Behind the French Menu: Granité

Showing posts with label Granité. Show all posts

Sorbet - Sorbet. Sorbets on French Menus.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Cranberry Sorbet with Clementines and Mint.

Photograph courtesy of angela schmeidel randall

https://www.flickr.com/photos/arandall/3138859555/

The sorbet in France.

France traditionally served sorbets twice during a meal to stimulate the appetite and clean the palate between courses; the purpose was to prepare the diner for different tastes. Nevertheless, modern French cuisine today often forgoes the sorbet that was usually included in the price; many sorbets have become a dessert or part of a dessert. Those who choose from a dinner menu and include at least the sorbet served before the main course will find the taste of their main course sharpened. Of course, the serving of a sorbet or two during the meal also allowed the chefs another ten minutes to organize the serving and carefully timed service is a central part of French cuisine; serving all the diners at the same time is essential.

Sorbet is a type of water-ice served frozen. The sorbet will be made from sweetened water with frozen fruit puree or fruit juice and often includes a wine or liqueur. (The addition of alcohol reduces the melting point of ice, changes the taste and in many instances gives the sorbet a more delicate taste. Sorbet is usually considered the ancestor of ice-cream and is often confused with a granité the drink (sometimes called sludge). The general rule that distinguishes sorbet from ice-creams or a granité is that a sorbet never contains milk. N.B. That rule is, unfortunately, already being broken.

A strawberry sorbet with shortcake

and a poppy seed and sugar biscuit.

Photograph courtesy of stu_spivack

https://www.flickr.com/photos/stuart_spivack/3628307943/

Sorbets when offered between courses on French menus.

Sorbet au Citron Vert – A lime sorbet

Sorbet aux Poires – A pear sorbet

A sorbet sampler.

Photograph courtesy of Dale Cruse

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dalecruse/8550791397/

Coulis Citron Vert et Sorbet Pamplemousse – A lime puree served with a grapefruit sorbet.

Sorbet au Suc de Fleurs de Pissenlits – A sorbet flavored with the juice of dandelions.

Cointreau and blood orange sorbet

Photograph courtesy of rexie j jones

https://www.flickr.com/photos/littlecornishpasty/8150091612/

Sorbet Citron Arrosé de Vodka – A lemon sorbet with a vodka accent.

Sorbet Citron et Basilic et Liqueur de Citron – A lemon sorbet flavored with basil, the herb, and enlivened with a touch of a lemon liqueur.

Sorbets as desserts on French menus:

Délice Poires Amandes, Biscuit Épicé et Sorbet Poire – A délice notes a treat or a delicacy; often the chef’s view of his or her latest creation. Here this treat is made with pears and almonds, spiced biscuits and a pear sorbet.

Gazpacho de Légues et son Sorbet – A vegetable Gazpacho served with a vegetable sorbet. N.B. Légues is shorthand for légumes, vegetables.

Les Fraises de Marzan Confites, Meringuette, Sorbet Yaourt de Brebis - A preserve or jam made from the much-appreciated strawberries of Mazan in the department of Morbihan, Brittany. Here the strawberry preserve is served with a meringuette, that is a small cake made only with beaten egg whites and sugar and here it is served together with a sorbet made from sheep’s milk yogurt. Mazan is a center for the farming of many different berries as well as strawberries. The strawberries most often seen in Mazan are the Plougastel strawberries that originated around the town of Plougastel just over the border in the department of Finistère. This menu-listing breaks completely with the history of sorbet that had always been milk free; a sign that reminds us that French cuisine does not stop progress.

Sorbet "Watermelon Cake".

Lime sorbet, watermelon sorbet, the "seeds" are miniature chocolate chips.

Photograph courtesy of Joe Wolf

https://www.flickr.com/photos/joebehr/9326109480/

Salade de Poulpe, Mini Légumes et Sorbet Betterave – Octopus salad served with miniature vegetables and a beetroot sorbet.

Sorbet Mandarine, Citron Vert, Passion, Coulis de Fruits Rouges, Chantilly – A tangerine, or mandarin, sorbet prepared with limes, passion fruits and a puree of red fruits served with Chantilly cream.

