Sainte-Maure de Touraine AOP. The Sainte-Maure de Touraine Cheese. Sainte-Maure de Touraine is One of France's Finest Goat's milk cheeses

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

    

Sainte-Maure de Touraine AOC

Photograph courtesy of Fromagerie-Jacquin.com


Sainte-Maure de Touraine goat's milk cheese.

The Sainte-Maure de Touraine AOC is an excellent, mild, 25% fat, goats’ cheese made with unpasteurized milk with a light, nutty, taste. Each cheese is matured for at least ten days before being sold.  A cheese must weigh between 250 and 300 grams. When the cheese is ready to be sold, it is covered in ash.  Like other goats’ cheeses, the taste of the Sainte-Maure de Touraine changes and gets stronger as the cheese matures. I noted that this is a mild cheese; nevertheless, as it ages it still gives a fair bite.  When you buy this cheese in a fromagerie, ask how old it is.I enjoy the older cheeses, but for a salad you will want a milder cheese.  A version made with a pasteurized milk is made for export.

    

Sainte-Maure de Touraine with its signature straw.

Photograph courtesy of Ma Fromagerie Fine, Rennes, France.

Sante-Maure de Touraine 
and plain Sainte Maure are different cheeses.

  

N.B. The name Sainte-Maure on its own, without the “de Touraine,”  is a generic name that can be produced anywhere. Outside France, the Sainte Maure  produced is often not a goat’s milk cheese.  Look carefully at the Saint-Maure, without the “de Touraine” that you are considering buying.   The better industrial versions are goat's milk cheeses and are produced in Touraine and in Poitou-Charentes. The French “Sainte-Maure” cheeses are practically never covered in ash. As good mass-produced cheeses, they do not go out of their way to mislead the consumer. They rely on their taste to bring the customers back, not ambiguous coverings. 

   

The production team

Photograph courtesy of the Tourist Information Office Sainte-Maure de Touraine.

The straw in the cheese?

  

For the AOC/AOP version of the Sainte-Maure de Touraine, the length is specified between 16-18cm (6”-7”) and the width  4.5-5.5cm ( 2”). The noticeable feature of a traditional Sainte-Maure de Touraine is the piece of straw that runs through the middle. The original reason for the straw was to assist in the cheese maturing evenly as the straw allows air to reach the center of the cheese. Today each straw is marked with the identification of the farm or dairy which made the cheese.  Now others have copied the idea and have put straws in the center of their cheeses as a marketing ploy.

The country around Saint-Maure de Touraine.

Photograph courtesy of Saint-Maire de Touraine Tourist Information Office

The five AOP goat's milk cheese of Indre and Indre-et-Loire.

The recipe for the Sainte-Maure de Touraine cheese is one of the oldest in France; its history can be followed back to the 8th or, at the latest, the 9th century CE. The small and beautiful town of Sainte-Maure de Touraine that gave the cheese its name is in the department of Indre-et-Loire in the région of the Val du Loire. The cheese is also made over the border in the department of Indre, part of the ancient province of Berry.  Together the two departments of Indre and Indre-et-Loire offer five AOP cheeses: the Crottin de Chavignol AOP; the Valençay AOP; Pouligny Saint Pierre AOP;  Selles sur Cher, AOP as well as the  Sainte-Maure de Touraine AOP. All are goat’s milk cheeses.  Additionally, the area produces many other excellent cheeses that do not have an AOP. To taste most of these cheeses, you will have to visit the region as their limited production is snapped up by the locals. If you are in the area visit a local Fromagerie, a cheese shop, and buy 100 grams of two or three local  goat's cheeses, a baguette, a bottle of a cold local white wine and enjoy. If you are traveling in the area then drive over the border into the department of Indre and you will find more to enjoy. For background on the initials, AOC and AOP seen on many French and European Union wines and foods click here.

The production area of Sainte-Maure de Touraine

Photograph courtesy of fromages-aop.com

The wines of Touraine include Chinon and Vouvray.

Apart from cheese, this is wine country, and you will see many AOC/AOP wines.  The Touraine wines include reds, roses, and whites. Look for the Touraine-Amboise AOC, the Touraine-Azay-le-Rideau AOC,  the Touraine-Mesland AOC, the Touraine-Noble Joué AOC,  the Touraine-Chenonceaux AOC, and the Touraine-Oisly AOC. Other wines that come from the ancient province of Touraine include Chinon  AOC,  Vouvray AOC,  Montlouis-sur-Loire AOC,  Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil AOC and the  Bourgueil AOC and the IGP Val-de-Loire.

 

Their sparkling wines include the Touraine-Mousseux AOC, Touraine-Pétillant AOC, and the Crémant de Loire AOC. Remember that the sweetness grades for sparkling wines are very different to still wines. At the end of the post on France's Cremants and at the end of the post on Champagne are lists that may assist when ordering or buying sparkling wines.
  

