Escalope de Veau or Paillard de Veau. Veal in France II - A Veal Cutlet, Escalope, Escallop or Scallop.

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


Escalope de Veau Grillée
A grilled veal escalop.



Escalope de Veau or Paillard de Veau - A veal cutlet, escalope, escallop, or scallop of veal holds a unique position in the French kitchen.  The traditional term paillard de veau initially indicated a different cut than an escalope, with a paillard beaten to be thinner than an escalope; however, today, the term paillard is seen less often, and escalopes will be on the menu.  All cutlets or scallops are boneless and generally cut to round or oval shapes. The word escalope may also be used for poultry, fish, and pork, so read the menu carefully. The North American usage of a scallop for an escalope can also cause confusion with the shellfish called the scallop. A veal escalope is always thinly sliced, and then thinned some more to make sure the veal served is tender. France is the largest producer of veal in Europe, and so it is definitely the place to enjoy a veal escalope.

 

Veal escalopes on French Menus:

 

Veau Cordon Bleu – An escalope of veal wrapped around a slice of boiled ham and cheese, traditionally that is  French Gruyere, though it is often made with Comte or Munster cheese, breaded, and then fried.

Cordon Bleu:  While this is a dish from the mid-20th century, the Cordon Bleu, the award of the blue ribbon, is much older. The Cordon Bleu was part of an award created by King Henry III of France in 1578; it was awarded for outstanding service to the French Crown. 

The tradition connecting the Cordon Bleu to French cuisine is down to King Louis XV (1710-1777).  In the accepted tradition, King Louis XV presented the award to a female chef who had prepared an exceptionally memorable banquet. Following that award, the term Cordon Bleu became synonymous with excellence in culinary arts.


    

The emblem of the Cordon Bleu School, Paris.

   

The first well-known French cookery school was called the Cordon Bleu, and it was founded by a lady named Marthe Distell in Paris in 1895.  Marthe Distell also founded an early publication for French foodies called La Cuisinière Cordon Bleu, the Cordon Blue Cuisine. That magazine did much to make the ordinary French citizen aware of changes in the kitchen, just as the chef Escoffier began to make a name for himself.  When visiting Paris, call ahead and take a one-day or a half-day course in English or French at the Cordon Bleu school.  View a demonstration dish being prepared before you committ to that full three-year program! The Parisian Cordon Blue English language website is: http://www.cordonbleu.edu/paris/home/en. The school’s most famous American graduate is Julia Child.  

  

Escalope de Veau a la Crème - Lightly fried veal cutlets with a cream sauce usually including button mushrooms and often accompanied by pasta.


Escalope de Veau a la Crème.

Photograph courtesy of Isabelle Hurbain-Palatin

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ipalatin/5413919556/

 

Escalope de Veau Chasseur -  A veal escalope prepared for a hunter.  A lightly fried veal escalope served with wine sauce made with button mushrooms and a roux brune, a basic brown sauce. The sauce will be flavored with white wine, échalotes, shallots; persil, parsley; cerfeuil, chervil; estragon, tarragon - and sometimes crème fraiche  

  

Escalope de Veau à la Crème - Lightly fried veal cutlets with a cream sauce, usually including button mushrooms and often served with pasta.

 

Escalope de Veau Milanaise Blonde d'Aquitaine A Milanese breaded veal cutlet from the Blonde d'Aquitaine, Label Rouge, red label cattle; in Italy, this would be Cotoletta alla Milanese.  There is sometimes some confusion between the breaded Milanese cutlets and Wiener Schnitzels.  However, the traditional Italian version only uses breadcrumbs, no flour, and is fried in butter. A Wiener Schnitzel is a different cut and dipped in flour before adding breadcrumbs, and as it is not cooked in butter, leading to notable differences in taste and texture. (See Escalope à la Viennoise below). When ordering an Escalope de Veau Milanaise in France, I have twice had Parmesan cheese served on the side, though I have never seen that in Italy, and it is a practice that must surprise Italians visiting France.

