Behind the French Menu: Fondue Savoyarde

Showing posts with label Fondue Savoyarde. Show all posts

Savoie - Dining in the Savoy, France. The Departments of Savoie and Haute-Savoie in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.

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

Mont Blanc

www.flickr.com/photos/o_0/36806566060/

Savoyarde

The residents, the people, of the Savoie are called Savoyardes, and the dishes from the region often have Savoyarde in their name. Then, if you find yourself having difficulties understanding some of the more elderly resident's private conversations, that’s because they are speaking Savoyarde, a mixture of the two languages d'oïl and d'oc that sought to become modern French.

Le Canal de Savière, Chanaz

Lac du Bourget

Photograph courtesy of Olivier Duquesne

www.flickr.com/photos/daffyduke/7825863832/

The great cheeses of the Savoy.

Some of France’s most celebrated cheeses come from the Savoie region, including abundance AOP, Beaufort AOP, Chevrotin AOP, Emmental de Savoie IGP, Gruyère Français IGP, Raclette de Savoie IGP, Reblochon AOP, Tome des Bauges AOP and Tomme de Savoie IGP.

The wines of the Savoy.

There are more than twenty white, rose, and sparkling wines, all coming from just three appellations, including the Crémant de Savoie. The department of Haut-Savoie is known for its white wines while the department of Savoie has reds, roses, and whites. With a great deal of tourism and so much skiing, nearly all the region’s wines are consumed locally. So the ideal time to taste them is when you are there.

Dishes from the Savoie region on French menus:

Diots - Pork sausages with an Italian history. They are made with steamed or smoked pork with most having cabbage in their recipe

Escalope Savoyard– A veal escalope cooked in butter and served with slices of ham while surrounded with and browned with one of the Savoie’s cheeses, usually Gruyere Française, Emmental de Savoie, Beaufort or Reblochon.

Féra Fumée du Lac Léman – Smoked broad whitefish from Lac Leman, Lake Geneva. The féra, the broad white fish, truite fario, brown trout and ombre, grayling, are fish from Savoie lakes that will be on many menus.

Fondue Savoyarde - Recipes for dishes similar to today’s Savoie cheese fondues date back two to three-hundred years. Then, the Savoie’s cheese fondues became famous with the growth of winter sports in the 1950’s. Today’s Fondue Savoyarde will include at least two or three Savoie cheeses usually chosen from Abondance, Beaufort, Emmental de Savoie or Gruyère Française. The cheese will be melted in white wine and flavored with a touch of garlic. The taste of the fondue changes with the percentages of the different cheeses used, so every restaurant’s fondue has its unique flavor. To these cheese fondues, may be added the Savoie’s much-appreciated kirsch cherry liquor.

Cheese fondue

Photograph courtesy of Pedro Cerqueira

www.flickr.com/photos/pcerqueira/5402321948/

Gratin Savoyarde - Boiled potatoes baked in butter and beef stock and covered with one of the local cheeses and browned, The gratin, together with a salad, may be a lunchtime main course as part of a fixed price menu, or it may be the garnish for a main course.

Gratin Savoyarde

Photograph courtesy of Ron Dollete

www.flickr.com/photos/saucesupreme/4412122166/

Grolle Savoyarde – A multi-spouted bowl from the Savoie used to serve an alcoholic coffee drink; hot coffee mixed with orange and lemon peels or their zest along with sugar and a marc liquor. It is mostly see in ski resorts when for effect, it may be set alight when it is about to be served. The drink itself is called the Café de l'Amitié, friendship coffee. The alcoholic liquor that is in the coffee will vary with the dish that accompanies it.

Omelette Savoyarde – An omelet made with sautéed potatoes and Beaufort cheese. Sometimes it is made with added ham or lardons, bacon pieces.

