from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com
The Norman farmers’ claim that their wonderful grass, and their unique cows, which came to France with the Vikings, are responsible for this special butter; they claim this butter’s peers cannot be found. This butter is distinguished by a soft texture and its strong a yellow color in the summer when the cow’s graze freely on grass. Isigny in Normandy is also home to France’ only AOP crème fraiche, three AOP Calvados apple brandies, Pays d'Auge Cider AOP; and four AOP cheeses Camembert de Normandie, Livarot, Neufchâtel, and Pont-l’Évêque.
This butter is churned in the traditional manner, which gives it a particularly soft, supple and airy texture. The old French province of Bresse cuts through the departments of Ain and Saone-et-Loire, to the edge of the Jura bordering Switzerland. Bresse also has an AOP fresh cream, the Bress Bleu cheese, the Bleu de Gex and Comté AOP cheeses and the unique Vollaile de Bresse, the only AOP poultry in France.
The old region of Poitou-Charente included the departments of Charente, Charente-Maritime, Deux-Sèvres, Vienne that since Jan 1, 2016 are part of the new administrative region of Nouvelle Aquitaine.This butter is made from pasteurized cream and then matured for at least 12 hours to develop its aroma and taste before churning. The result is butter that has a noticeable smell of fresh cream along with fruity notes. Pastry bakers particularly like Charentes-Poitou AOC/AOP butter because it melts slower than other butters, a quality that makes it the king of puff pastry. There are a number of villages with dairies where this butter is produced, and you are just as likely to see one of the village’s names on butter’s wrapping; however, to make sure the consumer knows that the butter is a real Charentes-Poitou butter also carries carry the mark of the villages where this butter is made:Beurre de Celles-sur-Belle, Beurre de Deux-Sevres, Beurre d’Echiré, Beurre de Grand Fermage, Beurre de La Viette, Beurre de Lescure, Beurre de Montaigu. Beurre de Pamplie. Beurre de Surgères.Also from Poitou-Charente come a Beurre Sec de Feuilletage AOP- A butter with more than 84% fat made especially for patisseries.Apart from butter all of France’s Cognac comes from the are of Charentes-Poitou, as does the Chabichou du Poitou AOP goat’s cheese and the white and rosé aperitif Pineau des Charentes.
Beurre à l’Ail – Garlic butter.
Beurre à la Ciboulette – A compound butter mixed with chives. (For more about compound butter, see Beurre Composé).
Beurre Allégé – Light butter. French Beurre Allégé can have anywhere
from 60-62% fa5; read the label. By law, regular butter must have at least 82%
butterfat. (See Beurre Léger for even less fat).
Beurre Baratte à la Main – Hand-churned butter.
Beurre Baratte à la Main
Hand-churned
butter.
Photograph
courtesy of Raphaël Labbé
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ulikleafar/3045700580/
Beurre Bercy – Beurre Bercy is a Beurre Compose, a compound butter. After being prepared, it will be served cold as a condiment. This butter’s recipe includes veal or beef marrow, white wine, shallots, parsley and a touch of lemon juice. The butter will be decoratively placed on a steak or slices from a roast and allowed to melt over the meat flavoring it. Bercy, now part of the12 arrondissement was, until the beginning of the 20th Paris’s central wine market. Most of the wines that we now know as blends from Bordeaux and elsewhere got their first public tastings there as did the two other famous Bercy wine-based sauces.
Beurre Bio – Organic butter. All French organic products and produce are clearly labeled with the French AB green label, Agriculture Biologique. (See the Appendix Abbreviations. Labels and Initials: AB).
Beurre Blanc, Beurre Nantais or Beurre Blanc
Nantais – A butter sauce whose creation is claimed by the city of Nantes. (See the Appendix Sauces: Beurre Blanc).
Beurre
Blanc Nantais – (See Beurre Blanc).
Beurre Café de Paris – A compound butter flavored
with white wine, anchovies, and herbs, especially parsley and tarragon. (See the Appendix Sauces: Sauce Beurre Café de Paris). (For more about
compound butter see: Beurre Composé).
