Morbier AOP - Morbier is a Rich, Creamy, 45% fat, French, Cow’s Milk Cheese.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 

    

Morbier AOP

Photograph courtesy of Les 3 Comtois

   

Morbier AOP is a rich, creamy, 28% fat cow’s milk cheese made with non-pasteurized milk. The cheese is made in the French Departments of Jura and Doubs in mountainous regions that become ski centers in the winter.  An export version of the cheese made with pasteurized milk is available, and both versions are matured for a minimum of two months before being sold. The cheese is a yellow to ivory colored soft to semi-soft cheese.  N.B. When you open a new Morbier cheese, you will immediately note its strong smell but "worry not" this is a rich, creamy, and tasty cheese.

   

Aging Morbier cheese

Photograph courtesy of leprogress.

   

The same region in the Jura that produces the Morbier AOP cheese also produces France’ fabulous Comté AOP hard, yellow, cow’s milk cheese, and from  the department of Daubs  comes the soft, cow’s milk cheese the Le Mont d'Or AOP also called the Vacherin du Haut-Doubs AOP

   

A wedge of Morbier AOP

Photograph courtesy  of Alpha

https://www.flickr.com/photos/avlxyz/4985911507/sizes/m/

  

Upon seeing a Morbier cheese for the first time, the obvious point of interest is the separation of the cheese into two layers.  Originally these layers were made with a thin layer of charcoal, but today it is a vegetable separation.  Then separation marked two different cheeses; the lower half made with the milk from the morning milking and the upper half made with the milk from the evening milking, today that is no longer the case, but tradition is tradition. The cheese has been made for at least 300 years from when it was first recorded in the 18th century; it would become popular throughout France in the early 20th century.

   

Morbier paired

Photograph courtesy of Brett Jones

   

The Morbiflette  

   

Like nearly all French cheeses Morbier AOP has an important place reserved on the cheese platter, but it also has a prominent place on the local menus.  The most famous Morbier cheese dish is the Morbiflette.   The Morbiflette is a traditional dish, much like a Reblochonade or Tartiflette which is made with the Reblochon cheese.  In a traditional Morbiflette a wedge of cheese is melted and poured over boiled potatoes, small pickled onions and smoked bacon pieces flavored with nutmeg; it makes a delicious winter dish.  However, this is the traditional farmhouse Morbiflette recipe, and so, in restaurants, you may expect additions.  Here are two examples:.

    

Morbiflette -  Roesti, Morbier, Jambon de Montagne, Jambon Cru – A Morbiflette prepared with roestis, mountain ham and cured ham. (Roestis are an originally Swiss dish of grated fried potatoes; they may also be on a menu as crêpes de pomme de terre and may be described as grated potato fritters).

  

La Morbiflette  - Gratin de Pommes de Terre, Lardons, Morbier, servi avec Charcuterie et Salade  - Potatoes browned in the oven with Morbier cheese and served with bacon pieces alongside cold meats and a salad.

   

Two Morbiflettes ready for serving.

Photograph courtesy of Marmiton

   

Other dishes with Morbier cheese on French menus:

  

Galette de Maïs, Confit d'Oignons, Morbier Fondu, Salade, Jambon Cuit Fumé – A corn meal, in the USA maize flour, crepe prepared with an onion jam and smoked cooked ham covered with melted Morbier cheese.

  

Gratinée d'Escargots de Bourgogne au Morbier  - Burgandy snails prepared with Morbier cheese and browned under the grill.

    

Nem de Saucisse de Morteau et Morbier. – A spring roll containing the Saucisse de Morteau and Morbier cheese.  The Saucisse de Morteau is an AOP smoked pork salami type sausage that may be eaten without any additional cooking; nevertheless, it is often grilled or fried when made part of other dishes.

   

Learning to ski in the French Jura.

Photograph courtesy of Nicolas Buffler

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolasbuffler/16349681650/

   

Filet Mignon au Morbier et Jambon Cru Ht Doubs – A cut from a pork tenderloin, the fillet in the UK, served with a Morbier cheese sauce and cured ham of the Haute Doubs. N.B. A French filet mignon if not precisely described as a beef or veal filet mignon is always pork.

   

Tagliatelles Fraiches Sauce au Morbier et Saucisse de Morteau – Fresh tagliatelle pasta served with a sauce made with Morbier cheese and the Saucisse de Morteau AOP. (Tagliatelle is the long flat thin pasta, originally Italian, that may be up to 1 cm wide).

The French departments of Jura and Doubs are part of the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The departments of Jura and Daubs border Switzerland. For more about the joining together of the regions of Bourgogne, Burgundy and Franche-Comté into the super region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté along with other changes in France’s regions click here.

The weights of Morbier cheeses.

