Chicken braised and finished in a sauce of cream and melted maroilles, the washed-rind cheese of the Avesnois. Powerfully savoury, and always served with frites.
Where to eat it: 3 restaurants across 1 city.
Maroilles is reported to have first been made in 962 by a monk at the Abbey of Maroilles, southeast of Lille, and it won AOC status in 1976 and AOP in 1996. It is a washed-rind cheese with an orange crust and a smell that arrives before the plate does. Northern kitchens use it as a sauce base rather than a cheese board, and chicken in maroilles is the most common result. Every estaminet on Rue de Gand has a version, and the differences come down to how much rind goes in the pan.
Common allergens: Milk
Tip from the editors. Add no salt until the very end. Maroilles brings more than most people expect and it is easy to overshoot.
Chez la Vieille on Rue de Gand in Lille is the maroilles house of the strip, a cluttered estaminet where the cheese turns up in almost every course.
Why locals love it: A cluttered maroilles house on the historic Rue de Gand, with a summer terrace looking straight at the Porte de Gand.
Tip: Reservations are essential in the evening. The room fills with regulars before the visitors arrive.
Estaminet La Vieille France on Rue de Gand in Lille seats 65 and cooks the northern canon, carbonade, blanquette de veau, potjevleesch and pot au feu.
Why locals love it: Sixty-five covers doing the regional canon rather than a tourist carte, on the busiest estaminet street in the city.
Tip: Closed Tuesday and Wednesday at lunch, which catches out most people who just walk up.
L'Estaminet Lillois on Rue de la Barre in Lille pours around twenty regional beers and cooks carbonade, potjevleesch and chicken in maroilles.
Why locals love it: Closed Monday and Tuesday, with Wednesday dinner only, which keeps it a locals' room rather than a tourist stop.
Tip: Wednesday is dinner only and Sunday is lunch only. Check before you build an evening around it.
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