from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com
Herbes de Provence.
Photograph courtesy of Christopher Paquette
Until about seventy years ago, the term
the Herbes of Provence did not indicate a spice group. Then if you had asked
for the Herbs de Provence, you would have been given a list of the individual
herbs that grew wild in Provence. Herbes of Provence, as a particular herb
group, to be used for new recipes in French cuisine, is a relatively new
creation and now includes specific herbs used together in modern Provencal
cuisine. The idea was so successful that tourist purchases of bottled and
bagged commercial preparations of dried Herbes de Provence are an important
part of the grower's
incomes.
The group of herbs used depends on the
chef; they will include five or six from the following list of fresh herbs:
Basilic, basil; cerfeul, chervil; graines de Fenouil, fennel seeds; feuille de Laurier, bay leaves; marjolaine,marjoram;
romarin; rosemary; farigoule, wild thyme; thym, thyme; sauge, sage; sarriette, summer savory;
and estragon, tarragon. Some chefs add Lavender for its aroma.
Lavender is the flower and scent of Provence.
Herbes de Provence on French Menus:
Bar Entier
Grillé aux Graines de Fenouil et aux Herbes de Provence – A
whole grilled European sea bass flavored
with fennel seeds and the Herbs of Provence. European sea bass will be on many
Provencal menus as loup, which is the fish's name in Occitan. Fennel has an
aniseed taste and fennel seeds are stronger than the leaves.
Fennel.
Flowers at the top, seeds in the
middle, and at the bottom the thin leaves.
www.flickr.com/photos/zoyachubby/463983617/
Camembert Braisé
aux Herbes de Provence – Braised Camembert cheese flavored
with the herbs of Provence. Here a whole Camembert braised will before serving.
Civet de Porcelet
et sa Polenta aux Herbes de Provence – A civet is a
traditional stew that initially was made with small wild animals
including rabbit, hare, and
young wild boar. Here it
is made with suckling pig and served with polenta and flavored with the herbs
of Provence.
Bay leaves.
www.flickr.com/photos/55368994@N06/6238396132/
Entrecôte Grillée
aux Herbes de Provence –
A US rib eye, a UK sirloin steak, an
entrecote grilled with the herbs of Provence.
Les Côtelettes d'Agneau Grillées
aux Herbes de Provence – Grilled lamb chops flavored
with the herbs of Provence.
When I am in Provence, and I see dishes like those
noted above, I ask questions about the herbs used. Chefs demand fresh herbs and
make changes when a particular fresh herb is not available. More importantly,
the quantities of each herb used vary greatly between chef and chef, and that
will significantly affect the taste. Furthermore, no chef uses them all at the
same time, at the most six or seven. The fresh herbs come from local market
gardeners, and that includes farigoule, wild thyme. With
such a wide choice of herbs and their proportions unlike the herb group, Les
Fine Herbs do not expect a single flavor as you dine in Provence.
Lavender
fields in Provence.
www.flickr.com/photos/decar66/14351116200/
While chefs demand fresh herbs, the tourists,
including French tourists, are sold pre-packed dried herbs. Home cooks can
create tastes closer to the original by buying many of these fresh herbs in
markets at home, at least four or five will be available all year round. Caveat
emptor: the pre-packed dried Herbes de Provence mostly includes only four or
five of the original eleven or twelve; usually romarin, rosemary,
sarriette, summer savory; ordinary cultivated thym, thyme,
with origan, oregano with
its overpowering taste replacing the lighter fresh marjolaine, marjoram.
Many dried herb packages include lavender; lavender is only added for its scent
as it does not affect the taste in any important way. From the label of
contents, you will also see that each supplier uses a different percentage of
each herb in their mix.
Bags of dried Herbes de Provence on sale in the market.
The origins of the
Herbs de Provence.
The cultural influences that created
Provence are as varied as the herbs within the group. Nevertheless, all of the
herbs that make up the Provencal herb group originated in the Mediterranean,
Middle East or Asia, and all predated the discovery of the New World.
Farigoule, serpolet, wild thyme.
www.flickr.com/photos/14583963@N00/7836957046/
I always double check the origins of
herbs and spices I learn from the delears on the web pages of Gernot Katzer and
his Spice Pages:
http://gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com/engl/ and Eric Schoenzetter and
his Toil d'Épices: http://www.toildepices.com/.
These two websites are full of herbal knowledge. Eric Schoenzetter
includes, for Herbes de Province more options that include: clous de girofle -cloves; macis and fleur de muscade, mace and
nutmeg; and genièvre or baie de genièvre, juniper
berries.
France’s most famous herb group is Les
Fine Herbes, the fine herbs and includes Cerfeuil, Chervil; Ciboulette, Chives; Estragon, Tarragon; Persil, Parsley; and
Thym, Thyme.
Les Fine Herbes.
--------------------------------
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com
Copyright 2010, 2014, 2018, 2020
--------------------------------
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