The new initials and names on French wine labels.

  
For wines, there are new initial and names on the labels of French and European Union wines.  The AOP and IGP  initials have new meanings and the Vin de Pays has ceased to be used as a wine grade.  The French grade of Vin Table, table wine, has also ceased to be used. Along with the new and regulations,a grade called the Vin de France has been added. For more information on these initials and labels click here.

   

Crémant de Loire Rosé de Bouvet Ladubay

Photograph courtesy of Bulles and Co, France.

  

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

   

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Crottin de Chavignol AOP. One of France’s outstanding goats’ milk cheeses.

 

Valençay, Valencay, the AOP cheese and Valençay the AOP wines.

 

Visit Berry, One of France’s historic Provinces, Enjoy its excellent Berrichonne Cuisine. Savor its wines. Taste its outstanding cheeses and much more.

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

 

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 

Copyright 2010, 2016

Carpe – Carp. Carp on French Menus. Smoked Carp, Fried Carp, Carp Sausages and More.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 

   

 

Carp - Carpe
Photograph courtesy of Thomas Kohler
www.flickr.com/photos/mecklenburg/4841354483/

Carpe, Carpe Commune  -  Carp, Common Carp.

Near to rivers and streams, nearly every restaurant in France will have carp on the menu. Carp is popular and inexpensive, but not always on the menu in big city fish restaurants where the customers have been trained to expect more expensive fish on their menus.

Not only the French diners love carp, but carp are also among the most popular fish for French anglers who are happy when they catch a 12-kilo (26 L.B.) carp even though they know that rarer 20 kilos (44 lb) and 25 kilos (55 lb) specimens are out there.

17 kilo (38 lb) carp ready to be returned to the lake.
Photograph courtesy of Tim Creque
www.flickr.com/photos/timjc513/3814857918/

The carp on restaurant menus are usually 3-4 kilos (6 - 9 lb) fish that come to the table from fish farms. Fish farms with carp are found all over France. The most well-known is in the Alsace in the Grand Est, in the Dombes in the region of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, and those grown in the many lakes of the Limousin area of Nouvelle Aquitaine.

Carp
Photograph courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library

Carpe on French menus:

Friture de Filets de Carpe, Sans Peau et Sans Arêtes aux 4 Sauces, Pommes Frites, Salade – Fried filets of carp with the skin and bones removed, served with four sauces, French fries and a salad. The southern part of the Alsace in the region of the Grand Est and is famous for its traditional carp dishes, and fried carp will be on many menus. This menu listing includes French fries; however usually, you will usually have to order the French fries separately. N.B. Carp is a bony fish, and you are well-advised to order it fileted.

The menu listing above is clearly Alsatian and fried carp is the culinary specialty of Sundgau, a small southern region of the Alsace. This particular region has some 40 restaurants that specialize in traditional carp dishes. The tourist information office offers a map with a carp restaurant route. You may also join the Alsace Wine route des vins that runs close by, and in the restaurants, combine the wine with the fish.

The Tourist Information of Office of Sundgau has an English-language website. 

https://www.sundgau-sud-alsace.fr/en/

Salade de Carpe Fumée Maison – A salad served with home-made smoked carp. Smoked carp is popular and is available in supermarkets all over France.

Filet de Carpe Sauce à l'Oseille - A filet of carp served with a sorrel sauce. Sorrel has a light lemony flavor, making it a popular herb to use in fish dishes.

A baked carp filet with a herb crust
served on glazed beetroot with cabbage and a chive foam.
Photograph courtesy of Golf Resort Achental Team
www.flickr.com/photos/chiemseehotel/15545623117/ 

Boudin de Carpe aux Ėcrevisses et Crème au Lard Fumé – Carp sausages, made with minced carp, served with a creamy shrimp sauce and smoked bacon.

 

Freshly smoked carp ready for the lunch-time customers.
Photograph courtesy of Torrenegra
www.flickr.com/photos/alextorrenegra/7788492038/

Filet de Carpe “des Dombes “ Vapeur, Sauce Crustacés  – A steamed filet of carp from the Dombes served with a shellfish sauce.

The Dombes, which combine fish farming as well as agriculture, also has a bird sanctuary. There is a French-language website, and using Bing, or Google translate apps make the website easily understood.

http://ladombes.free.fr/

Salade de Carpe Fume, Lentilles du Berry, Fromage Frais de Chèvre, Basilic - A salad of smoked carp served with the famous green lentils from Berry along with fresh goat’s cheese flavored with basil. This dish is from the old province of Berry, now the departments of Cher and Indre, in the region of the Centre-Val de Loire.

In Berry, the chefs take full advantage of the freshwater fish from the National Park of Brenne. The park has over 1,000 freshwater ponds and freeing-running streams, lakes, and freshwater fish farms. Fresh carp, pike, freshwater eels, zander (pike-perch), freshwater perch, and frogs (for frog’s legs) come from here.

