What's Cooking in the Tour de France? Quiz

Answer: Tart

Quiche Lorraine is a pie (or technically a tart) with a savoury filling of cream and egg yolks, and some special ingredients. Traditional recipes add bacon, but several variations consist: with grated cheese, leek, onions, broccoli and salmon, Mediterranean vegetables - you name it.
People who'd like a very digestive meal, with few calories, are advised not to consume quiche Lorraine. It's usually rich in fat and digests rather slowly.
Lorraine, the region after which the most popular kind of quiche was named, borders Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. The most important cities in Lorraine are Metz and Nancy.
Many Tour de France stages with an arrival in Lorraine end in a mass sprint. In 1969, the Belgian cyclist Rik Van Looy won the stage from Charleville-Mézières to Nancy after a long escape, with 42 seconds ahead on his compatriot Julien Stevens.

Answer: Munster

Munster is the only of these cities that lies in the region Alsace and has given its name to a cheese variety.
The treaty to which I refer in the question, is not named after the French city Munster but after its German namesake. This treaty was concluded in 1648 and ended the Eighty Years' War.
According to the rules of the Appelation d'Origine Contrôlée, Munster cheese has to be made from crude milk produced in a limited zone (mainly from the region Alsace, but also from the directly neighbouring region Lorraine). There are also specific rules for the ripening of the cheese (during which period the cheese is frequently washed with brine).
Alsace is a French region near the Jura and Vosges mountain ranges, between the Ardennes to the North and the Alps to the South. It borders Germany, and those interested in history can visit the remains of the Maginot line (a series of fortifications) near this border.
Some interesting cities to visit in the Alsace are Colmar, Strasbourg (the capital) and Mulhouse.
One of the interesting Tour de France stages in the Alsace was the 13th stage from the Tour in 2009. In a stage of 200 km between Vittel and Colmar, seven cyclists took the lead after only three kilometres. One of these seven, the German Heinrich Haussler, stayed in front up till the finish, and he won this stage with more than 4 minutes advance.

Answer: Mustard

Burgundy is a region in France best known for its wine produce. But there are some other gastronomic delights too.
One of the recipes that immediately come in mind when thinking of Burgundy, is boeuf bourguignonne - a stew of beef with red wine, with garlic, onions, mushrooms and dices of bacon.
Dijon has given its name to a type of mustard that is not protected by an appellation d'origine. So while the mustard was named after the city Dijon, virtually every city or region has the right to produce this spicy mustard - and most of the Dijon mustard is indeed produced abroad.
The chicken refers to the poule de Bresse - a breed of huge chickens produced in the region Rhône-Alpes. With the cabbage, I hint at Savoy cabbage - a variety that lends its name from another French region. Dijon is the capital city of the department Côte D'Or, which name also is a brand name of chocolate, so I added this delicacy as a red herring.
Dijon has been the site of some stage arrivals in different Tours de France. One remarkable event took place in Dijon in the time trial in 1979, the 21st of 24 stages. Bernard Hinault won the time trial over 49 km in 1h 8min 53s, thus consolidating his lead in the general classification. More interesting was the duel between the French cyclist Philippe Tesnière (starting the stage as the last in the general classification) and his Austrian competitor Gerhard Schönbacher, who started at the penultimate place. They tried and rode as slow as they could, in the hope of winning the red lantern trophy for the cyclist who occupies the last place in the general classification. Tesnière was the slowest of the two, but he was disqualified for finishing more than 20% behind the stage winner.

Answer: Madeleine

The Col de la Madeleine is the Alpine mountain pass that shares its name with a sponge cake from the region Lorraine. This is pure coincidence: the pass wasn't named after the cake, neither was the cake named after the pass.
The cake is rich in butter and eggs. It comes typically in the form of a shell. Sometimes it is flavoured with (for instance) raspberry jam or chocolate.
The Col de la Madeleine has been climbed frequently in the Tour de France since 1969, and many times on route to the Alpe d'Huez. Most stages including the Madeleine have two or three of the most demanding climbs (named "hors catégorie").
The French cyclist Richard Virenque was the first to win the climb of the Col de la Madeleine in three consecutive years: 1995, 1996 and 1997. These three victories contributed to his second, third and fourth win in the mountain classification.

Answer: Provence

The Mont Ventoux is a desolate mountain in the Provence. Technically it is one of the Alp cols, but there are no other Alps of similar height nearby. The Mont Ventoux is exposed to strong gusts of wind, which increase the difficulty of the climb.
In 1967, the British cyclist Tom Simpson died exhausted on the ascent to the Mont Ventoux. The exact cause of death is still debated.
Provençale sauce contains tomatoes, garlic, peppers and onions, as well as some local herbs.
Béarnaise sauce was named after a province in the French Pyrenees. It contains egg yolks, vinegar, butter and herbs, especially tarragon.
Bolognese sauce is a spicy tomato sauce named after an Italian city.
Andalouse sauce is a spicy sauce based upon mayonnaise, with the addition of tomatoes, bell peppers and chopped onions. It is named after one of the main regions of Spain.

