Behind the French Menu: Shiitake or Lentin du Chêne –The Shiitake Mushroom in French Cuisine. The Mushrooms of France VIII.

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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Shiitake mushrooms.

The shiitake mushroom was well-known from Japanese and Chinese cuisine, but it was only some thirty years ago that French chefs seriously began experimenting with the Shiitake mushroom and including it in French cuisine.

Fresh shiitake in the market.

Photograph courtesy of Moxie G

www.flickr.com/photos/moxieg/3010147956/

The "Champignon" shiitake was, at the outset, only seen in France as a dried import but as the first French farmed shiitake mushrooms entered the French market, it became widely identified with its umami taste that was a new concept in French cuisine. That along with its meaty texture made it a success. (The umami taste is an earthy, savory flavor that highlights other tastes. It is the fifth taste identified by our taste bud receptors and is added to our other tastes sweet, sour, bitter and salty).

Shiitake mushrooms on French Menus:

Côtelettes d'Agneau En Croûte de Fines Herbes, Ragoût de Shiitake et Asperge – Lamb chops prepared in an en croute covering made of France’s most important herb group, the Fine Herbs and served with a stew of shiitake mushrooms and asparagus.

Filet de Bœuf, Purée de Carottes Cumin et Gingembre, Duxelles de Shiitake- A beef fillet, a cut from the tenderloin, served with a carrot puree flavored with cumin and ginger and accompanied by a shiitake duxelles. (Duxelles are finely chopped mushrooms, shallots, and herbs cooked in butter, one of the oldest French culinary creations).

Cultivating shiitake.

Photograph courtesy of Edsel Little

www.flickr.com/photos/edsel_/9868990656/

Fricassée de Ris de Veau aux Lentins de Chêne sur Lit d'Epinards- A stew of veal sweetbreads prepared with shiitake mushrooms and served on a bed of spinach.

Pinces de Crabe et Champignons Shiitake – Crab claws served with Shiitake mushrooms. The crab claws may come France’s favorite crab, the crabe tourteau, the edible brown crab, or more probably imported frozen pincers from the crabe de neige, the snow crab.

Baby bok choy cabbage, chicken, and shiitake mushrooms.

Photograph courtesy of jeffreyw

www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyww/5187807319/

Risotto Carnaroli aux Mousseron et aux Shiitake – A risotto of the wild St. George's mushroom and the shiitake mushrooms using carnaroli rice. Carnaroli rice is grown over the French border in the Italian region of Piedmont; which is the same region that produces the Arborio and Baldo rice. Carniola is considered, by the cognoscenti, and that includes all French chefs, to be even better for risottos than the other two varieties of rice.

Shiitake risotto

Photograph courtesy of Isidre Torras

www.flickr.com/photos/eldinardelanna/15172675264/

Suprême de Volaille Farcis au Shiitake, Jus Corsé – Breast of chicken stuffed with shiitake mushrooms and served with dish’s natural cooking juices.

The Chinese were farming Shiitake mushrooms at least 400 years before the earliest western success that would lead to France cultivating the Champignon de Paris, the button mushroom. The French words chêne means oak and the shiitake was traditionally grown on oak tree logs which give it one of its French names, the Lentin de Chêne.

Kohlrabi salad with roasted shiitakes

Photograph courtesy of Edsel Little

www.flickr.com/photos/edsel_/8677403222/

Shitake mushrooms have the umami taste that enhances the taste of other foods; these, savory, taste buds receptors were pinpointed by the scientist Kikunae Ikeda in Japan in 1907; the Japanese word umami indicates savory and delicious. Ikeda gave this taste its name and also patented the umami seasoning that contains MSG (monosodium L-glutamate) that he identified.

(Catalan – xiitake), (Dutch - shiitake), (German –shiitakepilz), (Italian - fungo giapponese),(Spanish - hongo shii-take).

Connected Posts:

Asperges en La Cuisine Française – Asparagus in French cuisine. The Artists who Painted Asparagus or Lived Near Argenteuil.

Carottes - Carrots in French Cuisine.

Champignons on French Menus. The Champignon de Paris, the Button Mushroom in French Cuisine. The Mushrooms of France I.

Côte, a rib or rib roast, a cutlet or a chop; Côté, a side or a filet; Côtes, (cotes) the hills or the coast in French. All will be on French menus.

Crabe de Neige – The Snow Crab. The snow crab in French cuisine.

Crabes - Crabs. Crabs Among the Crustaceans on Your French Menu. Crustaceans II.

Duxelles on French Menus. Duxelles in French Cuisine.

Échalotes - Shallots. Shallots on French Menus. Shallots are One of the Most Important Herbs in the French Kitchen

En Croûte (En Croute) on French Menus.

Filet Mignon on French Menus and Filet de Bœuf in French Cuisine.

Kale (Borecole) and its Family Members in French Cuisine. Bok Choy, Cauliflower, Chinese Cabbage, Kale or Borecole, Kolrabi and Romanesco Broccoli on French Menus.

Les Fine Herbes; the Most Important Herb Group in French Cuisine. Les Fine Herbes on French Menus.

Gingembre – Ginger, the Spice. Ginger is very important in French Cuisine, and Gingerbread is Very Popular.

Jus – Fruit or Vegetable Juice and/or a cooked dish’s natural juices on French Menus.

Les Fine Herbes; the Most Important Herb Group in French Cuisine. Les Fine Herbes on French Menus.

Mousseron - The St. George's Mushroom. The St. George's Mushroom on French Menus. The Mushrooms of France II.

Ris de Veau (d'Agneau) - Sweetbreads on French Menus. When sweetbreads are on the menu in France do not pass them by.

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