When you hear about Chambéry, you rarely think of waterways. However, the city is traversed by three rivers: Leysse, Albanne and Hyères. The ground was so swampy, the buildings in the old centre had to rest on larch stilts to prevent them from sinking... including 30,000 to support the Cathedral of Saint-François-de-Sales alone. But swamps mean crayfish. It seems that crayfish were in such abundance several centuries ago that they allegedly gave Chambéry its name. Latin scholars will tell you that crayfish is camberium in the language of the Romans. Regardless of the etymology, it is true that several recipes from Chambéry are based on these shellfish.
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