from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@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
seven months every year, the Rouge des Prés freely graze on fresh
grass, wild herbs and flowers. In the winter, the same cattle are brought into
barns where they may only be fed the dried grasses and herbs from the area in
which they graze in 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 the red and white to solid red
or black cattle 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 Daniel Jolivet
www.flickr.com/photos/sybarite48/11219987304/
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 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 now,
in season, grown in France).
Le Pièce de Bœuf
Rouge des Prés aux Morilles et Champignons à la Crème – A Pièce de Bœuf means
the butcher’s cut. It is a cut
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. The
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 Rouge Des Prés US hanger
steak 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, cut into small pieces, and fried, often in butter. They are the
closest French cuisine gets to North 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) served with a Sauce
Bordelaise, accompanied by fresh girolle
chanterelle mushrooms.
Sauce Bordelaise
is 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 then finishing it with butter
and fresh herbs.
Girolle Chanterelle mushrooms: The chanterelle or girolle chanterelle is the
best-known member of the chanterelle mushroom family in France. 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
of the Rouge des Prés (still on this menu 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, a cut from 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 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
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 name that I have seen on a menu is the very tasty, farm-raised pigeon, the Royal Anjou pigeon.
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 Pays de Loire, 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 pears’ 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 easily understood with the Google or Bing translate apps:
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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Connected Posts:
AOC and AOP on France's Foods and Wine labels? Why did the AOC add an AOP?
Anjou and Angevines – Dining in the Maine et Loire, France.
Beaujolais - Beaujolais wines. Beaujolais Wines on French Menus.
Bordeaux and Bordelaise on the Menu, and Bordeaux AOC/AOP Wines on the Wine-List.
Canard – Duck. Duck on French Menus.
Cremants are the best value in French sparkling wines .
Entrecôte. Ordering a Perfect Entrecote Steak in France.
Faux-filet or Contre-filet - A UK Sirloin, a USA Strip Steak.
Filet
Mignon on French Menus and Filet de Bœuf in French Cuisine.
French Olives on French Menus.
Frites or Pomme Frites - French Fries in the USA and Chips in the UK. French Fries on French Menus.
Morille, the Morel Mushroom. Morel mushrooms on French Menus. The Mushrooms of France V.
Onglet and Bavettes on French Menus.Steak Frites in French Cuisine.
Pigeon and Pigeonneau - Pigeons and Squabs on French Menus.
Pintade - Guinea Fowl. Guinea Fowl in French Cuisine.
Tartare - Tartar on French Menus. Steak Tartar, Fish Tartar and Vegetable Tartar.
The Greengage Plum, the Reine-Claude Plum in French cuisine.
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Behind
the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com
Copyright 2010, 2018, 2023, 2025.
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