Les Bouchons Lyonnais Relaunch Les Mâchons

In Lyon, the French capital of gastronomy, some restaurateurs owners of “bouchons” had a great idea: relaunching  the “mâchon”, a lost morning tradition.

As it is the case in the U.S, the French restaurant industry has been negatively affected by the recent new wave of Covid, and the government restrictions: first curfews from 9:00 PM to 6:00 AM, and then other new regulations imposed in October. And at the end of October  president Macron announced that bars and restaurants will have  to  close .

French people are used to having dinner in restaurants later in the evening than in the U.S. Especially in the big cities. So the interdiction of serving after 9:00 PM had been poorly accepted by the population. And it had catastrophic consequences for restaurant owners, including many definitive closings.

In Lyon, during the curfew, the restaurateurs participating in this "mâchon" experience hoped that it would help them to compensate for the loss of dinner customers.

That was a very interesting idea, which unfortunately could not be continued in November because of the total closing of restaurants.

The mâchon dates back to the 18th and 19th century when Lyon was the capital of the French silk weaving industry. Silk weavers, the workers called “Les Canuts” lived and worked in the picturesque hilly district of La Croix-Rousse, where most weaving workshops were  located. They were hungry and needed a relaxing diversion when they ended their long night shifts around sunrise or early morning. So they would walked down from the hill to downtown, a district which is nowadays called the 1st and 2nd arrondissements, to eat soup and local “charcuterie”and drink wine in one of the numerous popular taverns. This early morning meal was called a “Mâchon” a word derived from the French verb “mâcher” which means “ to chew”.

But the living conditions of the Canuts were not ideal. They worked long hours for rich authoritative bosses who exploited them and paid them very low salaries. When a big economic recession occurred their wages were even reduced or cut. In 1831 they revolted again this accumulation of injustice and started a violent insurrection, very badly repressed by the police and the army, resulting in a large number of deaths.

2 other revolts by the canuts took place in 1844 and 1848.

Later on, in the early part of the 19th century,  women who have been cooking for rich and middle-class families, started to open restaurants in Lyon. Their talents were rapidly recognized locally, and later on nationally, and they were the true originators of the cuisine that put Lyon on top of the French gastronomy. They were called “les mères lyonnaises” and their simple but very delicious recipes are still very alive today. 

Some of the better-known original mères were Mère Filloux (Françoise Fayolle), who created the “poularde demi-deuil. Mère Léa (Léa Bidaut) opened her famous restaurant La Voûte (also called Chez Léa) in 1943. I went there once in 1980 and it was a memorable dinner. It was still one of the most popular bouchon in 2019.

La Mère Bourgeois, whose most famous regular customer was Edouard Herriot, the legendary mayor of Lyon from 1905 to 1957, and French Prime Minister in the late 20s and early 30s. Her restaurant earned 3 Michelin stars in 1932, 

But the most celebrated of them was La Mère Brazier ( Eugénie Brazier), who contributed to develop the notoriety of the cuisine Lyonnaise and was the first woman chef to receive 6 Michelin stars 3 for each of her 2 restaurants.  The year was 1933  and she kept them for 30 years. One of the famous cooks that she trained was Paul Bocuse. He became an international star. 

Curnonsky, ( Maurice Sailland) the most famous food writer of the 20th century, who was nicknamed “The Prince of Gastronomes” greatly contributed to the international success of the  Guide Michelin, (he signed his articles using the pseudo of Bibendum). He called Lyon The Gastronomic Capital of the World in 1935.

The Mères, in fact, started the concept of “bouchons”, popular and rustic restaurants, that served simple but very savory traditional Lyonnaise cuisine using good  regional products, and serving regional wines such as Beaujolais and Macon, generously poured from special bottles  called “pots” (46 cl).  

The name "bouchon" has no connection with the French word for "cork". It has its origin in "bousche"an old lyonnais dialect word to describe a bunch of small branches that the owners of taverns used to hang above their door to indicate that they served food and wine.

In the early 2019, Lyon was the city of France which had the biggest number of restaurants: 1500.

But only 50 to 60 call themselves Bouchons.

Of these only 24 or 25 can be called authentic bouchons lyonnais.

They are accredited and given an official label of certification by the trade  association Les Bouchons Lyonnais, founded in 2012. 

I have to say however that for several years, when I traveled to Lyon for business, my local contacts always took me for lunch in one of the oldest and most popular bouchons in the 1st arrondissement, Le Café des Fédérations, Rue du Major Martin.

