Showing posts with label Bifsteak de Hampe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bifsteak de Hampe. Show all posts

Steak de Hampe - A Flavorful French Cut of Beef With no Corresponding USA or UK Cut to Compare With.

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


Steak de Hampe and French fries.
Photograph courtesy of Susan Lucas Hoffman
https://www.flickr.com/photos/64141731@N00/6834216274/
 

A Steak de Hampe is a flavorful steak that like many French cuts of meat it has no accepted name in the US or UK equivalent.  French chefs
prize this cut for its deep, beefy flavor and while often compared to a bavette (hanger steak) or onglet (flank steak and in the UK a skirt steak)
The hampe tends to be slightly more marbled and is anatomically distinct.
In the USA the hampe would be considered part of the outside skirt steak, often used for fajitas or stir-fries; in the UK, it's typically treated as part of the flank.  However,[BN1] 
French butchery draws fine distinctions between cuts and the hampe is always marinated before cooking to enhance tenderness and is rarely cooked beyond medium-rare. Hampe steaks are meant to be quickly seared and served immediately, and it is a popular cut for France’s great Steak Frites and will nearly always rarely cooked any more than medium-rare.  This cut is never prepared well done; it will be tough and shriveled.  If you only eat well-done steaks order an entrecote.

 

The Hampe is below the Onglet and above the Bavette on this diagram

Steak de Hampe on French menus:

Steak de Hampe de Boeuf et Gratin Dauphinois – A hampe steak served with Gratin Dauphinois.  

Gratin, Au Gratin, Gratiné, and Gratinée, all refer to dishes that are browned before serving, though “browned” barely captures the essence of this cherished French culinary technique.

Our taste buds are activated by sensory memories long before we visit a restaurant offering a favorite dish and French diners considering dishes with names that include Gratin, Au Gratin, Gratiné, or Gratinée will have their sensory buttons pushed. All of these are treasured techniques and tastes in French Cuisine.  

Recipes with Gratin in the name have been part of French cuisine since the late 1600’s. While any dish that is browned in an oven or under a grill may be called a Gratin, even the simplest Gratin dishes will likely see a French chef adding cheese, breadcrumbs, cream and or butter to help it along.

 Gratin Dauphinois: Thinly sliced potatoes cooked in olive oil, then baked in milk and cream, flavored with nutmeg, garlic, thyme, and shallots, with some versions adding onions. The dish is browned under the grill before serving, typically with Gruyere or Parmesan cheese.

On French menus, the names Dauphiné or Dauphinois typically indicate recipes, mostly fairly modern, from the area of the ancient and quasi-independent principality called Dauphiné (now comprising the departments of Savoie and Isère in the Rhône-Alpes region and part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region).  Historically, the ruling Counts, under the banner of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled using the title Dauphiné (dolphin).   At the end of the 14th century, the Dauphins sold their land and titles to the French King, with the title Dauphiné becoming the title of the King's eldest son. N.B. Pommes de Terre Dauphine is not the same dish and is not made au gratin; it is a potato croquette mixed with choux pastry and fried.  

 


Gratin Dauphinoise
Photograph courtesy of Karen and Brad Emerson
https://www.flickr.com/photos/karenandbrademerson/3118473571/

 

Steak de Hampe Sauce au Poivre – A hampe steak prepared with a pepper sauce. Nearly all pepper steaks are made with green peppercorns.  Green peppercorns are usually the pepper of choice for a steak au poivre, a pepper steak. Black pepper can override the flavor of the steak.

Green peppercorns are harvested before they ripen, then pickled in brine and dried, but not fermented. The result is a pepper with a light herbal flavor, much less pungent than black or white peppercorns. Green peppercorns are usually the pepper of choice for a steak au poivre, a pepper steak. When black pepper is used for a pepper steak, it's harder to manage its intensity. If black pepper is used, then it will almost certainly be crushed, not left whole, and not ground, as crushed black peppercorns deliver a less aggressive heat.

 


Steak au Poivre.
Photograph courtesy of Xoyos. com
https://www.flickr.com/photos/78501770@N05/7232708858/

 

Steak de Hampe Sauce au Poivre – A hampe steak prepared with a pepper sauce. Nearly all pepper steaks are made with green peppercorns.  Green peppercorns are usually the pepper of choice for a steak au poivre, a pepper steak. Black pepper can override the flavor of the steak.

