Bonjour! France was the leading western European power from the 9th to the 15th centuries and again from the 1640s to 1871. During that time most West European nations took their religious, political, military, artistic, fashion and cooking ideas from France. Medieval Scotland adopted French law and administration, and even when it went Protestant took its Protestantism from the Frenchman Calvin.

The court of Frederick the Great, and of the 19th century Russian aristocracy and the Brazilian elites were so besotted with French culture that they even adopted French as their normal language of polite conversation to show their scorn of the German, Russian or the Portuguese of the common people. From the later 17th century until the post WW1 peace treaties, French displaced Latin as the language of diplomacy. The terms for military ranks and military science, haute coùture, haute cuisine, and modern art, in every European language have been taken from French, along with the practises and styles these represent. As tp how geography influences cuisine: Normandy is dairy country, whence its cheeses, Burgundy has the right climate and soil for grapes, so is important for wines. Brittany, having a long coast line has a long tradition of fish and other sea food.

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3 years ago