Showing posts with label Burgundy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Burgundy. Show all posts

Chaource AOP; One of France's Greatest Cheeses.

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

 
 

               

Chaource AOP cheese

Chaource AOP is a 24.5% fat, cow's milk cheese and, when ripe, is creamy but not easily spreadable. It has a taste somewhat similar to a Brie, but a different texture, and that's what makes it unique. Chaource has an edible rind, and most farm-produced cheeses are made with unpasteurized milk, with dairies producing pasteurized versions. Similarities to Brie exist as they do in other cheeses like Coulommiers, but it is Chaource's different texture that makes the final taste quite different. 

New Chaource cheeses beginning their maturing process.

Aging Chaource

The cheese is matured for a minimum of two weeks before being sold. Then it will be allowed to age in the cool cellars of the better fromageries and cheese shops for another 14 days. When you buy this cheese, the center should be slightly soft and yield to the light pressure of a finger. In a fromagerie, you may request a cheese that will be ready for the same evening or a cheese that will be ready in ten days or two weeks. Chaource cheeses are available in small wheels weighing from 250 – 500 grams and from 8 - 10 cm high. For more about buying cheese in France and taking it home, click here.

The history of the Chaource cheese.

It is generally accepted that Chaource cheese originated with the monks in the Abbey of Pontivy in Yonne, Burgundy, in the 15th century; this was long before the French Revolution and France's modern departments and administrative regions. The cheese was sold at the market in the village of Chaource, in the department of Aube; it was from this village the cheese took its name. Chaource is just 44 km (27 miles) from the Abbey of Pontivy. Today the production of Chaource is divided between the departments of Aube and Yonne. 

The village of Chaource and getting there

The pretty village of Chaource, from whence the cheese took its name, has just over 1,000 inhabitants. Just over 50% of the cheese production comes from farms and dairies around the village. Paris to Chaource via a TGV fast takes about two hours, it's 209 km (130 miles) by road, and outside of the rush hours when you may lose time getting out of Paris, it's just over two hours by car.


The village of Chaource.
Photograph courtesy of allispossible
www.flickr.com/photos/wheatfields/2860132005/

Chaource and its AOP

While the recipe for this cheese dates to the Middle Ages, until sixty years or so ago, it was just considered an excellent local cheese but rarely seen outside the area. Then came travelers, industry, and better roads and cheese gourmets. With the increase in demand, the farmers organized to ensure that the cheese was only made to agreed high standards. Finally, in 1986 the cheese Chaource received its AOC grading. There are over four hundred registered cheeses in France, but less than 70 have the right to an AOC; now, an AOP, label, and Chaource is one of those. For more about AOC and AOP grades and labels, click here.

Chaource on French menus:

     

Andouillette de Troyes AAAAA Sauce Chaource, Frites – The Andouillette de Troyes AAAAA sausages with a Chaource sauce and French fries. Andouillettes are one of France's favorite sausages made with pork or veal tripe and intestines. The name Andouillettes may sometimes be confused by visitors with another famous French sausage, the Andouille. At first glance, there would seem to be many similarities as both sausages are made with pork or veal tripe and intestines, but there the difference ends. Andouillettes have a very healthy bite and, for most visitors, are an acquired taste. The highly-rated Andouillette de Troyes AAAAA comes from the town of Troyes in the same department as Chaource and is just 30 km (19 miles) away. The AAAAA after the name indicates the Association Amicale des Amateurs d'Andouillette Authentiques, the Friendly Association of the Lovers of Authentic Andouillette sausages, AAAAA for short; it is a manufacturers' association.

   


Baked Macaroni, Chorizo, and Chaource Cheese
Photograph courtesy of Sainsbury's Magazine

 

Escargots Sauce Chaource – Six Petit-Gris snails served with a Chaource cheese sauce. There are two snails raised for the table in France; the larger and more expensive snail is the Burgundy snail, and if it were being served, its name would be on the menu. The smaller snail is called the Petit Gris, and they weigh approximately 10 grams each without their shell. This is still tasty, but a smaller snail is the one being served, and its size indicates that this will be a French entrée (the first course). Each snail weighs about 10 grams, so the serving will be approximately 60 grams (2 ounces).

 

Chaource et sa Petite Salade aux Noix – Chaource cheese served with a small green and walnut salad.

 

Côte de Cochon d'Antan Gratinée Au Chaource - A pork chop from free-range heirloom pigs served browned with a covering of Chaource cheese. Cochon d'Antan translates as pigs from yesteryear and will be a bread that is rarely seen today, and a question to the server may bring some interesting history. When Cochon d'Antan pork is on the menu, you know that you will be enjoying a rare treat. 

