from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com
Crayfish.
Photograph courtesy of Cuisine à la Française.
Crayfish are tasty freshwater
crustaceans, (called crawfish and crawdads in the USA). They look like miniature lobsters, which they
are not; they have not been related to the two-clawed lobster family for the
last 100 million years or so. Despite their freshwater origins crayfish are
served in French seafood restaurants or at least their tails are.
Depending on the type of crayfish in
France they range in size from 10 cm (4”) to 15 cm (6”) in length, sometimes a
little larger. A whole crayfish weighs between 60grams (2.10oz) to 180 grams (6.30oz) from head to
tail with the average crayfish weighing 100 grams (3.50oz). Only crayfish tails
have any real meat, and that’s about one-third of the total, albeit a delicious
30 grams (1 oz). There is a small amount of meat in the claws of the larger
crayfish, but getting that out is hardly worth the effort.
A crayfish entrée.
www.flickr.com/photos/erieffusion/2850080764/
When part of a seafood platter or salad
crayfish, or their shelled tails, will be served cold. To aid the diner when
crayfish are served whole, the restaurant will make cuts along the back of the
tail that makes extracting the meat straightforward; If there are no cuts in
the tail send them back. For cooked
dishes, the crayfish carapace, the shell, adds a great deal to the flavor, but
it is only the shelled tails that will be part of the final dish.
Ready to serve.
In the wild crayfish colors vary from red to black,
and like other crustaceans, they mostly turn red when cooked.
www.flickr.com/photos/feenart/7343886390/
Most of the crayfish served in France are
farmed or imported with the best considered to be the pattes rouges, the noble
crayfish, followed by the pattes blanches, the white-clawed crayfish. The least
expensive crayfish is the écrevisse à pattes grêles, the Danube crayfish and
since it’s the cheapest, it is rarely noted by name on menus.
The Écrevisse à Pattes Blanches
The white-clawed crayfish
In France, this crayfish is both farmed
and caught in the wild, though many parts of France have banned catching them
in the wild due to over-fishing.
The white-clawed crayfish on French menus:
Ris de Veau Braisé aux Écrevisses Pattes Blanches, Méli-mélo de Légumes Croquants – Braised veal sweetbreads and the white-clawed crayfish accompanied by crispy vegetables. (Méli-mélo means matching, but not contrasting for both taste and colors).
Filet de Sandre aux Écrevisses à Pattes Blanches et Asperges Vertes – Filet of pike-perch and the white-clawed crayfish accompanied by green asparagus.
The white-clawed crayfish in the languages of France’s neighbors:
(Catalan - cranc de riu de potes blanques), Dutch - zoetwaterkreeft ), (German –dohlenkrebs), (Italian - gambero dai piedi bianchi, gambero di fiume europeo), (Spanish - cangrejo de río europeo, cangrejo de patas blancas), (Latin - austropotamobius pallipes)
Écrevisse à Pattes Grêles or Écrevisse de Turquie –
The Danube Crayfish, the slender-legged crayfish, the
Turkish Crayfish, or Galician Crayfish.
This is the least expensive as well as
being the crayfish most often seen on French menus though then just called an
écrevisse. These farmed crayfish are the smallest crayfish on French menus and
rarely reach 100 grams (3.5 oz), that means, possibly 30 grams (1 oz) of meat.
When crayfish tails are part of cooked dishes, these crayfish will have been
the suppliers. This crayfish was introduced into local waters in the 1960s, and
today they are also farmed.
The Danube Crayfish on French menus:
Filets de Rougets et Queues d'Écrevisses – Red mullet served with crayfish tails.
Ravioles aux Écrevisses et Pointes d'Asperges – Crayfish ravioli served with asparagus tips.
Écrevisse à Pattes Grêles à la Crème de Radis Rose – The Danube crayfish served with a creamy, red radish sauce.
Velouté d'Ecrevisse au Piment d'Éspelette – A velvety crayfish soup flavored with the peppers from around the town of Éspelett in France’s Basque country.
The Danube crayfish in the languages of France’s neighbors:
(German – Galizische sumpfkrebs), (Italian - gambero di fiume Turco, gambero di Galizia), (Spanish - cangrejo de patas punteadas, cangrejo Turco), (Latin - astacus leptodactylus)
Salad of deep-fried crayfish tails.
www.flickr.com/photos/brownpau/11504413913/
Écrevisse à Pattes Rouges
The Noble crayfish, the European crayfish, or Noble crayfish;
This is considered the best of the French
crayfish and only found in the north of France. When American crayfish were
introduced into the wild in France, this species suffered heavily from crayfish
diseases brought in. When this crayfish is on the menu nearly all will come from farms.
The Noble Crayfish on French menus:
Morilles Fraîches aux Queues d'Écrevisses "Pattes Rouges" – Fresh morel mushrooms prepared with the tails of the noble crayfish.
Quenelles de Brochet de la Maison aux Écrevisses 'Pattes Rouges' du Léman – Pike dumplings served with the Noble Crayfish from Lac Leman, Lake Geneva. (Pike are France's favorite freshwater fish, and pike dumplings are a popular and traditional part of French cuisine).
Écrevisse à Pattes Rouges - The Noble Crayfish
www.flickr.com/photos/nickpix2008/5044264406/
The Noble Crayfish in the languages of France’s neighbors :
(Dutch -Europese rivierkreeft), (German - edelkrebs), (Italian - Gambero dai piedi rossi), (Spanish - cangrejo noble, cangrejo de patas rojas. cangrejo de río autóctono), (Latin - astacus astacus).
The Écrevisse Américaine
The American crayfish
This crayfish was imported into Europe
and released in the wild in the 1980s where it has established itself well,
though often to the detriment of local species. It is rarely seen on restaurant
menus, but it is popular with amateur fishermen and women and with its natural
population growth that may change.
The American crayfish in the language of France’s neighbors:
(Dutch - gevlekte rivierkreeft), (German - kamberkrebs), (Italian - gambero di fiume americano, gambero americano), (Spanish - cangrejo rojo, cangrejo de río), (Latin - orconectes limosus)
Grande Plateau d'Ecrevisses
A large platter of crayfish.
The most famous
French dish with crayfish is Poulet Marengo,
Poulet
Marengo, Chicken Marengo with crayfish was originally and uniquely prepared for
Napoleon I, (though at the time, he was still a general). The dish is named
after the Battle of Marengo, where Napoléon won, for France, one of his many
battles with the Austrians in Italy. The
Battle of Marengo, in the Italian region of Piedmonte, was fought on 14 June
1800. That was when battles lasted a day, and by the evening there was a winner
and a loser.
Tradition required a celebratory feast for the commanding general, but Napoleon's cook had nothing to celebrate with. A search for ingredients produced chickens from a nearby village, wild crayfish, and local white wine that were turned into a feast good enough for the future emperor of France. The region of Piedmont is home to some of Italy's best wines, including the white Moscato d'Asti. In France, the wine most often recommended for crayfish is Chablis; the same wine that is often recommended to accompany oysters.
Tradition required a celebratory feast for the commanding general, but Napoleon's cook had nothing to celebrate with. A search for ingredients produced chickens from a nearby village, wild crayfish, and local white wine that were turned into a feast good enough for the future emperor of France. The region of Piedmont is home to some of Italy's best wines, including the white Moscato d'Asti. In France, the wine most often recommended for crayfish is Chablis; the same wine that is often recommended to accompany oysters.
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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com
Copyright 2010,2013, 2018
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