Bœuf de Chalosse, Label Rouge, IGP. The Chalosse, Red Label, Beef Cattle.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
bryangnewman@gmail.com

 
The Bœuf de Chalosse.
Photograph courtesy of Association Bœuf de Chalosse 

The origin of Chalosse.

Until 1790, the second year of the French Revolution, the ancient region of Chalosse—a hilly, green area nestled near the Pyrenees—was part of historic Gascony. It was then incorporated into the newly created Landes department, now part of Nouvelle-Aquitaine.  In food products, the name Chalosse lives on through local specialties, including:

·        Label Rouge and IGP-certified Bœuf de Chalosse (beef)

·        IGP Vins des Coteaux de Chalosse (wines)

·        Jambon de Chalosse (cured ham)

·        IGP duck products from the area of Chalosse that are part of the Canard à Foie Gras du Sud-Ouest

(The region had been part of the larger territories held by the English crown (the Duchy of Aquitaine/Guyenne) from the 12th to the 15th centuries when it returned to France during one of eternal French-English wars).

                                          

         The IGP          

Chalosse beef has been raised in the region for hundreds of years and, since the early 1900s, has been recognized for its exceptional quality. Today, it holds both a Pan-European IGP (Indication Géographique Protégée) and the prestigious French Red Label (Label Rouge).

In France, where beef is rarely aged to ensure maximum tenderness, specific Chalosse cuts are an exception and are aged for at least ten days: the Entrecôte , Filet (US tenderloin/ UK fillet), Faux-filet, (UK sirloin/USA strip steak), Rumsteck (rump steak) and Côte de Bœuf (bone-in rib eye or rib roast).

The Chalosse Beef logo

Interestingly, the Chalosse cattle are not a particular breed; rather, this group includes beef cattle from the Blonde d'Aquitaine, the Limousine, and the Bazas breeds and, rather obviously, the progeny from these three strains. (This emphasis on nurturing rather than strict breeding is also central to the success of the Bœuf Fin Gras du Mézenc AOP.  

The Chalosse Beef
Photograph courtesy of France-Voyage.com

The Bœuf de Chalosse on French Menus:

Entrecôte de Bœuf de Chalosse à  la Bordelaise - An entrecôte (ribeye) steak from the Bœuf de Chalosse prepared à la Bordelaise.  (To order a steak, in France, cooked the way you prefer it click here  See Chapter 1).

In this listing à la Bordelaise indicates the use of Sauce Bordelaise - This sauce is made with Bordeaux red wine, veal stock, butter, shallots, thyme, and bone marrow.  The wine used in the preparation of this sauce is key, and there is plenty of choice. Bordeaux is a port city that is close to the center of France’s Atlantic coast and the cultural center of the nearly 60 wine appellations that make up the famous Bordeaux wine-growing region.

Ordering wine to accompany your Entrecote Bordelaise - When selecting a wine to accompany a dish with Sauce Bordelaise, remember there are over 3,500 wine châteaux and wholesalers in Bordeaux. While you may recognize a few famous names on the wine list, that alone does not guarantee a good match, and the restaurant’s wine list may offer 20 more options with excellent wines with names and years that you don’t know.  At this point, a sommelier, the wine steward, should demonstrate their skills using your preferences and budget.  The sommelier can suggest a wine that pairs well with the dish and complements the sauce without overpowering it.

If you prefer making your own choices, buy an up-to-date pocket wine book before you travel or buy the guide as an eBook so that you can browse the wine list with your phone. 

 

Sauté d'Onglet de Bœuf de Chalosse aux Petits Légumes et au Gingembre  - A lightly fried, US flank steak (a UK hanger steak) (see chapter 17) from Chalosse beef, served with young vegetables and flavored with ginger. 

The ginger root holds 90% of the plant's ginger flavor, and when cooked, the aroma and the sharpness and spiciness drop considerably, and that is the ginger taste that most of us prefer.   French chefs who want the kick and flavor that comes from the fresh root will buy it whole and then grind and dry their own powdered ginger to use as required.

 

Boeuf de Chalosse Wellington
(For more about Beef Wellington see the post)
Photograph and recipe courtesy of Qualité Landes

 

Paleron de Bœuf de Chalosse Braisé au Vin de Tursan.– A Paleron is a cut from the shoulder used for many of France’s finest stews. (See chapter 16). Here, the paleron is braised in a Tursan AOP wine, probably a red, from the vineyards in the departments of Landes and Gers.

