Behind the French Menu: French cuisine

Showing posts with label French cuisine. Show all posts

Tartare - Tartar on French Menus. Steak Tartare, Fish Tartare and Vegetable Tartare.

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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Steak Tartar (Steak Tatare) with French fries and salad.

Photograph by courtesy of Renée Suen.

Steak Tartare also called Tartare de Filet de Boeuf, Bœuf Tartare. - A steak in the manner of the Tartars, the famous and frightening fighters who rode to war under the direction of Genghis Khan beginning in the 13th century. Twentieth-century folklore has the Tartar tribesmen riding to war with raw meat under their horses' saddles. As they rode they were said to cut off pieces of the raw meat with a knife, and eat as they rode; they only stopped riding to sleep. Despite the name, Steak Tartar (Tartare) is far from any real Tartar culinary traditions.

Steak Tartar begins with uncooked ground or chopped beef. Despite the lack of a frying pan or grill, in France, this may be one of the greatest steak dishes that you have ever tasted. Steak Tartar is spiced beef made with fillet steak. Fish and vegetarian versions of this dish are also not cooked.

Tuna Tartare with yoghurt.

Photograph courtesy of Luca Nebuloni.

Your French menu may offer you:

Steak Tartare- Steak Tartar - Hand-cut or ground beef to which will be added onion, parsley, cornichons, capers, and, in France, cognac. Herbs will be added in accordance with the chef’s preferences and all versions of Steak Tartar will have Tabasco or Worcester sauce added for spice. In many recipes, a raw egg yolk will be mixed in just before serving. If you are unsure about steak tartar, but willing to try, begin with an entree of steak tartar; you will be hooked.

For those who enjoy good restaurant theater, some make an enjoyable show of mixing the ingredients in front of the diners; there is no cooking involved. The French Steak Tartare is a spicy dish, but then for most UK and North American visitors, nothing in France is very spicy. You may request more or less Tabasco or Worcester sauce, but I usually ask for more Cognac!

Korean Steak Tartar.

Julienned raw beef seasoned with salt, garlic, and sesame oil.

Served with Korean pear and garlic on top

From the official page korea.net

Steak Tartare (préparé par nos soins), Frites, Salade – Steak Tartar prepared by the restaurant (prepared by ourselves) served with French fries and a small green salad. Here the restaurant is noting that they do not buy ground fillet steak prepared outside. They prepare the steak themselves and so may assure you of its quality.

Steak Tartare Bœuf Fin Gras du Mézenc Coupé au Couteau, Salade Verte et Pommes Sautées, – Steak Tartar made from the fillet of the Bœuf Fin Gras du Mézenc AOC/AOP; this one of France’s finest beef cattle. The beef is chopped with a knife and served with a green salad and sautéed potatoes.

Boeuf Tartare.

Photograph courtesy of goodmami

Steak Tartare Préparé Maison, Servi Cru ou Juste Saisi - Fillet steak, prepared in-house and served either traditionally, uncooked, or very lightly fried. Despite my personal preference for the classic uncooked Steak Tartar, there are others, including French diners who, while not wanting a hamburger, do not want the meat completely raw. Here they have the option of having their Steak Tatar very lightly fried. Many restaurants offer this option either on or off the menu.

Juste Saisi means just ready or lightly seared; a very important cooking term for meat, fish, seafood, and other products that must never be overcooked, or hardly cooked at all.

Tartare de Saumon Épicé – Spicy Salmon Tartar. Unlike Steak Tartare, there is no agreed recipe covering this dish; however, most recipes use spicy sesame oil made from roasted sesame seed, uncooked tomatoes, cornichons for the crunch, and onions. Some recipes add ginger and others Worcester sauce or Tabasco.

Tartare de Thon Rouge - Tuna Tartar. Both French and French-Japanese restaurants offer this dish. I have enjoyed more than one version, including an excellent Temaki Tuna Tartare very similar to the picture below.

Temaki Tartare Thon - Temaki Tuna Tartare

Photograph courtesy of Moonsushi.

Vegetable Tartare – Vegetarian and Vegan Tartar dishes may also be on the menu. The recipes include crunchy fresh vegetables such as cauliflower, cabbage with beet-root and possibly radishes or fresh horseradish for spice. Holding the vegetables together will be a flavored mayonnaise and in France, cornichons will be there for there taste and crunch. In France, the mayonnaise will nearly always be freshly made mayonnaise.

Beetroot Tartar.

Photograph courtesy of _zomantha_

In France, Steak Tartar is also very popular as a fast food. Open sandwiches made with Steak Tartar will be served in tabacs, cafes, and in bars. An afternoon French aperitif is not just a drink before dinner. An aperitif may also mean, in French, a friendly afternoon meeting that will include small snacks that often including small Steak Tartar open sandwiches.

Steak Tartare open sandwiches,

Photograph by courtesy of Raj Taneja

Your menu may also offer dessert Tartars:

Strawberry Tartare

Photograph courtesy of junelos.

Ordering a Steak Tartar

with an English or a North American accent.

From my experiences always be ready for questions if you are an English speaker and order Steak Tartare. In more than one French restaurant, having been identified as non-French, and ordering Steak Tartare I have had the server ask me if I realize that this is not a cooked steak. In another case the maître d’ arrived to double-check if I really knew what I was ordering, and repeated the question…” but you must understand it isn’t cooked at all.” I asked why they were so concerned with my choice. It turned out that in this establishment, somewhat on the fringes of any tourist routes, there have been overseas guests who ordered this dish without any idea of what steak tartar was. They had to have their steak tartar cooked and ended up with a hamburger.