Soupe Savoyarde – A vegetable minestrone-style soup made with smoked lardons, bacon pieces, and crozets, served over gruyere or another of the Savoie’s cheeses on toast. Crozets are the Savoie’s traditional wheat, potato or buckwheat flour square pasta shapes. For local specialties like this much will depend on the chef’s grandmother’s recipe.

Tartiflettes and Reblochonades - A whole Reblochon cheese baked, melted over boiled potatoes with some recipes adding crème fraîche to the cheese. The cheese and potatoes are the Reblochonade. On the side may be local dried meats, sausages or ham. The meats will be on the menu as charcuteries and the Savoie has many excellent dried meat recipes and lots of different cured hams.

The two departments

The Savoie and Haut-Savoie were part of the Italian Dutchy of Savoie until 1860. Then, along with the city of Nice on the Mediterranean, they became part of France. (The Savoy Hotel in London is named after this region).

The Savoie region.

Photograph courtesy of French Moments.

The Savoie

The Savoie is home to France’s largest natural lake, Lac Bourget, over 18 km (11 miles) long. With four fabulous lakes including Lac d'Aiguebelette, Lac des Évettes, and Lac de Tignes. (To protect the ecosystem of Lake Aiguebelette, motor boats, even for the fishermen and women, are prohibited). For the tired traveler, the department of Savoie is home to the city of Aix le Bains, the third largest spa in France. For the hungry Savoie is home to some of France’s best chefs. Aix le Bains is just 9 km (6 miles) from Lake Bourget and home to the Faure Museum with its significant collection of impressionist paintings and many of Rodin's works. Chambéry, the ancient capital of the Dutchy of Savoie and now its departmental capital is just 18km (11 miles) away from Aix le Bains. For winter sports go to Albertville home of the last French Winter Olympics.

The Haute-Savoie.

The Haute-Savoie is home to the tallest mountain in France the Mont Blanc, which it shares with Italy and Switzerland. The Haut-Savoie also borders Lake Geneva, also called Lac Léman, which France shares with Switzerland and there are another thirty lakes in Haute-Savoie. Annecy, the departmental capital, is a beautiful small town set on the even more beautiful Lake Annecy. Annecy has an abundance of restaurants in the town and around the lake, including some of France’s finest. Here, we spent a week traveling around Lake Annecy enjoying all the Savoie’s wonderful cheeses. The Haute Savoie is also home to over 100 of France’s skiing centers, including Megève and Chamonix. In Megeve along with a week’s skiing we enjoyed two perfect, but distinct, Fondues Savoyarde.

The old town of Annecy.

Photograph courtesy of Koen

www.flickr.com/photos/koen_photos/5698675835/

Mineral water from the Savoie region.

Local mineral waters include Aix, Badoit, Evian, Thonon. Altogether more there are more than thirty local brands.

Fountain in the town of Evian

Photograph courtesy of µµ

www.flickr.com/photos/muriel_vd/1093826811/

Beer from the Savoie

Local beers include Nonne, Chanaz, Cimes, Mont-Blanc, Galibier, and Faucigny.

Connected Posts:

Abondance, AOP and Abondance de Savoie AOP. Great Cheeses of the Savoie, France.

Bacon in France. Bacon and Salted Pork on French Menus. Lard in French Means Bacon in English.

Beaufort AOP, One of France's Finest Cheeses. Beaufort Cheese on French Menus. Beaufort in Fondue Savoyarde and Other Classic Dishes.

Biere - Beer. Ordering a Beer in France? All the French you need to know.

Cremants are the best value in French sparkling wines.

Fera, Corégone, Lavaret or Palée - The Broad Whitefish on French Menus.

Gruyère Cheese – French or Swiss? Enjoying French Gruyere IGP.

Kirsch, the cherry brandy. Kirsch in French Cuisine. Guignolet on French Menus.

Reblochon Cheese AOP. One of the greatest cheeses from the Savoie, France.

Tomme de Savoie IGP and Cows’ Milk Tomme Cheeses.

