Behind the French Menu: 2012-07-22

Muscat de Beaumes de Venise AOP. A Unique Wine.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Muscat de Beaumes de Venise AOP.

www.flickr.com/photos/farehamwine/15591506304/

The Muscat de Beaumes AOC/AOP is a sweet white wine with a light gold color when young, turning to a light amber as it ages. You may be offered a Muscat de Beaumes de Venise as an aperitif, and then it will be served chilled like a sweet Madeira wine, just below room temperature.

Muscat de Beaumes de Venise in the kitchen.

The Muscat de Beaumes de Venise will be in most chefs’ wine cupboards. The wine became very popular 50 years ago and has since remained an essential part of French cuisine. The wine may be part of the hors d’œuvre, the appetizer, the entrée, the first course or it may part of a sauce for the plat principal, the main course; it may also be flavoring the dessert, a pastry or a cake. The uses of Muscat de Beaumes de Venise in the kitchen are infinite.

A glass of Muscat de Beaumes de Venise.

Photograph courtesy of jean-louis zimmermann.
www.flickr.com/photos/jeanlouis_zimmermann/3328209835

Finding the village of Beaumes de Venise.

The small and ancient town of Beaumes de Venise that gave the wine its name is in the department of Vaucluse, in the region of Provence in the Alpes du Sud. Beaumes de Venise is just 26 km, (16 miles) from Avignon and 9 km (5 miles) from Carpentras.

The village of Beaumes de Venise

Photograph courtesy of the Office de Tourisme de Beaumes de Venise.

The Muscat de Beaumes de Venise wine on your menu:

Confiture de Pêche de Vigne au Muscat de Beaumes de Venise - Slowly cooked vine peaches flavored with the Muscat de Beaumes de Venise. N.B.: A confiture in French cuisine have a number of meanings; most often it will be a jam or fruit preserves. However, in this case, which is, of course, a dessert offering, the confiture will be a compote.

Filet de Rouget Barbet aux olives et au Beaumes de Venise - A filet of striped red mullet prepared with olives and flavored with the Muscat de Beaumes de Venise. Striped red mullets are often small fish so the dish offered here may be an entrée, the French appetizer.

Poulet Rôti aux Raisins Verts au Muscat de Beaumes de Venise – Chicken roasted with green grapes and flavored with the Muscat de Beaumes de Venise.

Risotto aux Champignons et au Muscat de Beaumes de Venise - Button mushroom risotto flavored with the Muscat de Beaumes de Venise.

Soupe Glacée de Melon au Muscat de Beaumes de Venise – A cold melon soup flavored with Beaumes de Venise.

The Muscat de Beaumes de Venise is a Vin Doux Naturel

French Vin Doux Naturels, VDNs, are produced in a similar manner to Sherry, Port, Madeira and Marsala wines. The term vin doux naturel translates as a naturally sweet wine, so for this and all other VDN wines, no sugar is added. The wine’s fermentation is stopped by the addition of alcohol, usually brandy. With the fermentation ended the residual sugar is left, and that produces wines that are naturally sweet with a relatively high alcohol content. The Muscat de Beaumes de Venise has a unique muscat aroma and taste; that along with a 15% alcohol content has made it one of the most famous muscat wines in the world.

The town of Beaumes de Venise

Walk through the town and you will find the center includes late medieval narrow streets with a 15th-century church, though the church was mostly rebuilt in the 19th century. Beaumes de Venise has also always been the market center for villages and farms around and is a delightful place to visit as there are fetes and celebrations throughout the year.

Fête de la Vigne et du Vin – The fete of the vine and the grape.

On the last Saturday in May, every year, Beaumes de Venise has their Fête de la Vigne et du Vin, a fete honoring the vines and the wines. Visitors coming on that day may taste all the wines from the area and enjoy many other local products for a small contribution to the local economy. Apart from wines Beaumes de Venise is a trading town and busy all year round with the sale of local and other products and produce. Fetes de Brocante, antique and flea markets, are one-day fairs held here three times a year in March, August, and September. Dates are available from the Tourist Information Office website noted further down this post.

