from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com
Basse Côte à Rôtir de Bœuf
will
be prepared like a rib roast rather than individual short ribs. However, the cooking method will be very slow
roasting, even longer than a prime rib roast. The goal is to tenderize the
connective tissue as Basses Côtes need extended cooking time.
Dining in France on meat
dishes is much more than just excellent fillets or entrecôte
steaks from grass-fed beef served with French fries. French chefs
utilize their expertise in selecting the finest cuts for stews and other
dishes, where the authentic flavor of the beef can be fully appreciated.
An example is the way the French use Basses Côtes.
The Basses Côtes come from the lower rib area of the beef, specifically the first five ribs, which in the UK and USA are referred to as the chuck. While the chuck continues further towards the neck, in France, the first five ribs require slow-cooking methods, such as stews, where long cooking times tenderize the meat beautifully. This cut is often used for beef daubes. (Beef daubes began as traditional Provençal stews made with added garlic, herbs and a local red wine).
Daube de Bœuf,
Purée de Panais, Carrotes, Champignons de Paris, Échalotes, Lardons et Vin
Rouge.
A beef daube with parsnip
puree, carrots,
button
mushrooms, shallots,
lardons
and red wine.
Photograph courtesy of tpholland
The French Cuts.The UK Cuts
The USA cuts.
Before they graduate from cooking school, French
chefs must be able to buy, choose, cut, and prepare all cuts of meat. France
has no equivalent of the USDA Choice, Select, or Prime, so all French chefs
must learn how to select meat themselves. They look for the required marbling,
know how to eliminate tough cuts, check the thickness covering the bones, etc. French chefs need to know almost as much about
the different cuts as a professional butcher does.
A
menu list offering a Bœuf Bourguignon or a Provencal
Daube will rarely tell you which cut is used, but a French diner will
know that the best of these is from the Basses Côtes. The Basses
Côtes offer more flavor than any other cut, and most North American and UK
chefs agree.
On
your menu in France:
Basse Côte de Boeuf Black Angus, Effeuillée
d'Ėpinards, et Pommes Anna - The best part of the chuck from Black Angus beef served
with spinach leaves and Anna potatoes. The meat will be cut thinly and
marinated overnight, producing a tasty and delicate cut that will be lightly
fried. (The Basses Cotes can be used for steaks, but they cannot be
cooked more than medium-rare).
Black Angus:
This breed of cattle originated in northeastern Scotland, and the appeal of
Black Angus in France comes from the meat's quality. The breed has a lot of
competition from local cattle such as the four AOP breeds: Charolais, Fin Gras du Mézenc, Rouge des Prés and the Taureau de Camargue.
Nevertheless, there is a strong French demand for additional well-marbled
beef with which the Black Angus breed excels.
Effeuillée d'Ėpinards:
Spinach leaves lightly sautéed or wilted, preserving their
color and mellow taste. The listing emphasizes that you're getting the
tender spinach leaves rather than, say, creamed spinach.
Pommes de Terre Anna:
A popular potato dish with an indiscreet past. These are thinly sliced potatoes
baked in butter in a casserole, a dish created by the chef Adolphe Dugléré in
the mid-19th Century, and today it is more popular than ever. Dugléré was a
pupil of the famous Antonin Carême and became the Chef
de Cuisine, the head chef, at the Café Anglais in Paris in the 1860s. An
important customer at Café Anglais was Anna Deslions, a famous Parisian
courtesan who entertained her wealthy customers in one of the restaurant's
private upstairs rooms. (The Café Anglais holds an important place in
French culinary history, and from the early part of the 19th Century through
the early 20th Century, individual private rooms for secret meetings of all
types were an important part of most of the best restaurants' business.)
Pommes de Terre Anna
Photograph courtesy of Sherry Main
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ladykeli/4380899275/
Cœur de Basse Côte
de Bœuf aux Baies de Séchouan –
The heart of the chuck flavored with Sichuan Pepper Berries.
Poivre de Sichuan -
Sichuan Pepper, Szechwan Pepper or Chinese pepper.
Sichuan berries, although not a true pepper, can be as hot as chili and are one
of the spices used in Chinese five-spice powder. Nevertheless, this pepper
comes with an extended family that, when dried, may be used as a pepper or
spice. Only the fruit’s shell is used in cooking and may be used in its dried,
ground, or roasted form. Do not be surprised if, on a visit to a food store in
China, you discover that there are many different types of these peppers, at
least 100 or more. The Sichuan Pepper first came to France through trade.
Later, when France sent emigrants to fight and colonize its overseas Southeast
Asian protectorates, the French settlers, who had brought their own chefs,
quickly adapted French dishes to incorporate Sichuan pepper, not just as
replacements for peppercorns.
