Behind the French Menu: French cuisine explained

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

The St George's Mushroom.

Photograph courtesy of Andrew

Mousseron, Mousseron de la St Georges, Mousseron de Provence or Tricholome de la St-Georges – The St George's Mushroom. These mushrooms can grow quite large but those I have seen in the markets are rarely over 6 or 7 cm across; nevertheless, they decorate and flavor with equal success.

France has many wild mushrooms and the Mousseron, the St George's mushroom, is a particularly tasty example; when it is on the menu do not pass on it. Many restaurants have long-term agreements with professional ramasseurs, foragers, and gatherers, who know the different seasons when the various wild mushrooms, herbs, fruits, and vegetables become available. These professionals bring restaurants wild garlic, wild onions, wild asparagus, and wild fruits along with the season’s wild mushrooms.

St George’s mushroom may be found all over Europe and France, in most parts, from late March through June. According to those who know, they say they can find them earlier in the South of France and then sometimes they can be found again in the autumn. If you want to try them at home and cannot find them fresh then try the dried version which when re-hydrated is not too bad. The fresh mushrooms are only found in the wild; however, attempts to cultivate them continue.

St George’s mushrooms on French Menus:

Crème de Mousseron – A cream of St George's mushroom soup.

Filet de Canette Rôti à la Réglisse, Poêlée de Mousseron - Breast of duckling roasted with licorice, and served with lightly fried St. George’s Mushrooms.

Foie Gras de Canard Mi-Cuit, Panais et Pickles de Mousseron – Very lightly fried fattened duck's liver served with parsnips and pickled St George’s mushrooms

St Georges' mushrooms in the market.

Photograph courtesy of Le Coeur au Ventre

Fricassée d'Asperges Vertes et de Mousserons de la Saint-Georges. – Stewed green asparagus prepared together with St Georges’ mushrooms.

Risotto de Petit Épeautre aux Mousserons- A risotto made with Small Spelt and St Georges mushrooms From the use of Small Spelt, also called Einkorn, this is, of course, a dish that only could have originated in Provence. Only a few places, outside Provence, grow Spelt and or Small Spelt commercially. Those that do include Germany, who make a beer with Spelt. Spelt, is the ancestor of modern wheat, and the Small Spelt used in this dish is another ancestor, but this ancestor never went on to become a smooth grain that would become a staple.

Small Spelt has a slight course texture, but it is tasty. In Provence, Spelt and Small Spelt were traditionally, and sometimes still are, used instead of rice; certainly seeing Small Spelt on a menu offers a change from regular risotto rice. This is a chance to enjoy a different taste that you will be unlikely to find at home.

Sole de Ligne, en Tronçon Épais, Girolles et Mousserons au suc de vin jaune – A wide cut from sole, the fish, prepared with Girolle/Chanterelle and St Georges’ mushrooms and a sauce made with the natural cooking juice and the yellow wine from the Jura.

The results of one morning's mushroom collecting.

Photograph by courtesy of Marek Isalski,

The best Steak à la Bordelaise that I ever had in France, and I have had a few! Came with fresh mousseron mushrooms; the mousseron mushrooms were the only garnish and the only decoration, apart from some excellent French fries. The mushrooms, the steak à la Bordelaise and the restaurant’s local Bordeaux house wine were a very successful combination.

A fairy ring of St George’s mushrooms.

Photograph courtesy of Wikimonde.com

A word of warning

A word of warning. Do not cook or eat any mushrooms that have not been checked by an expert. Many mushrooms look alike and some are poisonous. Every French town and villages have mushrooms experts and any local pharmacy will be able to give you directions. The volunteer experts will check your mushrooms without charge.

(Catalan - moixeró o bolet de Sant Jordi), (Dutch - voorjaarspronkridder ), (German – maipilz) (Italian - funghi di san giorgio). (Spanish - seta de San Jorge), (Latin - calocybe gambosaor tricholoma georgi).

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

from

Behind the French Menu

Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

A steak, as I like it, is rare-to-medium-rare.

In France, rare-to-medium-rare is à point.

Photograph courtesy of Ernesto Andrade

www.flickr.com/photos/dongkwan/2963811001/

Ordering a steak in France cooked the way you like it.

Ordering a steak in France requires little French. It does not matter whether you order a steak in English or perfect or poorly accented French. Every French server understands an order for a steak; problems only appear when the server asks: “Quelle cuisson, votre steak?” How would you like your steak cooked? North American and UK steakhouse terms such as medium-rare, medium, or well-done do not translate, conceptually, into traditional restaurant French.