Whole Morbier cheeses weigh from 6-8 kilos (13.2 lbs – 17.6 lbs) with a half size cheese weighing 3 kilos.  Even the half size cheese too large to take home for most of us so buy a half kilo (1.1 lb) or 1 kilo (2.2 lb) wedge in vacuum packaging which most serious
fromageries, cheese shops, offer. 
  

 Buying Morbier cheese. 

For my post on buying cheese in France and taking it home click here.

The village of Morbier

The cheese takes its name from the village of Morbier in the department of Jura in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.  Today the village and the communities around it have a population of just over 2,000, but not everyone in the village is making cheese, and so it is made in farms and dairies in other parts of the Jura and Daubs.  Morbier is 58 km (36 miles) from Geneva, Switzerland and 96 km (60 miles) from Besançon the regional capital of Franche-Comté.

   

The village of Morbier

Photograph courtesy of Bookine

   

Other famous products and activities of the Jura and Doubs

  

The Jura in winter is one of France’s most famous skiing regions, but among France’s chefs, it is better known for its fantastic wines, sausages, and cheeses. The Jura’s wines include their Vin Jaune AOP, their yellow wine, that is matured for at least six and a half years and though it is not fortified like sherry it tastes much like a dry Fino sherry. The Jura also produces their Vin de Paille AOP, a sweet dessert wine, and their great but inexpensive sparkling Crémant du Jura AOP. 

  

Vin Jaune Chateau-Chalon

Vin Jaune come is a distinctively shaped bottle called the clavelin.

Photograph courtesy of Dominic Lockyer

https://www.flickr.com/photos/farehamwine/14894950670/

                   

Not forgotten is the Jura's liquor the Macvin AOP; which is produced in a similar manner to Pineau de Charente of Cognac and Pommeau from Calvados; it is an eau-de vie mixed with a fermenting wine and drunk cold as an aperitif.  The department of Doubs is also famous for its smoked Saucisse de Montbéliard a smoked pork sausage along with its even more famous cousin, with a different taste, the Saucisse de Morteau AOP pork sausage. 

   

Morbier Cheese and Saucisse de Morteau AOP cooking.

Photograph courtesy of Mon Œil

https://www.flickr.com/photos/claveirole/401195504/

   

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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

 

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 

Copyright 2010, 2017.

 

Julienne or Lingue – Ling, the Fish. Meeting Julienne in Beaucaire, France.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 

Lingue, Élingue, Julienne.
Ling, European ling, Mediterranean ling.
Photograph courtesy of La Paysanne Des Mers

I had enjoyed Ling, the fish, in France when it used to be on the menu as lingue. However, twenty years ago, in a restaurant in Beaucaire, in south-eastern France.

 I learned that what we call a ling by any other name would taste as sweet as Julienne. Marketing had upgraded the fish’s name and the menu offered a Filet of Julienne.  At the time, I only knew of Julienne as a distinct cut used for vegetables, though my online French-English dictionary offered Julienne as a “long fish,” but that is not a very helpful description for a diner.

Fortunately, I was in a restaurant where the Maitre D’ knew his fish, and while he did not use the name Lingue, he told me that it was an excellent fish from the cod family. There are many different fish from the cod family, and I have enjoyed quite a few of them under a variety of names, so I ordered the Filet of Julienne.  The dish was well prepared, and the fish was excellent, and as expected, it had a similar taste and texture to cod. N.B. Cod is neck to neck with salmon as the most popular fish in France. 

(Beaucaire in the department of Gard in the region of Occitanie is 25 km (16 miles) from the beautiful city of Avignon).

Face to face with a Ling.
Photograph courtesy of Ed Bierman
www.flickr.com/photos/edbierman/2585185143/

Ling, have long, tubular, bodies which, at first sight when pulled from the sea, may be thought of as a conger eel.   These fish often reach close to one meter (3.3’) in length though you will rarely see a whole ling on sale at a fishmonger’s. Most ling are caught in the frozen north and reach the French markets as chilled filets.   Since ling are members of the cod family, their meat is white, firm, and slightly flaky and easily mistaken for cod when served with a sauce.

N.B. The name Julienne for this fish is confusing as one of the traditional cuts of French vegetables has long been called a Julienne. All French chefs must learn many cuts of vegetables before they graduate and a Julienne de Légumes will be long, thin cuts of vegetables, about 5cm by  2mm x 2mm (2” x .08” x .08”).

Julienne de Concombre
A julienne of cucumbers
Photograph courtesy of Stacy Spensley
www.flickr.com/photos/notahipster/4670390442/

The word Julienne or Lingue on French menus covers two very close members of the Ling fish family. There is no practical way to tell the difference when these two fish are cooked, so no harm is done. However, a third member of the Ling family is also seen on French menus called the Blue Ling, Lingue Espagnole. It is a smaller fish with a slightly different texture and taste, and is not included in this post.