Truite - Trout, the Fish. Trout on French Menus

Water in French Restaurants. Free or to be Paid For? Water - Eau. Eau on French Menus

Behind the French Menu’s links include hundreds of words, names, and phrases that are seen on French menus. There are over 400 articles that include over 2,500 French dishes with English translations and explanations. 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
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Gruyère Cheese – French or Swiss? Enjoying French Gruyere IGP.

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

Aging Gruyere cheese.

Photograph courtesy of cristiana bolli freitas

https://www.flickr.com/photos/sopramais/1815952997/

Both Swiss Gruyere AOP and French Gruyere IGP are fabulous cheeses. They are hard, ivory-to-yellow cow’s milk cheeses made with unpasteurized milk. The cheeses are made with the milk from cows that graze freely in the summer. In the winter, the cows are fed on fodder collected in the summer, with no silage permitted. The calves are raised with their mothers, and no antibiotics or growth hormones may be used. The color of the cheese’s pate varies with the time of year and the grasses upon which the cows feed. No extraneous substances may be added to the cheeses, and that includes natural food coloring. Each country’s cheese is produced in defined geographical areas.

Gruyere Français - French Gruyere

French Gruyere has approximately 32% fat and is aged for a minimum of four months. The cheese is slightly nutty with a very slight salty accent and is considered to be slightly sweeter than Swiss Gruyere. Taste a slice of French Gruyere with Swiss Gruyere with French bread, as I have done, and the difference is immediately apparent. Their tastes become more full-bodied as the cheeses age. The color of the rind varies from a pale orange to brown, darkening the longer the cheese is aged. Swiss Gruyere has no holes (the famous Swiss cheese with all the holes is Emmental), while French Gruyere has a number of small holes. French Gruyere’s holes are officially part of the cheese, and they may vary in size from a pea to a cherry. French Gruyere IGP is produced in the departments of Doubs, Haute-Saône, Savoie, and Haute-Savoie that border Switzerland

French Gruyere cheese.

Photograph courtesy of Nutrition Table. com

Emmental is the cheese with many holes.

Photograph courtesy of catalog-cs.info

Gruyere cheese in the French cuisine:

Gruyere cheese is probably the most important French cheese in the French kitchen, though by name, it may only be on menus when part of a salad or cheese plate. Dishes with Gratin or Gratinée in their name will have been browned under the grill, often with the aid of French Gruyere cheese.

Croque Monsieur - Croque Monsieur is a simple but tasty French fast food; it is a toasted sandwich made with Pain de Mie, French sandwich bread, cooked ham, and Gruyere cheese. The sandwich is soaked in beaten egg and then fried gently or toasted until the outside is golden brown and the cheese inside melts.

Croque Monsieur

Photograph courtesy of Andrew Mager

www.flickr.com/photos/mager/3098810358/

Croque Madam – The same as a Croque Monsieur, but with a fried egg on top.

Escalope de Veau Cordon Bleu - A veal cutlet wrapped in ham and gruyere cheese, covered in breadcrumbs and fried. (Escalope Cordon Bleu is a dish from the mid-20th century; however, the Cordon Bleu, the award of the blue ribbon, is much older. The Cordon Bleu was part of an award created by King Henry III of France in 1578 for outstanding service to the French Crown).

N.B. A menu listing may offer Escalope Cordon Bleu de Dinde which is made with turkey breast, and Escalope Cordon Bleu de Poulet is made with chicken breast. Read the menu carefully.

Escalope de Veau Cordon Bleu

Photograph courtesy of Danone SA

Fondue Savoyarde – The cheese fondue from the departments of Savoie. Cheese fondues were on home menus in the region of Savoie long before skiing became fashionable. Then one or two local cheeses, along with a small amount of garlic, were melted together with a local white wine for an enjoyable family meal. The fondue is eaten with pieces of bread that are dipped in the melted cheese on a special fork. Each diner will have been given his or her fourchette à fondue, a distinctive, long fondue fork that keeps the diner’s hand away from the communal pot of melted cheese in which the bread will be dipped. N.B. These fondue forks become extremely hot at the tip, and they have burned many a tongue. I speak with experience, so transfer the bread to your plate and then to an ordinary fork before eating.

