Showing posts with label alps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alps. Show all posts

The Chamois, Isard or Izard; the Mountain Antelope.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 

Chamois
www.flickr.com/photos/23074701@N02/36003110583/


The chamois on French menus is often translated as a mountain antelope; nevertheless, it is in fact, a mountain goat, and a very tasty goat at that. The chamois in the Alps, the izard or isard in the Pyrenees and its cousins elsewhere in France are wild; they have never been farmed. Fully grown the Alpine Chamois reaches 80cms high and have 20 cm horns; they are all legally hunted in season
 
The Chamois of the Alps and the Isard or Izard of the Pyrenees are the most well-known. In addition, two other chamois family group live in the southeast of France:
 
The Vercors Chamois that lives in the Vercors Massif.
The Chartreuse Chamois that lives in the Chartreuse Massif.
 
Outside of France, there are family members in nearly all the countries of Europe through to the Caucasus.

The Chamois and the French kitchen.
  
The meat from adult chamois needs to be well marinated before they are cooked and so the most popular dish prepared for a mature chamois is a civet, a stew.  Steaks and roasts come from young animals, and in the hunting season, the liver of young mountain goats will be on restaurant menus though it is a costly delicacy.  In Southern France cow's milk was rarely part of the menu or the local's diet before the 1930's; goats and sheep were raised for their milk and cheeses.  The young males produced no milk, and so Southern France developed many tens of excellent recipes for sheep and goat and so the goat recipes were long ago adapted for the Chamois.
  

Chamois in the snow.


A stew of chamois served with red cabbage.  This one of the most popular and traditional ways to serve mature animals from the hunt.  Most recipes allow for twenty-four hours, sometimes 48 hours, for the marinating which will be done with the aid of a robust red wine. The cabbage will be added an hour before serving. These stews, as may be expected, have a gamey aroma, but that will not be overbearing, and for most diners it will be a rare opportunity to enjoy a memorable dish.

The Chamois on French menus:

Civet de Chamois avec Chou Rouge  A stew of chamois served with red cabbage. This one of the most popular and traditional ways to serve mature animals from the hunt.  Most recipes allow for twenty-four hours, sometimes 48 hours, for the marinating which will be done with the aid of a robust red wine. The cabbage will be added an hour before serving. These stews, as may be expected, have a gamey aroma, but that will not be overbearing, and for most diners it will be a rare opportunity to enjoy a memorable dish.


Le Civet de Chevreuil à l’Ancienne
A traditional Chamois stew.

Filets d'Isard aux Mousserons  A fillet, tenderloin, from a young isard, the Pyrenean chamois; served with wild St George’s mushrooms.

Médaillons de Chamois -  Small steaks or slices of meat from a young chamois. In the French kitchen, médaillons indicate oval or round cuts.

La Selle d'Izard Garniture de Saison, le Jus aux Baies de Sureau et au Cassis - The saddle, the back from the izard, the chamois, served with the vegetables of the season and prepared with a sauce made with elderberries and the European blackcurrant. The saddle is a cut from the back with the whole saddle including both sides, together with the loin chops.  When a saddle of a young mountain goat is on the menu it will more than a portion for one or two; the restaurant will offer slices from this roast, and a cut from the saddle is one of the best cuts from young game animals.


A herd of chamois
www.flickr.com/photos/94941635@N07/16973999769/
   
La Carte de Chasse - the hunt menu.
 
When wild game is in season, many restaurants will have a menu called the Carte de Chasse, a hunt menu. The French term for the hunt, la chasse, is also used for sports fishing and the word became the chase in English.  In certain areas, some restaurants only open during the hunting season.
  
Hunting and photographing the Chamois.
  
For those who wish to go hunting or photographing, you need to be in excellent health as the only way to catch or closely observe these animals is by stalking. That means following them by foot in the upper reaches of the mountain ranges.  The Chamois find their homes in the mountains and depending on the time of year that can reach up to 2,300 meters (7,500 feet) and even 3,000 meters (9,900 feet) in the Alps and the Pyrenees.


Chamois
www.flickr.com/photos/muriel_vd/1019975485/
 
The Alpine Chamois in the languages of France’s neighbors:

(Catalan – isard), (Dutch - alpengems), (German -  gämsen), (Italian - camoscio alpino), (Spanish - rebeco, gamuza, sarrio), (Latin - rupicapra rupicapra)

 
Isard, Izard or Pyrenean Chamois in the languages of France’s neighbors:

(Catalan: isard pirinenc),(Dutch - Pyrenese gems),(German Pyrenäen-Gämse) (Italian: camoscio, camoscio pirenaico, camoscio dei Pirenei), (Spanish - ebeco pirenaico, sarrio), (Latin - rupicapra pyrenaica)

The Chartreuse Chamois in the languages of France’s neighbors: 

 (Dutch -  chartreusegems), (German - chartreuse-gämse  ),  (Italian - camurça da França), (Spanish - este de Francia  )
 
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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

 

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 

Copyright 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019

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