It is not in the list of the “certified” members of the associations , but nevertheless is a very authentic bouchon. The typical decor includes wooden table covered with a red checkers cloth, banquettes of red moleskine, copper bars, vaulted ceiling, walls covered with pictures and memorabilia of the Old Lyon and paintings from local artists. But what is immediately noticeable when you enter are the big pork sausages (“Rosette” and “Jesus”) hanging down from the ceiling.

There is a limited menu but it includes all the typical Lyonnaise specialties, that you can find on the blackboard.

Here are some of them that you will find in many other bouchons:

As appetizers:

Caviar de la Croix-Rousse, a tasty salad of Lentils from Le Puy, dressed in cream and often garnished with lardons (fried pieces of bacon) or cereals, a local dry sausage.  

Charcuterie Lyonnaise, various types of cold dry sausages, and terrines.

Salade Lyonnaise, frisée lettuce, with lardons and garlicky croutons, in a vinaigrette with a poached egg on top.

Grattons ,  Cracklings, Small bits of deep-fried pork skin and fat rind. until they are very crispy.

Tripe soup 

As main dishes:

Grilled Andouillette (chitterlings) a very pungent pork sausage from Bobosse (a famous local charcutier)

Quenelles de Brochet, dumplings of ground pike, in a cream and egg sauce, sometimes served with crayfish.

Saucisson Pistaché au vin rouge, Warm pork sausage encrusted with pistachios, and cooked in red wine.

Poulet au vinaigre, chicken baked in a vinegar sauce

Poulet aux morilles à la crème, Chicken legs from the nearby Bresse area, with morels mushrooms in a cream sauce

Tablier de Sapeur, (a sapeur was a military fireman with a heavy leather apron); triangular part of the cow stomach looking like a honeycomb, that is marinated in white wine, boiled, then coated with breadcrumbs and panfried. Served with a very tasty sauce Gribiche, sort of a light mayo with herbs, gherkins, and Worcester sauce.

Gras-double, pork tripe baked in wine with onions

Gâteau de foies de volaille,  Rich chopped fresh chicken liver cake or tart. Mixed with eggs and shallots in a sort of brioche dough, and served with a tomato and olive sauce.

Sabodet,  Sausage, or headcheese, made from various ground parts of a pork’s head cooked in red wine seasoned with garlic and nutmeg

Gratin de cardon, Cardoon stems baked in cream and cheese with a brown cheese crust. Can also be made with Leeks

Gratin Dauphinois, Gratin of sliced potatoes baked in cream, butter, in a ceramic brushed with fresh garlic.

As desserts:

Cervelle de Canut, a dish of “fromage blanc” (farmer’s cheese) seasoned with fresh herbs, shallots, walnut or olive oil, and wine vinegar. 

Bugnes, small fritters covered with powdered  sugar

Tarte aux pralines, tart made with pink colored caramelized almonds. 

These are only a few examples of dishes that you can eat in a bouchon.

Now, obviously, the few restaurateurs, about 15 of them as of the end of October, who decided to resurrect the old tradition of the “mâchons” in Lyon, and to open their bouchons at 8:00 or 9:00 in the morning until 11:30, essentially from Friday to Sunday for the time being, will not offer a whole  menu. They are targeting customers desirous to have a serious “breakfast” or early lunch. They mainly want to attract adult customers eager to share some comforting and joyous moments with other people and friends, drink some “pots” of some good Beaujolais, and eat a few traditional comforting dishes. I am talking about andouillettes, saucisson chaud aux pistaches, and various “cochonailles” (pork pâtés and sausages), as well as régional cheeses  such as “Saint Marcellin”. To end that ”lyonnaise brunch” a traditional  dessert would  be a “cervelle de Canut”, or a Tarte aux pommes.

There is also an association, which would define itself as a "brotherhood" and has been fighting for several years in the defense and the promotion of the Mâchon tradition. It is called the  "Confrérie des Francs-Mâchons". It is a sort of a play on word from the Francs-Maçons (Free-Masons).

The Association of Les Bouchons Lyonnais is responsible for launching this operation under the slogan “ Cultivons nos traditions” (Let’s save and revive our traditions). I hope that it will be such a success that that more bouchons will follow that example when the curfew is lifted and when  restaurants are reopened or good.

Lyonnaise Cuisine,  Bouchons Lyonnais, Les Mères de Lyon, Les Mâchons, Crisis in French  Restaurant Industry