Showing posts with label Crème fraîche. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Crème fraîche. Show all posts

Tarte Flambée or Flammekueche; Alsace’s Signature Slow Fast Food.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 


 
Cooking inside the oven at the Taverne de l’Ackerland
Tarte Flambée is also known as Flammekueche or Flammen Kuechen


The traditional tarte flambée or flammekueche
   
Tarte flambées, locally mostly called flammekueche have been made in the Alsace for at least one hundr ed years. International tourism’s enormous growth than began some seventy or so years ago brought this family dish into local restaurants. The tarte is a rolled out, very thin, pâte à pain, bread dough, covered with crème fraîche and a soft white cheese, usually a local cheese called bibeleskaes. Over the cheese are spread thinly sliced onions and lardons, (smoked or fried bacon bits), and then all will be baked in a wood-burning oven for about ten minutes and served.
       
A tarte flambée.
www.flickr.com/photos/nicestalan/4535793428/
   
Public demand from tourists, including French tourists, have changed the size of the portions.  Most restaurants now offer tarte flambées, in both small and large sizes. The small size makes an excellent entrée, the French first course, or together with a salad a light lunch. A large tarte flambée will be the plat, the French main course. Dessert versions have also been created, and a dessert tarte flambée comes with fruit, often with a taste of a strong eau-de vie, a fruit brandy, while some may have ice cream added just before serving.  Tarte flambée, the French name, remains the name most often used in English as there is no other accepted English name. Menus may offer Tarte Flambée Salée, savory or Sucrée, sweet versions. The options are endless, but a few of the favorites are noted below:
     
Tarte flambée on French menus.
                                   
Tarte Flambée Classic or Nature, Traditionnelle or à l’Ancienne -   All these names indicate a tarte flambée made with the traditional recipe. A very thin, pâte à pain, that’s bread dough, is covered with crème fraîche and a soft white cheese usually a local cheese called bibeleskaes. Over the cheese are spread thinly sliced onions and lardons, (smoked or fried bacon bits).
    
Tarte Flambée au Magret de Canard Fumé  - A traditional tarte flambée with added slices of smoked duck breast.
  
Tartes Flambées au Feu de Bois - Tarte flambées cooked in a traditional wood-burning oven.

The menu.

Tarte Flambée aux Bananes Flambée au Rhum – A banana dessert tarte flambéed with rum.  A dessert Tarte Flambée flambéed with rum. Dessert versions of tarte flambée like this one were created much later than the traditional versions when tourists arrived with a taste for restaurant theatre.  The tarte flambée dessert versions now often include a brandy or an eau-de-vie, which will be, flambéed,  set alight in front of the diner; shades of Crepe Suzette!

La Tarte Flambée aux Pommes, Flambée à l'Alcool de Quetsches –  An apple, dessert tart, flambéed with the plum eau-de-vie, brandy,  made from the Alsace and Lorraine's famous quetsche plums.  Like all other plums this plumb’s origin is Asian, and like many other French fruits reached France, Germany, Spain and the UK with the Romans.  The quetsche plum is, in fact, a German cross and in Germany is called a Zwetsche.

A dessert pear tarte flambée.
www.flickr.com/photos/15472273@N07/29822040700/

For the citizens of the regions of Alsace and Lorraine, the quetsche plum is a native son. The quetche is a mauve to almost black plum has fragrant and sweet yellow flesh; it is oval shaped with nearly pointed ends; its nearest UK relation is the damson plum which is not as sweet.  In season, these plums are on sale all over France, and out of season, you may request, for a digestif, the 40% alcohol quetsche eau-de vie.
   
A Gisselbrecht quetsche eau-de-vie

Tarte Flambée: Formule à Partir de 6 Personnes par  Table: Tartes Flambées à Volonté Salée, Sucrée et Salade à Volonté - An all you can eat option of sweet and savory Tarte Flambés accompanied by mixed green salads. With the addition of a couple of bottles of Alsace white wines  who could ask for anything more!   N.B. The salads served with tarte flambées are usually small. so unless noted on the menu, do not expect too much..
        