Blonde d'Aquitaine: The traditional center for raising Blonde d'Aquitaine cattle is the department of Landes in the region of Nouvelle Aquitaine. When a red label is awarded, the farming methods become part of the regulations. In the case of the Bœuf Blonde d'Aquitaine, even in the spring, when the cattle are in the meadows, they have shelters, and their mothers raise their young there, and no antibiotics or growth hormones may be used. 

 

Escalope de Veau au Marsala – A veal escalope prepared with Marsala wine. In Italian, this dish is called Scaloppine al Marsala or Scaloppine di Vitello al Marsala. The escalopes are floured, and the dish is fried in olive oil with rosemary until the escalopes are lightly golden brown, and the only other herbs used are salt and pepper. The Marsala sauce is made by deglazing the cooking juice with Marsala wine, which, together with the flour, creates a thick, flavorful, slightly sweet sauce.

Marsala – Marsala, the port town in Sicily, is also famous as the birthplace of the Greek mathematician and philosopher Archimedes in 278 BCE. If you know a little about Archimedes, be careful when having a bath there; you may discover something unexpected.

(BTW Archimedes didn't jump out of the bath in Marsala, that story comes from another Sicilian town called Syracuse). Marsala is a fortified wine made similarly to Port, Sherry, Madeira, and the French Vin Doux Naturels).

Marsala the wine is used in many Italian dishes and some French ones; the Italian dessert zabaglione, in French became Sabayon, and is made in Italy and France with Marsala wine. Despite all the jokes in France and Italy about British food, the Brits and wines are never to be laughed at when it comes to the history of wines; Britain did more for the wine industry of France, Spain and Portugal than any other country. Marsala is another of the wines made famous by the British; this wine was a story of one Brit's obsession. According to tradition, a British gentleman named John Woodhouse got Nelson's fleet stocked up on Marsala wine instead of rum, and "the rest is history."

Marsala is a fortified wine and is made in a similar manner to Port, Sherry, Madeira and the French vin doux naturels. Marsala wines are used in many Italian dishes, and quite a few French ones. Marsala wine's popularity comes, according to tradition, through the work of a British gentleman by the name of John Woodhouse. Woodhouse managed to get Nelson's fleet stocked up on Marsala wine instead of rum, and the rest is history.

    


Marsala Virgin Reserve DOC

    

Escalope de Veau à la Normande – Veal cutlets prepared with onions, mushrooms and crème fraîchewith many recipes for this dish including Norman cider.

Recognised as Normandy's signature veal dish, if Escalope de Veau à la Normande is on the menu with their Label Rouge, red label veal, then it's the best veal that Normandy offers, and you should not pass it by.  It's not surprising that Normandy has excellent veal. With so much milk, butter, and cream coming from Normandy's cows, there is a surfeit of young males who will not grow up to provide milk. 

Crème Fraîche has a creamy texture, and while it is not like sour cream or yogurt, neither is it a sweet cream. Crème fraîche is a pasteurized and naturally thickened cow's milk, with most offerings having 30% fat or more. The unique taste of crème fraîche comes from the added milk bacteria. There is no English translation for crème fraîche; so crème fraiche it remains.

Button mushrooms were the first mushrooms to be successfully farmed in any quantity, and since that happened in Paris; the French name is Champignons de Paris. 

Normandy makes a unique contribution to French cuisine. The region supplies 30% of all of France's cream and cow's milk and is the home of one of France's two AOP ciders and three different Calvados AOP apple brandies. Apart from its milk products, Normandy is famous for its cheeses, pré-salé lambs, fresh sea fish, farmed mussels, veal, farmed oysters, Rouen ducks, ducklings, seafood from the Atlantic and more.

The name Normandie:   Normandy's French name comes from the old name for the land when the Vikings lived there.  Nor-man-die is old French for "The Land of the Northern Men."   William the Conqueror, who conquered England in 1066, was a direct descendant of the last Viking King of Normandy.  One of William's descendants is the present King of Great Britain and a few other countries.

