The 2024 Olympics are off to a spectacular start, with athletes from all around the world gathered in Paris to compete at the highest level. This year’s Olympics are also more eco-conscious, with a greater focus on plant-based food.
If you’re lucky enough to actually be in Paris for the 2024 Olympics, there are a number of great cafés and restaurants to visit for plant-based fare.
However, for the rest of us watching the games from the comfort of our living rooms, putting together a Parisian-themed Olympic watch party is the next best thing.
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Traditional French food
Traditional French cuisine is renowned for its rich flavors and sophisticated techniques. Key elements include cheeses, pastries, and a variety of meats. Historically, French cuisine has been influenced by the country’s agricultural abundance and regional diversity.
Anthony Delanoix/Unsplash
Iconic dishes include Coq au Vin (chicken braised with wine), Boeuf Bourguignon (beef stew with red wine), and Ratatouille (a vegetable stew from Provence). French bread, particularly the baguette, and pastries such as croissants and éclairs, are staples of the French diet.
French cuisine began to gain prominence during the Middle Ages, but it was in the 17th century, under the reign of Louis XIV, that it truly began to flourish. The development of haute cuisine, characterized by meticulous preparation and presentation, marked a significant evolution in French culinary arts. Over the centuries, French cuisine has continued to evolve, incorporating global influences while maintaining its classic roots.
In recent years, France’s plant-based meat and cheese industry has grown, with startups making everything from animal-free brie to meatless ham and bacon.
Creating a vegan Parisian-inspired Olympic watch party
It doesn’t matter which sport you are gathering to watch or which team you’re rooting for, the star of your Olympic watch party will be the food (and bubbly). Here is some inspiration for a gold-medal winning spread.
L’Artisane
Vegan French pastries and baked goods
Recreate the essence of a Parisian café with vegan pastries and baked goods. Try making vegan croissants, which can be crafted using plant-based butter and milk. Other delicious options include pain au chocolat, made with dairy-free chocolate, and fruit tarts with vegan custard.
Not a baker? Not a problem. Head to Whole Foods Market to pick up a dozen buttery croissants or check out the selection at these bakeries around the country.
You can even have an entire vegan French pastry spread delivered nationwide from Florida’s L’Artisane. In addition to a combo box of various croissants, this plant-based French bakery—the first in the country—offers palmiers, madeleines, macarons, coffee cakes, and cookies.
To evoke the spirit of the 2024 Olympics in particular, you’ll have to veer a little off course when it comes to baked goods. That’s because this year, athletes have found a new dessert to love in Paris: a chocolate muffin served in the Olympic Village.
To recreate a plant-based version of the gooey muffin that’s gone viral on TikTok, you can try this recipe from School Night Vegan which features the same melty gobs of chocolate on top.
Climax Foods
Plant-based French cheeses and charcuterie
A French-inspired watch party wouldn’t be complete without a cheese platter. Nowadays, there are numerous vegan cheese options available, from cashew-based brie to almond-based chèvre, stocked at boutique vegan cheese shops such as Riverdel in New York City, Vromage in Los Angeles, Rebel Cheese in Austin, TX, and The Vreamery in Paso Robles, CA.
While Miyoko’s Creamery is a better-known brand in artisanal vegan wheels, there are a growing number of companies that are nailing French cheese sans dairy.
Canadian brand Nuts for Cheese offers a cashew-based brie that you’ll have to try to believe which is appropriately named “Un-Brie-Lievable.” New York City-based Rind makes a Cambleu, a French-style, buttery vegan cheese it offers in flavors such as Paprika, Laspang, and Herbs de Provence.
For blue cheese lovers, Climax Foods makes a dairy-free version that’s just like the real thing thanks to artificial intelligence and machine learning. Just in time for the Olympics, this vegan cheese became available on Good Eggs.
French dairy cheese giant Bel Group also offers a dairy-free version of its Boursin cheese that is tres chic on a crusty baguette. What’s even better? You can pick up both at Trader Joe’s right before your watch party.
Prime Roots
Pair all of these delightfully dairy-free cheeses with olives, nuts, and fruit for a French-style spread. For a meatier spread, try pate, foie gras, and ham from Prime Roots which uses koji (a Japanese fungus packed with umami) to create its vegan meats.
Classic French dishes made vegan
If you have a little time to spend in the kitchen before you settle in for the watch party, consider serving vegan versions of classic French dishes. Here are five traditional dishes to get you started.
Claire Power
1French Crêpes
These classic French pancakes are brightened up with a bit of orange zest and are ready in just three steps. However, you’ll have to move quickly to get a desirable paper-thin texture.
Get the recipe
Andrea Hannemann
2French Niçoise Salad
Chickpeas stand in for tuna in this salade niçoise which is also built around roasted potatoes, kale, and a briny hit of kalamata olives.
Get the recipe
Hannah Kaminsky
3Roasted Ratatouille With Basil Pistou
This classic recipe is traditionally already vegan with its vegetable base of tomatoes, zucchini, onions, and eggplant. This version gets an herbaceous pistou to take the whole dish up a notch.
Get the recipe
Connoisseurus Veg
4Coq au Vin
While the name refers to chicken that is slow-cooked in wine, the meatless version of the classic dish gets its toothsome bite from seitan—a versatile meat alternative. The complex flavors here come from crimini mushrooms, pearl onions, brandy, and red wine.
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Vanessa K. Rees5Boeuf Bourguignon in Red Wine Sauce
In this classic French stew, seitan is also a beef stand-in that gets a long simmer in the Dutch oven with a flavorful assortment of aromatics, mushrooms, and spices in a bath of red wine. The dish is rounded out with a classic combination of potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, and peas.
Get the recipe
A bit of bubbly
No French-themed party is complete without some sparkling beverages. Serve vegan-friendly Champagne or sparkling wine to toast the events. Champagne comes from a specific region in France and while many wines are vegan, some use animal products in their production process.
A few good vegan Champagne companies are Moët & Chandon, Laurent-Perrier, and iconic Veuve Clicquot.
For non-alcoholic options, try making sparkling lemonade or a refreshing French-inspired herbal tea. Be sure to check labels to ensure the beverages are vegan as some could be sweetened with honey.
And all of these drinks are perfect for toasting when your favorite athletes win. Santé!
For more plant-based stories like this, read:
Anna Starostinetskaya is the Senior News Editor at VegNews and is always keeping an eye on all things vegan in her home city of San Francisco, CA and everywhere else.
Here at VegNews, we live and breathe the vegan lifestyle, and only recommend products we feel make our lives amazing. Occasionally, articles may include shopping links where we might earn a small commission. In no way does this effect the editorial integrity of VegNews.