Tartare de Fruits Frais et son Sorbet Kalamanzi - A Tartar of fresh fruits served with a Calamansi Sorbet. The calamansi is a citrus fruit from Asia especially appreciated in the Philippines. The fruit has a flavor somewhere between orange and lemon.

Sorbets Mélanges – Assorted sorbets, this would usually be a desert.

A Sorbet Mélange, a pear and yellow plum sorbet.

Photograph courtesy of Nikchick

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nikchick/264869577/

China was making sorbets and ice cream and probably water-ices in the seventh century BCE. Then Rome began, about the first century CE, doing the same with ice brought down from the Apennines to Rome. That required horsemen and mules with changes of riders and animals every 40 km (25 miles) along the 200 km (125 miles) road to Rome. The changing of riders and pack animals ensured that a least half the ice was still frozen when it arrived in Rome. This was the time of Nero, and at that time nothing was too much for the Emperor and his inner circle.

The French word sorbet comes from the Italian sorbeta, and the word sorbeta came from the Arabic word sherbet. However, the sorbeta was in production long before the first sherbet and a sherbet was a very different creation to a modern sorbet. The introduction of sorbet to France came from the Italians, and the Italians would also bring the first coffee and later the first ice-cream seen by the public in France. According to tradition ice-cream was introduced to France by Francesco Procopius from Palermo, Italy. Procopius’s coffee shop Café Le Procope opened in Paris 1686 and remains the oldest coffee shop still open in Paris today; though, now it is mostly a high-class restaurant. When sorbets first appeared in France in the latter part of the 17th-century, they would be served as a palate cleanser or as an iced drink or as an ice suitable for eating and drinking. Sorbets served between courses came with the changes in Haute Cuisine in the late 18^th century; for that we may thank the most famous chef of the period Antonin Carême and also his friends. For those interested in the American Revolution and the French Revolution, you may sit in Café Le Procope and enjoy a coffee and an ice-cream when the restaurant is not serving lunch or dinner. Possibly you will be sitting right over the spot where John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Pain, Benjamin Franklin, Voltaire, Danton, Marat or Robespierre may have sat.

Ice Cream and Granité is based on milk and cream with air copiously whipped in while a traditional sorbet has neither milk nor cream and very little extra air. The method of sorbet preparation makes for a dense and full-flavored product. Granité is an Italian style of sorbet (Granita in Italian) that has not been churned; it's roughly mixed by hand with a fork or by a machine so it freezes as it forms larger granular ice crystals. The result makes a granité coarser and crunchier than a sorbet: that is apart from a granité nearly always being served as a drink.

Chestnut Profiteroles, Clementine,

Pinetree Sorbet and Chocolate Sauce

City Foodsters

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cityfoodsters/16079938063/

These differences in production and the fact that sorbets contain much more fruit than an ice-cream gives a sorbet its pronounced fruity flavor. Despite that, new uses for sorbets are being created; for example, changes in the traditional Tru Norman, a Normandy tradition of a shot of Calvados served between courses to aid the digestion. Today many modern Norman meals while shaming the traditionalists has the shot of Calvados replaced by a Tru Norman Sorbet made with crushed apples, water, sugar and a touch of Calvados.

Connected Posts:

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Antonin Carême: The Most Influential Chef in the History of French Cuisine.

Basil, Common Basil or Sweet Basil. Basilic or Herbe Royal; Herbs and Spices in the French Kitchen II.

Fraises - Strawberries. Wild Strawberries and the Unique story of the French Strawberries of Plougastel.

Calvados – The Most Famous Apple Brandy in the World. Calvados on French Menus.

Chantilly Cream -The Chef Who Created Chantilly Cream was François Vatel.

Citron – The lemon; the fruit behind many of France’s culinary successes. Also the Citron Vert - Lime, the Cedrat – the Citron, the Combava – the kaffir lime and the Chadec - the Pomelo.

Confit? All About That Confit on Your French Menu. Confit in French Cuisine.

Glace – Ice-cream. Ice-cream on French Menus. Glacé and Glacée are Desserts That are Frozen, Iced, Chilled or Glazed.

Granité (Granite) or Sludge in France?

