The English speed past it, or stop at Calais, the French ignore it for holidays and most people from both sides of the Channel would be hard pressed to name a dish from there. Unless of course, they live there. This is a chance to change that perception.

History has a large part to play in the local food, the humble potato championed by Antoine-Auguste Parmentier not really famous for the dish but for bringing potatoes to France. The local sweet tooth can be traced to Napoleon who vexed with the English blockade leaving France short of sugar pushed for the sugar beet to be developed in the northern area of France. Buy some delightfully named Silly things (Bêtises) de Cambrai.

This is not a land baked in sun, the influence is heavily Flemish with a soupçon of German. The north is also mining country, and this is reflected in hearty food.

I have to admit that, apart from chicory and endive salad, no locally grown produce shines. The dishes are really the stars. Try the Flamiche (cake in Flemish) this is a thin yeast based pastry topped with everything from leeks, onion to cheese (more of which later) Nothing warms the cockles like a Hochepot (oxtail and vegetable stew), a Carbonade A La Flamande (beef stew in beer) or a Miroton (onion and beef stew).

A special mention should go to garlic, garlic? You say. Strange as it seems, far from the sun kissed south, garlic is not only grown here but celebrated; Arleux some 25 kilometers from Lille holds an annual Garlic festival in mid September. Try and get some of the smoked variety.

Boulogne is much more than a big supermarket, it is where most if the herring is landed. These can be found cured or smoked and make a delectable salad.

Desserts are simple sugar tarts, waffles and rich yeasty cakes feed the sugar addiction.

The absolute stars of this region are the cheeses, these match the hard life on the plains. They are not for the faint hearted, these are the best smelly cheeses in France. The Maroille, washed in beer and known locally as “Old Stinky”, the Dauphin in the shape of a fish and flavoured with pepper and tarragon, the conical “Boulette D’avenes truffled with tarragon, parsley, and pepper, the Mimolette a French type of Gouda and last but not least Brie (beware of imitations).