Tarte Flambée Gratinée à l'Emmental/ Gruyère/Munster,  Salade Verte Mélangée (Supplément par Personne) –  A traditional tarte flambée baked with added French Emmental, Gruyere or Munster cheese. A mixed green salad is offered with a per person surcharge.
Tarte Flambée Forestière
A traditional tarte flambée with added Champignons de Paris
www.flickr.com/photos/near_fantastica/3572534526/
   
Tarte Flambée Moitié/Moitié ... C'est vous qui Composez  - Moitié-moitié means half and half; and no, this tarte flambé is not made with that American coffee cream!  Here, moitié-moitié is on the menu for a tarte flambée made to your order with two different additions. Moitié-moitié is also what you say, in parts of France, when you ask for two different dishes to be split between two diners; each diner will have one half of the other's meal.
    
The wine to accompany your tarte flambée.
   
Order Alsatian wine with your tarte flambée, and you may enjoy the perfect light Alsatian lunch or dinner. Choose a white two or, at most, three-year-old semi-dry Alsatian Gewürztraminer or a white semi-dry Alsatian Pinot Gris, and you will not regret it as the Alsace has some of the best white wines in France.
     
The traditional wine glass used for Alsatian wines.
www.flickr.com/photos/toolongtobepractical/15084628166/
        
The history of the tarte flambée.
    
Some guide books call a tarte flambée an Alsatian pizza; however, those who wrote that obviously know zero about pizza and zero about tarte flambé. Tarte flambée and pizza are entirely different dishes and have different histories, different doughs, and the tarte flambée has no tomatoes and no mozzarella in its history. Making breads in wood burning ovens is
 
The Alsace together with région of the Lorraine were, over hundreds of years, ruled by France and or Germany in turn.  The result today is while the Alsace and the Lorraine are indisputably French a large percentage of the locals also speak German dialects along with perfect French.  Flammen kuechen remains one of the names for a tarte flambée in the Alsatian-German dialect called Allemand Alsacien or Elsässerditsch; in the dialect or in French the  the words mean cooked in flames.

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

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

 

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 

Copyright 2010, 2013,2018, 2019.


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Crème Fraîche - Creme Fraiche. What is Crème Fraîche? Crème Fraîche on French Menus.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 

      
Crème Fraîche d'Isigny sur Mer, AOC/AOP, 40% fat.
France’s top-rated crème fraiche.

There is no English translation for crème fraîche; it is a uniquely French creation and so crème fraiche it remains in English. (English translations mostly miss out on the accent over the i but that is all). 

What is Crème Fraîche?

Crème fraiche has a creamy texture, and while it is not at all like sour cream or yogurt then neither is it a sweet cream. Crème fraîche is a pasteurized and naturally thickened cow’s milk with most offerings having 30%, or more, fat. The unique taste of crème fraiche comes from the milk bacteria that are added.  This bacterium, originally, when made with non-pasteurized milk was a natural occurrence, now it is a supervised and inspected addition.
Crème fraiche has a creamy texture, and while it is not at all like sour cream or yogurt then neither is it a sweet cream. Crème fraîche is pasteurized and naturally thickened cow’s milk with most offerings having 30%, or more, fat. The unique taste of crème fraiche comes from the milk bacteria that are added.  This bacteria, originally, when made with non-pasteurized milk was a natural occurrence, now it is a supervised and inspected addition.
  
Berries with crème fraiche
www.flickr.com/photos/roseannadana/14637118730/

Crème Fraîche in French Cuisine.
  
 French chefs use crème fraiche in many more sauce recipes than they will for sweet cream. It is crème fraiche that produces much of that important, je ne sais quoi; that inexplicable, different, creamy taste, to French sauces, soups, and other recipes.  Crème Fraiche, sour cream, and yogurt all use particular bacteria to give them their tastes. Crème fraiche is added to other ingredients when served cold; you will note it is much thicker than sour cream though it does not have the tang of sour cream or yogurt. To cooked dishes, crème fraiche adds its unique taste and does not curdle like sour cream.

Crème fraiche is genuinely different; if a chef makes a sauce or soup with fresh cream or sour cream then a decidedly different taste is achieved; taste the same dish with crème fraiche, and your mouth will pop as you appreciate the difference.
  
