from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com
Magret de Canard Rôti - Roast duck breast.
Magret de Canard or Lou Magret - Duck
breast. Duck breast is extremely popular in France and will usually be served
roasted or fried. Duck is served rosé, slightly pink inside, so if you want
your duck breast cooked in a manner other than rosé, you should inform the
server when ordering. In France, it is unlikely that you will be asked how you
would like your duck cooked.
The duck breast on your menu mostly comes from the
breasts of ducks raised for fattened
duck liver, fois gras. The breasts of these ducks are much thicker and tastier
than most other duck breasts, and they come with a thick covering of fat. Some
of the fat may remain when the duck is served; however, it is easily removed as
a touch of your knife, and the fat separates.
Duck breast on your menu in France:
Lou
Magret Grillé aux Sarments de Vigne – Duck breast grilled over vine prunings. The
pruning’s from vineyards are much in demand, and as you may expect, they add
unique flavors to dishes that are grilled or barbecued over them.
Vine Prunings.
www.flickr.com/photos/cavestmathieu/7210028264/
When
the term Lou Magret is on the menu, then the chances are that you in an area
that was part of the pre-revolutionary French Province of Gascon. Gascon,
Gascony. Gascony is now included in the region of Nouvelle Aquitaine with some
parts in Occitanie. Here some locals still speak the Gascon dialect of Occitan
alongside their perfect modern French. Lou Magret is Occitan for the French
magret de canard, duck breast. Offering duck breast as a separate dish, rather
than serving a whole duck, began in Nouvelle Aquitaine, and now Magret de
Canard is on menus all over France.
Many
of France’s
regions had their names and borders changed .on 1-1-2016. Then, France
reduced the number of regions from 22 to 13.
For the visitor nothing has changed other than some confusion when using
old guide books.
Apart
from popularizing duck breast the old province of Gascon in Nouvelle Aquitaine,
is famous for its AOP grape brandy Armagnac;
the apéritif Floc de Gascogne; ducks; geese; truffles; foie gras; Monbazillac wine; D’Artagnan, the fourth musketeer; Cyrano de Bergerac; Cuisine
Périgourdine and much more.
Carpaccio d’Magret
d'Oie – Goose breast Carpaccio.
Goose breast. Magret d’Oie, is also
popular in France and will be prepared like duck breast. A goose breast is much
larger than a duck’s breast and you will receive a half or less of a whole
goose breast.
Carpaccio de Canard - Duck
breast Carpaccio.
Magret
de Canard au Poivre
Vert – Duck breast in a green
pepper sauce. For chefs, green pepper is the pepper of choice in almost all
dishes with Au Poivre in their name. Green pepper corns allow the chef to offer
the diner a controlled pepper experience.
Duck breast with green pepper
sauce.
www.flickr.com/photos/vialbost/4429028606/
Magret
de Canard Fumé - Smoked breast of duck. Smoked breast of duck has a
flavor slightly similar to cured ham and is extremely popular. Smoked duck
breast may also be part of a salad and served warm or cold or it may be very
thinly sliced and served cold with fresh melon instead of recipe where cured
ham is called for. Smoked duck, like smoked turkey and smoked goose, are all
very popular in France.
Smoked duck breast.
Grilled leeks, mashed potatoe, braised
kale and braised red cabbage
With a creamy black
currant sauce
www.flickr.com/photos/edsel_/3642318387/
Magret
de Canard Sauvage aux Figues
Fraîches – Breast of wild duck prepared with fresh figs.
Canard sauvage, wild duck, in season will be on quite a number of menus. When wild
duck is on the menu go for it; it is entirely different to farm-raised duck.
The much darker meat offers a contrast in tastes and textures that outclasses
farm-raised duck; a wholly pleasurable experience and as organic and free range
as you can get. Wild duck will be on
French menus between the end of September and the beginning of February. Each French department sets its own dates for
hunting wild game, and so the dates when wild duck is on the menu will vary as
you travel around France.
Wild mallard duck
The male has the white collar.
www.flickr.com/photos/backwords/5677301579/
When a
menu does not identify the wild
duck being served then it is almost always the canard colvert sauvage, the
wild mallard duck. . The mallard duck is the most common wild duck in France
and is probably the most common wild duck in the rest of the world, as well. In
French, the duck’s name colvert refers to its green collar, the identifying
mark of the male duck; the green collared duck. The mallard duck is also
domesticated and farm-raised. If you are visiting France and wish to taste wild
duck note that the duck hunting season, in most French departments, is from
mid-September through the end of January.
Rémoulade
au Magret de Canard Fumé et Cerneaux
de Noix - Smoked duck breast served with a rémoulade
sauce and walnuts.
Sauce rémoulade is mayonnaise
and mustard-based
sauce made with cooked egg yolks, oil, and mustard; it is usually, but not
always, prepared with added parsley
and cornichons.
The duck breasts on French menus come from the mulard,
the moullard duck, which is not to be confused with the mallard duck. The
moullard is a cross between the canard de Pékin, the Pekin duck, and the Canard
de Barbarie, the Muscovy duck. The Pekin duck, in the USA, is commonly
called the Long Island duck.
For a few of the other duck dishes on French menus click
here:
The Mallard duck in the languages of France’s
neighbors:
(Catalan - ànec
collverd ), (Dutch - wilde eend), (German –
stockente). (Italian - germano reale), (Spanish - añade real , azulón), (Latin - anas platyrhynchos ).
--------------------------------
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com
Copyright 2010, 2013, 2015, 2019
--------------------------------
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Connected Posts:
Foie Gras in French Cuisine. Foie Gras is Fattened
Goose or Duck Liver Foie. Foie Gras on French Menus.
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