Behind the French Menu: 2012-05-27

Montmorency Cherries on French Menus. Montmorency, the Village Near Paris loved by Camille Pissarro and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Montmorency cherries.

www.flickr.com/photos/152376767@N03/35211992024/

The Cerise or Griotte de Montmorency

Montmorency in the 1800s was a small village near Paris, and the cherries from its orchards brought it fame in all French kitchens. French and other menus around the world still have Montmorency cherries as part of many dishes. These small, slightly sour, but uniquely tasty cherries may be part of an hors-d'oeuvre, an entree, the French starter, or be in the sauce for the main course or dessert. In many desserts and pastries, Montmorency is the cherry of choice.

Montmorency Cherry Blossom.

Photograph courtesy of Princess Ruto.

The cherry orchards that were all around the village of Montmorency have long gone. Montmorency today is a bedroom suburb of Paris with 20,000 inhabitants. There are only a few cherry trees left in Montmorency, but their cuttings are now grown all over the world. Montmorency cherries are by far the most popular sour cherry in North America. French Kirsch, the cherry liquor, comes from many places and the cherry of choice is the Montmorency. (Other sour cherries may be on French menus as griottes).

Montmorency cherries on your French Menus:

Confiture de Cerises de Montmorency – Montmorency cherry jam.

Clafoutis aux Cerises de Montmorency - Clafoutis is a cherry tart that originated in the region of Limousine that is now part of the new super region of Nouvelle Aquitaine. Clafoutis are made in a crepe-like batter and now made with other fruits and ingredients. (Clafoutis is pronounced clafouti).

Crème Brûlée Montmorency - Crème brulée flavored with Montmorency cherries.

Grenadin de Porc Montmorency - A grenadin is a thick cut from the leg of pork or veal. This cut is usually barded, wrapped in strips of fat, usually bacon, while being cooked. Barding keeps the meat from drying out. Here the Montmorency cherries will flavor the pork and be served alongside.

Magret de Canard Montmorency - Duck breast fried with Montmorency cherries.

Gateau Forêt Noire aux Cerises de Montmorency – A Black Forest Gateau is an incredibly rich cake of German origins, but very popular in France. The cake is a layered chocolate cake made with few, but rich, ingredients: Fresh Montmorency cherries, chocolate, butter, cream, kirsch, vanilla, and whipped cream. On the outside, the cake is covered with chocolate shavings and topped with more Montmorency cherries and cream.

Gâteau Foret Noire.

Photograph courtesy of 750g.

Guignolet Kirsch

Photograph courtesy of Open Food Facts

The Village of Montmorency

and the two men who made it famous

The village was famous in France for its cherries, but what made the village internationally famous was the work of two people. The first was Jean-Jaques Rousseau (1712 – 1778), the writer and philosopher who lived and wrote most of his works in Montmorency. The second, but no less important was Camille Pissarro (1830 – 1903) who lived in a village nearby. Pissarro with other artists made the village of Montmorency famous with their paintings of its cherry and chestnut orchards.

Picnic at Montmorency

Camille Pissarro

The little village of L'Hermitage, near to Montmorency, was where Pissarro made his home for quite a number of years, but that village has also long gone. The village was just below the town of Pontoise which looked out over the River Oise. You may see Pissarro’s oil painting of The Village of L'Hermitage as it was in 1867 at the Guggenheim Museum, NY.

In Montmorency, there is a Musee de Jean-Jaques Rousseau. It is closed on Sundays and open on Mondays through Saturday from 14:00 (2.00pm) through 18:00 (6:00p). It has a French Language website. Google and Bing translate will help with checking the opening times.

http://museejjrousseau.montmorency.fr/fr/musee-jean-jacques-rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

Photograph courtesy of Renaud Camus

Officially, Montmorency is not part of Paris. Despite it being just 14 km (9 miles) as the crow flies from the center of Paris, a bus or car takes close to one hour, and there is no train.