Citrus pavlova with crème fraiche mousse
www.flickr.com/photos/ralphandjenny/15815581804/
  
Crème Fraîche on French menus:

Escalope de Veau à la Crème Fraîche et aux Cèpes  A  boneless cut of veal prepared with crème fraiche and  France’s own porcini mushrooms.

Saumon Fumé par nos Soins, Mini Blinis et sa Crème Fraîche – Our home smoked Atlantic salmon served with mini blinis and crème fraiche. (A blini is a traditional Russian pancake made from buckwheat flour).
    
Caviar, poached egg yolk, crème fraiche, chives.

Œuf Coulant Sur Une Sauce Maroilles Et Crème Fraîche – A soft boiled runny egg served with a Maroilles cheese sauce made with crème fraiche.

Faisselle Du Vercors Avec Coulis De Fruits Rouges ou Crème Fraîche – A faisselle includes many soft fresh cheeses that may be made with cow’s milk, goat’s milk, and or sheep’s milk. This faisselle is served with a fruit coulis, a puree of red fruits and crème fraiche. (Here the cheese comes from Vercors and the Vercors Massif includes rugged plateaus and mountains to the west of the city of Grenoble in the region of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and is part of the French pre-Alps. (The super region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes was created on 1-1-2016 when France reduced the number of regions in mainland France from 22 to 13). 
 
Noix de St Jacques Poêlées au Beurre Persillé et Crème Fraîche -  The meat of the king scallop lightly fried with parsley butter and crème fraiche.

La Tarte Tatin Tiède Et Sa Crème Fraîche Vanillée     -  A warm Tart Tatin served with vanilla flavored crème fraiche.  
       
Tiny toasts with smoked salmon crème fraiche and dill.
www.flickr.com/photos/16993229@N06/6610151709/

Today crème fraiche is available in the larger supermarkets around the world, from the USA to Australia; only a few countries that are exposed to French cuisine do not have at least one local producer of crème fraiche.
   
Pan-fried lightly smoked salmon.
With horseradish-mustard creme fraiche and fennel flowers
www.flickr.com/photos/adactio/6059465231/

      
All over France crème fraiche is produced by dairies large and small; however,  one small town, along with its surrounding villages, is recognized as the producer of the very best crème fraiche the Crème Fraîche d’Isigny AOP. Isigny sur Mer in Normandy is in the department of Calvados so famous for its apple brandy of the same name. With a population of 12,000 Isigny sur Mer apart from crème fraiche also produce an AOP butter, the Beurre d'Isigny AOP and a whole range of other excellent butter and milk products.  You may be sure that a large percentage of the population from Isigny sur Mer, from all the generations, are involved 24/7 in making their unique milk products. When you are visiting Calvados in search of their famous apple brandy, consider stopping for lunch in one of Isigny’s local restaurants where crème fraiche and Calvados will be part of many dishes on the menu.
         
Homemade crème fraiche.
   
Recipes for homemade crème fraîche mostly include mixing sour cream, yogurt, and buttermilk. (Buttermilk is the liquid left over from making butter and not to be confused with whey which is the liquid left over from making cheese). None of these recipes has a result truly close to real crème fraiche, but they remain the closest option in countries where real crème fraiche is still not available.
       
Chilled asparagus soup.
With that essential ingredient crème fraiche.

www.flickr.com/photos/stuart_spivack/2476719729/
     
Crème Fraîche or Crème Fraîche Epaisse
    
When the label reads Crème Fraîche Épaisse then that is the full name for crème fraiche that has 30% or more fat; there is no legal upper limit on the percentage of fat. Look for the percentage mark next to the word grasse on the label. (Grasse translates as fat in English). The word épaisse may translate as thick in your French-English travel dictionary; however, Crème Fraîche Épaisse is the standard crème fraîche.
    
Yoplait Crème Fraîche Légère
Low fat crème fraiche with 15% fat
                   
Low fat crème fraiche means less than 30% fat, and depending on the producer it may be as low as 15%. There may be some out there that have a lower fat content, but I have never seen crème fraiche with less than 15% fat.
   
-----------------------------------
   

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

 

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 

Copyright 2010, 2013, 2017, 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" 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 450 articles that include over 4,000 French dishes with English translations and explanations.

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