Beurre Charentes-Poitou
AOP – The AOP butter from the old region of
Poitou-Charentes. The butter is made from pasteurized cream and then matured
for at least 12 hours to develop its aroma and taste before churning. The
result is a butter with a noticeable smell of fresh cream and fruity notes.
Pastry bakers particularly like Charentes-Poitou AOP butter because it melts
more slowly than other butters, a quality that makes it the king of puff
pastry.
The names below may be seen on packets
of Charentes-Poitou butter; they indicate the name of the village or dairy
where they are produced:
Beurre Celles-sur-Belle
Beurre Deux-Sèvres
Beurre Échiré
Beurre Grand Fermage
Beurre La Viette
Beurre Lescure
Beurre Montaigu
Beurre Pamplie
The old Poitou-Charentes region in southwestern
France included the four departments of Charente, Charente-Maritime, Deux-Sèvres, and Vienne and are now part of the
administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. (For more about AOP on French
foods, see the Appendix Abbreviations, Labels and Initials: AOP).
Beurre Chivry – A compound butter blended with finely cut chives, shallots, parsley, salad burnet, chervil, tarragon, and white wine. This butter is usually served with cold hors-d'oeuvres. (For more about compound butter, see: Beurre Composé).
Beurre Clarifié – Clarified butter. It's made
by melting butter and removing the particles that rise to the surface and the
solids that fall to the bottom. The remaining butter has a unique, unmistakable
taste, qualities important for sauces and dishes that may be cooked at higher
temperatures than regular butter.
Beurre Composé – A compound butter. Compound butters are made by
mixing butter with a herb or herbs, a meat stock and or wine. These butters are
served cold as condiments and allowed to melt over and flavor the dishes they
are served with.
Beurre Cru – Butter made from
unpasteurized milk. The herds of cows, sheep, and goats that produce the milk
for France's unpasteurized cheeses and butters undergo strict and uniquely
successful controls of the milk they produce. Unpasteurized butter is sold
fresh and should be used within one to two days.
Beurre d'Ail – Garlic butter sauce. (See the Appendix Sauces:
Sauce Beurre Aillé).
Beurre d'Anchois – A compound butter made with mashed canned or bottled anchovies, butter,
and breadcrumbs. (See Beurre Composé).
Beurre d'Arachide – Peanut butter. France has
local and imported peanut butter.
Beurre d'Escargot also called Beurre d'Ail – Snail butter or garlic
butter sauce. Despite one of its names, this butter contains no snails and
never did. (See the Appendix Sauces: Sauce Beurre Aillé).
Beurre d'Estragon – A compound butter flavored with the herb tarragon, a popular and essential part of the herb group Les
Fines Herbes and Sauce Béarnaise. (See the Appendix Herbs and
Spices: Les Fine Herbs and the Appendix Sauces: Sauce Béarnaise). (For more
about compound butter, see Beurre Composé).
Beurre d'Isigny AOP – The AOP butter
from Normandy. Their farmers claim that Normandy's excellent grass and their unique
Norman cows are responsible for this special butter; they claim this butter's
peers cannot be found. This butter is distinguished by its soft texture and
intense yellow color in the summer. (For more about AOP and other initials on
French foods, see the Appendix Abbreviations, Labels and Initials: AOP).
Beurre de Bresse AOP – The AOP butter from the old
region of Bresse. This butter is churned traditionally, giving it an
exceptionally soft, supple, and airy texture. The old French province of Bresse
cuts through the departments of Ain and Saône-et-Loire to the edge of the Jura
bordering Switzerland.
Beurre de Cacao – Cocoa butter.
Beurre Charentes-Poitou AOP –
An AOP butter made from pasteurized cream. The cream is allowed to mature and
develop its unique flavor before being made into butter. The name of the
village or dairy where this butter is produced may also be on the packet.
Beurre de Montpellier – A butter sauce
traditionally served with cold fish dishes. (See the Appendix Sauces: Sauce aux
Beurre de Montpellier).
Beurre Demi-sel and Beurre
Salé – Lightly salted butter and salted butter. The lightly salted variety, Beurre Demi-sel usually
has 0.5% to 1.5% salt but may reach 3%, with the exact amount shown on the
label. Beurre Salé may have up to 5%
salt. These salted butters have 80% fat compared with sweet butters that have
at least 82% fat.(See Chapter P: Pain, Tartine Beurrée).
