Canard Sauvage – Wild duck. Wild Duck in French Cuisine.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

  

 

Mallard Ducks

The male has a green collar and head.

Photograph courtesy of Bring Back Words

www.flickr.com/photos/backwords/5677301579/

When wild duck is on the menu in France go for it; it is entirely different to farm-raised duck. The much darker meat offers a contrast in tastes and textures that outclasses farm-raised duck; a wholly pleasurable experience and as organic and free range as you can get.  Wild duck will be on French menus between the end of September and the beginning of February.  Each French department sets its own dates for hunting wild game, and so the dates when wild duck is on the menu will vary as you travel around France,

   

A mallard coming into land.

Photograph courtesy of Jack Wolf

www.flickr.com/photos/wolfraven/3120466947/

The wild duck on your menu will be the wild mallard.

   

Many different wild ducks may be hunted in season, but the duck on your menu will be the mallard duck, the canard colvert in French.  Colvert means green collar the identifying sign of the male mallard.  The wild mallard is the most common wild duck in France, and probably the world, and it is also raised in captivity and may be on the menu of the restaurant down the street.  Nevertheless, neither of those seemingly disparaging statements alters the superb and different taste of the wild mallard.

The wild mallard is mainly vegetarian, and so it will not have the odd flavors of many other wild ducks that spend their time dipping below water into the mud to feed on shrimp and what have you. Ducks are what they eat.

   

Smoked duck breast salad.

Photograph courtesy of Steve Slaby

www.flickr.com/photos/ottawaws/2331118020/

Wild duck on French menus:

Canard Sauvage Rôti en Feuilles de Vignes, Navets Nouveaux, et Figues Séchées  - Wild duck roasted with vine leaves and served with young turnips and dried figs.

     

Duck confit with roasted peaches and cherries.

Photograph courtesy of Ann Larie Valentine

www.flickr.com/photos/sanfranannie/3863540423/

    

Filet de Canard Sauvage aux Airelles, Mousseline de Céleri  -   Slices of wild duck prepared with European cranberries and accompanied by a celery puree.

 

Magret de Canard Sauvage, Jus a la Myrtille, Cèpes et Salsifis Caramélisés  -  Breast of wild duck prepared with a bilberry sauce and served with wild French porcini mushrooms and carmelized roots of salsify (also called the oyster plant).

Terrine de Canard Sauvage et sa Confiture d'Oignons au Vin de Cheverny – A pate of wild duck served with a sweet onion jam flavored with a Cheverny AOP wine. France has a number of tasty sweet onions with the most famous being the Oignon Doux des Cévennes AOP - The Sweet  Cévennes Onion.

   

Magret de Canard 

Champignons et Puree Parmentier au Fines Herbes.

Roast duck breast with button mushrooms 

and mashed (Parmentier) potatoes

flavored with France’s most flavorsome herb group, Les Fine Herbes.

Photograph courtesy of Miriam Kato

www.flickr.com/photos/sushi_kato/4531739518/

Tourte de Canard Sauvage et Palombe au Foie Gras de Canard Sauce Grand Veneur – Wild duck and wood pigeon pie accompanied by foie gras (fattened duck liver) and served with a Grand Veneur Sauce.  Grand Veneur means a great hunter and the sauce is a traditional one made with red wine vinegar, butter, fresh berries, and crème fraiche.  Palombe or Pigeon Ramier, wood pigeon, is another tasty game bird. You will not find wood pigeon on many menus at home so chose it when you can.  Farmed pigeon is also a good choice throughout the year. (BTW the painter Picasso called his daughter Palombe). 

  

Duck in caramelized apple sauce.

Photograph courtesy of Ruth Hartnup

www.flickr.com/photos/ruthanddave/102281659/

Menus that offer duck, in France as elsewhere, do not distinguish between a male duck, a canard, and a female, a cane, and when a duckling is on the menu, it will be listed as a caneton, a male duckling.

 The Dombs and wild duck.

 

I received my introduction to the wild mallard duck in the small but fast-growing town of Villars-les-Dombes situated in the farming wetlands of the Dombs. The town is just 40 km (25 miles) from the temples of the finest French cuisine in the city of Lyon but set in the heart of the Dombs.  Here there are hundreds of ponds and mini-lakes that are freshwater fish farms interspersed with agricultural land. The Rivers Ain, Saône, and the Rhône set the Dombs' borders and from time to time the ponds are drained and worked as naturally rich agricultural land; then, the land that was farmed is rested and becomes ponds and an obvious home for local and migrating birds. Here, at Villars-les-Dombes, in the hunting season, you do not have to travel far to find wild duck.  Apart from the local restaurants, there is plenty of wild duck for cooking at home and this is where a French colleague along with his wife invited me to enjoy my first French wild duck, it was prepared  with juniper berries,

Female mallard with twelve ducklings.

Photograph courtesy of Charles Sharp

www.flickr.com/photos/93882360@N07/13763133924/

 

Menus may indicate a wild duck’s provenance as wild duck aficionados grade the source. Ducks are hunted along France’s Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts as well along inland wetlands. Examples on the Atlantic coast are the Bay of Somme in Picardy also well known for its Pré- Salé lamb and la Brière north of the Loire estuary just 60 km (37 miles) from the city of Nantes. On the Mediterranean coast, the center is the Camargue, the farmland, marshes, rice paddies, wetlands of the Rhone delta are famous for its organic rice and AOP beef the Taureau de Camargue.  So whether the duck on your menu listing is the Canard Sauvage de la Dombes or Canard Sauvage de Camargue, it will be the same wild mallard as elsewhere with duck’s local dining choices affecting its taste.

 

The mallard duck in the languages of France’s neighbors.

(Catalan - ànec collverd, ànec de bos), (Dutch -  wilde eend),(German – stockente). (Italian - germano reale),  (Spanish - añade real), (Latin -anas platyrhynchos).

The Mandarin Duck

 The aix galericulata a long way from home.

Photographed at the Parc Phoenix, Nice, France.

Photograph courtesy of Bernard DUPONT

www.flickr.com/photos/berniedup/6950451856/

  

 A few of the other wild ducks in France

  

France has many other wild ducks including the Canard Chipeau - The gadwall or sand-wigeon;  Canard Pilet – the northern pintail; Canard Siffleur – the Eurasian wigeon; Canard Souchet – the shoveler or northern shoveler duck; Sarcelle d'Hiver - Eurasian teal or winter teal; and the Sarcelle d'Été – the garganey.  Licensed hunters may be permitted limited hunting of the ducks above, but their daily bags will not appear on restaurant menus.

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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

 

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Copyright 2010, 2019.

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).

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

Searching for the meaning of words, names or phrases

on

a French menu? 

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.  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.

---------- 

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

 

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 

Copyright 2010, 2016, 2021

 

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

 

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