Julienne and Lingue on French Menus:

Dos de Julienne au Cote du Jura – A thick cut from the back of the fish, the meatiest portion, served with a sauce made from a white wine from the department of Jura in the region of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. that borders Switzerland. This dish will have been prepared with a white wine though the Côtes du Jura AOP wines include reds, rosés, whites, vin jaune, and their unique Cotes du Jura Corail, a coral-colored wine.

N.B. The Vin Jaune AOP, Vin de Paille AOP, and their excellent and inexpensive sparkling Crémant du Jura are also part of the Côtes du Jura AOP appellation.

  

Catch your own Ling.

Photograph courtesy of Ken Curtis

www.flickr.com/photos/kencurtis/4939447570/

Filet de Julienne à la Nantaise – A filet of ling served with one of France’s favorite sauces for fish, Sauce Nantaise. Sauce Nantaise is also called Sauce Beurre Nantaise and under the name Sauce Beurre Blanc it is one of the most popular sauces to be served with fish. Sauce Nantaise is named after the lovely City of Nantes in north-western France, in the Pays de la Loire region. Nantes itself is set on the River Loire close to the Atlantic Ocean. This menu listing was my introduction to ling under its now more popular French name Julienne.

The English language website of the Nantes Tourist Information Office is:

http://en.nantes-tourisme.com/touristic-information-3114.html

The City of Nantes.
Photograph courtesy of Pierre Guezingar
www.flickr.com/photos/popierre/21725955268

Filets de Lingue aux Brocolis et aux Amandes – Filets of ling prepared with broccoli and almonds.

Médaillon de Lingue Poché et sa Crème aux Poireaux – A ling filet poached in a cream of leek sauce.  The word médaillon, a medallion in English, indicates a round or oval cut; however, with fish a médaillon, is used as an alternative name for a filet.    

Grilled Ling.
Photograph courtesy of Prayitno
www.flickr.com/photos/prayitnophotography/15873332281/

Pavé de Julienne à la Crème d'Amande et Féve Tonka - A thick cut of ling served with a cream of almond sauce flavored with the tonka bean. The tonka or tonquin bean is a plant from South American with a strong vanilla aroma. If you sniff a little more, you will also find the scent of cherries and cinnamon. In France, the tonka bean is mostly used in aniseed-flavored alcoholic drinks. N.B. The tonka bean is not a real bean; it is from the pea family. In the USA and some other countries, the sale of the tonka bean is controlled as one of its ingredients is considered poisonous when consumed in quantity..

 For more about the tonka bean, see Gernot Katzer's Spice Pages:

http://gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com/engl/index.html 

Soupe de Poisson Maison (Julienne, Moules, Langoustine) – The restaurant’s special fish soup made with ling, mussels and Dublin Bay prawns. 

Ling Sushi
Photograph courtesy of John.
www.flickr.com/photos/johnjoh/5000993394

Suprême de Julienne Sauce Champagne – A filet of ling served in a champagne sauce. The cut called suprême will usually be on menus listings for a breast of chicken, pigeon, Guinea fowl, and other birds. Nevertheless, when a chef gets bored using the word filet for fish, then suprême may appear on the menu.

The town of Beaucaire

Beaucaire has a written history from the Roman times, through to its place as an important medieval market town and on to its place in history when Captain Napoleon Bonaparte added to Beaucaire's fame by writing his first, or at least his first pro-revolutionary pamphlet in 1793.   The year 1783  was the first year of the civil war, and Napoleon was at that time only an Artillery Captain.  Then he wrote Le Souper de Beaucaire, Supper in Beaucaire. In the pamphlet, a soldier is speaking with four royalist merchants in an attempt to bring them around to the benefits of the revolution.

Beaucaire appears in French literature as it is mentioned in the Count of Monte Christo, by Alexandre Dumas (père) and Les Miserables by Victor Hugo amongst mentions in many other novels.

Relaxing in Beaucaire

A maitre d'hôtel from Paris told me that at least once a year he comes to Beaucaire to fish for carpe, carp, and the silure, the Wells catfish. on the river and canals.  According to him, carp catches of seven or eight kilos are claimed every day and 15 kilos or more when no one else is around!  The other reason he chooses to come here is just as important, fishing makes you hungry and thirsty, and he loves the local wines, their Vin de Pays, now vins IGP, and the local cheeses and sausages.

Salade Beaucaire made with celery, York ham, mushrooms, and beetroots in a sauce vinaigrette may be on the menu all over Provence though it is in Occitanie. Beaucaire's restaurants are influenced mainly by Provence, and your choice of local wines will include the pleasant Vins du Pays du Gard IGP and the Vins de Pays d'Oc IGP.