 


Mini Potato Gratins with Chaource Cheese
Photograph courtesy of Gourmandize – UK, Ireland

 

Dos de Cabillaud Sauce Chaource – Fresh cod served with a sauce made with Chaource cheese. Cod is a large fish, often over 10 kilos ( 22 lbs), so you will be served a fillet. Fresh cod from the Atlantic coast of France will rarely be seen; they have been overfished and are in danger. The fresh cod on your table will mostly come from the North Atlantic and flown in fresh or chilled. Fresh cod is one of the two most popular fish in France with rehydrated salted cod, also very popular in many modern and traditional dishes such as Brandade Nîmoise.

 

Salade de Chaource Chaud au Miel – A salad with warmed Chaource cheese served with honey. 

 

Tournedos de Boeuf et Son Coulant de Chaource – A thick cut from a beef fillet served with warm, running Chaource cheese. Only two steaks of the size required for the original tournedos can be cut from the fillet, and initially, they were cooked together and separated just before serving. Today, that will rarely be the case, but you should expect a 300-gram plus fillet steak. Tournedos, as cuts, trace their origins to the original Chateaubriand and Tournedos Rossini. For the post: Ordering a Steak in France, Cooked the Way You Like it, click here.


Truffled Chaource, Caramelized Pear with Lemon Confit
Photograph courtesy of City Foodsters
www.flickr.com/photos/cityfoodsters/16513755169/

The wines that pair well with the Chaource

If you drive into the area and see vineyards, the grapes growing are most likely those used for Champagne. Chaource is in Champagne country, and the larger Champagne houses are in Reims, only 155 km away ( 96 miles), and those of Épernay, 139 km (86 miles). 


Chaource and Champagne
Photograph courtesy of SFGATE

The village of Chaource is also just 43 km (27 miles) from Chablis in Burgundy, where I first tasted the cheese and then paired it with a Chablis' white wine. The small town of Chablis and the area around it is also an excellent place to enjoy the cuisine of Burgundy with Chaource on the cheese plate at the end. Enjoy with Chablis or optionally pair Chaource with Burgundy's excellent sparkling Crémant de Bourgogne. Other famous cow's milk cheeses in Champagne country include the Langres AOP and the Cendré de Champagne; both of these cheeses are also produced just over Burgundy's border.

The Chaource cheese museum.

The village of Chaource has a cheese museum, Musée du Fromage à Chaource, which is dedicated to this cheese alone; at the end of a visit, you are offered a tasting. The museum is open all year round but from November to March by appointment.


The cheese museum in Chaource
Photograph courtesy of allispossible org uk
www.flickr.com/photos/wheatfields/2868060439/

The Chaource cheese fete.

On the second Sunday in October, the village has a Fête de Fromage, its cheese fete. If you are in the area, you may enjoy demonstrations of cheese and butter making as well as tastings. N.B.: Always double-check the dates of fetes with the French Tourist Information Offices; dates do change.

The English language website for Chaource and the immediate area is:

http://www.tourisme-en-chaourcois.com/en/land-tasting/chaource-cheese

Visiting the area around Chaource.

The village of Chaource and the area around it are beautiful places to visit. To the north, just 15 km (9 miles) from the village, is the Parc Naturel Régional de la Forêt d'Orient, shades of the Knights Templar, who once owned the land upon which the park was created.

The park is extensive and covers over 750 sq km (290 sq miles); it includes lovely villages and lakes apart from areas covered with heavy forest. The park is a trendy vacation spot, and the lakes are centers for swimming and water sports. The lakes are also stocked with fish, making them very popular with amateur fishermen and women.

The park has a French-language website, but Bing and Google translate apps make it easily understood:

http://www.pnr-foret-orient.fr/fr/content/pnrfo

Visiting Chaource from Paris

If you stay in Paris and have access to a car, consider that a beautiful day trip can be a visit to Chaource. There are plenty of interesting and enjoyable stops along the way. For example, from Paris's drive to Melun, 45 km (28 miles) away, Melun is the home of one of the two AOP Brie cheeses. Then visit one of the two incredible Chateaus that are on your way. Choose the Château de Vaux le Vicomtewhich is just 10 minutes away, 6 km (4 miles) from Melun, or choose the Château de Fontainebleau, only 17 km (11 miles) away. After visiting either of the Chateaus for an enjoyable two-and-a-half to three-hour visit, have lunch in the area. It is just 145 km (90 miles), a pleasant one-and-a-half-hour drive to Chaource. The return drive to Paris is a two-hour drive.

