Eat like a local in Lyon: cervelle de canut 

 Cervelle de canut is not what you think it reads.

The texture, admittedly, is spongy like a brain is. Only it is not a brain.

“It is fromage blanc mixed with cottage cheese made with finely-chopped herbs, shallots, and a bit of oil,” said Kim Logassi, chef at the Léon de Lyon in the first district of Lyon, the most famous restaurant for those keen to eat it.

It is on the menu in the fromages section, listed along with Saint-Marcellin, Fromage blanc en faisselle de la Mère Richard, an 18-month-old Comté and a cheese plate. It is served with thin slices of toasted baguette.

This is the traditional way of eating it; after the starter and the main course. 

But you could choose to have it during the apéro, much like Meilleur ouvrier de France Christian Janier, owner of Fromagerie Janier, who tops it with cherries and chopped vegetables. You could also eat it as a mâchon, the slang word in Lyon for lunch snack.

Where does its name come from? “The silk workers of Lyon, known as the canuts, would be locked away in workshops all day long, giving them a pale look over time,” said Yves Rouèche, the author of a history book on Lyon’s gastronomie.

“‘Cervelle’ because of its brain-like texture, and ‘canuts’ because of the colour of their face,” he added.

It was popularised in 1934 by chef Paul Lacombe, who made his own version of it. But his association with the dish may be the result of a local prank, according to Mr Rouèche.

Friends of Mr Lacombe organised an official ceremony in 1971, when they changed the street sign from Rue Pleney to Rue Léon de Lyon - Jean-Paul Lacombe, with a caption that read: ‘inventor of cervelle de canut.’

However, it long existed before Mr Lacombe.

Cervelle de canut had an entry in Le Littré de la Grand'Côte, a 1894 textbook by Nizier du Puitspelu that compiled many words, colloquialisms and expressions from the Lyon region.

It defined it as a claqueret, a sauce that combined garlic, cheese and herbs. It was named thus because the fromage blanc needed to be claqué (whipped).

Canuts used to eat claqueret because they could not afford lamb’s brain, a local delicacy. Starting work at around 5:00, they would often eat cervelle de canut around 9:00 for mâchon.

Here The Connexion provides Mr Lacombe’s recipe which, funnily enough, is meant for 10 to 20 persons or most likely over an apéritif:

You will need to drain 500g of fromage blanc to get a faisselle, half a bunch of chervil, half a bunch of chives, half a bunch of parsley, one shallot, 50g of olive oil, 20g of aged wine vinegar, 2g of pepper, 10g of salt, 150g of single cream, and 150g of whipped cream.

This recipe should be made with a wooden spatula and not with a whisk, as the mixture should not be a smooth. It should be possible to shape it into quenelles using two spoons for serving on a plate with an assortment of cheeses.

Drain the fromage blanc 24 hours before. Chop the herbs (chervil, chives, parsley, and shallot), mix them with the fromage blanc and add the olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and single cream. Lightly whip the single cream and gently fold it into the mixture. Refrigerate and serve chilled.

It is often served with toasts, boiled potatoes or a salad.

You can also find homemade cervelle de canut in several cheesemongers such as at the Fromagerie Le Gone in Neuville-sur-Saône, a suburb north of Lyon, or fromagerie B.O.F. de la Martinière in the first district of Lyon.