Despite the peace and quiet that fishing may provide, not everyone wants to spend a week fishing in Beaucaire.  For the restless, it is only 15 km (10 miles) to the towns of Arles and Nîmes and 25 km (16 miles) away is Avignon. You may also do as we did and rent a self-drive motorboat with bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen, and air-conditioning to use on the Beaucaire canal and more.  We traveled to the beautiful old garrison town of Aigues Mortes in the Camargue on the Mediterranean coast. When we rented one of these boats, we were very short on time with only a weekend to spare, and it was a fantastic way to see this part of France. With more time available, we would have continued to the beautiful Mediterranean fishing port of Sète. For those, who have an additional ten or fourteen days for traveling, consider continuing from Sète along the Canal du Midi, the Canal des Deux Mers all the way to Bordeaux on the Atlantic coast.

The Beaucaire canal was built in the 17th century and became part of the Canal du Rhône à Sète. When it was finished, produce from Avignon, Arles, Nimes, and the area around could be transported in quantity and quickly to the Mediterranean and onwards to the Atlantic and Paris.

Course Camarguaise

For summer entertainment, Beaucaire has Course Camarguaise acrobatic exhibitions, mostly with cows, not bulls. Here, the cows are neither mistreated nor killed; they are working professionals. In the Course Camarguaise, the cows have a rosette tied between the horns, and the aim is to grab it and win a prize.

        

A Course Camarguaise acrobatic display with cows,
not a bullfight.
Photograph courtesy of jmt-29
www.flickr.com/photos/jmt-29/7409532374/

The players here are accomplished acrobats dressed all in white; at the end of the show, they let the public join in to try and grab the rosette from a calf.  Do not join in lightly; these calves are old hands at the game, and they know a greenhorn when they see one.

https://www.provence-camargue-tourisme.com/?lang=Anglais

A Beaucaire parking lot.
Photograph courtesy of GK Sens-Yonne.
www.flickr.com/photos/sens-yonne/15718143065/

Arles is Close to Beaucaire

The day after enjoying the Julienne in a Beaucaire restaurant, I took the opportunity to visit the primary fresh produce market in Arles. The city of Arles is the gateway to the Camargue, and it is a 25-minute drive from Beaucaire. Arles is also famous for the pictures of sunflowers that Vincent van Gogh painted there. Unfortunately, none of Van Gogh’s original paintings remain in Arles. Here, Van Gogh invited Paul Gauguin as a guest to his home and would later cut off his ear, making Gauguin take him to a hospital and then to a lunatic asylum. You may visit the home of Van Gogh in Arles and view the hospital where he was taken.  

The Arles Produce Market

In the Arles market, among some other food research I was engaged in, I asked a wholesale fishmonger about the fish called Julienne. Fortuitously, I had found a knowledgeable fishmonger who put up with my problematic French. He confirmed that Julienne is the fish called Lingue in commercial French, with Julienne now used as a more marketable name. Then, pointing to boxes just received marked with chilled, but not frozen, filets of Ling that he gets every two days from his wholesaler. From the dates on the box, I could see the fish were packed in Norway and had taken four days from ship to shop. The fishmonger added that he occasionally receives whole fresh Ling from the Mediterranean, but his restaurant and fishmonger customers prefer the chilled variety that comes already skinned and deboned.

Roman Arles.

Apart from fish, Van Gogh, and Paul Gaugin, Arles has the best-preserved Roman amphitheater in Europe. The Arles English Language Tourist Information Office website is:

https://www.arlestourisme.com/en/

The Roman amphitheater of Arles.
Photograph courtesy of Phillip Capper
www.flickr.com/photos/flissphil/2960427559/

A fish from North America called Ling

There is a fish called Ling or Red Hake caught off the East coast of the United States; however, this is a much smaller fish and from a different family to the Ling seen in Europe and the Mediterranean.

 
The names of the European Ling (Julienne, Lingue or Élingue) in the languages of France’s neighbors:
 
(Catalan - llenga de bacallà), (Dutch – leng), (German – leng, blauleng ), (Italian – ciclopi, molva),  (Spanish – barbada, maruca), (Latin - molva molva).
 
The names of the  Spanish Ling, Mediterranean Ling, ( Juliana , Lingue Bleue) in the languages of France’s neighbors.”
 
Common name , (Dutch - middellandse-zeeleng),(German - mittelmeer-leng), (Italian - molva occhiona), (Spanish – escolá, llengua de bacallá), ( Latin -molva macrophthalma).
 
The other member of the Ling family not included in this post:
Blue Ling - Lingue Espagnole, Lingue bâtarde
 
(Catalan - escolà), (Dutch -  blauwe leng), (German - blauleng), (Italian - molva), ( Spanish - arbitán)
(Latin - molva dypterygia)
Thanks for help with the names of Ling in other languages go to  Froese, R., and D. Pauly. Editors. 2015. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version (08/2015).
 
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