-------------------------------- 


Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman 
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com 
Copyright 2010, 2015, 2020, 2024 


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Chablis; One of France's Finest White Wines and Chablis the Town.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 


Chablis Grand Cru.
Photograph courtesy of Dale Cruse.
www.flickr.com/photos/dalecruse/8706768713/

Chablis AOP is a dry, crisp, white wine produced from Chardonnay grapes around the town of Chablis in the department of Yonne, Burgundy that since 1-1-2016 is part of the super region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.

The town of Chablis, despite its famous name and history, is still a small French town; albeit an exceptionally pretty one.  If you are driving to Chablis, remember it is a small town. You may quickly drive through the town and be back out among the grapevines before you realize you have exited the town. We did that!  We, of course, did turn around and drive back. In the town center, we found an inviting looking restaurant to sample the local cuisine, and, again, of course, to order a bottle of Chablis.

The entrance to Chablis
www.flickr.com/photos/jamesonfink/13187892615/
                                
Despite its size, Chablis and its immediate area have quite a number of hotels, B & Bs, restaurants, and, of course, wine shops. You may also choose to stay in the towns of Avallone or Auxerre; both are about 20 km (12 miles) from Chablis.  We stayed in an excellent hotel in Avallone. The hotel is built on the sight of a post house where Napoleon I had once watered his horse!  Auxerre has many more hotels, but none whose claim to fame competes with Napoleon and his horse.
   
Vineyards in Chablis

 
In books on pairing wines, Chablis has always been one of the wines recommended to accompany oysters.  (The other favored choices are Muscadet, which comes from the area close to the city of Nantes in the Pay du Loire, and, of course,  Champagne).  Chablis and oysters are an interesting coincidence. The vineyards around Chablis are all set above an ancient limestone landmass with many fossilized oysters. Those old oysters must have spread the word, and so the wheel of life goes on.

Choosing a Chablis

French Chablis is very different from most of the New World versions I have tried. However, I am not an educated wine maven, and with hundreds of producers and four appellations when we arrived in Chablis, I needed help.  Luckily, in the restaurant we had chosen, there was a friendly and knowledgeable sommelier, and I had an up-to-date book in French wines. We discussed our interest in Chablis along with our budget. The sommelier suggested a reasonably priced wine that turned out to be fabulous. This was a Chablis from one of the lower Chablis appellations, but good sommeliers know a great deal more than just the names, the price, and appellations.  More about Chablis appellations and the information they contribute later. While we were enjoying our lunch and our wine we overheard the couple on the table next to us discussing their dissatisfaction with a much more expensive Chablis.  They had chosen a top of the line Chablis from the wine-list, it had been their own choice.  As with other wines, so with Chablis, the price does not guarantee any more than how much you will pay. More about the different Chablis Crus and grades toward the end of this post.
     
Chablis on French menus:
  
Cassolette d'Escargots au Chablis – A dish of snails served with a Chablis based sauce.
   
Bottle and glass of Chablis
www.flickr.com/photos/x1brett/46088122924/

Filet de Raie au ChablisSkate, the fish, sautéed with Chablis. In the UK, skate is mostly seen when deep-fried in batter and sold in fish and chip shops. However, in France, skate will be served in the finest restaurants. In French kitchens skate be may be baked, poached or sautéed, but never deep-fried. Dishes with skate will be served hot with a butter or wine sauce, as skate tends to jell when cold.

Paupiettes au Saumon Sauce Chablis – Rolled filets of salmon cooked in a Chablis based sauce.
 
Poire au Vin de Chablis - Pears cooked in Chablis. 
   
Chablis vineyards
www.flickr.com/photos/lreivilo/2741453629/
  
Sauté de Queues d'Écrevisses, Brunoise de Petits Légumes au Chablis  - Crayfish tails sautéed with Chablis and served with finely cut young vegetables.  Brunoise is one of the important sizes in the French world of chopped fruits and vegetables, it denotes a cut about 2 mm (0.08”) thick.

Chablis has a number of unique local dishes that may also be on your menu. They include Jambon Chablis, ham cooked in Chablis, and a locally made Andouillette AAAAA sausage.
    
N.B.: When a sommelier or a wine-list only offer wines that are above your budget, then that is the time to choose a house wine. Most French restaurants, outside of some of the more exclusive,  have house wines that have been chosen with their regular diners in mind.  House wines will be approved by the sommelier and in smaller restaurants by the owner and the chef; the wine will be priced to keep the regulars returning.

