Food is central to the experience in Lyon France

By Eileen Ogintz
Tribune Content Agency
Taking the Kids

As we are all thinking about all the work Thanksgiving involves, let’s think about the famous Mothers of Lyon France.

These extraordinary women, none trained as professional chefs, are credited with turning Lyon, France into a huge center of gastronomy, starting in the 18 th century.

We learned about the Mothers of Lyon and got a lesson in Lyon food history from Jeremy Boyer, a guide with Tours by Locals, the Canadian tour company I have used many times.

We were at the famous Les Halles de Lyon-Paul Bocuse, the fantastic indoor food market that has been in operation since the mid-19th century, but was moved here to this sleek building in the center of the city’s business district in 1970 and is a popular stop for tourists, as well as locals. There is no better place than a market like this to learn about local food and culture when you travel.

Mere Brezier, who taught all the famous chefs of Lyon

Paul Bocuse, was a celebrity chef before celebrity chefs were a thing in the 20th century. He was dubbed “the pope of gastronomy” and so famous that the character of Chef Auguste Gusteau in the hit animated film “ Ratatouille” was partially based on him. Today, more than seven years after his death, there are several popular restaurants and brasseries in Lyon and Annecy that are part of the Bocuse group.

Back to the Mothers of Lyon. Bocuse got his start with perhaps the most famous of “Les Meres Lyonnaises,” Eugenie Brazier, who took him on after much pleading on his part when he was a young war veteran and aspiring chef. Her Lyon restaurant, though now under different ownership, has welcomed well-known figures from the arts, politics and more since 1921.

Jeremy Boyer of Tours by Locals guides us through the Lyon food market

The market in the Part-Dieu district has huge photographs and descriptions of the Mothers of Lyon. There are some 53 purveyors – bakers and pastry makers, cheese and fishmongers, chocolate makers, butchers and those selling charcuterie, oyster sellers, restaurants and cafes. “You should see this place before the holidays. It’s packed,” said Boyer. It’s the place for after-work gatherings and to buy special foods for the holidays, including sausages with pistachios, quenelles, an iconic poached fish dish here served with a rich sauce, and pastries, including the city’s famous praline tarts, cookies and brioche studded with candied pink pralines.

Wherever we travel these days, especially outside the U.S., we try to take a cooking class like the one we did in Amman, Jordan, taught by local women or the market tour we enjoyed in Lyon, grazing on local specialties.

Learning to cook mideast like the locals

We aren’t alone. Often, the kids and teens are those most interested in trying and cooking new foods. According to Get Your Guide, food tour bookings have jumped 66 percent since 2023. Among the most popular tours booked by Americans this past summer were those in Tokyo, Hanoi, Florence and Seattle’s Pike Place Market.

Travelers these days certainly like receiving and giving food experiences, too. According to a recent survey done by Focaldata in collaboration with Airbnb, food and drink experiences are the leading type of gift people want to give this year. Airbnb offers food experiences around the world – everything from a dive into LA’s taco scene with a food critic to learning to make bagels in NYC. (Gift your favorite foodie traveler with an experience gift card like from Airbnb.)

Popular platforms like Eatwith and Withlocals enable you to connect with those hosting dinners where you are visiting.

Club Wyndham and Pillsbury have teamed up to co-create the Pillsbury Let It Dough Suite at Club Wyndham Midtown 45. “Now open for bookings, the Let It Dough Suite is available for two- and three-night stays through January 6, with rates starting at $399/night. For those who can’t make it to New York, Pillsbury and Club Wyndham are spreading cheer nationwide with “Cookie Happy Hours” at six Club Wyndham resorts across the U.S., serving up warm cookies at check-in for guests throughout the holiday season.”

There are also a growing number of food-oriented, multi-day trips – like the Abercrombie & Kent eight-day Cultural and Culinary Adventure in North Vietnam. Active adventure companies have gotten into the act. Backroads now touts Active Culinary Tours in Italy and France (work off the calories by hiking or biking!)

Tea service setting aboard MS Trollfjord — Tea service setting aboard Hurtigruten’s MS Trollfjord

Take a cruise these days and you can likely sample foods from the region where you are traveling. We certainly did in Norway last year when we traveled to see the Northern Lights with Hurtigruten, complete with chef-led demonstrations of local cuisines that were also served on board. (Ever had reindeer stew?) Windstar Cruises, known for their small sailing ships and yachts offers special food-themed itineraries hosted by James Beard Foundation recognized chefs. (Ready to go food shopping at a local market?)

Regent Seven Seas has special kitchen and Culinary Arts Kitchen Classes, as well as culinary-themed excursions. (We learned to make paella in Spain, for example.) You will also find culinary classes or experiences aboard Carnival Cruise Line, Celebrity and Holland America, which has just announced there will be culinary ambassadors on board during its 113-day Grand Voyages next year (you can book one segment).

Looks like we did it, Pop. Says one chef to another at the Paella cookout near Valencia Spain

In Lyon, we learned that the famous Mothers were not professionally trained chefs. Clotilde Bizolon welcomed French soldiers back from WWI with a free lunch at a Lyon train station; Eugenie Brazier was the first to be awarded three Michelin stars – twice. The first mention of Mere Guy, famous for the eel stew she cooked at an inn on the banks of the Rhone River, was in 1759. In the 1800s, her granddaughter, Mere Filloux, born in 1865, and also known as Mere Guy, only hired women to work in her kitchen, and estimated when she retired in 1925 that she had carved a half-million chickens during her career.

So, this Thanksgiving, give special thanks to all of the mothers in your family as you enjoy their specialties. Ask for their recipes. I still have mine from my grandmother.

Bon appetit!

(For more Taking the Kids, visit www.takingthekids.com and also follow TakingTheKids on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram where Eileen Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments. The fourth edition of The Kid’s Guide to New York City and the third edition of The Kid’s Guide to Washington D.C. are the latest in a series of 14 books for kid travelers published by Eileen.)