Behind the French Menu: Alcohol free beer

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Quiche Lorraine with cheese.

www.flickr.com/photos/vaionnoth/7275270298/

Quiche – Quiche and Quiche Lorraine,

The old French region of Lorraine in North-Eastern France has Quiche Lorraine as its most famous culinary export. Quiche Lorraine and other quiches that developed from the original are found on menus all over the world.

The Original Quiche Lorraine

Quiche Lorraine is a mixture of eggs, and fresh cream poured into a piecrust; usually with finely chopped lardons, bacon bits. Originally, and traditionally, this dish was made without cheese; now cheese, or no cheese, depends on the chef. Quiche, within the Lorraine, has also expanded its horizons and local restaurants now offer tens of different quiches.

The traditional quiche is made using a pâte brisée, a French short crust pastry that is a crumbly unleavened dough. (The word brisée means broken),

Quiche on sale.

Photograph courtesy of Ben Sutherland

www.flickr.com/photos/bensutherland/6757319965/

Quiche on restaurant menus:

Vous Propose une Large Sélection de Quiches et Tartes Pour vos Entrées – We offer a large selection of quiches and tartes for your first entrée. (The French entrée is the first course, the US starter).

Quiche Tomates Mozzarella Basilic – A quiche with tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and basil. This sounds like a pizza Margherita with a different base.

Traditionnelle Quiche Lorraine, Salade De Saison – A traditional quiche Lorraine, with a seasonal salad.

Quiche Citrouille – A pumpkin quiche.

Quiche and salad.

Photograph courtesy of Lara604

www.flickr.com/photos/lara604/3662770987/

Quiche Chèvre Tomate – A quiche with goat’s cheese and tomatoes.

Quiche au Saumon et Poireaux – Quiche with salmon and leeks.

Quiche aux Légumes Grillés et sa Verdurette - Quiche with grilled vegetables and a small green salad salad.

Quiche on sale in Italy.

Photograph courtesy of Claudia_midori

www.flickr.com/photos/claudia_midori/3358830446/

Tarte Salées Maison (Quiche Lorraine et Tarte Provençale) Accompagnées d'une Salade Verte - Homemade savory tarts (Quiche Lorraine and Tarte Provençale) accompanied by a green salad. (The pastry used is often only difference between a tarte and a quiche).

The quiche outside of the Lorraine.

Outside of the Lorraine, and even more so outside France, quiche has become the name for any number of recipes baked in a light flaky pastry case. The idea of a pie in a pastry case was certainly not an original Lorraine invention; however, along the way that made the Quiche Lorraine an international dish and made their own part of France famous. I have, to my sorrow, on my travels, seen USA versions of Quiche Lorraine made with processed cheese.

Make your own quiche in the USA

Photograph courtesy of theimpulsivebuy

www.flickr.com/photos/theimpulsivebuy/22578490569/

The German language in use in the Lorraine.

The word quiche comes from the German kuchen, which means cake or flan. The Alsace and Lorraine changed rulers with every war and change in the wind of politics. While all the citizens of Lorraine speak perfect French their local dialects is German based. On the local menus there will be two languages French and Franconian. Franconian is the German dialect used in Lorraine and a Quiche Lorraine in Franconian is a Lothringer Speckkuchen. .

Where is Lorraine

The old French regions of Alsace and Lorraine now included, since 1-1-2016 together with the old region of Champagne-Ardenne in the super region of Grande Est have strong German influences.

The new super-region of the Grande Est.

Photograph courtesy of latribune.fr

Quiche Alsacienne

Lorraine’s historical neighbor is the old region of the Alsace, and before being merged into the Grande Est its two departments of Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin made it the smallest region of France. When you are traveling in the Grande Est, you may wish to visit the magnificent wine region of the Alsace. It is home to some of the best white wines in France and you may enjoy them with the excellent Alsatian cuisine.

On menus in the Alsace, you may be offered a Quiche Alsacienne. Maybe, more correctly, it should be called a tarte à l'oignon, an onion pie. Some restaurants trying to interest visitors in local cuisine have chosen this dish to be the quiche of the Alsace. Traditionally this dish is made with lots and lots of onions and without cheese. For the local Alsatian dialect speakers, the menu will note zwiebelkuchen.