Fete de Brocante - Antique/flea market at Beaumes de Venise.

Photograph courtesy of Jean-Louis Zimmermann.

The history of Beaumes de Venise

The town is set below the narrow mountain range called the Dentelles de Montmirail, the teeth of Montmirail. The mountains create a microclimate protecting the vineyards from strong winds and wide temperature changes. The immediate area around Beaumes de Venise has been inhabited for thousands of years and the word Beaumes means a cave or grotto. Below the Dentelles de Montmirail a hill leads to red sandstones caves which were inhabited in the stone age.

The Dentelles de Montmirail above Beaumes de Venise.

The teeth of Montmirail.

Photograph courtesy of Office de Tourisme de Beaumes de Venise.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/77226901@N02/9343531346/

The Greeks came to Southern France about 2,600 years ago and they brought the first wine grapes grown to this area. A few hundred years later, around 100 BCE, the Romans came to France and when they arrived in Beaumes de Venise, they found wonderful vineyards with excellent wines waiting for them.

If you live in Beaumes de Venise, you will live on a hill.

Photograph courtesy of Office de Tourisme de Beaumes de Venise.

Other AOC/AOP wines from the village's vineyards

and AOC/AOP wines from villages close by.

The vineyards for the Beaumes de Venise wine are interspersed with other vineyards that produce the Beaumes de Venise Rouge AOC, an excellent dry red wine, and Côtes-du-Rhône-Villages AOP wines. The Côtes-du-Rhône-Villages AOP come in reds, whites, rosés and I found their Côtes-du-Rhône-Village rosé particularly satisfying. Only the thought of the airline overweight charges prevented me from buying a case. The microclimate, which results in these beautiful wines covers the nearby villages of Vacqueyras and Gigondas which produce the Vacqueyras AOP red, white and rosé wines and the Gigondas AOP red and rosés.

Relax and paint the beauty surrounding Beaumes de Venise

Photograph courtesy of Pierre Marcel

The Beaumes de Venise Tourist Information Office

The town’s Tourist Information Office has a French Language website and they promise that the English site will soon be working; however, that promise has been repeated for the last five years! In the meantime, the site may be clearly understood with the Google and Microsoft Translate apps at:

http://www.ot-beaumesdevenise.com/

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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

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Soupe - Soup. The Treasures to be Found in in French Soups. A Lexicon of French Soups.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Onion soup with toasted baguettes and cheese.

Photograph courtesy of jefferyw
www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyww/5344349906/

Your French menu may offer a bisque, a bouillon, a chaudrée, a consommé, a crème, a marmite, a potage, a soupe, a velouté and more. The categories for soups were laid out by Antonin (Marie Antoine) Carême (1784 – 1833), the most famous chef from the age of French Haute Cuisine. Still today, in France and all over the world, the same categories may give you a fairly clear idea of how the soup on your menu will be made. A few changes have been made, and a couple of names added, but the lexicon that follows covers most soups that will be on current French menus.

A lexicon of French soups.

Bisques

Originally all bisques were rich fish soups; today the bisques on most menus will be pureed shellfish soups. However, changes are being made as chefs identify bisques by texture rather than by ingredients; that has allowed for the creation of fish and vegetable bisques. Additionally, bisques served as soups we also have bisque sauces; a thickened sauce bisque may be the sauce for the main dish.

Bisque de Langouste - A rock lobster bisque. The rock lobster is the owner of the lobster tail and is far less costly than the two-clawed lobster. N.B. The European two-clawed lobster, the homard, is much more expensive than its North American cousin,

Bisque de Rascasse et sa Rouille - A bisque made with the delicious scorpion fish also called sea robin fish: here it will be served with a spicy rouille sauce served on the side, and you add the sauce to suit your personal tastes.

Lobster bisque

Photograph courtesy of closari

www.flickr.com/photos/closari/3205875508/

Bisque de Tomate de Vigne Grillée – A tomato bisque made of grilled vine tomatoes. Here, the texture of the grilled tomatoes has allowed the chef to call this a bisque.

