Vodka & Food

Neither Picardy nor the area around Cognac has anything resembling the zakuski culture that Poland or Russia pairs with vodka. In France, vodka isn't part of a meal; at most, it appears in an aperitif or a cocktail before or after eating. That holds true across both landscapes covered by this region.

Picardy itself, however, has its own hearty cuisine. One example is flamiche, a pastry made of puff or shortcrust dough filled with leeks. In the Ponthieu area, it's instead filled with potatoes and bacon and called "bisteu." A second example is ficelle picarde, a filled crêpe with ham and a creamy mushroom filling, baked with cheese on top. It was created in 1950 at the Hôtel du Commerce in Amiens.

In the Charente, by contrast, the coast shapes the cuisine. One example is mussels cooked in cream and finished with a splash of Cognac. A vodka from this region suits such dishes best as a cool, understated opener. As an accompaniment to the meal itself, it barely works, its flavor is simply too neutral for that.

Anyone hoping to understand the region through its food won't find a vodka table like those in the East. Instead, two separate culinary traditions sit side by side, having produced the same vodka purely by coincidence: hearty fare in the north, seafood cuisine in the west. What connects them is a brand that draws on both landscapes without ever truly being rooted in either.