Slices from a roast.

The terms used for a steak are the same for slices from roasts.

Photograph courtesy of Steve Johnson

https://www.flickr.com/photos/artbystevejohnson/4667971258/

Print out or photograph the lexicon below from Bleu to Très Bien Cuit and take it with you. From Steak Frites to a Chateaubriand or slices from a roast, just use the lexicon below to have your beef cooked the way you like it.

For a more in-depth explanation of the French terms for how a steak should be served, read the expanded list below the lexicon.

A lexicon for ordering your steak in France

Bleu – (Pronounced ble). This is an extraordinarily rare steak, singed outside and bloody inside.

Saignant – (Pronounced say-nyon, do not pronounce the T). The French term for a rare steak.

À Point - (Pronounced ah pwa). Perfectly cooked. À point is used in the French kitchen for any food perfectly cooked, not just steaks! Forget what the guidebook says. For a steak, à point is not only used for rare-to-medium-rare steaks! À Point is used for all dishes that are perfectly cooked. A steak in France cooked “ à point,” will be rare-to-medium-rare, with the accent on the rare. Rare-to-medium-rare is how the majority of Frenchmen and women prefer their steak and that is "à point", perfectly cooked.

Steak à point.

Photograph courtesy of abnehmen.net

www.flickr.com/photos/40489931@N06/4035041028/

Entre à Point et Bien Cuit – (Pronounced entray a pwan ay bien kwee). Medium rare, just a little closer to medium. This term is not traditional restaurant French, but I have used it many times and taught friends to use it; it will work well when you wish to order a USA or UK medium-rare steak in France. The French word moyen, as your travel dictionary will show, may be used for medium, but the word has no place in the French kitchen except when possibly used to describe a medium flame. Use Entre à Point et Bien Cuit, (entray a pwan ay bien kwee), for medium rare, almost medium.

Bien Cuit – (Pronounced bien kwee). Well done. In France Bien Cuit is a medium to well-done steak, though it will still be pink inside.

Très Bien Cuit –(Pronounced tray bien kwee). An exceptionally well-done steak; however, “très bien cuit” is not in any French chef’s dictionary, though it will be clearly understood. Nevertheless, do not order France's popular steak frites very well-done as that will bring you fried or grilled leather.

End of Lexicon.

Tournedos Rossini.

Photograph courtesy of MonkeyBusiness/YayMicro.com

The correct pronunciation

If you have a few minutes to combine reading with trying one of the pronunciation programs below. They are better than my written suggestions.

http://forvo.com/languages/fr/ (Best for single words)

https://www.howtopronounce.com/French/ (Best for phrases).

How to order a steak in France; explained in detail.

The paragraphs below, explain in detail, the French required when ordering a steak done to the level you prefer.

Choosing the level or degree of doneness affects the taste and texture of your steak, so you will want to have the steak cooked in the manner you prefer. The shorter lexicon at the beginning of this post is all you need when traveling in France and ordering a steak. Despite that, this more in-depth view will give you the upper hand when ordering.

Bleu – (Pronounced blew). French for the color blue and the name used to order a seriously rare steak. When you feel the need for a thick and almost raw steak, then a steak bleu will fill that need. A steak bleu indicates that the chef will have allowed the steak to take a quick peek at the grill or frying pan in passing on its way to your plate. A steak bleu is just sealed on the outside; when cut, that steak will leak copiously onto your plate; it will have been cooked, maybe, for one to two minutes on each side.

Saignant – (Pronounced say-nyon).The French term for a rare steak. The direct translation into English of the word saignant would be bloody, or bleeding; despite that, a steak saignant will have been cooked a little more than a steak bleu. A steak saignant will also leak when you cut into it, though a little less copiously than a steak bleu. In North America and the UK, a steak saignant will still be considered a very rare steak. If you want a properly prepared but uncooked steak, (chopped), then consider a Steak Tartar or a Beef Carpaccio.

À point - (Pronounced ah pwa). Perfectly cooked, just ready, or just right. À point is the term used in France for all perfectly cooked foods, and not just for steaks. Unfortunately, many guidebooks give the term “à point” as the way to order a medium-rare steak. However, a “steak à point” just means a perfectly cooked steak, and most French men and women prefer their steaks rare-to-medium-rare steak, closer to rare than medium. Consequently, the French order their steaks à point.