Connected Posts:

Alsacienne (à l’) - Cuisine à l'Alsacienne - Dining in the manner of the Alsace.

Bacon in France. Bacon and Salted Pork on French Menus. Lard in French Means Bacon in English.

Basil - Basilic or Herbe Royal. Basil in French Cuisine. The Italian Pesto is Pistou on French Menus.

Salades - Salads. Forty of the Most Popular (and Simply Made) French Salads. Salads in France.

Saumon, Saumon Atlantique - Salmon. Salmon on French Menus. Atlantic Salmon is the only Salmon Generally Available in France.

Vins d'Alsace - The 11 Wonderful Wines of the Alsace, France.

Searching for the meaning of words, names or phrases

French menus?

Just add the word, words, or phrase that you are searching for to the words "Behind the French Menu" and search with Google. Behind the French Menu’s links include hundreds of words, names, and phrases that are seen on French menus. There are over 400 articles that include over 3,000 French dishes with English translations and explanations.

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Bière Pression, Bière à la Pression or Bières au Fût

Draft Beer

Photograph by Ahmet Guler from FreeDigitalPhotos.com.

Towards the end of this post on French beer, there is a short introduction to Belgian beer.

You may, correctly, assume that France drinks more wine than beer but France still drinks a lot of beer and produces over 2,000 different beers. Every French department has its own craft beers though more than 75% of the beer consumed in France comes from the large producers. The well-known French beers include Kanterbraü owned by Danone and producing more than 7 different beers. Gayant, an independent producing more than 11 different beers. Castelain is another independent producing more than 7 different beers and last, but not least is Kronenbourg, owned by Carlsberg and brewing, in France, more than 8 different beers.

Wikipedia has a site where you may click on the name of each French department and find the names of all the beers produced there along with the type of beer and alcohol content. Many of the names follow through to links with additional information. The site is only in French and you can, of course, use the Bing or Google translate apps, but it is hardly needed. To reach the site click here.

The translation of beer types such as amber, blonde, and porter etc, are noted below.

In France, even the ducks drink beer.

Photograph courtesy of Pierre

www.flickr.com/photos/pierrebedat/2308910324/

Beers, in France, are described by their color, and that includes lager beers. French breweries produce lager beers grouped according to their color. A brewery is a brasserie in French, though most brasseries are not breweries. For more about the restaurants called brasseries click here

Microbrasserie - A microbrewery.

Bar à Bières – A bar that only sells beer.

Restobiere - A restaurant that specializes in beer.

Now, all the French you need to order a beer in France:

Bière – Beer. In France, unless you specifically request a foreign beer you will be served French beer. In a tabac or small restaurant, they may only have French beers.

Choose your beer in France.

Photograph courtesy of Stefan

www.flickr.com/photos/kweku_/13043778385/

Beer Sizes

To order a beer just say “Une bière s’il vous plait, “ pronounced oon beer sil voo play.

Galopin or Bock – The smallest measure of beer you can order,125 ml. A galopin may be on a menu listing when offered as an alternative to a glass of wine included in the price of a meal..

Chope or Pinte – A large beer, half a liter, 500ml. N.B. The French pinte is not the same measure as a UK or USA pint. (Despite what some guide-books would have you believe French beers do NOT come in UK or USA pints). The French pinte is an old measure whose use ended with Napoleon's introduction of the metric system. Today, a French pinte, when it is used to order a beer is 500ml.

Demi (Un) – Half a chope. One-quarter of a liter, 250ml of beer.

Parfait, Formidable or Double Pinte – 1000ml, one liter.

Verre de Bière (Un) - A glass of beer, usually 330ml; the size of many bottled beers. (N.B. France's bottled beers come in sizes of 250ml, 330ml, 500ml, and 750ml with a few even larger).

Types of beer.

This list covers the most conventional beers. There are many other beers that like some Belgian beers are made with fruits, herbs, and additions such a whisky, whiskey, or Champagne.

Bière Ambrée - Amber colored beer. The taste and color are affected by the percentage of roasted malt included in the brew.

