands Crus.

Gaugry cheese factory

The Gaugry cheese factory was our first stop and the perfect way to start the day. First we got a tour of the factory, including some history and how they make cheese. Unfortunately it was Saturday morning, and they were busy cleaning the factory itself. Next up we got to taste 4 different cheeses – I preferred the Epoisses (a pungent soft-paste cows-milk cheese)  but actually, they were all delicious. As we walked back to the bus after the tasting we noticed that the workers had finished cleaning, and just started making cheese again. Our schedule allowed us to watch them for a little while.

Edmond Fallot mustard factory

Continuing the tour we went to the Edmond Fallot mustard factory, an institution in Burgundy. I found this the most uninspiring building from the street level, so imagine my surprise as I entered a beautiful courtyard. A guide met us to take us on a tour of the factory itself, another impressive building. During the tour we learnt about history, how mustard is made as well as a few fun facts. Did you know that most French mustard is produced with seeds imported from Canada? After the tour we each received two small glasses of mustard before we were sent to the tasting room. The amount of flavors, in addition to regular mustard, impressed me. There was basil, thyme, curry, cassis, raspberry… – as a non-mustard fan I even liked some of them!

Lunch in Beaune

For lunch we walked to a nice restaurant in the city center of Beaune – a town 45 kilometers / 28 miles from Dijon. We passed by a market on the way, which provided some good photo opportunities. After lunch we wandered around Beaune , and I realized that this is definitely a place I must come back to. I really enjoyed the walk to the bus, looking at the architecture, quaint streets and pretty squares.

Cassissium

We finished the trip at the cassissium, where they make Crème de Cassis and other fruit liqueurs. After seeing a video showing the history of cassis in Burgundy, we had a tour of the factory itself. My favourite room was where they stored barrels for the Hospice de Beaune. I couldn’t even count all the barrels, and it smelled really good! At the conclusion of the tour, we tasted the regular Crème de cassis, as well as their special super-cassis – they even mixed them with beer which was simply delicious! We were offered tastings of the other liqueurs and concluded the visit with some shopping.

I really enjoyed this trip! I learnt so much in addition to trying all the good food and liquors!