Tursan is a relatively small appellation with a long history of winemaking for reds, whites and rosés.  As winemaking techniques have improved, their wines are gaining popularity.

Pièce de Bœuf de Chalosse à la Plancha, Pommes Grenaille au Poêlon - One of the unique and tasty French cuts from the rump (See chapters 5 and 19),  prepared on the plancha and served with small new potatoes prepared in a particular frying pan called a poêlon.

The Plancha or Planxa is part of many southern French and French Basque recipes and provides unique tastes that cannot be obtained with traditional frying or grilling. (In French restaurant tradition, the pots and pans used in preparing various dishes are often noted in the menu listing, implying authenticity and artisanal preparation.) The plancha is an iron sheet, almost one and a half centimeters (0.6”) thick, that provides a very even method of cooking that uses very little oil, which results in a taste of its own. The invention of the plancha is claimed as their own by the French, the Spanish, and the Basques.

Pommes Grenaille - Grenailles may be translated in your French-English dictionary as pebbles; however, you will be served small, early, new potatoes.

Poêlons - Heavier and deeper than standard frying pans and used for slow cooking and braising.

 

Filet de Bœuf de Chalosse en Croûte aux Herbes – Fillet of beef, a cut from the tenderloin (chapter 20), from the Chalosse beef  (en croute aux herbes indicates the beef is cooked within a covering of herbs).

En Croûte: initially, only indicated dishes that had been cooked, or finished cooking inside pastry or in a hollowed-out loaf of bread.  Today's creative chefs have moved on and apart from pastry and bread dishes, en croûte may be prepared with coverings from vegetables, herbs or fruits. Dishes en croûte may also include toasted dishes that are sometimes called a croustade. The word croûte, on its own, is the French word for toasted and or a crust.

Filet de Bœuf de Chalosse aux Échalotes Confites
A cut from the fillet, the tenderloin (chapter  20) from Chalosse beef served with a shallot confit (jam).
The word confit means to cook very well, cure or preserve. Following on confit also links to the word confiture (jams or jellies) and in this case the shallot confit will be close to a jam.
Photograph and recipe courtesy of Elle à Table.

The Chalosse Beef with the Label Rouge

To earn the prestigious Label Rouge designation, the nurturing of cattle is strictly regulated. Calves must be reared by their mothers until weaned, and the use of antibiotics or growth hormones is strictly prohibited.  For the first two years, the animals graze freely from spring through Autumn, and during the winter, when they are in barns, they are fed the grasses and herbs from the same area where they grazed in summer, mostly wild grasses. In the third year, in the six or twelve months before going to market, they have corn (USA maize) added to their diet.

While the commercial center of Chalosse is the spa town of Dax (the home of the Dacquoise or Le Biscuit Dacquoise ), the seat of the Beef Association of Chalosse is located in the small village of Lourquen, about 24 km (15 miles) away.  Most farmers only send about 40 animals to the market each year, so there is a very limited supply.  Fewer than 80 artisanal butchers sell the beef throughout France; consequently, finding this very special beef on a restaurant’s menu will be a special occasion, and you should not pass on the opportunity.

The Trophée Bœuf de Chalosse

If you are in the area of Landes on the last Saturday in July, do not miss out on the Trophée Bœuf de Chalosse; this is a two-day fete in the small town of Montfort-en-Chalosse, which is a ten-minute drive from the village of Lourquen.  The main events are on Saturday, including a gourmet dinner that attracts meat lovers.

 

On Saturday, the town festival begins at 8 a.m., and by 9 a.m., the flea market and local market are open, and visitors can watch the parade of cattle, decorated with flowers and entertainment by folk groups, bandas, and pony rides for children.  Also in the morning, the competition of fattened oxen, cows, and heifers will take place, and for lunch, local butchers will prepare dishes based on the IGP Label Rouge Chalosse beef.

Bulls on show at the Trophée Bœuf de Chalosse.
Photograph courtesy of MODEF. 

Landes is about much more than just beef. 