The town of Pontoise had some 5,000 inhabitants when Pissarro lived nearby. Since then Pontoise has changed radically. In the 1960's Pontoise, became the large planned new town of Cergy-Pontoise. Cergy-Pontoise today has only one thing left to remind us of Camille Pissarro, and that is its small Musée Camille Pissarro, the Camille Pissarro museum.

The Museum is open from Wednesdays through Sunday from 14:00 (2.00pm) through 18:00 (6.00pm). However, as with all French museums, check the times. The museum has a page on the Pointoise town's French-language website as the Musée Camille Pissarro. Google and Bing translate apps make reading it straightforward.

http://www.ville-pontoise.fr/content/musee-camille-pissarro/

The Pissarro museum has some drawings and other works by Pissarro, along with a number of works by Camille Pissarro's contemporaries. The museum has only one Pissarro oil.

Cergy-Pontoise is 20 km (13 miles) from the center of Paris. On the RER C railroad, it is a 20-minute ride. The bedroom suburb of Montmorency and the town of Cergy-Pontoise are both in the department of Val-d'Oise in the region of Ile de France. N.B.: Cergy-Pontoise has little else for visitors. Its population of 200,000 people has high unemployment and a high crime rate.

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Cherries in France; Cherries on French Menus.

Clafoutis on the French Menu; what are they?

Crème Brulée. The History of the dish and the Man, Who Created or Re-Created Creme Brulee.

Kirsch, the Cherry Brandy. Kirsch in French Cuisine. Guignolet on French Menus.

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Behind the French Menu’s links include hundreds of words, names, and phrases that are seen on French menus. There are over 400 articles with more than 2,500 French dishes, phrases, food products and produce with English translations and explanations. Just add the word, words or phrase that you are searching for to the words "Behind the French Menu" and search with Google or Bing.

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Clairette de Die AOP; A Sparkling Wine far Older than Champagne.

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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Clairette de Die AOP.

Photograph courtesy of Nicolas, France.

Clairette de Die AOP – The oldest sparkling wine in France.

Clairette de Die AOP is far older than Champagne. It is a lightly-sparkling wine produced in the department of Drôme in the region of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in the Rhone Valley. The local's claims of its 2,000-year-old pedigree may be slightly exaggerated; nevertheless, this pétillant, a lightly sparkling wine, may have been produced here for over 1,000 years. Originally, this wine had, unlike Champagne, had only a single fermentation, however, in 1925 the Champagne style bottle was added, and so was a second fermentation.

N.B. Competing with Clairette de Die for the title of the oldest sparkling wine is the Blanquette de Limoux. That wine comes from the former region of Languedoc in Occitanie and will require a separate post.

A Clairette de Die Cuvée Impériale.

Photograph courtesy of jamesonf.

www.flickr.com/photos/jamesonfink/8459298012/

Clairette de Die AOP is a light and fruity wine best drunk when it is very young, mostly under two-years of age, and served very cold. While the traditional Clairette de Die AOP is a demi-sec, sweet. Brut, drier versions and doux, very very sweet versions are now available, and both are inexpensive. In a wine shop in Saint Etienne, a town where an uncle of mine used to live, I saw these wines on sale with prices below ten Euros per 750cl bottle. I also saw organic versions of the same wine for similar prices. In local, unassuming, but good restaurants you can expect to pay up to eighteen or twenty Euros for a bottle.

You will not find the Clairette de Die AOP in the airport duty-free.

So stock up when you can.

Clairette de Die rosée

Photograph courtesy of ledauphine.com

In honor of this wine's age and unique method of production, it is legally labeled as using the 'Méthode Dioise Ancestrale', the Diose Ancestral Method. The original production method is different from that used in other sparkling wines, including Champagnes and Cremants. The Clairette de Die AOP is unique, not only as a sparkling wine, with its claimed 1,000 or 2,000 years of history; it is part of France's wine heritage.

à votre santé – cheers !

Photograph courtesy of Kathryn

www.flickr.com/photos/kathryn-wright/16103461621/

Look at the end of the posts on Cremants or Champagnes for more information on the degree of sweetness on sparkling wine labels; they are very different from those for still wines.