Beurre Doux – Sweet unsalted butter.
Beurre Extra Fin - This translates as extra
fine butter but it indicates butter made exclusively from pasteurized and
non-frozen cream. Production must take place within 48 hours after skimming.
Beurre Fermier – Farm-made butter.
Beurre Fin – Fine butter, is made with
pasteurized crème but up to 30% of the cream used in its manufacture may have
been frozen.
Beurre Fondu – Melted butter; the
same as beurre clarifié.
Beurre Fouetté – Whipped butter.
Beurre Léger – Reduced-fat butter. This butter has 39-41% fat. Don’t confuse
this butter with Beurre Allégé which has 60-62% fat. (The amount of fat in standard butter is 82%).
Beurre Maître d'Hôtel – A compound butter,
a Beurre Composé flavored with lemon juice and parsley. (See
the Appendix Sauces: Sauce Beurre Maître d’Hôtel, for Compound Butter see Beurre
Composé).
Beurre Manié – This butter will not be on
your menu, but it a chef may mention it. This is butter kneaded with flour that
is kept in the refrigerator and used in emergencies to thicken sauces.
Beurre Meunière – A clarified
butter, lemon, and parsley sauce used with fish. (See the Appendix Sauces:
Sauce Meunière).
Beurre Montpellier – A compound butter served
with fish dishes containing tarragon, chervil, chives, parsley, stew,
watercress, shallots, egg yolks, salted anchovies and. of course, butter.
Beurre Mousseux – A butter sauce made by
allowing the butter to bubble and foam on the stove. Beurre Mousseux may also
be on the menu as part of the description of how a dish is served. (See the Appendix
Sauces: Beurre Mousseux).
Beurre Nantais or Sauce Beurre Blanc – This butter sauce is one of
France’s most famous and served with fish, seafood or vegetable dishes. The
sauce is made with butter, a dry white wine, lemon, and shallots. Chefs change the percentages of the
ingredients and may use white wine vinegar to suit the fish, seafood or
vegetables with which the sauce is served. (See the Appendix Sauces: Sauce
Beurre Blanc).
Beurre Noir – This butter sauce’s
name translates as black butter though, despite that name the butter is only
cooked until it is a dark brown, not black. Black butter has a strong taste and
it is the classic sauce for skate, the fish, and is often prepared with added
capers and or parsely. (See the Appendix Sauces: Beurre Noir).
Beurre Noisette – (See the Appendix Sauces:
Sauce Beurre Noisette).
Beurre Persillé – A compound butter
mixed with chopped parsley, shallots, and garlic. (See the Appendix Sauces: Sauce Beurre Persillé). (For more about
compound butter, see Beurre Composé).
Beurre Pommade – A plain butter mixed
and pounded to achieve the softness and consistency of a pomade. This butter spreads
easily and so it may be used to cook with steak or fish rather than oil.
Beurre Pamplie AOP – A butter from the small
village of Pamplie that produces Poitou-Charente AOP butter. (See Beurre
Poitou-Charente).
Beurre Rouge – A butter sauce made with red
wine sauce and shallots served with fish and seafood. (See the Appendix Sauces: Beurre
Rouge).
Beurre Ramolli – Another name for beurre
pomade, a softened butter (See Beurre Pommade).
Beurre Salé and Beurre Demi-sel – Salted butter. See Beurre Demi-sel above.
Beurre Sec – A butter that contains
a minimum of 84 % fat compared with 82% for regular butter. This butter is
mainly used for pâte feuilletée, the dough used for croissants, etc. American
butter must by law have at least 80% fat. European, including French Butter
must have at least 82% fat and this beurre sec has at least 84% fat. (See
chapter C: Croissant).
Beurre Sec de Feuilletage AOP
Poitou-Charente – See Beurre Poitou-Charente AOP at the beginning
of this post.
Beurre Vert – A compound butter colored with the juices of vegetables
such as spinach and basil. On its own, the color has little to no effect on the
taste. (See the Appendix Sauces: Sauce Beurre Vert). (For more about compound
butter, see Beurre Composé).
Beurre Vierge – A compound butter flavored
with lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