Situated on France’s Atlantic coast, Landes boasts over 100 km (66 miles) of uninterrupted sandy beaches. Its long shoreline is a rich source of fresh fish, oysters, and mussels. For exceptional oysters, head to Lac d'Hossegor (Hossegor Marine Lake), and if you're curious about how oysters are sold by weight in France, check out the post Huitres. Oysters. Huitres II: How Fresh Oysters in France are Sold by Weight. The nearby town of Hossegor is a European surfing hotspot that draws surfers from across the continent. Just a ten-minute drive away is Capbreton, home to a working fishing port, a paradise for seafood lovers, and it also has beautiful sandy beaches. Further north lies Seignosse, renowned for its wild, dune-backed beaches popular with surfers, as well as its nearby water park and golf course. These are just a few of the many places to explore, relax, and enjoy the flavors of Landes.

---------------

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Bryan G. Newman
Behind the French Menu
Copyright 2010, 2017, 2025.
bryangnewman@gmail.com

 

 

Tournedos: Including Tournedos Rossini

   from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
bryangnewman@gmail.com

 
Tournedos Rossini

Tournedos – A center cut from a filet de bœuf, a beef fillet, the tenderloin; the most expensive of all beef cuts. The same cut as a Chateaubriand, though a Chateaubriand is traditionally thicker, as it will be cut into two separate steaks. Today, a tournedos should be at least three cm (1.2") thick, or thicker. Naturally tender, it is often served lightly pan-fried. The cut has little fat, so a tournedos should never be cooked well-done as it would become burnt outside, dried out, and tasteless inside.

       Caveat Emptor: The term tournedos is sometimes used for thick cuts       of salmon, other fish, and duck.

Tournedos á la Beauharnais – Named after the family of Napoleon I's first wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais. Tournedos á la Beauharnais is still seen on some menus, where it will be prepared with hearts of artichoke  and a sauce béarnaise accompanied by pommes de terre noisettes. 
Pommes de Terre Noisettes are small potato balls cut out of potatoes with the same tool that makes melon balls. They will have been boiled for one or two minutes and then fried. How they are served varies, though most menus give some information. A noisette is a hazelnut, so expect them to be small and brown.

Tournedos au Poivre – A tournedos prepared with pepper sauce. French pepper steaks generally use green peppercorns unless otherwise noted. 
Green peppercorns, which are picked before they ripen, pickled in brine, and dried, have a light herbal flavor and are much less pungent than black or white peppercorns. Using green peppercorns makes controlling the heat less difficult.

Tournedos Bordelaise – A tournedos served with Sauce Bordelaise (a sauce made in the manner of Bordeaux). The red wine used in the preparation of this sauce is key, along with veal stock, butter, shallots, thyme, bay leaves, and bone marrow.  Some recipes add button mushrooms.  Others include tarragon, though it's not traditional; it's a modern variation that adds a fresh, aromatic twist.

Tournedos Bordelaise à la Moelle – This dish is the same as Tournedos Bordelaise but features additional bone marrow (à la moelle means 'with marrow'). While traditional Sauce Bordelaise typically includes a small amount of marrow.
The à la Moelle designation indicates more bone marrow has been incorporated, giving the sauce a rich, velvety texture. Extra pieces of bone marrow are also often placed atop the steak just before serving.

Tournedos Chasseur – A classic tournedos served with a Sauce Chasseur, a hunter's sauce; a red wine sauce made with mushrooms and a roux brune, a basic brown sauce flavored with shallots, lardons (bacon bits), and sometimes crème fraîche. with rabbit or poultry.  

Tournedos Marchand de Vin or Tournedos Vigneronne – A tournedos made with a sauce created for a wine merchant or winemaker. The recipe may change slightly, and the Chef Alain Ducasse includes shallots, red wine, butter, lemon, flat parsley, ground pepper, and fleur de sel.

Tournedos Rossini
Photograph by MonkeyBusiness/YayMicro.com 

Tournedos Rossini

After 150 years is still the most famous of all steak dishes 

Gioacchino Rossini 

Tournedos Rossini - The most famous of all tournedos dishes, named after the composer Gioacchino Rossini (1792–1868).  The original recipe was created by chef Casimir Moissons at the famous 19^thcentury restaurant La Maison Dorée, Paris. In the classic preparation, the tournedos is sautéed, garnished with foie gras, fattened goose liver, and the Truffe de Périgord, the Périgord truffle and served on a sourdough crouton, which provides a delightful textural contrast with the rich, dark Madeira wine sauce that ties all the ingredients together. (The original quantities used would make the dish very expensive today, so ask the server how your Tournedos Rossini will be prepared.) 

Apart from being a world-famous composer Rossini was a friend, critic, and supporter of many of the most celebrated chefs of his time, who in turn considered him an artist with gifts equal to theirs.