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

Visiting a Cafe in France and the Story Behind Coffee.

Where are the Epicureans? Who is an Epicure?

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Gewurztraminer the white, semi-dry wine. The best is the Gewurztraminer AOP (AOC) from the Alsace, France.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Gewurztraminer

Photograph courtesy of pinchables.net.

I was introduced to the Gewurztraminer AOP, a white wine from the Alsace some 40 (plus) years ago. Then, at a dinner in the Alsatian town of Mulhouse, my hosts served a semi-dry, incredibly floral wine. The wine had me spellbound. At that time, few visitors France had heard of Gewurztraminer, including yours truly, and practically no one would see a Gewurztraminer on a wine list unless they were here in the Alsace region in north-eastern France. Gewurztraminer, called Gewürzt, by the locals, is a white wine that is very different, full of flavor, and scented like no other.

Gewurztraminer grapes.

Photograph courtesy of fleecetraveler

www.flickr.com/photos/25005304@N04/2372316220/

Unlike most other French AOP wines, the AOP (AOC) wines of Alsace are allowed to be named after the grape variety from which they are produced. Today Gewurztraminer wines are produced in just about every wine-producing country in the world. However, the best of the Alsatian Gewurztraminer AOP wines beat the best of the best from anywhere else. For some clarity on these AOP and AOC labels, see my post: AOC and AOP on France's Foods and Wine labels?

Mulhouse France and Basel Switzerland.

The town of Mulhouse in the Alsace, France, where I was introduced to Gewurztraminer, is close to the Swiss city of Basel that holds many important exhibitions. The two towns are interlocked and even share the same airport.

I spent ten or more days every year, for over twenty-five years, at exhibitions in Basel. The evening were filled with endless opportunities to enjoy excellent French cuisine and wonderful French wines, including my favorite Alsatian white wine: Gewurztraminer.

The oldest wine barrel in the world.

Ste Caterine cask dated 1715 at Hugel Winery, Alsace, France.

Still in use according to the Guinness book of records

Photograph courtesy of http://www.Hugel.com

Before or after an exhibition, I would join friends and explore the Alsace Route des Vins, the Alsace wine road. The wine road begins close to Mulhouse which is thirty minutes from Basel and continues on for another 115 km ( 72 miles) past Colmar and onto the region's capital of Strasbourg. (Strasburg is also home to the European Union's parliament and Colmar, less than an hour's ride from Basel is the Alsace’s second-largest city. Colmar and to the left and the right are tens, maybe hundreds, of excellent French restaurants, large and small. While there are many outstanding restaurants in Basel itself, France is always beckoning, and the wines are from France).

The City of Colmar

In the Alsace region of France.

(On 1-1-2016 the Alsace became part of the new super region of the Grand Est).

Photograph courtesy of Flavio Ensiki

www.flickr.com/photos/flavouz/11908478103/

Choosing a Gewurztraminer AOP wine.

When choosing a Gewurztraminer AOP or another regular Alsatian white wine (not a Grand Cru or Vendange Tardive wine), do not buy wines more than three years old. Trust me; most Alsatian three-year-old AOP white wines will be no better than a two-year-old wine. Four or five-year-old white Alsatian wines are best when left in the wine shop unless you have an expert to advise you. Ordinary Gewurztraminer wines are excellent wines with only a few meant to be kept for years; drink them young.

Gewurztraminer Grand Cru

Grand Crus are different, and so when Grand Cru is on the bottle of an Alsatian wine, it indicates a separate appellation, a distinct and unique growing area. The vineyards with the right to produce Grand Cru wines are the home of the best of Alsatian wines. In 1975, the right to add Grand Cru on an Alsatian wine’s label was legalized after tests (a rarety for French wines),that included taste tests. Other vineyards that applied later are tested, tasted, and some are added. When you buy a Grand Cru wine, then the name of the vineyard must be on the label, and you need an updated wine guide to choose among the many vintners and different years. N.B. If you find a surprisingly cheap ten-year-old wine in a supermarket or wine shop leave it; if it was any good the real experts would have bought all there was long before you got there.

Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Zotzenberg.