Gambas sur Spaghetti à l'Èncre de Sèche et Sauce Bisque d'Écrevisse – Large shrimps served on a bed of spaghetti colored with cuttlefish ink and accompanied by a freshwater crayfish bisque sauce.

Couscous de Crevettes et sa Sauce Bisque de Langoustines - Couscous served with shrimps accompanied by a bisque sauce made from Dublin Bay prawns.

Bouillon

A light soup or broth made with the strained liquids from boiled vegetables, meat, poultry, fish or seafood, An authentic bouillon will be distinctly different to those cubes sold in supermarkets under the same name.

Bouillon de Gros Haricots – A bouillon made with large beans.

Bouillon de Poulet – A chicken bouillon; a clear chicken broth.

Sea bass with basil bouillon

Photograph courtesy of stu_spivack

www.flickr.com/photos/stuart_spivack/6893503/

Cappuccino

The cappuccino is a relatively new addition to the world of soups. None of the great chefs from Antonin to Escoffier and Prosper Montagné would have recognized the name as soup. The origin of the name used for a cappuccino coffee comes from the color of the hood of a Capuchin friar's robe. While it is evident the origins of the word cappuccino has nothing to with the coffee’s froth, do not get confused by the facts. On your menu soups and desserts with cappuccino in the name indicates a dish with a distinct froth.

A Capuchin monk

Photograph courtesy of TEDXSingapore

Cappuccino de Soupe de Poissons de Roche – A sea fish soup made from small fish caught near to shore and served with a frothy finish.

Cappuccino de Petits Pois aux Escargots – Petit pois are small, young, peas. This menu listing is pea soup prepared with a frothy top and served with snails.

Chaudrée

Fish and seafood chowders and now also vegetable chowders. The name comes from the word chaudière, the traditional pot or cauldron in which fisherman and women cooked their unsold fish and seafood as a soup or stew at the end of a working day. Today, chefs create chowders around fish or seafood, often choosing a single fish, clam or mussel. Nearly all French fish and seafood chowders include white wine, garlic, potatoes and herbs, and many of the recipes include crème fraîche.

Clam chowder deluxe

Photograph courtesy of Naotake Murayama

www.flickr.com/photos/naotakem/3524878200/

Chaudrée de Fruit de Mers au Safran – A seafood chowder flavored with saffron.

Chaudrée de Palourdes – Clam chowder.

Consommé

A consommé is a clear or clarified soup originally only made with veal, beef or poultry; today there are fish and vegetable consommés. A real consommé must be clear, but that does not mean without color. A consommé may be offered hot, cold or jelled, In the French kitchen a consommé double, a double consommé, is an intensely concentrated consommé and plays an important in the preparation of many other soups and sauces.

Consomme Brunoise – A consommé with carrots, leeks, and other vegetables cut a la brunoise. A brunoise cut for vegetables is a cut about 2mm thick.

Bowl of consommée

Photograph courtesy of Trip Advisor

Consommé Double de Bœuf aux Xeres – A concentrated beef consommé flavored with sherry.

Crèmes

Cream soups; the cream may be a light touch or a very creamy soup. Cream soups can be beautiful creations, and the addition of crème fraiche, that uniquely French creation, can give cream soups that “je ne sais quoi” when compared with a similar soup made with regular cream. Many French crèmes will include pieces of meat, fish or vegetables.

Chilled cream of tomato and peach soup

with fresh white peaches.

Photograph courtesy of Tim Sackton

www.flickr.com/photos/sackton/6063102712/

Crème Du Barry or Crème Dubarry – A cream of cauliflower soup named after the famous, or rather infamous, mistress of Louis XV, the Countess du Barry.

Crème d’Huîtres à l'Oseille – A cream of oyster soup flavored with sorrel.