French Chablis is made from very close to 100% French Chardonnay grape with a taste that is quite different from most New World Chardonnays that I have tried. Maybe it is the barrels, maybe its science, maybe it is the terroir. (Worry not, I will not get into terroir here).  Whatever the reason, French Chablis is different from other French wines made with Chardonnay grapes.
 
The town of Chablis and some twelve villages linked to her have festivals and fetes almost every month of the year. These celebrations are not only about the Chablis wines, though a sizeable number are.  The festivities include concerts, artist’s festivals and more.
   
The Sereign River flows through  Chablis
   
Finding the dates of Chablis linked festivals and fetes.
      
You may check the dates and places of wine and food celebrations throughout France when still in your home country through the local French Government Tourist Office. For Chablis tourism the town’s visitor information website is www.chablis.net.  If you are already in Chablis, the tourism information office is on the town’s main street:  1 Rue du Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny.
      
Ask the Chablis tourist information office for a map of the town and a map of their Chablis  Route des Vins, their Chablis wine road.  Then request information on the town’s and surrounding communities’ celebrations and farmers’ markets.  With all that information, you have the perfect way to explore the area, including stopping off for wine tastings and joining in the celebrations that coincide with your visit.  The Chablis Route des Vins also passes quite a number of restaurants; choose one to enjoy lunch or dinner.
     
The most important wine fete in Chablis itself is the Fête des Vins de Chablis, the fete of Chablis wines. This fete it is held on the fourth Saturday and Sunday in October.  Additionally, the entire department of Yonne, which includes Chablis, celebrates its many different wines on the first Saturday in May. The town of Chablis, of course, will be doing its part.
            
Seeing the town of Chablis

Inside Chablis, you do not need a car. Just park and walk around the town.  Walk along streets that were laid down in the late middle ages with some of the original houses remaining.  Visit its two churches, one of which dates back to the twelfth century the other to the 18th. Both churches were rebuilt in the 19th century. There is also a 12th-century synagogue that was rebuilt some ten years ago.
      
There is a farmers’ market in Chablis every Sunday morning.  Given a bright summer’s day, you may want to pass on a traditional restaurant lunch and buy a chilled bottle of Chablis, a baguette and some of Burgundy’s magnificent cheeses. Find a road that takes you to the banks of the River Sereign that runs through the town and find a place for a picnic; enjoy.

Hiking in Chablis,
   
If you enjoy hiking, then consider joining one of the hikes that are organized by the Chablis hikers association, the Association des Sentiers Chablisiens  The association organizes  hikes  in the country around Chablis  twice a week for one and a half to two hours. Their French language website is:

Google and Bing translate translate the French very clearly.

Chablis appellations.

Four Chablis appellations set the boundaries of the different Chablis wines. The Chablis Appellations were created to differentiate the quality of the Chablis wines produced in each area.  Like the rest of France’s appellations and crus, they were set in 1935. They have been part of French law in 1946. However, since 1946, not one single Chablis wine, produced by any Chablis vintner, has had its quality grading changed! None are officially better or worse?
 
There are four Chablis appellations:
  
Appellation Chablis Grand Cru Contrôlée -   Considered the very, very best of all the Chablis wines.
    
Appellation Chablis Premier Cru Contrôlée - Nearly the very best.
   
Aging bottles of Chablis
     
Appellation Chablis Contrôlée -  A snippet below the nearly the very best.
  
Appellation Petit Chablis Contrôlée Chablis -  A little below the one below the nearly the very best.
        
Petit Chablis
www.flickr.com/photos/dalecruse/9201791579/
    
I have listed these appellations, tongue in cheek, as I certainly do not know why a single producer's wine has not been recognized for having improved or worsened in over 70 years!  However, the wine mavens know and the caves, the wine stores know, and their prices reflect the value. I also know that if you see a Chablis Grand Cru at a low price, leave it!  There is no good top of the line Chablis wines at a discount price.
    
Other great white wines from Burgundy are also made with 100% Chardonnay grapes. These other wines have their own names and appellations. Despite having the same grape in the bottle, these other wines also have, by the different soils, local micro-climates, magic, science or terroir have different tastes.  These additional 100% Chardonnay wines include famous names like Pouilly-Fuissé AOP, Chassagne-Montrachet, AOP, Corton-Charlemagne AOP, Meursault AOP, Montrachet AOP, and many others.

For more on all the wines from Burgundy see the website:


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

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

 

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 

Copyright 2010,  2011, 2012, 2015, 2019.

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

Searching for the meaning of words, names or phrases
on
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 or Bing,  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.

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