The Parc Naturel Régional de la Brenne has a France-Voyage introduction to the park in English:

https://www.france-voyage.com/tourism/brenne-regional-nature-park-1566.htm

The official website is only in French; however, the Google or Microsoft translation apps the site is easily understood:

www.parc-naturel-brenne.fr/fr/

Fried carp, mango and broccolini.
Photograph courtesy of Marco Verch
www.flickr.com/photos/30478819@N08/50650389408/

Goujonnettes de Carpe Frites à l’Huile de Pépins de Raisin, sur Lit de Verdure – Tiny carp and small pieces of carp fried in oil made from grape pits/pips served on a bed of vegetables. Goujonnettes can be any small fish, and in France, any small sea fish, or freshwater fish, when used for a fish soup, or served as part of a petite friture, a fry up of small fish, maybe called a goujon. Here, at least, you know they are serving small carp.

 

Fried Carp
Photograph courtesy of Chris RubberDragon
www.flickr.com/photos/rubberdragon/6568839579/

Carpe à la Juive  - Carp in the Jewish Manner. This dish is carp filets lightly fried with onions and herbs and served in the restaurants of the Alsace as a cold entrée. The dish was created by Alsatian Jews for the Sabbath when no cooking was permitted. Though the large Jewish population of the Alsace ended with WWII, this recipe is still enjoyed and will be on many Alsatian restaurant menus. Carp is also, traditionally, the main component of the Jewish dish called Gefilte Fish.

 

Carpe à la Juive
Photograph courtesy of Tout le Vins

Taramasalata – Taramasalata is one of the most well-known dishes in traditional Greek mezes and a popular entrée (the French first course) in many French seafood restaurants. Taramasalata should be a light beige to a light creamy pink mixture of salted and cured carp roe, olive oil, garlic, onions, lemon juice, and breadcrumbs. (Initially, gray mullet roe was used, but that was changed to carp roe when gray mullet roe became too expensive). When you see bright pink versions of Taramasalata, then you know that food coloring has been added to the roe of a fish that is almost certainly neither a gray mullet roe nor carp roe.

In a Greek restaurant, in France, I learned that formerly Taramasalata was only served during the Christian holiday of Lent when meat was not eaten. Traditions, however, do change, and tourists to Greece and diners in Greek restaurants in France look for Taramasalata. Now Taramasalata is available all year round inside and outside Greece.

Farming Carp

Fish farming, including carp, began in China in 2,500 BCE, and Egypt farmed tilapia from 1,500 BCE. Nevertheless, the 5th century BCE was probably when the Romans started commercially farming fish though wealthy Romans had their own seawater and freshwater fish ponds long before. When the Romans occupied France in 121 BCE, along with the trees, fruits, vines for grapes, public baths, and aqueducts, they brought fish farms. Following the Frankish victory in the 5th century CE, a large part of France came under the rule of the Merovingians, the first kings of France. However, there is no extant reference to fish farming under the Merovingian’s.

A carp jumping for its dinner
Photograph courtesy of Philippe Garcelon

For France and elsewhere, the first modern commercially productive fish farms only became important from the mid-twentieth century. The carp that the Romans brought to France are the ancestors of the carp now in French rivers and streams. These wild carp are now considered a pest in many rivers as they damage the ecosystem for other fish.

Koi (or Japanese) carp

Koi (or Japanese) carp are the extremely expensive ornamental carp so highly valued in Japan and China. These ornamental carp are the original species behind the common carp on the menu listings above. The Koi carp were developed from the Amur or Amour carp that originated in the Amour river system in Asia. For over 2,000 years, they have been bred for their unique colors and markings. 

 

Koi Carp
Colored varieties of the Amur carp.
Photograph courtesy of Frédéric BISSON
www.flickr.com/photos/zigazou76/51412907569/

Common carp are members of a large family with other family members on the menu in other parts of Europe and Asia. One member of the carp family is on offer in all pet shops; that is the goldfish, the smallest member of the carp family.

The smallest member of the carp family.
Photograph courtesy of Dean McCoy.
www.flickr.com/photos/deanmccoyphotos/5493432536/

Common carp - Carpe in the languages of France’s neighbors:

(Catalan -  carpa), (Dutch – karr). (German – karpfe, karpen, weissfische, wildkarpfen).  (Italian- carpa), (Spanish - carpa), (Latin -  cyprinus carpio carpio).

Amur or Amour Carp - Latin - cyprinus rubrofuscus.

Crucian carp - Carassin Commun in the languages of France’s neighbors:

(Dutch - kroeskarper), (German - karausche), (Italian - carassio), (Spanish - carpin), (Latin - carassius carassius).

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Copyright 2010, 2016, 2021

 

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