Behind the French Menu: French Gruyere cheese

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

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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).

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

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

French onion soup in the manner of Paris.

Photograph courtesy of jefferyw

www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyww/5344349906/

Onion soup in the manner of Paris or Lyon?

Paris and Lyon claim the original recipes for French onion soup and the arguments among the residents of the two towns can turn heated. That, notwithstanding thousands of years before the first printed recipe the first hunter-gatherer in France to throw a wild onion in the cooking pot owns the original French recipe.

The traditional differences between the two onion soups were over the Parisian use of vegetable, chicken or beef stock, or bouillon, and wine or Cognac, The Lyonnais version used no stock and the alcohol was Madeira wine or Port. These traditional differences are now often ignored, and so ask your server or maitre’d about the soup on your menu. If you have time during your stay in France enjoy a real Parisian onion soup and a Lyonnais one as well

You should expect French servers to be knowledgeable. Serving, in France, is a profession with all the attributes of a profession. Tips are not expected nor are they an important part of their income. Restaurant staff have salaries, paid vacation time of 42 days, and 35-hour workweeks, sick leave, and pensions.

Your onion soup may be on the menu under one of many names:

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.

French onion soup in the manner of Lyon.

Photograph courtesy of Robyn Lee

www.flickr.com/photos/roboppy/8573033252/

Today, whether you choose the soup served in a Parisian Bistro or a Lyonnais Buchon or in a restaurant with Michelin stars if there is a trained French chef in the kitchen the onion soup should be excellent. I am a French onion soup junkie, and from experience, both the Parisian and Lyonnais versions make excellent, and sometimes memorable, onion soups; there are no winners or losers. The only differences are the flavors.

When you order your French onion soup expect:

Your soup will be served with bubbling or almost bubbling cheese on top of toasted or grilled bread or croutons. The heart of the dish is white onions, fried until they are a dark golden brown. To the onions, depending on the recipe used may have been added vegetable, chicken or beef stock along with a few herbs at the chef’s discretion. Added to the stock, in the Parisian manner, will be white or red wine or Cognac and in the Lyonnais manner will be Madeira wine or port. The soup is transferred to individual bowls, and on top will be added slices of grilled or toasted bread or croutons covered in grated cheese. Just before serving, the individual bowls are placed under the grill until the cheese melts. Then by both sight and smell, a mouthwatering soup will be put before you. Bon Appétit!

N.B. The term gratinée, browned, when used in connection with French onion soup, indicates that the soup has grilled cheese on top. All dishes with the word gratinée will have been browned under the grill usually with the help of grated cheese or buttered breadcrumbs,

About the recipes for French onion soup.

The original and oldest printed French recipe, along with a few purist chefs today, make onion soup without any stock; that is in the original manner of the city of Lyon. Today’s chefs who do not use stock include Raymond Blanc, as well as the late Paul Bocuse. However, the majority of recipes that I have seen from today’s French-trained, celebrity chefs working outside of France do use stock in the manner of Paris. Those chefs include Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller, Michel Roux Jr, Wolfgang Puck, and Gordon Ramsay.

The grated cheese used in French onion soup is also another ingredient that may be a source of arguments, though French Gruyere is the cheese used most often. The other cheeses used include Comte AOP, French Emmenthal, and Cantal AOP. In the UK and North America, I have enjoyed French onion soups where Cheddar was the cheese of choice.

N.B. French Gruyere cheese has some small holes while Swiss does not. However, French Gruyere is not the cheese famed for its many holes, that is Emmenthal.

French onion soup is not difficult to make, it just takes time.

I am not a chef, nor am I a particularly good cook, and this is not a cookbook; however, I can cook a reasonably satisfying French onion soup. I use at least one and a half large onions per person, cooked slowly and carefully until they are caramelized a golden brown, not black. If the onions become black, they become bitter, as I know to my shame.

Making sure those onions do not burn is the most time-consuming procedure; expect a good two hours of watching and turning the onions if you are making French onion soup for ten. One and a half a large onions per person may seem to be overdoing it; however, when the onions are cooked slowly, to that golden brown color, you may be surprised by how little onion is left by the time they are caramelized.

The heart of the matter.

Photograph courtesy of erik forsberg

www.flickr.com/photos/hepp/6250709930/

I use vegetable stock to be inclusive for the vegetarians in my family, and I use red wine for flavor and color. I allow the soup to boil on a low flame until the volume is reduced enough to achieve the desired taste and consistency; then, I toast or grill the bread. If I have forgotten to buy French Gruyere cheese, I use the best yellow cheese at hand with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese if needed, to give the cheese more flavor.

Toasted baguette ready for the soup.

Photograph courtesy of secretlondon123

www.flickr.com/photos/secretlondon/2869482717/

The purist’s recipe for French onion soup.

Paul Bocuse, without any argument, was the greatest chef in the second part of the 1900s; he came from Lyon, France. Paul Bocuse’s French onion soup is the soup of a purist; he uses no stock at all. Onions rule.