The original Tournedos Rossini.

The original recipe for a Tournedos Rossini called for a 4–5 cm (1.6"- 2") thick steak, cut from the UK fillet, the USA tenderloin weighing between 300 and 400 grams (10–14 ozs).  Today, a Tournedos Rossini may weigh about half of the original, but that  weight change is true of many famous classic steak dishes, including Chateaubriands,

When served, the original Tournedos Rossini was garnished with 150 grams (5.3 oz) or more of foie gras d'oie, fattened goose liver lightly fried in a beurre noisette, a pre-prepared, light brown butter sauce with 70 grams (2.5 oz) of Périgord truffle slices interleaved within the dish   Although the fillet (tenderloin) is the most tender cut of beef, it is not the most flavorful. All Tournedos steaks are served with a sauce, and for a Tournedos Rossini, it is the Madeira wine sauce poured over the tournedos just before serving.  (Caveat Emptor: The entire fillet, or tenderloin, is often called a Filet Mignon in the USA. However, be cautious when ordering "Filet Mignon" in France, as for beef that term only indicates the narrow, pointed end of the fillet and, without the addition of the words de bœuf (of beef), it primarily refers to veal and pork fillets.)

The original recipe for a Tournedos Rossini is too expensive for today's clientele. Seventy grams of a fresh Périgord truffle alone can cost over Є100 Euros (close to 120 US dollars today).  When combined with the goose foie gras, the steak itself, and the restaurant's overheads, profits, etc, you'll see that not too many restaurants have customers for a three to five-hundred-dollar steak dish.  While the composer Gioacchino Rossini and the chef Casimir Moissons, who created the dish in Rossini's honor, may turn in their graves, most patrons will accept a smaller and less expensive version as long as the taste and soul of the dish remains close to the original.

Ordering a Tournedos Rossini today.

Today, the steak cut from the fillet for a Tournedos Rossini may weigh about 200 grams (7 ounces), and that is enough for most diners. No longer will a thick Tournedos need to be roasted; instead, it will be quickly fried all around to seal it, and then it will often be barded before being pan-fried.  Barding involves wrapping the steak with strips of fat, usually fatty bacon, because cuts from the fillet, the tenderloin, have little internal or external fat

N.B. A steak cut from the fillet can never be served well-done; it would result in a bland and dry-textured variety of cardboard.  (To order a steak, in France, cooked the way you like it, read the post:  Ordering a steak, in France, cooked the way you like it).

You can request your Tournedos Rossini, rare, medium-rare or even medium-well; however, a serious French chef will not accept an order for a well-done tournedos, as this cut could not be properly made past medium-well. Other steaks (not from the tenderloin) are available and, apart from being less expensive, may be ordered well-done.  (See the Post: Entrecôte – The tastiest of steaks).

  
The inside of a Foie Gras store in Paris
Photograph courtesy of Trip Advisor
Foie Gras Luxe, Paris, France

The ingredients:

The filet steak, the tenderloin.

See the post Filet Mignon on French Menus and Filet de Bœuf in French Cuisine.      

Goose Foie Gras

Foie gras is the fattened liver of a goose or a duck.  The original Tournedos Rossini used the more expensive goose foie gras.  The liver is gently fried in a pre-prepared beurre noisette, a butter that has been cooked until it has reached the color of hazelnuts. N.B.: Fattened goose liver, like fattened duck liver, is very fatty and will simply melt if anyone attempts to cook it well done. To provide for those who refuse fattened duck or goose liver, a number of restaurants now offer calf or other liver as foie gras substitutes.

Lightly seared foie gras.
Photograph courtesy of Kate Hopkins
www.flickr.com/photos/accidentalhedonist/5706485365

The Périgord Truffle. 

The original recipe included 70 grams (2.5 ounces) of the Périgord truffle (Truffe de Périgord), also called the black truffle or the black diamond. The Périgord truffle is considered by many to be the finest of all the French truffles, and it is also the costliest.

The black Périgord truffle and truffle slivers. 

The wholesale cost of truffles is volatile, with the price of Périgord truffles (tuber melanosporum) fluctuating with the season and market demand.  A Périgord truffle weighing 25-30 grams would cost in a restaurant Euros Є 70 to Є 100 each.  (approx.: $84 to $120).