Organic

Photograph courtesy of Domaine Haegi

I leave the Gewurztraminer Grand Cru wines at dinner to the real mavens who can afford them, and enjoyed them when I was invited. Though the Grand Crus do include the very very best, I do find excellent Gewurztraminer AOP wines without Grand Cru on the label, and when the bill comes, they are easier to digest.

Gewurztraminer Vendange Tardive (VT) wines

Vendange Tardive wines are made with grapes that are left on the vine long past the usual harvest date; then, as the grapes begin to dry out, the sugars and flavors are concentrated, resulting in the perfect grape for a sweet dessert wine. Open a bottle of a Gewurztraminer Vendange Tardive, and the area around is filled with the scent of flowers. These wines may be offered as an aperitif or as a single glass accompanying certain dishes.

Gewürztraminer Sélection de Grains Nobles (SGN)

Sélection de Grains Noble (SGN) Alsatian wines are even sweeter than the vendange tardive wines and are considered the highest grade of the Alsatian dessert wines. These wines are made when the grapes, on the vine, have been infected by a helpful fungus called botrytis cinerea (mostly known in English as the “noble rot”). As long as the climate is not damp, this fungus does its magic and concentrates the sugars and scent a few steps higher than the vendange tardive wines. The famous sweet Sauterne wines of Bordeaux are also produced with the aid of the “noble rot.” When you buy any of these fabulous SGN Alsatian dessert wines, remember this is a wine for sipping and smelling, not for quaffing.

Marc de Gewurztraminer

Marcs, like Italian Grappas and similar brandies from other wine-producing countries, are made from grape skins, leaves, pulp, and seeds that are leftover from the production of wines. Initially, these leftovers were processed into very rough brandies that were given freely to the workers in the vineyards; they got drunk, and that took their minds off their poverty. These cheap marcs and grappas were then slightly improved and subsequently sold, cheaply, to the townspeople who could also get drunk cheaply and forget their problems. Over the years, the methods of distillation developed, and a second distillation produced a brandy that was smoother, tastier, and more fragrant that could be sold to more discerning customers.

Today the better French Marcs and Italian Grappas, with a 40 % alcohol content, are offered like other fine brandies in the finest restaurants. A pleasant Marc’s scent will tell you the type of grape that was used, and In the Alsace, your digestif should be a Marc de Gewurztraminer.

Vinaigre de Gewurztraminer:

Gewurztraminer vinegar adds its unique scent and taste to sauces. Vinaigrette and other sauces made with vinegar bring that scent of flowers.

Vendanges Tardive Grand Cru Zinnkoepfle

Leon Boesch Gewurztraminer

Photograph courtesy of VintageandCo.com

Menus in the Alsace may Include:

Un Verre de Gewurztraminer Vendanges Tardives - A glass of sweet Gewurztraminer late harvest wine. One of the best ways to enjoy this wine without buying the whole bottle.

Asperges Blanches d'Alsace et Écrevisses au Vinaigre de Gewurztraminer - White asparagus from the Alsace served with crayfish and flavored with a Gewurztraminer vinegar. N.B. The white asparagus from the Alsace is fabulous and during the season will be on nearly every restaurant menu.

White and green asparagus

Along with other goodies in the market.

Photograph courtesy of Sarah Bodri

www.flickr.com/photos/juniper_trees/3035879144/

Foie Gras de Canard "Maison," Gelée au Gewurztraminer et Pain de Campagne Toasté – Fattened duck’s liver prepared with the chef's own recipe, served with a jelly made from the cooking juices flavored with Gewurztraminer and accompanied by toasted country bread.

N.B. On French menus "Maison" while also indicating a home or implying "homemade" does not infer that the competition is buying their product in the local supermarket! On a French menu, "Maison" indicates a particular restaurant's or chef's take on a well-known dish.

Dos de Maigre aux Effluves d'Epices Cuit sous Vos Yeux Sauce Beurre Blanc au Gewurztraminer et son Risotto aux Champignons - A thick cut of meagre the fish, also called croaker, scented with spices; all cooked in front of the diner in a Beurre Blanc sauce made with Gewurztraminer wine and accompanied by a button mushroom risotto. (Be careful using the word "maigre" as it also means lean).