Who were the Tartars

The Tatars became famous when the Mongols, in the 13th century, led by Genghis Khan had made the Tartars part of his army. Later the sons and grandsons of Genghis Khan would lead the Mongol invasions with the most feared fighters being the Tartars. At its height, these “hordes” ruled parts of Eastern Europe, all of Bulgaria, and large parts of Siberia. The Tartars were finally defeated by Russia in the 16^th century.

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Enjoy Steak Tartare, Tartare de Filet de Boeuf, Bœuf Tartare. What is Steak Tartare?

Ordering a Steak in France Cooked the Way you Like it.

Searching for the Finest Beef in France? Try the Bœuf Fin Gras du Mézenc AOC. This very special beef is only on French Menus between February and early June.

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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Barèges-Gavarnie Mutton is a Rare and Tasty Change From the Many Excellent Lamb Offerings of France.

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

The Mouton Barèges -Gavarnie AOC

The Mouton Barèges-Gavarnie AOP; the sheep are something very special. This mutton is on only French restaurant menus from June through January. Practically none of their meat is exported, so when Barèges-Gavarnie is on the menu, do not let the opportunity pass you by.

Le Lac d'Aumar

Photograph courtesy of Tourisme Grand Tourmalet

www.flickr.com/photos/grand-tourmalet/14992824740/

Mutton, you may say, is meat from old sheep that no longer supplies milk and is only good for sausages. Now is the time to change your mind. The menu may offer a roast from a doubloon, an 18-month to two-year-old castrated male, that is considered the best of the breed. Another menu may offer a winter stew prepared from a two-year-old ewe. There are excellent lambs in France, but mutton has a different taste and texture, and the Mouton Barèges-Gavarnie sheep have red, marbled, tender meat.

To begin with, these are a unique breed, they are hardy and their summer pastures where they graze in complete freedom day and night at an altitude of between 1,600 meters ( 5,250 feet) and 2,600 meters (8,300 feet) high. The temperatures change from below freezing at night to 90ºF ( 32ºC) during the day, so they need their special wool.

Until you have tasted this mutton, you will never be able to understand how very different this is to lamb. It is not a replacement for lamb; you cannot compare them. They are very different meats with different tastes and textures.

The Official Logo of The Mouton Barèges -Gavarnie AOP.

Mouton Barèges-Gavarnie on the menu:

Brochette de Mouton Barèges Gavarnie à la Réglisse, Choux Vert et Châtaigne des Pyrénées – Skewers of the Barèges-Gavarnie mutton flavored with licorice served with cabbage and chestnuts from the Pyrenees.

Côtelettes de Mouton AOC Barèges-Gavarnie à la Crème de Serpolet - Chops from the Barèges Gavarnie mutton flavored with a cream of wild thyme sauce.

Gigot de Mouton Barèges-Gavarnie et Haricots Tarbais - Roasted leg of the Mouton Barèges-Gavernie served with the Label Rouge, red label dried beans from Tarbes in the Pyrenees.

Gigot de Mouton Barèges-Gavarnie

Photograph courtesy of Mon Œil

www.flickr.com/photos/claveirole/6064373291/

Navarin de Mouton Baréges-Gavarnie Printanier Navarin - A stew of Baréges-Gavarnie mutton cut into regular shapes, along with vegetables, nearly always including turnips. The navette, a turnip, is considered the source of the name navarin, a turnip stew. A Navarin becomes a Navarin Printanier, a springtime stew when it is made with lamb and young spring turnips along with other early vegetables.

Civet de Mouton AOC Barèges-Gavarnie – A slowly cooked stew from the Barèges-Gavarnie mutton. A stew like this will be prepared with vegetables and red wine. Civet were traditional stews associated with small wild game; that meant a lapin, a rabbit, or a lièvre, a hare, and occasionally a marcassin, a young wild boar. Now the term civet is used for many other stews like this menu listing.

The Mouton Barèges-Gavarnie sheep are brought to their mountain pastures in the area called the Pays Toy, in the department of the Hautes-Pyrénées, in the late spring.

Heading for higher pastures

In the high pastures, these sheep have total freedom; not even a shepherd to watch out for them except maybe once every ten days. Nevertheless, since writing this, I have been told that the tradition of permanent shepherds and sheepdogs is returning, as the wild animal protection laws have seen the local bear population increasing. By November, the sheep are back in a covered shelter in the valleys and feed on hay that comes from their summer pastures.

There is, of course, a fete for the Mouton Barèges-Gavarnie, but the date and place move every year within the region. Check ahead with the Tourist Information Office website below. This is not just a fete where the children can pet the sheep; this is also a chance to taste and enjoy, and then everyone can enjoy sheepdog trials and competitions.

For the fete and touring in the region in summer or winter, see the English language website:

http://www.luz.org/en/

The same website has information on the highest spa in France, where the Barèges waters, a constant 42 °C (107.6 °F), are known for their help with bone reconstruction, rheumatism, and respiratory system. The spa has been known since the beginning of the 17th century and is the highest in the Pyrenees. The ski resort of Barèges is one of the largest skiing centers in the region of the Midi-Pyrénées.