Today, some restaurants offer a Tournedos Rossini with just a few truffle scrapings from the Périgord truffles.  Unfortunately, using too little truffle results in little truffle taste and no texture, causing both the flavor and texture to vanish.      

The best alternative, without the all the original ingredients, I tasted was achieved by a chef who prepared his Tournedos Rossini with duck foie gras and duxelles and flavored them with truffle oil. Duxelles is a five-hundred-year-old recipe made with finely chopped mushrooms, shallots, and herbs cooked in butter. Duxelles will leave both taste and texture (though not that of a truffle) which was far better than the smal,l and almost tasteless, tiny truffle shavings I have been served elsewhere. 

Duxelles is a simple but famous recipe created by one of France’s earliest published chefs, Francois Pierre de La Varenne (1618 – 1678). La Varenne named the dish after his employer, the Marquis d'Uxelles, hence duxelles. Despite the age of this recipe duxelles will be, with many variations, on many modern French menus.

The Perigord truffle in the languages of France's neighbors:
(Catalan - tòfona negra), (Dutch - Perigord truffle Perigord truffle, zwarte truffel), (German - schwarze trüffle, echte trüffel or Perigord trüffel), (Italian- tartufo nero del Périgord, tartufo nero or nero pregiato), (Spanish - trufa de Périgord or trufa negra), (Latin - tuber melanosporum).

Madeira Sauce. 

The Sauce Madère (Madeira wine sauce) may be the last part added to the dish, but it is certainly not the least important. Of the famous Madeira wines, the preferred choice for a Tournedos Rossini is Verdelho, a medium-dry Madeira wine.

The Verdelho Madeira wine is second from the left.
Photograph courtesy of Patrick Barry.
www.flickr.com/photos/pbarry/4928215119/ 

For a Sauce Madère, the classic recipe is typically built on a demi-glace (a rich brown stock reduction) and Madeira wine, sometimes with the addition of a small amount of regular white wine; herbs will be added at the chef’s discretion. Madeira wine is a fortified wine with an alcohol content of 17 – 21 percent and while a significant amount of alcohol evaporates during simmering, the idea that "most" of it is entirely removed by cooking is a common culinary myth. Madeira and ports are called Vinho Generosos in Portuguese and are typically high in sugar and alcohol.

A Madeira Wine for your digestif?
Photograph courtesy of Ewan Munro
www.flickr.com/photos/55935853@N00/3745472885/

The popularity of Portuguese Madeira wines in French cuisine began with the islands of Madeira’s convoluted connections to the British.  British merchants in Madeira established close ties with the American colonies, trading wine for American products.  Madeira became the wine of choice for celebrations, including the signing of the Declaration of Independence and George Washington's inauguration. The French fought with the Americans in the American War of Indepence and while there learned to appreciate Madeira wines.

Madeira Sauce in the languages of France's neighbors:
 (Catalan - salsa madeira), (Dutch - Madeirasaus), (German - Madeirasauce), (Italian – salsa al Madera), (Spanish - salsa de Madeira).

Choosing a wine to accompany Tournedos Rossini.

The wine that will be recommended to accompany a Tournedos Rossini (outside   Burgundy) will be a red wine from Bordeaux, and I would agree.  Unfortunately, if you're reading the wine list, the price of a wine from a favored Château, and a good vintage as well, may ruin your taste buds before a drop has passed your lips!That's when you need a good pocket wine guide or a good sommelier.

A Chateau Lafite Rothschild 1982, Paulliac.
Photograph courtesy of Blue Jules
www.flickr.com/photos/bluejules/333040036/ 

Knowledgeable sommeliers, the wine stewards, when provided with a budget, can usually find a good, if less well-known Bordeaux wine that will bring the smiles back all around.  A Tournedos Rossini deserves a robust and well-balanced red, and a single grape, Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon, would not be the wine that is recommended. If you pass on a red Bordeaux, then consider a less expensive, but unfortunately not inexpensive, Gevrey-Chambertin from the Bourgogne, Burgundy; that is an excellent alternative.

Gioacchino Rossini, the cook and gourmet.

The world knows Gioacchino Rossini for his hundreds of stunning musical works that include nearly 40 operas, the most famous being The Barber of Seville. The French honor Rossini for the many operas that he composed while he was living in France, often with French librettos, including the famous Guillaume Tell, William Tell.   When Rossini was not composing, he was intensely involved in the world of well-prepared food; his close friends were not musicians or singers but chefs. These famous chefs considered Rossini as an artist, like themselves, and they named dishes in his honor. Rossini was recognized as an uncommonly talented amateur cook, and one of his greatest joys was cooking for his friends.