Green peppercorns are harvested before they ripen, then pickled in brine and dried, but not fermented. The result is a pepper with a light herbal flavor, much less pungent than black or white peppercorns. Green peppercorns are usually the pepper of choice for a steak au poivre, a pepper steak. When black pepper is used for a pepper steak, it's harder to manage its intensity. If black pepper is used, then it will almost certainly be crushed, not left whole, and not ground, as crushed black peppercorns deliver a less aggressive heat.

To order a steak to go with the fries see the post: Ordering a steak in France, cooked the way you like it.



Steak frites with a Sauce Bearnaise.
Photograph courtesy of Trevor Pittman
https://www.flickr.com/photos/46485532@N04/8445938443/


La Hampe de Bœuf Grillée, Sauce Bordelaise, Poêlée De Pommes De Terre Et Champignons – A grilled hampe steak served with a Sauce Bordelaise, accompanied by pan-fried potatoes and button mushrooms.

 Sauce Bordelaise - The classic sauce from Bordeaux, with a red Bordeaux wine as its base. The sauce is used with many meat dishes and will be on menus all over France.  To the Bordeaux red wine, veal stock, butter, shallots, thyme, and bone marrow are added.  The wine used in the preparation of this sauce is key, and there is plenty of choice. Bordeaux is close to the center of France’s Atlantic coast and the cultural center of the nearly 60 wine appellations that make up the famous Bordeaux wine-growing region, which produces 25% of all the AOP wines in France.  If you’re visiting the historic center of Bordeaux, you’ll find that it has more heritage buildings than any other French city, except Paris.

Champignons, (also called the Champignon de Paris): Button mushrooms, were the first mushrooms to be successfully cultivated (a related mushroom was first cultivated in the 17th century in very small quantities). However, the commercial production of cultivated mushrooms, which began with the Champignon de Paris, would have to wait for three hundred years. This success spurred significant investment in cultivating other mushroom varieties. Today, we can choose from over fifteen types of cultivated mushrooms, available year-round,

Today’s button mushroom brings you four or more mushrooms in different sizes, with different names, different prices, two colors and close to ten different names. Despite all these differences, the white button mushroom is the same as the brown button mushroom, and the different sizes are simply the same mushroom at different stages in its growth cycle.  The medium-sized Cremini is also known as the Portabellini, and the largest of them all is the Portabella or Portabello.  The only difference between all these mushrooms is their degree of maturity and color. The Champignon de Paris and its siblings are right up there, along with Nouveau Beaujolais, Pink Champagne, and a number of other food products, when it comes to marketing.

 

Hampe de Veau Grillée, Sauce aux Deux Moutardes au Thym – A grilled hampe veal steak prepared with a sauce made from two different mustards flavored with thyme.  Notably, this menu listing highlights the use of two distinct mustards, but interestingly, their specific identities are omitted.  Mustards can have very different tastes, so it's a detail worth asking about.


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Connected posts: 

Ail - Garlic. Garlic in French Cuisine.

Bordeaux and Bordelaise on the Menu, and Bordeaux AOC Wines on the Wine-List.

Champignons on French Menus. The Champignon de Paris, the Button Mushroom in French Cuisine. The Mushrooms of France I.

Darphin. Paillasson, Dauphine and Dauphinois on French Menus.

Échalotes - Shallots. Shallots on French Menus. Shallots are One of the Most Important Herbs in the French Kitchen

French Fries, Frites, Pomme Frites, Chips in the UK. French Fries on French Menus.

Macis and Fleur de Muscade, Mace and Nutmeg. Important Spices in French Cuisine.

Moutarde – Mustard. Mustard (Including Dijon Mustard) in French cuisine.

Ordering a steak in France cooked the way you like it.

 Parmesan, the Italian Parmigiano-Reggiano is an Important Ingredient in French Cuisine.

Poivre - Peppercorns. White, Green, Black and Red Peppercorns. Grey Pepper and the Misnamed Pink Peppercorns. Pepper in French Cuisine.

 Steak Frites - Great Steaks from France. Onglets and Bavettes in French Cuisine 

Thyme in France. Thym, Serpolet, Farigoule and Thym Citron, Lemon Thyme in France. Thyme. One of the most important herbs in French cuisine.

 

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Copyright 2010, 2017, 2025.


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