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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

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

Searching for the meaning of words, names or phrases

French menus?

you are searching for to the words "Behind the French Menu" (best when including the inverted commas), and search with Google, Bing, or another browser. Behind the French Menu’s links include hundreds of words, names, and phrases that are seen on French menus. There are over 450 articles that include over 4,000 French dishes with English translations and explanations.

Connected posts:

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Champagne the most famous sparkling wine in the world and Choosing the Champagne that Meets your Sweetness Preferences.

Cremants are the best value in French sparkling wines .

Kir and Kir Royale the Unique French Aperitifs:

Regions - France’s Mainland Regions and Their Borders Have Changed. France's New Super regions. Keep This List With Your GPS and Map.

Cremants Are the Best Value in French Sparkling Wines .

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Behind the French Menu
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Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

A Crémant de Bourgogne, Burgundy.

Photograph courtesy of http://www.kvins.com

The sparkling wines outside of the Champagne region.

Crémants are a group of sparkling wines that come from outside the area of Champagne. They are made in the same manner as Champagne. Nevertheless, the grapes used for these wines are mostly different from those used for Champagne. To confuse us a little more these wines are bottled in Champagne type bottles. They are produced in at least 12 of France’s wine-producing regions. Apart from knowledgeable Champagne mavens, crémants represent, for the rest of us, the best value in France’s exceptional sparkling wines.

A crémant is made by the method Champenoise, the Champagne method, now officially called, the method traditional. The name of the production method was changed, for sparkling wines from outside Champagne, by Europe’s bureaucrats. The name changed but the method of producing these sparkling wines did not. The legal change in the name used in the production process only tries to limit the competition by removing the Champagne connection.

With crémants' generally high quality and low prices, there is no need to save a crémant for a particular occasion; they are good enough and inexpensive enough to be considered whenever any white or rosé wine may be the wine of choice. Every crémant production area has its own alcohol level that varies from 10% to 13%, the percentage is on the label.

A Crémant Rosé.

Langlois Cremant de Loire Brut Rosé

Photograph courtesy of Dominic Lockyer

www.flickr.com/photos/farehamwine/16519044737/

If you have chosen a half-day to wander around a French town with no set timetable consider my suggestion for lunch. Buy reasonable amounts of one or two or three cheeses, that's about 20 grams per person. Remember to buy just enough for lunch as I speak from experience. Where French cheeses are concerned, I admit to always buying far too much. Purchase a portion or two of pâté, and then buy a cold crémant; I suggest a crémant brut, that is a mildly dry wine. All should be available in the nearest supermarket, and for a crémant, like Champagne, no corkscrew is required. All that is needed is a knife for your cheese and pate, a couple of plastic plates, plastic forks, and glasses along with napkins or paper towels. If you are planning ahead then buy the crémant the night before. Ask your hotel to put your bottle of crémant in their kitchen’s refrigerator overnight. In the morning, when you set out, buy a fresh baguette along with the cheeses, pate, and plates, etc. Begin your walk around the town. Hopefully, it will be a beautiful day. When you are ready for lunch, find a park or a suitable place to sit down. Enjoy the cheese, pâté, and baguette while sipping the wine. Sit, sip, enjoy, and watch the world go by; it has much to recommend it.

Antique Champagne or Crémant coupes 1906.

(A champagne glass is never called a verre).

Photograph courtesy of Alexandre Prévot

www.flickr.com/photos/alexprevot/6159028343/

Buying a Crémant in France.

You can find excellent French wines at home, and that will include crémants. However, a French supermarket or wine shop will have crémants at prices far cheaper than a wine shop at home. Supermarkets are much cheaper than the duty-free; that is if crémants are available in the duty-free. Buy a non-vintage crémant, that’s a cuvée; the word cuvée will be on the bottle’s label. Outside of a restaurant, there is no need to pay more than € 12.00 for a bottle of crémant, and most will be much less. Crémants are truly the best value in French sparkling wines.

Choosing the sweetness level in a crémant.