Answer: Sausages and beans

Cassoulet contains white beans (in modern recipes frequently in tomato sauce), pork sausages, and some other meat (duck, goose confit, bacon, mutton...) . It is a typical dish in the region Midi-Pyrenées and Languedoc-Roussillon.
Beef, foie gras and truffles are the main ingredients of the quite expensive Tournedos Rossini.
Olives, capers and anchovies are the main ingredients of tapenade - a Provencal delicacy.
Fish and shellfish are boiled in a fish broth to obtain the Bouillabaise - a soup especially linked to Marseille.
One of the stages that pop up in several Tours de France is a mountain stage between Luchon and Carcassonne. In 1951 the Belgian cyclist André Rosseel won this stage. In 1962 the winner was the French Jean Stablinski. And in 2006 Yaroslav Popovych won this stage. The same stage in the other direction was won by the French Albert Bourlon in 1947.

Answer: Cognac

Cognac is a brandy distilled from acidic white wine. There are strict rules as to where it may be produced, which grapes can be used, how the drink matures (and for how long). The brandy has to mature in oak barrels for at least two years, but the more exquisite cognacs have matured much longer.
The small town named Cognac is situated on the banks of the river Charente, some 400 km southwest of Paris. Most of the town was built on the left bank (south of the river). Tourists may have a look at the Château des Valois, built during the late Middle Ages.
The town of Cognac hasn't been a start or finish town of any Tour stage frequently. In 2007, a time trial started in Cognac and ended in Angouleme, after roughly 55 km. At that time, the American Levi Leipheimer was celebrated as winner of this particular stage. But five years later, he confessed to having used doping and was retroactively stripped of the ranking. So, five years after the finish it was decided that the Australian Cadel Evans had won the time trial, and not Levi Leipheimer. Although doping is of course a serious misdemeanour, I am of the opinion that changing a winner to a particular stage more than five years later is not quite cricket: sanctions should be inflicted immediately, and not so many years later.

Answer: Beurre nantais

Nantes is the city we're looking for. It is situated on the banks of the Loire river, some 55 km from the Atlantic Ocean. Nantes is one of the largest metropolises in France. Public transportation is quite popular in and around Nantes, the city where probably the first public transportation company in France was established (in 1826).
Beurre nantais is a popular accompaniment of fish (especially when poached). It may occasionally be served with asparagus.
In the first editions of the Tour de France, Nantes was the starting point for the final stage (Nantes - Paris), over a whopping 470 km. Nowadays cyclists would cross this distance in two or even three stages.
For those wondering about the red herrings: these terms do really exist, I haven't cooked them up. Beurre d'Isigny is a type of butter named after a small town in Normandy, while beurre d'Ardenne is (as the name says) a type of butter originating in the Ardennes region. Beurre de Marrakech is a sauce made out of butter and cannabis, so I can't imagine a reputed restaurant serving this unhealthy dish.

Answer: Crustaceans

Sole normande is basically a dish with fish, crustaceans (mussels, shrimp, in expensive restaurants even oysters or scallops) , and a creamy sauce with mushroom (sometimes also truffles). The sauce is frequently flavoured with the regional apple wine (cider), sometimes with the regional brandy (Calvados).
Chocolate doesn't pair well with flatfish. So even if some creative mind would try out a sole normande with pure chocolate, I doubt it would become a great success - the taste of chocolate would be overwhelming.
Likewise for the choux de Bruxelles. One might consider pairing other cabbages (especially broccoli) to fish, but it is not typically recommended to do so with flatfish.
Sole normande needs of course some herbs, but chili peppers are way too spicy to use. Other than salt and pepper, one usually adds parsley, chervil, or dill, as well as a few drops of lemon juice. Once again, we don't want to lose the flavour of the flatfish to an ingredient with strong flavours.
In the question, I mentioned Mont Saint Michel - one of the interesting tourist places in Normandy. This village at roughly a mile from the Normandy coast (and normally only accessible on low tide), has served as the arrival of a Tour de France stage in 1990. In this particular plain stage, the Belgian cyclist Johan Museeuw won a mass sprint. It was his first major success.

Answer: Saint-Honore

Believe it or not, but all these saints have left traces in gastronomy as well as on the Paris city map.
The French patron saint of bakers was Saint Honoré (celebrated on May 16), bishop of Amiens who died about 600. Legend tells us that his nanny wouldn't believe his investiture, and would have proclaimed "I'll only believe it if the bread I'm baking right now, would turn into a tree". Medieval sources claim this miracle actually happened, so Honoré is the patron saint of bakers.
Saint-Germain (venerated May 28) was bishop of Paris in the Sixth Century. He constituted a church and abbey in Paris, on the left bank of the Seine, in 558. The Boulevard Saint-Germain accosts this abbey. Saint-Germain also gave his name to a pea soup, but the reasons for this attribution are not clear.
Saint-Emilion is a wine region north of Bordeaux, sharing its name with several saints whose biography is not detailed. A small alley in Paris, on the right bank of the Seine, is named Passage Saint-Emilion.
Saint-Jacques is known in English as Saint James the Greater, one of the twelve apostles. For some mysterious reason, he is usually depicted with two scallops, and so these scallops have been named after him. The French name for the scallops is coquilles Saint-Jacques, and these are quite a delicacy. There is a Boulevard Saint-Jacques in Paris, on the left bank of the Seine.
Most finishes in Paris are mass sprints. In 1989 though, the final stage was an individual time trial from Versailles to Paris over a distance of about 25 km. Although the French cyclist Laurent Fignon started the race with a lead of fifty seconds on the American Greg Lemond, it did not suffice for winning the Tour. Lemond won the time trial with 58 seconds ahead on Fignon, and thus taking the Tour victory with a difference of a mere 8 seconds.