Basse Côte de Bœuf,
Façon Bourguignonne Revisité -
Here the beef is prepared like a "revisited" Bœuf à la Bourguignonne. Revisiting any traditional recipes indicates
that the chef will be making some changes. Cuisine Bourguignonne is exceptionally varied, and Façon Bourguignonne does not
point to a specific type of cooking or a particular ingredient. However, since the dish is beef and Bœuf à la Bourguignonne is just about Burgundy's most famous dish this is what the chef is offering, even if it is “revisité”. Ask the waiter what
the changes are.
Bœuf à la Bourguignonne or Bœuf Bourguignon: This is the dish from Burgundy that nearly everyone knows, or at least has heard of. Bœuf à la Bourguignonne is a beef stew braised in a red Burgundy wine. It is such a fundamental part of French cuisine that it will, in the winter, be featured on menus in all parts of France. For Bœuf à la Bourguignonne, the meat is marinated for 24 hours in a dry red Burgundy wine, and that is the secret. No other wine will do. After marinating, the beef will be slowly cooked with added wine, veal stock, and vegetables. Bacon, in the form of lardons, bacon pieces, may sometimes be added for flavoring; the dish will, traditionally, be served with boiled potatoes.
Bœuf à la
Bourguignonne
Photograph courtesy of Arnold
Gatilao
www.flickr.com/photos/arndog/2414896865/
Basse Côte de Bœuf Black Angus de U.S.A. Sauce Choron – The Basse Côte chuck from imported USA
Black Angus Beef served with a Sauce Choron.
Sauce Choron: This sauce is a child of Sauce
Bearnaise, itself a child of Sauce
Hollandaise. Many sauces were developed from Sauce
Hollandaise, and that is why it is called a mother Sauce. Sauce Choron is Sauce
Béarnaise with added tomatoes.
Basse Côte aux asperges
Basse Côte with green asparagus
Noix de Basse-Côte de Bœuf Black Angus, Jus Vin Rouge et Moelle, Frites - The middle rib from the Black Angus chuck served with a sauce made from red wine and bone marrow. French fries will be served on the side.
Moellé: Bone marrow. Dishes cooked with bones, such as beef, veal, roasted chicken, or baked fish, taste better than the same dish prepared bone-free. That special taste comes from the marrow in the bones. In French cuisine, beef and veal marrow are behind the flavor and texture of many French dishes.
Basse Côtes Farci de Boeuf Braisé aux Trompettes de la Mort – A braised cut from the Basses Côtes is stuffed with wild Black Chanterelles (Black Trumpet mushrooms). The first name for this mushroom in French translates to "Trumpet of Death," although this mushroom is not poisonous; the second name sounds much better and means "Horn of Plenty."
Trompettes de la Mort, Corne d'Abondance or Craterelles: The Black Trumpet Mushroom or the Horn of Plenty Mushroom in English, is an important member of the Chanterelle mushroom family. Chanterelles are a family of very tasty wild mushrooms that will be on many French menus during their season, which, depending on the area in France, runs from the end of June through September.
The horn of plenty mushrooms in the woods.
Photograph courtesy of Björn S...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/40948266@N04/29072509564/
Basse Côtes d'Agneau Rôti aux Girolles – Lamb does not have a cut called chuck in English; nevertheless, the placement of the Basses Côtes is still the cut between the shoulders. In this listing, the lamb is roasted with wild Chanterelle Girolle mushrooms.
The Girolle Chanterelle mushroom on this listing will be gathered in the wild. Most restaurants have year-round agreements with professional gatherers, who collect wild mushrooms, herbs, and spices throughout the year and sell them to restaurants. Despite that, sometimes the chefs are mushroom addicts, and they may be up early for long walks and searches in the woods after the rain.
Wild
Chanterelle Girolle Mushrooms
Photograph courtesy of Per Arne Slotte
https://www.flickr.com/photos/paslotte/5503226929/
--------------------------------
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Corne d'Abondance, Craterelles or Trompette des Morts, - The Horn of Plenty, the Black Chanterelle and the Black Trumpet Mushroom. French Mushrooms VII
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Daube – A Traditional Provencal Stew. Now on Menus all Over France.
Dining
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the Dishes … à la Bourguignonne.
French Fries, Frites, Pomme Frites, Chips in the UK. French Fries on French Menus.
Ordering a steak in France cooked the way you like it.
Poivre - Peppercorns. White, Green, Black and Red Peppercorns. Grey Pepper and the Misnamed Pink Peppercorns. Pepper in French Cuisine.
Sauce Hollandaise. The Mother of All Sauces.
Visiting
a Cafe in France and the Story Behind Coffee.
--------------------
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com
Copyright 2010, 2016, 2021, 2025