The sweetness standards of Champagne, crémants and other sparkling wines are NOT the same as those used for still wines. Do not buy a bottle of any sparkling wine without using those different rules. Remember in the world of crémants, like the world of Champagne, ordinary still wine sweetness classifications do not apply.

Copy this list on your mobile phone and take it with you when buying a cremant.

Ultra Brut – This is a very dry Champagne, crémant or other sparkling wine. This is nearly the nearest a sparkling wine will get to a pleasant bone dry. Personally, I think ultra-brut, along with brut, shows the best in French sparkling wines. The same is true with similar sparkling wines from outside France like the Italian Prosecco.

Brut – A dry, excellent, Champagne or crémant. Not as dry as an ultra brut, but still a delightful sparkling wine with under 1.5% sugar. Brut wines are the most popular level of sweetness.

Sec - Dry in a white wine. However, in a sparkling wine, this is slightly sweet. Do not let this confuse you; if you want a slightly sweet Champagne or crémant then order it sec, dry! That may seem odd, but sparkling wines work by different rules to still wines.

Demi-sec or Semi-sec – For regular still wines demi-sec translates as semi-dry, but again this is not true for sparkling wines. In a Champagne or a crémant, a demi-sec or semi-sec will be a very very sweet Champagne or crémant! These wines will be as sweet or sweeter than most dessert wines.

Doux- Sweet. In reality, this will be a sickly sweet dessert Champagne or crémant; the sugar will be dripping down your throat!

Á votre santé! - Your health – Cheers!

These glasses are Champagne or crémant flutes.

(A champagne glass is never called a verre).

Photograph courtesy of Lights Camera Click

www.flickr.com/photos/pf1elcc/2828930343/

Connected Posts:

Champagne, the Most Famous Sparkling Wine in the World. Choosing the Champagne that Meets your Sweetness Preferences.

Behind the French Menu’s links include hundreds of words, names, and phrases that are seen on French menus. There are over 400 articles that include over 2,500 French dishes, food products, wines and more. All with English translations and explanations. Add the word, words or phrase that you are searching for to the words "Behind the French Menu" and search with Google or Bing.

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Nantes, The City and its Cuisine. A Wonderful Place to Visit and a Wonderful Place to Dine.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Nantes

Photograph courtesy of Guilhem Vellut

www.flickr.com/photos/o_0/7936486412/

Nantes is the sixth-largest city in France; it is the capital of the department of Loire-Atlantique department in the region of the Pays de la Loire. Quietly and without planning the city took advantage of its position along the banks of the beautiful River Loire, grew into a beautiful city.

Nantes by night.

Photograph courtesy of Kevin Decherf

www.flickr.com/photos/kdecherf/5721686133/

The Cuisine of Nantes

Many visitors to Nantes associate it with its Muscadet-Sèvre et Maine AOC/AOP and Muscadet-Coteaux de la Loire AOC/AOP wines. But among its residents, Nantes is known as a wonderful place to live and work with its own excellent cuisine. Nantes' agriculture and produce have influenced many of the dishes in the rest of France.

Your menu in a Nantes restaurant may offer:

Salade de Mâche aux Pamplemousse et au Crabe – A salad of mâche, lamb’s lettuce, grapefruit, and crab.

Mâche is, I believe, among the very best of France's many salad greens. The taste and the texture that mâche brings to a green salad is unique. I always wonder why this salad green is only rarely seen in the UK or North America. Mâche is just as essential to a French green or mixed salad as the French think it is, and 80% of France's supply comes from the area around Nantes along with 50% of Western Europe's.

