Behind the French Menu: Rouge des Prés AOP – The Very Best of French Beef. Rouge des Prés in French Cuisine.

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

Rouge des Prés

When the Rouge des Prés AOP is on the menu, you will be able to taste the very best of French beef. With its AOP, it's one of the four names at the top of the top for French beef.

Rouge Des Près or Maine- Anjou ?

Despite the name change to Rouge Des Près in 2004, some chefs still put Maine-Anjou on their menus. The reasons for the name change are not clear, and the only competition for the breed’s name that I have seen on a menu is the very tasty, farm-raised pigeon, the Royal Anjou pigeon.

For seven months every year, the Rouge des Prés cattle graze freely on fresh grass, wild herbs and flowers. In the winter, the cattle are brought into barns where they may only be fed the dried grasses and herbs from the same area in which they grazed in the summer. Only in the 120 days before they go to market may grains and cereals be added to their food.

Your beef will not come from a young, stringy, or tough piece of beef; all Rouge des Prés cattle must be at least two and a half years old before they go to market. That's enough time for them to have tender, tasty, gently marbled meat. Drive through the department of Maine et Loire in the spring, summer, and autumn, and you will see them grazing.

The breed was always dual-purpose, milk and beef, but beef is its primary use nowadays. Nevertheless, it's not uncommon for farms to keep some of their Rouge des Prés cattle for milking.

Angers, home to the Rouge des Prés.
Photograph courtesy of anjou-tourisme.com

By law, the calves must be raised by their mothers. The farms that raise these cattle are nothing like the vast USA feedlots where thousands are being fattened at any one time. The average size farm for the Rouge des Prés will have forty to fifty cows, and for every cow, the farmer must have, by law, one hectare, 10,000 sq meters (12,000 sq yards). The farm must have more land for bulls and calves. For the best cuts of French beef, choose the Rouge des Prés AOP.

Rouge des Prés AOC beef on French Menus:

Carpaccio de Bœuf Rouge des Près au Jus de Yuzu, Frites – A beef Carpaccio (Chapter 4), from the Rouge Des Près beef flavored with yuzu juice and served with French fries.

The yuzu is a Chinese or Tibetan aromatic citrus cross that made its way to France from Japan, where the yuzu is very much part of Japanese cuisine. (Today, the yuzu fruits on most French menus are, in season, grown in France.)

Le Pièce de Bœuf Rouge des Prés aux Morilles et Champignons à la Crème – A Pièce de Bœuf (Chapter 6),often called the Butcher’s Cut, is one of the unique cuts from the rump, which, if not sold, the butcher would take home for their family as it is appreciated for its taste and texture. In this menu listing, the beef is served with a creamy morel and button mushroom sauce. These butchers’ cuts are tender and flavorsome cuts from the rump that only French butchers have the patience to prepare.

Onglet De Boeuf Rouge Des Prés, Sauce Roquefort, Pommes Rissolées. - A US hanger steak (Chapter 17) or London broil, and in the UK a skirt steak, served with a creamy Roquefort cheese sauce and pan-fried potatoes.

Pommes Rissolées are boiled potatoes, cut into small pieces, and fried, often in butter. They are the closest French cuisine gets to American hash browns.

Onglet De Boeuf

Photograph courtesy of T.Tseng

www.flickr.com/photos/68147320@N02/36040895761/

Entrecôte Rouge des Prés Grillée Sauce Bordelaise, Girolles Fraîches – A grilled Rouge de Prés entrecôte, rib-eye steak (Chapter 2), served with a Sauce Bordelaise, accompanied by fresh girolle chanterelle mushrooms.

Sauce Bordelaise -A classic French sauce, known for its rich flavor and association with the wines of Bordeaux. It is a reduction of Bordeaux red wine and shallots with veal stock, and finished with butter and fresh herbs.

Girolle Chanterelle: The chanterelle or girolle chanterelle is the best-known member of the chanterelle mushroom family. All the members of the chanterelle family are welcomed by the chefs of France, whether fresh or dried. Dried chanterelles keep much of their flavor, but the chefs know the difference that fresh chanterelles can make to a dish.

Entrecôte Bordelaise à la Moelle

A rib-eye steak with Bordelaise sauce

flavored with the addition of moelle, bone marrow.

