Behind the French Menu: coastal plant

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Samphire growing in the sandy soil.

www.flickr.com/photos/47689195@N00/293924476/

Samphire (salicornia) is not a seaweed:

Samphire is often, mistakenly, called an edible seaweed; it is not. It is a coastal plant, with many family members, and grows in salt marshes and even in the sand along the coast. Its shape, not its taste, gives it another name, sea asparagus.

The mildly salty and slightly bitter taste of Samphire along with its crunchy texture (when properly cooked) allows it to partner well in many salads when served cold or when served warm with fish or shellfish.

British phaenogamous botany 1834-1843

Photograph courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library

www.flickr.com/photos/biodivlibrary/28992508086/

Salicornia on French menus:

Terrine de Poisson à la Salicorne – A fish pate flavored with samphire.

Mesclun - Queues d'Écrevisses - Salicornes - A mixed green salad with freshwater crayfish tails and samphire. N.B. A salade mesclun should, by tradition, include at least five different salad greens.

Samphire salad with a thinly cut, cold, tri-tip steak.

The tri-tip cut is the aiguillette baronne in France.

Photograph courtesy of Omid Tavallai

www.flickr.com/photos/tavallai/4833766606/

Filet de Sandre aux Salicornes, Beurre Blanc – A filet of zander, (pike-perch), with samphire served with a white butter sauce.

Crisply fried European seabass with samphire.

Photograph courtesy of L’Atelier des Chefs.

Flétan Meunière aux Salicornes – Halibut prepared in a meunier sauce accompanied by samphire, Meunier is a sauce of butter, lemon juice and parsley served warm.

Conchiglie Farcies aux Gambas et Salicornes - Shell shaped pasta stuffed with large shrimps and samphire.

Samphire in a Parisian market.

Photograph courtesy of Melanie Lazarow

www.flickr.com/photos/mlazarow/1378640343/

As samphire reaches a wider public, more recipes are being created for using these vegetables in salads, sauces, soups as well as for pickling them for use out of season as a condiment. Some French market gardeners have felt the demand and are now cultivating the plant, but along France’s Atlantic coast young, wild samphire plants are still gathered in the wild from April through July. Many of these gatherers, ramasseurs in French, are professionals and under contract to restaurants. Throughout the year these same gatherers will be working further inland collecting wild herbs, fruits, and vegetables such as wild leeks, wild garlic, and wild berries including juniper berries and elderberries along with wild mushrooms like cepes, and chanterelles.

Samphire flowering on the coast.

In the department of Charentes Maritime.

Photograph courtesy of Ancoline

www.flickr.com/photos/ancoline/28004524631/

Connected Posts:

Ail - Garlic. Garlic in French Cuisine.

Algue or Algue de Mer Seaweed, Edible Seaweed. Algue or Algue de Mer on French Menus.

Asperges en La Cuisine Française – Asparagus in French cuisine. The Artists who Painted Asparagus or Lived Near Argenteuil.

Bar or Loup - European Sea Bass. Bar on French Menus. European Sea Bass in French Cuisine.

Chanterelle Girolle - The Chanterelle Mushroom on French Menus. Three of the Four Chanterelle Girolle Mushrooms in French Cuisine. The Mushrooms of France IV.

Crevettes and Gambas - Shrimps and Prawns. Shrimps in French Cuisine.

Dining in the Department of Charente-Maritime on France's Atlantic Coast.

Écrivisse (L') - The Freshwater Crayfish. Crayfish in French Cuisine. Crustaceans III.

Flétan (fletan)– Halibut, the fish.

France's Butter Sauces I. The Three Most Popular Butter Sauces on French Menus.

Genièvre or Baie de Genièvre- Juniper Berries. Juniper Berries in French Cuisine.

Pates and Terrines. An introduction to the meat, fish, vegetable and fruit pates on French menus.

Poireaux – Leeks. The Leek in French Cuisine.

Salades - Salads. Forty of the Most Popular (and Simply Made) French Salads. Salads in France.

Sandre - Zander in the USA and Pike Perch in the UK. Sandre in French Cuisine.

Sureau - Elderberry and Fleur de Sureau the Elderberry flowers. The Elderberry on French Menus. Elderberries in French cuisine.

The Cèpe - The French Porcini Mushroom. The Cepe in French Cuisine. The Mushrooms Of France III.

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