I have learned to prefer my steaks cooked à point, but that was my choice over thirty years ago. French servers with experience with English-speaking tourists will agree, generally with a smile, to take your à point steak back into the kitchen for a few more minutes on the grill or in the frying pan when the diner considers à point too rare for their tastes.

Steak à point.

Photograph courtesy of stu_spivack

www.flickr.com/photos/stuart_spivack/4496410936/

When English-speaking diners in France wish to order their steaks medium-rare, I suggest they order steaks cooked “entre à point et bien cuit,” which translates as “between well cooked and à point.” The result will be a US or UK medium-rare steak, closer to medium than rare. So, for medium-rare steaks, just ask for your steak “entre à point et bien cuit.”(Pronounced entray a pwan ay bien kwee).

Entre à Point et Bien Cuit – (Pronounced entray a pwan ay bien kwee). Ordering medium-rare steaks in France using "entre à point et bien cuit" has worked well for me, and all French servers will understand it. A French diner sitting near you, and observing you order a steak cooked entre à point et bien cuit may consider your steak as overcooked; however, you are paying the piper.

Entre à point et bien cuit

Close to medium

Photograph courtesy of Jim Hammer

www.flickr.com/photos/hammer51012/26462211125/

Moyen – (Pronounced moyen). TO BEGIN, DO NOT USE THE WORD MOYEN WHEN ORDERING A STEAK IN FRANCE. Moyen does mean average or the middle; however, in the French kitchen, the word Moyen has nothing to do with steaks. Moyen is the French for average and middle, and so in some instances, it can mean medium. Moyen is also used in expressions like the Moyen Âge, the Middle Ages, and Moyen-Orient, the Middle East. In the kitchen, a chef may require a feu moyen, a medium flame, but I have never heard moyen used by any French chef for any steak.

Then I have seen the word moyen in some guidebooks given as the French for a medium cooked steak; it is not. It may be French-Canadian; I do not know, but I do know that it is not French-French. Outside of well-traveled tourist zones, it may be considered nonsense. Despite that caveat, French servers in areas frequented by tourists will generally understand when an English speaker requests a steak moyen; you will not have been the first. However, in France, a US or UK medium cooked steak is often closer to a French steak ordered bien cuit.

Bien Cuit – (Pronounced bien kwee). Bien cuit translates into English as well-cooked (well done); however, ordering a steak bien cuit in France generally produces a medium-to-well-done steak. A steak bien cuit will not leak; however, its center will still be slightly rosé, pink.

A steak cooked bien cuit

Photograph courtesy of jeffreyw

www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyww/7104077479/

Très Bien Cuit – (Pronounced tray bien kwee). Very well cooked. The term I suggest for an extremely well-done steak, what I call an overdone steak. Unfortunately, très bien cuit is generally not used for a steak in French kitchens; I made it up. Nevertheless, all servers with some experience with overseas visitors will understand the request. For the French très bien cuit means an overcooked steak, and the server may ask you to repeat that instruction.

The French view of a steak cooked très bien cuit

Photograph courtesy of Ian Britton

www.flickr.com/photos/freefoto/3002603097/

Ordering steak frites

Steak Frites has its own post: Steak Frites - Onglets and Bavettes in French Cuisine. Nevertheless, if you reading this post and considering ordering “Steak Frites” (steak and French Fries/chips); note that the steak used for this dish does not lend itself to being cooked well done. An experienced server will advise you to reconsider or order something else. The cuts used for France’s relatively inexpensive Steak Frites are usually flank steaks and a well-done flank steak will be tough and tasteless, practically inedible. For an enjoyable meal but still, with a well-done steak, I suggest that you look through the menu again. Consider ordering a more expensive entrecôte. An entrecote may be prepared as a well-cooked steak, or change your request for your steak très bien cuit to just bien cuit.

An entrecote

Entrecôte (Entrecote) - An entrecote is a US rib-eye steak, a UK rib-eye or sirloin. It is quite an upgrade from a hanger steak, so check the price. If you like your steaks very well done, then an entrecote may still lose a little of its taste and texture but will still be edible when well done. (N.B. The US sirloin is a wholly different cut from a UK sirloin.)

An entrecote served with Sauce Bearnaise on the side.

Photograph courtesy of Malmaison Hotels

www.flickr.com/photos/mal-gallery/7138356441/

When ordering your steak, remember the French also make great French fries.

Photo by Courtesy of FreeDigitalimages.net.

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Behind the French Menu

Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

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