There isn’t any hen in France as extremely thought to be the Bresse hen. Unique to the area in Burgundy with which it shares its title, the breed is probably the most delicious and costly poultry within the nation—revered for its marbled meat and mixture of stark white feathers, shiny purple comb, and slate blue toes that collectively resemble the colours of the French flag. To see poulet de Bresse on a menu right here is as pure as seeing Dijon mustard or a bottle of Pinot Noir.
I’m being informed this by Eva Longoria, who has paused halfway by way of filming a scene for her NCS journey present, Searching for France, which airs April 12, to enthusiastically clarify a detailed illustration of mentioned hen. We’re standing contained in the kitchen of Michelin-starred Clos du Cèdre in Beaune, a charming medieval city thought of to be the wine capital of Burgundy, which will likely be Longoria’s dwelling base for the following few days. So far, the actor tells me, she’s ordered it each nights for dinner. “I continue to be surprised by how regional French cuisine can be,” she says. “Wherever I go, I’m asking: Where did this dish come from? How was it born?”
Culinary origin tales—the methods substances and their histories can form or mirror a tradition—are the connective tissue that holds Longoria’s present collectively, which is now in its third season. Prior to France, the actor traveled to Mexico, the place her household is from, after which to Spain, to hint her personal colonial heritage. In a area crowded with journey exhibits hosted by celebrities (Zac Efron, Conan O’Brien, and Eugene Levy, to call simply three), Longoria proved herself to be an enthusiastic and curious traveler onscreen, biting into sugar-coated conchas with gusto in Mexico City and indulgently guzzling down Catalan prawns in Barcelona.
It was these private connections to Mexico and Spain that made her an apparent selection for NCS because the community sought to capitalize on the success of Stanley Tucci‘s Searching for Italy. And whereas Longoria stays open-minded about the place she could journey to sooner or later, she says France was an apparent subsequent step for season three, having fallen laborious for it after marrying her now ex-husband, the French American basketball participant Tony Parker. “I got to explore France through French people, which is really a beautiful experience because they love their country so much,” she says. It additionally left her with an insatiable starvation to go extra locations and see extra issues after noticing “how well-traveled Europeans were” in distinction to what she describes as her personal comparatively sheltered upbringing in Texas. “When we divorced, I stayed in love with the country,” she says. “I have strong ties here. It feels like a second home.”