Bière Blanche – A white beer; like German weissbiers made with at least 50% wheat.

Bière Blonde – Light colored beers that are often translated as lager beers. However, occasionally confusion reigns as other beers with the same color may be Trappist’s ale or Lambic beers.

Bière Brune - A dark beer. A brown beer with a color anywhere from brown mahogany to ebony black.

Bière Dunkelweizen – A French take on the Munich and chocolate malt beers combined to create a dark amber-brown maltier version of the lighter Hefeweizen beer.

Bière Porter – A brown malt beer; the same as some UK porters.

Bière Rouse – A red colored malt beer.

1664 beer.

Photograph courtesy of Florent

www.flickr.com/photos/florentparcevaux/9165558667/

Beer on menus:

Bières Bouteilles - Bottled beers.

Bières du Monde – Beers from around the world.

Bière Panachée or Panachée – This is the French equivalent of a British shandy. A mixture of beer with one of the local equivalents of 7-Up. Make your own or buy it made up.

Bière Pression, Bière à la Pression or Bières au Fût – Draft beers.

Bière sans Alcool – Alcohol-free beer.

Canette de Bière - A can of beer. Mostly sold in sizes from 330ml to 500ml.

Oysters and beer.

Photograph courtesy of Wil

www.flickr.com/photos/infomofo/16805009411

À votre santé - Salut - Cheers - L'Chaim – Skol

Photograph by Nicholas Tarling from FreeDigitalImages.com

Most French beers have alcohol contents between 4-9%, the percentage is on the label. France also has alcohol free beers, including one made by Coca-Cola.

Coca-Cola’s French alcohol-free beer

Bière Belge - Belgian Beer.

Belgium is justifiably famous for its beer and its cuisine; some of my early introductions to a well-prepared table and Belgian beer were in Ostende, Belgium.

My introduction to the wide variety of Belgian beers came after my introduction to Belgian cuisine. Belgium’s French-accented cuisine is so good that I am always ready to accept anything from Belgium with an open mind. Within France, there are many successful Belgian chain restaurants selling their very popular moules frites, mussels and French fries and, of course, they also sell Belgian beers. N.B. The standard beer sizes in the French-speaking part of Belgium are different from those in France.

Moules frites, mussels and French fries with a beer.

Photograph courtesy of Med PhotoBlog

There are more than 650 Belgian Beers, more than all the registered cheeses in France, and Belgium has a much smaller population. By my calculations, one out of every ten Belgian families must have a member involved in making beer, and the rest must be drinking it.

Belgian beer

Photograph courtesy of Bernt Rostad

www.flickr.com/photos/brostad/6553208013/

The Belgian beer brewing tradition, like that of other countries, goes back centuries, however, the Belgians developed their beer in ways others never even considered. I think the fruit-flavored beers of Belgium are quite unique, and Belgium also has beers they recommend as aperitifs, beers they drink with sugar, and others they serve in champagne flutes!

Those who are genuinely interested in Belgian beer, should visit Belgium for a couple of years and try them all. This is the experience that I am told is of crucial importance for anyone who cares to understand the Belgium psyche.

Beer on sale in Belgium.

Photograph courtesy of ERIC FORGET

www.flickr.com/photos/tarchamps/4001318567

-----------------------------

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

--------------------------

Searching for the meaning of words, names or phrases

French menus?

Just add the word, words, or phrase that you are searching for to the words "Behind the French Menu" (best when including the inverted commas), and search with Google, Bing, or DuckDuckGO. Behind the French Menu’s links, include hundreds of words, names, and phrases that are seen on French menus. There are over 450 articles that include over 4,000 French dishes with English translations and explanations.

Connected posts:

Brasseries in France.

Champagne the Most Famous Sparkling Wine in the World. Choosing the Champagne that Meets your Sweetness Preferences.

Frites or Pomme Frites - French Fries in the USA and Chips in the UK. French Fries on French Menus.

Huitres. Oysters in France 1. Ordering, Eating and Enjoying Oysters. Huitres on French Menus.

Moules - Mussels. Moules Frites and Much More. Mussels on French Menus.