Garbure

Garbures are thick soups, practically stews; these soups originated in the southwest of France. Garbures began as the stews made by the peasants mostly made with vegetables or with very little meat; when did the peasants see meat? Today, on restaurant menus, a garbure may still be a thick vegetable soup, but most include ham, and or duck, or goose confit. These are usually very filling soups or stews that are typically part of winter menus in France’s southwest. Garbures are often large enough to be considered a complete meal and more; check with your waiter how they serve a garbure before ordering an appetizer or main course.

Garbure Landaise

From the department of Landes now in the new super region of Nouvelle Aquitaine.

Landes was part of the old region of Aquitaine that was part of Gasconny

Photograph courtesy of Cuisine Actuelle

Garbure Landaise – As may be expected from the department of Landes in Nouvelle Aquitaine this recipe will include duck’s legs and wings.

Garbure Béarnaise – This is supposed to be the original recipe for a garbure and often offered with pork or duck confit; the soup will be hearty and filling so just enjoy. The garbure here has nothing to do with Sauce Béarnaise, the dish’s name refers to the old province of Bearn.

Marmites

Marmites are mostly fish and seafood soups and stews; the word marmite comes from the name of the cooking utensil in which the soup or stew is prepared. The French marmite has nothing whatsoever to do with the traditional UK Marmite which is a vegetarian based spread and flavoring.

Marmite aux Poissons et Fruits de Mer – A shellfish and saltwater fish soup. There is no single recipe for a marmite with fish and shellfish; so ask for more information on the fish and seafood in the marmite on the menu.

Marmite Dieppoise – A traditional fish soup from the port and fishing town of Dieppe in Normandie, Normandy. This will be a saltwater fish soup with some versions having mussels and the occasional scallop for good luck. Locally, the soup will include that day’s catch, and that can change daily and then so will your soup’s taste. The Marmite Dieppoise has a white wine and cream or crème fraîche base; additional flavor will come with herbs and vegetables that the chef considers suitable. Ask about the fish in today’s soup.

Potage

Potages are thick soups, or at least they were originally; nowadays it is better to consider soupes and potages as interchangeable names. Hopefully, the menu will provide a clear description, but don’t always expect it, so you may have to ask.

Potage du Jour – Soup of the day; ask!

Potage aux Légumes – A vegetable soup.

Potage au Cresson - Watercress soup

Soupe

Soupe is the word that includes all the different types of soups in this post and includes others such as cold soups like vichyssoise and gazpacho as well as dessert soups made with fruit.

Soupe à l'Oignon - Onion soup; the most famous of France's many traditional soups. French onion soup comes with many variations and a memorable soupe a la oignon is a truly existential experience.

Soupe à l'Oignon - Onion soup.

Photograph courtesy of Jeremy Keith

www.flickr.com/photos/adactio/5559423605/

Soupe de Fruits – A cold fruit soup. Some fruit soups suit the requirements of a soup and others are cold stewed fruit salads. Cold fruit soups can be perfect on a hot day.

Soupe Glacée de Tomates – A cold tomato soup.

Soupe de Poisson - A fish soup. Fish soups will be on menus with freshwater or saltwater fish and may include shellfish; your menu should tell you more.

Veloutés

Veloutés are smooth soups made from, at least formerly, a sauce base. A velouté began as one the five mother sauces of French cuisine. The mother sauces are behind all traditional French soups and sauce. A veloute was a sauce with a smooth, velvety texture; the soup came later. The origin of the word velouté traces back to the word for velvet in the French Occitan language.

A pea veloute.

Photograph courtesy of Ross Bruniges

www.flickr.com/photos/thecssdiv/7602044342/

Velouté d'Ail aux Escargots – A velvety garlic flavored soup served with snails.

Velouté de Cressonnette aux Crevettes – A velvety watercress soup served with shrimps.

Some soups are unique and reject any attempt to put them in one of the groups noted here; that applies to fish soups such as bouillabaisse. Bouillabaisse when correctly prepared is a complete meal by itself and yet it is not called a stew. Soups and stews cross boundaries and not only with fish; French meat soups and stews that contain the name potée in their name is another example. In one area of France, a potée may be a simple and quickly prepared meat soup and in another area be a slowly cooked meat stew such as a potée boulangère.

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