Escalope de Saumon Frais, Sauce Légère au Gewurztraminer – Fresh salmon served with a light Gewurztraminer flavored sauce.

Le Sorbet Citron Arrosé au Marc de Gewurztraminer – A lemon sorbet lightly flavored with a Marc de Gewurztraminer; this may be offered between the main course and the dessert menu:

Granité au Melon Rose et Gewurztraminer AOC Alsace Grand Cru - A granite made with crushed frozen melon and rose water, flavored with a Gewurztraminer Grand Cru. Granités were originally the French take on Italian granitas, and in the beginning, they were sugar, fruiKougelhopf cake, and water served with crushed ice, a sludge. Many guide books still translate a French granité as sludge in English. However, the granités served in most French restaurants have moved on and are now very different from a sludge.

Kougelhopf Glacé au Marc de Gewurztraminer, Coulis aux Fruits Rouge - This is a popular Alsatian dessert where an ice-cream cake is often made using the traditional engraved Kougelhopf cake pan. You will receive a slice of this ice-cream cake shaped like a regular Kougelhopf cake. In this menu listing the ice cream is flavored with a Marc de Gewurztraminer and accompanied by a puree of berries, strawberries and other red fruits.

Un Verre de Gewurztraminer Vendanges Tardives - A glass of sweet Gewurztraminer late harvest wine. One of the best ways to enjoy this wine without buying the whole bottle.

At the end of a meal, Alsatian menus may offer an Alsatian coffee:

Café Alsacien – An Alsatian coffee; a shot of black espresso coffee served with whipped cream and a shot of Gewurztraminer Marc. (A similar coffee elsewhere in France, without the whipped cream, will be a Café Cognac).

Kougelhopf (Gugelhupf) with Alsatian Coffee by the side.

Photograph Courtesy of Lyons Coffee

The Kougelhopf cake, also called Gugelhupf, Kouglof, and other similar names, include cakes that today have a wide variety of recipes. The original Kougelhopf was a raisin-filled yeast bread made in traditional engraved pans with a hole in the middle; these pans with their engravings have become collectors’ items. As a child, I remember my Oma, my Austrian Grandmother making these cakes on the stovetop.

Kougelhopf pans

Betschdorf and Soufflenheim for Alsatian pottery

Photograph courtesy of Stars and Stripes

Exploring the Alsace

With friends and family who joined us after the annual Basel exhibition, we would explore the Route des Vins d’Alsace. This Alsace wine road extends from the South, near the small town of Thann, 25 minutes from Mulhouse to the North of the Alsace, just past Marlenheim, 24 minutes from Strasbourg for over 120 km (75 miles); however, that is as the crow flies, but double that distance if you follow the route on the map. There are close to 100 towns and villages along the way, all with wine and tourism an important part of their economies. We quickly learned the way to enjoy a weekend in the Alsatian wine country with the wine road as our guide was to take a single 5 km to maybe 10 km (3 to 6 mile) section.

The village of Eguisheim,

(Forty minutes from Basel and fifteen minutes from Colmar).

Photograph courtesy of Tambako The Jaguar.

_{www.flickr.com/photos/tambako/6083024453/}

We would wander around beautiful small towns and villages. There we could join in the wine tastings that sometimes seem to be set up every 20 meters and enjoy the beautiful houses, many with nesting storks on their roofs. For lunch, we would have a traditional Alsatian tarte flambé and then wander or drive around the beautiful countryside while discussing dinner.

A stork sitting on a house in Hunawihr, Alsace

(Thirty minutes from Colmar and one hour from Basel).

Photograph courtesy of Steven & Courtney Johnson & Horwitz

www.flickr.com/photos/unnormalized/7832026576/

The Gewurztraminer fete.

If you are in the Alsace at the end of July, then on the last Saturday and Sunday, there is a Fête du Gewurztraminer, a Gewurztraminer fete, in and around the communes of Ribeauvillé and Riquewihr. Ribeauvillé and Riquewihr, the small town and the village, are about 20 minutes' drive north of Colmar. You will find more information about their communes and their wine fete's exact dates on their English language website at:

http://www.ribeauville-riquewihr.com/en/

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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

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