Salad of Mâche Nantaise,

Photograph courtesy of Isabelle Hurbain-Palatin

www.flickr.com/photos/ipalatin/4160325485/

Curé Nantais Frit et sa Salade de Mâche Nantaise – The local Curé Nantais cheese fried and served with a salad of lamb's lettuce. This cheese's story begins with a priest in the revolution who created the cheese. That story may seem like shades of Camembert, but the cheese is nothing like Camembert. Cure Nantaise is a yellow, cows' milk cheese initially made with unpasteurized milk on farms, but now also made in dairies with pasteurized milk. The cheese is aged for four weeks and has 40% fat; when ripe the cheese is almost spreadable. The taste is not mild, but it is far from being a really strong cheese; nevertheless, its smell is powerful. There is another local cheese called the Saint-Paulin, which is a close cousin. However, the Saint-Paulin is milder and not as popular. Cure Nantaise will be on many menus when fried, baked, or grilled.

Filet de Pangasius sur une Purée de Patates Douces et Courge Musquée, Carottes Nantaise et Fenouil Brisé. Filet of Pangasius, the fish, served with a puree of sweet potatoes, butternut squash, Scarlet Nantes carrots, and braised fennel. Pangasius, also called Basa or Panga is a catfish from Vietnam and mostly imported as filets. The Carotte Nantaise or the Carotte Scarlet Nantes are bright orange carrots developed there and appreciated for their color and taste.

Huîtres Chaudes aux Échalotes Gratinées au Curé Nantais et Huile de Truffes – Oysters cooked with shallots and Curé Nantais cheese flavored with truffle oil and browned under the grill.

Darne de Merlu Beurre Blanc Nantais – A thick cut of whiting, the fish, served with a Nantaise Beurre Blanc sauce. Menus all over France will offer a Beurre Blanc Sauce with fish dishes, often using the original name; Sauce Nantaise. When on the menu as Sauce Beurre Blanc the sauce will be the same. This butter sauce is flavored with shallots and a dry white wine, correctly that would be a Muscadet from the vineyards around Nantes. Some chefs will add lemon and others may use white wine vinegar.

Quenelle de Brochet Champagne Beurre Blanc, Caviar

Pike dumpling (quenelle) with Caviar and a Beurre Blanc Champagne Sauce.

Photograph courtesy of Lou Stejskal

www.flickr.com/photos/loustejskal/42699812670/

Poêlée de St Jacques à la Nantaise - The meat of lightly fried king scallops prepared and served out of their shells, in the manner of Nantes. Here the scallops will be served with the Nantaise Beurre Blanc sauce. In the manner of Nantes on your menu will not always be indicating a different method of cooking; as elsewhere à la…. will be indicating the use of local products.

Salade Nantaise - A tuna, cucumber, tomato, and rice salad; this salad is, usually the main dish. Salade Nantaise salad is often served, in season, with Nantes pride and joy, lamb's lettuce, that, despite the fact, the original recipe did not include it.

Mesclun des Maraîchers Nantais – A mesclun salad from the market gardeners of Nantes. A mesclun is a green salad made with at least five different salad greens.

Galette Nantaise; Jambon, Œuf, Fromage, Tomates, Oignons Cuisinés. A local version of the Galettes Breton, a galette, a crepe, from Brittany. The Galettes Breton are made with buckwheat flour, its blé noir, black flour, also called the Farine de Sarrazin, the flour of the Saracens. The ingredients for the galette will be the same, but the cheese will be the Cure Nantaise and fried onions have also been added.

Château des Ducs de Bretagne, Nancy.

Photograph courtesy of Travelbusy.com

www.flickr.com/photos/travelbusy/7982852395/

Where is Nantes:

Nantes is the capital of the region of the Pays du Loire, which includes the departments of Loire-Atlantique, Maine-et-Loire, Mayenne, Sarthe, and Vendée. Nantes itself is in the department of Loire-Atlantique. Historically Nantes was one of the capitals of Bretagne, Brittany, and there are still many arguments over the change that separated Nantes from Brittany.

Nantes and area.

Nantes is 390 km (244 miles from Paris), nearly four hours by car, two and a half hours by train. Angers is 90 km (56 miles) away, one and a quarter hours by car, one hour by train. La Rochelle is 130 km (81 miles) away, one and three-quarter hours by road or train.

The Loire River that runs through Nantes is France’s longest river and will have traveled nearly 1,000 km (625 miles) before reaching Nantes. From Nantes, the Loire continues for forty km (25 miles) more until it reaches the sea.