Fondue Savoyard.

Photograph courtesy of Pedro Cerqueira

www.flickr.com/photos/pcerqueira/5402321948/

Recipes for dishes similar to today’s cheese fondues date back two or three hundred years. Every fondue will include two or three cheeses from the Gruyere family chosen from among Abondance, Beaufort, Comté, French Emmental, and French Gruyere. Many cheese fondues will be made with the Savoie’s much-appreciated kirsch cherry brandy, while others will have added Madeira wine.

Galette Bretonne – A traditional pancake from Brittany made with buckwheat flour, its blé noir, black flour, also called the farine de sarrasin, the flour of the Saracens. A Galette Bretonne may be served with a variety of garnishes, though the most traditional would be salted butter, fried eggs, ham, and grated French Gruyere cheese.

Galette Bretonne

Photograph courtesy of Jack at Wikipedia.

www.flickr.com/photos/jack_tt_lee/16101541931/

Gratin Dauphinois – Baked sliced potatoes cooked in milk and cream, flavored with nutmeg, garlic, thyme, and shallots, and then browned under the grill, usually with Gruyere cheese.

Gratin Dauphinois

Photograph courtesy of Pierre Guinoiseau

www.flickr.com/photos/geekounet/3937031101/

Soupe à l’Oignon – Onion Soup. There are traditional differences between the two most famous onion soups. The Paris recipe calls for the use of vegetable, chicken or beef stock, or bouillon, and wine or Cognac. The original Lyonnais version uses no stock, and the alcohol is Madeira wine or Port wine. Both soups will be served with grated French Gruyere cheese browned under the grill.

Soupe à l’Oignon, Soupe à l’Oignon à la Parisienne, Gratinée Parisienne or Gratinée des Halles - Among the many names used for onion soup in the tradition of Paris.

Gratinée Lyonnais, Soupe à l'Oignon Lyonnaise or Soupe à l'Oignon Gratinée - Among the many names used for onion soup in the tradition of the city of Lyon.

Gratinée Parisienne – Parisian Onion Soup.

Photograph courtesy of Jun Seita

www.flickr.com/photos/jseita/7137856773/

The Gruyère cheese family.

French Gruyere IGP is produced in the departments of Doubs, Haute-Saône, Savoie and Haute-Savoie that border Switzerland. Here and in adjoining departments, many kinds of cheese have been developed over the centuries, with Abondance, Beaufort, Comté, and French Emmental all considered Gruyere-type cheeses. Two hundred years ago, Brillat-Savarin, the first philosopher of food, called Beaufort cheese the Prince of the Gruyères. To confuse us all even further one of the official names for Comté cheese is Gruyère de Comté. When you are looking for Gruyere in France, look at the label.

Buying French gruyere cheese and flying home it.

Few restaurants, if any, will offer different ages of Gruyere to choose from. Restaurant clientele, understandably, expects the restaurant to use aged cheeses. To test the difference between young and aged Gruyere and find the one that suits your taste visit a good fromagerie, a cheese shop. Quite a number of the better fromageries will stock two different French Gruyeres. The youngest may be a minimum of four months, and the older cheese may be up to a year old, occasionally even older. If you look like a serious customer, you may be offered a sliver of each to try.

The USA, which prohibits the import of unpasteurized milk cheese aged for less than 60 days, permits the import of Gruyere Française IGP. It has been aged for four months. However, before leaving France and arriving at the check-in counter, check your baggage weight allowance. The average weight of a wheel of Gruyere is 42 kilos (92 lbs), and that is a good reason to take a smaller wedge of this excellent cheese home. As Gruyere is an aged hard cheese, a wedge wrapped in plastic will travel well for three or four days. Once home, keep it in the refrigerator, still wrapped in plastic, not the freezer. To prepare the cheese for serving, take it from the refrigerator, cut off the amount you will be using, and let it rest for an hour before serving. Return the rest of the cheese to the refrigerator for later use. Kept wrapped in plastic in a refrigerator Gruyere will keep well for five to six weeks. (For more about buying cheese in France and taking it home, click here).