Photograph by Monkey Business through Yay Micro.com

Filet De Bœuf Maine d'Anjou Rôti, Écrasé de Pommes de Terre à l'Olive de Nyons, Sauce Au Vin Rouge De Saumur Champigny – A cut from the fillet, tenderloin (Chapter 20), of the Rouge des Prés (still on this menu listing as Main-Anjou beef), accompanied by hand-mashed potatoes prepared with Nyon olives and served with a red Saumur Champigny wine sauce.

Écrasé de Pommes de Terre - The culinary term for potatoes that are hand-mashed (literally "crushed"), resulting in a textured serving that is distinct from smooth, whipped purées.

The Olive de Nyons AOP is a special, black-to-violet-colored Provençal olive, characterized by its round shape and large pit. This olive is unique enough to rate an AOP, and its oil; the Huile d'Olive de Nyons AOP has its own AOP designation. Unlike most other olives, Nyons olives are allowed to ripen on the tree until they begin to shrivel before being hand-picked between November and January. Some of these olives are sold to become a very costly extra virgin olive oil, while the others will be pickled in brine and sold, also expensively, for the table.

Saumur Champigny is the most highly regarded red wine from the Saumur appellation in the Loire Valley and is situated within the department of Maine-et-Loire. The town of Saumur is famous for its historical château and its red and sparkling wines, which thrive on the region's characteristic chalky limestone soils.

A beef fillet (the tenderloin_.
Photograph courtesy of N Wong
www.flickr.com/photos/nwongpr/29463060222/

Tartare De Bœuf La Rouge Des Près Aux Parfums De Truffe d'Été - Steak Tatar (Chapter 31), from the Rouge Des Près beef scented by the black summer truffle. The black summer truffle is a lightly scented truffle and one of the least expensive (tuber aestivum), and is available from May through mid-October

Ballotine of Royal Anjou Pigeon
Black Pudding, and Spiced Juices.
Photograph courtesy of Charles Haynes
www.flickr.com/photos/haynes/2760560349/

The Maine et Loire is the market garden of France.

The department of Maine-et-Loire is located in the region of the Pays de Loire, and justly referred to as the market garden of France. The City of Angers sits across the Maine and Loire Rivers and is very close to another five. Not surprisingly, the vineyards of Anjou, the Angevine vineyards, are the largest in the whole Loire Valley.

From this region comes the Poire Anjou, the Anjou pear, and the tasty Reine-Claude plum, the greengage plum, which was brought to England from here in the early 19th Century by Sir Thomas Gage. Also from here comes the much-appreciated Volaille de Loué, Label Rouge, red label, poultry. The Volaille de Loué poultry includes organically raised chickens, chicken’s eggs, ducks, geese, turkeys, and guinea fowl.

Whether the Anjou pear originated in Belgium or France in the mid-18th Century is another reason for Belgian and French arguments in the kitchen. (Their cuisines have much in common, but some look for reasons to disagree on whatever comes to mind.) The Anjou pear’s skin ranges from yellow to light or bright green. The flesh is aromatic and tender in texture, while the flavor is sweet and juicy. Anjou pears are served fresh or as part of a cooked dish. (Latin - pyrus communis var. Anjou).

Anjou pears
Photograph courtesy of Samantha Durfee
www.flickr.com/photos/74444001@N00/11240994845/

Enjoying the wines of Maine et Anjou

Anjou has over 35 different AOP wines. The most well-known include: Anjou Rouge, red; Anjou Gamay, a red wine best drunk young like a Nouveau Beaujolais; Anjou Villages, red; Cabernet d'Anjou, rosé; Rosé d'Anjou, rosé and Anjou Blanc, white. The Saumur wines include: Cabernet de Saumur, rosé; Côteaux de Saumur, a medium-sweet white; Saumur-Champigny, red; Cabernet de Saumur, rosé; Crémant de Loire sparkling white and rosé wines.

Six different wine roads in Anjou will take you through villages and wine makers, where, for a small contribution to the local economy, you can taste their products. The website is only in French, but it is easily understood with the Google or Bing translate apps:

https://www.anjou-tourisme.com/fr/voir-faire/que-visiter/vignoble-danjou-saumur/la-route-touristique-du-vignoble-de-lanjou

Anjou and Maine-et-Loire

Anjou was an ancient province of France, with the city of Angers serving as its capital and home to the Angevins. The rulers of Anjou played a significant role in European history: most notably, King Henry II of England was born into the powerful French Anjou family—the House of Plantagenet—who controlled the region. Anjou remained a distinct administrative entity until the French Revolution, when it was formally absorbed into the newly created department of Maine-et-Loire.

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