Palais de Justice, Nantes

Photograph courtesy of Fred Romero

www.flickr.com/photos/129231073@N06/15707321009/

At some time during your visit to Nantes, you will be offered Petit Beurre LU biscuits. The manufacturer called Lefèvre-Utile makes these particular petit beurre biscuits. The factory, founded in 1846 is better known worldwide just by the initials LU. Their Petit Beurre LU biscuit is the star and the Nantaise, the citizens of Nantes, are very proud of them. (Mondelez International now owns the factory, and under the LU brand they produce biscuits sold all over the world).

Petit Beurre.

Photograph courtesy of Frédéric BISSON

www.flickr.com/photos/zigazou76/5413114091/

When choosing a Muscadet on the wine-list or in a wine shop, choose a wine marked Sur Lie. This indicates that the wine is aged on its lees, that is the yeast and grape pieces left over. In most modern wines these lees are filtered out before bottling. These muscadets are very different to those without their lees; they are an aromatic wine with a slight green tinge to its white color. Try it.

Muscadet sur Lie, 2015

Photograph courtesy of Avenue de Vins

The City of Nantes

Nantes is an attractive city, with a splendid reputation; when including its metropolitan areas its population is nearly 1,000,000. Nantes is a clean city with excellent services for its residents.

The city square - Place Royale

On annual national questionnaires, Nantes always makes one of the top five places in France for the French to live and work. There is much for the visitor to see and do in Nantes everything from ancient castles to many museums and in season opera. For these diversions, you will get better information from an up to date guidebook than from me. Importantly, for the city's history Jules Verne, the author of Around the World in Eighty Days, and other great books is a native son. Of course, Nantes has a museum named after him.

The people of Nantes.

One-quarter or more of the residents make their living from agriculture, poultry breeding, wineries, and fisheries. Their products will be on sale in the local supermarkets or one of Nantes’ large markets. Outside of the museums and art galleries take part of a morning to visit the largest covered market in Nantes, the Talensac market. Here all types of local and imported produce, including vegetables, fish, seafood, and cheeses are on sale.

Outside of Nantes

For short trips outside of Nantes, consider the Nantes Routes de Vin, the Nantes wine roads. Nantes' wine roads begin close to the town and make a pleasant half- day trip. Take a map from the local Government Tourist Information Office and follow the routes of the Muscadets and the Gros-Plant vineyards. The maps have information on the vintners who will invite you to taste their offerings for a small contribution. The routes also pass by local farms that offer tastes of their homemade cheeses, sausages, and more; also for a small contribution to the local economy. The wine routes, of course, also pass by many restaurants.

The English language website of the Nantes Tourist Information Office is:

http://en.nantes-tourisme.com/touristic-information-3114.html

Just a little further from Nantes

Consider a day trip from Nantes to Brittany. The department of Loire-Atlantique with Nantes as its regional capital borders the Brittany departments of Ille-et-Vilaine and Morbihan. Over the border in Brittany there are fishing villages, oyster, and mussels farms and for the afternoon fabulous beaches, From Nantes to Brittany's beaches and coastal towns you will have traveled, maybe, 150 km there and back; about one and a quarter hours each way, a little more if you do not have a GPS!

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

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

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

Searching for the meaning of words, names or phrases

French menus?

you are searching for to the words "Behind the French Menu" (best when including the inverted commas), and search with Google, Bing, or DuckDuckGO. Behind the French Menu’s links, include hundreds of words, names, and phrases that are seen on French menus. There are over 450 articles that include over 4,000 French dishes with English translations and explanations.

Connected Posts:

Brochet - Pike, the Fish. Pike in French Cuisine

Camembert Cheese; France's most Famous Cow's Milk Cheese.

Carottes - Carrots in French Cuisine.

Caviar in France. The Different Caviars on French Menus. Sturgeon, the fish, Esturgeon on French menus.

Champagne the Most Famous Sparkling Wine in the World. Reading the Label and Choosing Your Sweetness Preferences.