I read Paul Bocuse’s English language book: The Cuisine of Paul Bocuse, Grafton Books. Bocuse’s recipe is onions, butter, a bouquet-garni, and a little pepper. To thicken the soup, he uses egg yolks along with a small drop of Madeira wine for additional flavor; he uses no stock.

Paul Bocuse.

Photograph courtesy of Brian Sikorski

www.flickr.com/photos/wonderfultime/2891419060/

Paul Bocuse, who passed away in 2017 was, fifty years ago, among the chefs who threw out the heavy sauces and warming pans of haute cuisine. He and his friends brought in the freshest produce, and no dish was ever warmed up. Those chefs were the founders of Nouvelle Cuisine; now, they are the gray-haired establishment. Besides Bocuse's own three-star restaurant in Lyon, he was the force behind the cooking competition that has become the most important cooking competition in the world, the Bocuse Dor. The international finals of the Bocuse Dor is held bi-annually in Lyon, France.

The history of the Gratinée des Halles.

The Les Halles French onion soup.

Les Halles was Paris’s wholesale fresh produce market, and in the ’50s and ’60s Les Halles was famous for its midnight traffic jams. Parisians and visitors alike traveling to the market caused the jams as they visited its restaurants for their legendary French onion soup; served from midnight until 5.00am. From 5:00 am the restaurants returned to feeding the workers in the market. There is no single Les Halles recipe, but that name on a menu rings the bell of tradition.

The Les Halles produce market is no more.

Les Halles had been Paris’s wholesale produce market for 800 years. However, in the second half of the 20th century, the traffic congestion, not to mention the sanitation problems in the center of the Paris, was unacceptable. In 1971, Paris’s wholesale fresh produce market was moved to the Parisian suburb of Rungis near the Paris-Orly airport. Where Les Halles once stood, there is today an enormous, but in my view, not particularly attractive, below-ground shopping center, called the Forum des Halles. There is also the Les Halles Metro station and the Châtelet -Les Halles RER train station. That RER station is also the largest underground train station in the world. I wonder why I always stay away from it?

Visiting Rungis, the world’s largest fresh produce market.

For those who wish to visit the Rungis produce market, you may take the Metro line 7 to the end of the line, then take the bus 185 to Rungis Market. By car from central Paris, it is about half-an-hour outside of rush hour. There are 22 restaurants in the new market, some of which serve onion soup. Rungis is the largest fresh produce market in the world and offers organized tours for professionals and tourists from 05:00. If you have heard of the Tokyo fish market, Rungis is that plus fruit, vegetables, flowers, meat, poultry, game and more.

The Rungis English language website is:

http://www.rungismarket.com/en/jaune/visiter_rungis/index.asp

A stall in Rungis market

Photograph courtesy of Nick Saltmarsh

www.flickr.com/photos/nsalt/2808155405/

The oldest recipe for the modern version of French Onion Soup.

While onion soup recipes have been published since the times of the Roman empire, French Onion soup is a different matter. The oldest recipe I have seen is in a book written by Alexander Dumas Père, the author of The Count of Monte Christo and The Three Musketeers, among many many other books.

Alexander Dumas Pere was also a passionate Gourmet and he wrote two books on French cuisine. The larger of the two is Dumas’s Grand Dictionnaire de Cuisine. That book has been translated into English in an excellent, concise version called Dumas on Food by Alan and Jane Davidson, printed by Oxford University Press. Dumas on Food gives, in English, Alexandre Dumas’s recipe for Soupe à l’Oignon à la Stanislas and the story behind its fame. The Stanislas noted in that recipe is the same Stanislas Leszczynski, Duke of Lorraine and Bar, France,ex-King of Poland, father-in-law of King Louis XV of France who gave Rum Baba and a number of other dishes their name.

The National Library of France, Biblotech National de France allows you to read, without charge, the unabridged, original, French version of Dumas’s Grand Dictionnaire de Cuisine online; it comes in two parts. You may also download the 1,000 plus pages that are the whole book, in PDF format, for a minuscule payment.

The cover of the original Grand Dictionnaire de Cuisine.

Alexander Dumas Père.

Photograph courtesy of the Biblotech National de France.

The Biblotech National de France website, with English instructions, can be reached at http://gallica.bnf.fr.

For the paragraphs on Soupe à l’Oignon à la Stanislas click on or copy and paste the link below in your browser:

https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k62337530/f115.item.r=stanislas%20

The link above will bring you to page 764 and you may read about Soupe à l’Oignon a la Stanislas, with the recipe on the next page (765) as well as other onion soups that pleased Alexander Dumas Père.

The search for the absolute onion soup.

A great Soupe a l‘Oignon can be an existential experience. Following on that, on more than one occasion, I have covered Paris from arrondissement to arrondissement looking for the absolute onion soup; while dragging my family around Paris with me. I believe that once I nearly found that soup, but it still managed to escape me. One day I will find that absolute onion soup, and then my soul will be content; in the meantime, I continue looking for it in Paris and Lyon with tastings in many other parts of the world.

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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

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