N.B., The UK permits the import of unpasteurized cheeses from the European Union.

The French Gruyere association only has a French language website; however, it is easily understood with the Google and Bing translation apps.

http://www.gruyere-france.fr/

Swiss Gruyere was first.

The origins of Gruyere cheese are undeniably Swiss. Though neither Switzerland nor France existed as the nation-states with today's borders when Gruyere was first made. The cheese is named after the town of Gruyères (with an s), in the Swiss Canton of Fribourg. The Swiss Gruyere cheese has a history that can be traced back 900 years, while the French cheese has only been made for 800 years. With such a long history the French and Swiss have ended up agreeing to share the name. As the primary owner of the name, the Swiss received the prestigious Pan-European AOP. French Gruyere has an IGP (English PGI - Protected Geographical Indication). The packaging must clearly note “Made in France.”. The town of Gruyeres is approximately 160 km (100 miles) from the nearest French border.

A French Gruyere label.

Photograph courtesy of A Vos Assiettes.

It all goes back to Emperor Charlemagne

Going further back in time, the Swiss town of Gruyeres took its name from Emperor Charlemagne’s tax collectors. These tax collectors were called Gruyers and received taxes in the form of cheese. Paying your tax with wheels of cheese usually will not work today, but you can try! Emperor Charlemagne (742 – 814) was the Holy Roman Emperor and ruled most of Europe and is considered the founder of France and Germany. Charlemagne is buried in the town of Aachen in Germany; the town is called Aix-la-Chapelle in French. (That is the Aix in Robert Browning’s galloping poem: "How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix" is Aix-la-Chapelle).

Connected Posts:

AOC and AOP on France's Foods and Wine labels? Why did the AOC add an AOP?

Abondance, AOP and Abondance de Savoie AOP. Great Cheeses of the Savoie, France

Ail - Garlic. Garlic in French Cuisine.

Beaufort AOP, One of France's Finest Cheeses. Beaufort Cheese on French Menus. Beaufort in Fondue Savoyarde and Other Classic Dishes.

Beurre - Butter in French. Butter in French Cuisine.

French Bread - Different Types of French Bread. (Bread in French is Spelled Pain and Pronounced as Pan).

Buying Cheese in France. Bringing French Cheese Home and a Lexicon for buying French Cheese.

Cognac the Town, and Visiting Cognac and Tasting the Product. Cognac IV.

Comte AOP (AOC), the premiere cheese of France.

Crepes, Galettes, Gauffres, Mille Crepes, Pannequets and more.

Darphin, Paillasson, Dauphine and Dauphinois on French Menus.

Escalope de Veau or Paillard de Veau. Veal in France II - A Veal Cutlet, Escalope, Escallop or Scallop.

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

Flour. The flour in your French bread, crepes, and other delights.

Jambon Sec (Cru) - Air-Cured Ham. The Ten Most Popular Air-Cured Hams on French Menus.

Kirsch, the cherry brandy. Kirsch in French Cuisine. Guignolet on French Menus.

La Dinde, the Tasty Turkey on a French Menu

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

Madère, Vin de Madère - Madeira Wine. Madeira Wine in French Cuisine.

Port or Porto - Port Wine in French Cuisine. Port on French Menus

Soupe à l'Oignon - French Onion Soup. Ordering the Most Famous of all French Soups and the Difference Between Parisian and Lyonnais Onion Soups.

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’s links include hundreds of words, names, and phrases that are seen on French menus. There are nearly 400 articles that include over 2,000 French dishes with English translations and explanations. Just add the word, words or phrase that you are searching for to the words "Behind the French Menu" and search with Google.