Escalope Viennoise or Escalope de Veau Viennoise – A Wiener Schnitzel under its French name.  The original Wiener Schnitzel is the gold standard by which all other breaded veal cutlets are judged. Wiener Schnitzel is thinly cut veal slices rolled in flour, then eggs and then bread crumbs, before frying in butter or oil.  When correctly cooked, a good Wiener Schnitzel will have the bread crumbs held together by the flour but easily separated from the veal. A Weiner Schnitzel properly made is large, thin, with a bumpy breaded covering and one of the tastiest veal dishes. 

Wiener Schnitzel is traditionally served with potato salad, cucumber salad and a green salad along with boiled potatoes and a slice of lemon. However, some chefs will serve the schnitzel with a lingonberry sauce, or a thick cranberry sauce; in France, the chef may have other ideas and French fries my be served.

The French have always respected Viennese chefs, and when the Wiener Schnitzel was brought to France, they did not hide the dish's origin. My Viennese, Austrian, Grandmother, introduced me to Wiener Schnitzel at an early age and along with Wiener Schnitzel came Apple Strudel, Kugelhof and more. Now, some things the Viennese got right, not too many, mind you, but Wiener Schnitzel, Apple Strudel and Kugelhof were three of them.

 

Weiner Schnitzel

With cranberry sauce.

Photograph courtesy of Dale Cruse

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dalecruse/32084093718/

 

      

Paillard de Veau, Beurre à l'Ail et au Cresson – A veal escalope made with garlic, butter and watercress.

Watercress: Watercress is likely to be the only cress that you'll see on a menu in France.  (Cresson d'Inde, Cresson du Mexique, or Cresson du Pérou are all names for the flower Nasturtium, which is not a cress).  The flower has a slightly peppery taste similar to watercress, which explains one of its French names, Cresson d'Inde, Indian cress. (The name Indian Cress came from the Spanish conquistadors' mistaken belief that they had arrived in India.)

Cresson Alénois - This is Ordinary cress or garden cress, the most popular cress in Britain, will not be on many menus in France, but it is appreciated.

If you are really into watercress: Visit the Foire Annuelle au Cresson de Méréville, the annual watercress fair in Méréville. The fair is held from Saturday through Monday on the Easter weekend. Check the dates on the French language website of the Méréville town hall under March, Mars, and or April, Avril, as Easter's dates move around every year:

If you are really into gardens:  The famous Jardin de Méréville, the garden of Méréville, was a splendid and unique Anglo-Chinese Garden when it was built in 1787.  Its French name is Le Domaine de Méréville. The garden was designed by the architect Bellanger and the painter Hubert Robert. It has been restored to its former glory and tickets to tour the garden may be reserved before arrival.  If the garden is closed on the day you intend to be in the area, worry not; travel in any direction from Méréville, and you will find chateaux, castles, and gardens by the score. BTW, the town of Méréville, if you remember, plays an important part in Les Misérables.


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Connected Posts:

Comte AOP (AOC), the premiere cheese of France.

What is Crème Fraîche? Why is Crème Fraîche part of so Many of France’s Famous Sauces and More.

Cresson, Cresson de Fontaine - Watercress on the French Menu.

French Ciders, Including France's Fabulous Sparkling Ciders.

Madeira wine, Vin de Madère and the French Menu.

Munster Cheese.The Premiere Cheese from the Alsace and the Lorraine. Not the American Muenster Cheese. The Town of Munster’s Irish and Scottish History.

Mushrooms in France I, The Champignon de Paris, the Button Mushroom.

The Butter Sauces on Your Menu. Three of France's Popular Butter Sauces. Part I.

The King Scallop and the Queen Scallop. On French Menus the Saint-Jacque, the Coquilles Saint-Jacques and the Vanneaux or Pétoncle. 

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com
Copyright 2010, 2012, 2014,2015, 2025.

 








1 comment:

  1. We live in a great veal-producing region: veau de Ségala is a delicacy, and veau de l'Aveyron in general is quite highly thought of.

    ReplyDelete

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