 Among the many dishes that Rossini cooked for his chef friends (who were among the world's early serious food critics) was a dish he called Cannelloni alla Rossini. Rossini created this unassuming but delicious dish to impress his friends, who included Antonin Carême.  (While there are arguments over the dish's creator, most agree that this was Rossini's creation). In that period, a great deal of importance was placed on creating visually impressive dishes such as Tournedos Rossini and so it would have been unlikely to have been created by the master chefs who were Rossini's friends.

Rossini was a friend of chefs not only due to his fame, for artists, having another artist who truly understands and appreciates their work leads to a friend for life. Rossini and Antonin Carême, France's most celebrated chef of the early 1800s, considered each other to be outstanding artists.

Rossini and Chateaubriand.

The dish that would become Tournedos Rossini was influenced by a meeting between Rossini and Chateaubriand in Italy in 1822.  Chateaubriand was himself an artist, a diarist, a novelist, and a politician. Above all, from Rossini's viewpoint, a serious gourmet and likely introduced Rossini to the wonders of a Chateaubriand steak (created by Chateaubriand's chef, Montreuil).  The meeting occurred while Chateaubriand was in Verona, Italy, representing the French Government at the Congress of Verona, a meeting of European political leaders where Rossini had come at the request of Prince Metternich, of Austria, to impress and provide music for the visiting politicians. 

When Rossini returned to France from Italy, he would have shared his admiration for Chateaubriand's new creation with his friends, who were France's top chefs. At that time, his closest friend and most famous among all French chefs was Antonin Carême; however, Carême was in Vienna, as chef to the British Ambassador. Since Carême would spend close to three years in Vienna, Rossini turned to another friend, another of France's greatest chefs, Casimir Moissons, to create a steak dish that would rival the Chateaubriand.

Casimir Moissons

Casimir Moissons was the chef at La Maison Dorée, one of Paris's most famous 19th-century restaurants, where Rossini was a frequent visitor when in Paris. Casimir Moissons created many famous dishes, but unlike some of his better-known contemporaries, Casimir Moissons never wrote a cookbook, missing out on much of the historical fame that he deserved. If his friend Antonin Carême had created Tournedos Rossini, it would have been in one of his many cookbooks.  Carême named many of his creations after famous people and published his recipes, but he did not include Tournedos Rossini in his cookbooks.  Associating Carême with the Tournedos Rossini is a frequent and understandable error, as Antonin Carême was one of Rossini's best friends. 

When Carême returned to France, after some exclusive private banquets, he became chef to Baron James de Rothschild.  Rothschild also considered Carême a consummate artist of haute cuisine and gave him as much time as he required for writing; Antonin stayed with Rothschild until he retired.

Casimir Moissons, like all great chefs of his time, was intensely competitive. In 1822 would have immediately looked for the opportunity to create a dish that outshone Montreuil's Chateaubriand. The result was the Tournedos Rossini, and it included, apart from steak, three of Rossini's favorites: the Périgourd truffles, foie gras, and Madeira wine.

Many other dishes that were named after Rossini and are still on menus today, including:

• ·       Filet de Sole à la Rossini (filet of sole in the manner of Rossini).
• ·       Minestra di Caccia alla Rossini  (a traditional Italian game soup or stew).
• ·       Poularde Rossini  (A poularde is a fattened chicken). Poulardes were historically spayed to fatten them; now, most are fattened by their diet. When ready for market, a poularde weighs about 2 kilos (4.4 lbs.).  

Rossini is buried in Florence, Italy.

Rossini died in France and was buried in Paris's Père Lâchais cemetery, not far from the grave of Chopin.  Home, however, is home, and in 1887 Rossini was re-interred in Italy in the church of Santa Croce, Florence.  While he may have missed his original neighbors, like Chopin and Brillat-Savarin, at least in the Santa Croce church, he can talk to other famous Italians, including Michelangelo, Galileo, and even Niccolo Machiavelli.  (If Rossini gets up and decides to go for a walk, I can vouch that he can buy fabulous leather coats in the streets of Florence, round-about the church!)          

Basilica de Santa Croce, Florence.
Photograph courtesy of Rodrigo Soldon
www.flickr.com/photos/soldon/5393816889/ 

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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com
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