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Herbes et Épices – Herbes and Spices. The Most Popular Herbs and Spices in French Cuisine.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 

Herbes et Épices – Herbs and Spices.
www.flickr.com/photos/160866001@N07/40780623953/





This post brings together the herbs and spices that are the cornerstones of flavors in French cuisine. Fresh herbs and spices are every French chef's second right hand, or if the chef is a leftie, their second left hand.  Menu listings bringing the diner into the French kitchen by revealing the herbs and spices used in the preparation of a dish.  
    
French chefs also know that too many herbs and spices confuse a diner and leave him or her without a distinctive flavor to remember, while too much of a single herb or spice disguises or obliterates the natural character of the dish it was supposed to improve.
   
You won’t find these in a French chef’s spice cupboard.
 
Menu listings in North America and the UK may give the nod to their French influences but dried herbs and spices are often used and they have very different tastes to the fresh kind. Without any clear information on the flavors that are being added to a dish, how can you think about ordering? 
  
I am neither a chef nor even a particularly good home cook, but as a veteran diner, I have a great deal of experience. That experience has led me into many discussions about herbs and spices with chefs, maître d’s and the owners of herb and spice shops or stalls, and others. They are all amazed by recipes in the UK and North American newspapers that include ten or even fifteen different flavor enhancements while using dried herbs.
  
The ingredients in this post are taken from the appendix on herbs and spices in my nearly completed book Behind the French Menu, the diners’ guide to French cuisine. Apart from herbs and spices, my appendix includes those mushrooms, truffles, and vegetables that flavor, but they are too many to include in this post.  




 
The herbs and spices most often used in French cuisine.

   
Wild garlic flowers
www.flickr.com/photos/paumurp/3589148104/
 
 


   
Star Anise
www.flickr.com/photos/30478819@N08/43595108525/

   
 

  
Cinnamon
 

 
    
 
 
 
 

 
  
The tarragon flower
www.flickr.com/photos/nhq9801/30263247774

 
 
 
 

Lavandre – Lavender.  

The citizens of Provence correctly claim that lavender comes from Provence; it originated in the area of modern Provence tens of thousands of years ago; lavender is the product of Provence par excellence! The local Provencal bees also appreciate lavender flowers, and they make the famous lavender honey that will be seen on menus all over in Provence.

Lavender has been famous, as a perfume, for thousands of years, and it is the perfect scent as even dried lavender flowers hold their scent for a very long time.
Then, in Provence lavender is also occasionally used a herb; fresh lavender does have a very light flavor but will, more importantly, add its aroma to local recipes including vinegars and jellies. For the tourists dried lavender will often be seen in pre-packed bags of the Herbes de Provence, the Provencal herb group; here, the use of lavender is used more for the name and the aroma than any serious addition to the taste. However,  the Herbes de Provence on a menu listing will be made with fresh herbs and are very different from the dried.

In the world of AOC and AOP labels for unique and outstanding products, there is also a lavender product with an AOP. The Huile Essentielle de Lavande Fine AOP, a lavender essential oil used for aromatherapy, not for eating or drinking.


Strolling through the lavender, Provence, France
www.flickr.com/photos/mikeslone/27745859363/



    
 
 
  
Oseille – Sorrel, Garden Sorrel, Common Sorrel and Dock

Sorrel leaves may be picked in the wild, and the smaller, young leaves make excellent salad greens, and they are rich in vitamin C. Nevertheless, the sorrel on your menu will probably have come from a farm, it costs less.
                 
Sorrel may be cooked like spinach or made into a soup, and many fish dishes will be flavored with sorrel.  Among the soups made with sorrel, the most famous is Potage Germiny named after Count Charles le Bègue of Germiny (1799 – 1871), from when served as the Governor of the Bank of France. Naming new recipes after important and famous people who frequented expensive restaurants was the fashion of the time, and so the Count got his soup.  The soup is a beef consommé flavored with sorrel in crème fraîche. The recipe was created by the famous chef Adolphe Dugléré (1805 -1884) when he was chef de cuisine at the legendary Café Anglais and it is still on some menus.  
 

As a child growing up in England Lake District, we would go looking for wild berries and mushrooms in the forests round about, and there were both stinging nettles and the "dock" member of the sorrel family close by.  From there, I have my earliest memory of homeopathic medicine as the sorrel dock leaves when squashed and rubbed on the nettle sting cools and soothes the pain. Then, if I had been living in France, we would have taken revenge on the stinging nettle plants by making a Soupe d'Orties et Ail Sauvage  - A nettle soup flavored with wild garlic.
      

 
   
Black and white peppercorns.

 
Poivre de la Jamaïque, Toute-épice, Piment Jamaïque – Allspice or Jamaica pepper.

In both French and English kitchens, the taste of this spice provides one of its names; that taste is its combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves; the result is toute-épice in French and allspice in English.  When discovered it was considered a guaranteed moneymaker, three spices for the prices of one. However, when allspice arrived the chefs and cooks already had recipes with the other spices that produced the same taste; changing quantities and recipes for a new spice with the same flavors was probably too much like hard work.  Still, allspice is a spice that can be used in many dishes from savory to sweet desserts and so it will occasionally be on some menu listings and used in several French herbal liquors.
   
Allspice may look like a large brown peppercorn; however, it is not a pepper; it is the dried unripe fruit of a Jamaican plant. Ground allspice, when sold pre-ground in packets, has far less taste than the freshly ground corns. As one of this spice’s names indicate its origin is Jamaican and it is an essential ingredient in the spicy Jamaican jerk pastes and marinades.  Most of the allspice sold in France still comes from Jamaica though some is imported from Mexico. In Mexico, the mole sauces of Central Mexican have in many cases added allspice to the local chilies and other spices used. Christopher Columbus discovered Jamaica in 1504, but with so many new herbs and spices already filling Spanish ships and kitchens, allspice was not at the head of the list.   
   
Allspice
www.flickr.com/photos/melintur/2487719131/


Quatre Épices or Épice Parisienne – The four spices.
 
This is the oldest recorded group of spices used in French cuisine and the original spices used in this group today have not changed.  From the beginning, one of these spices was nearly always disputed, allowing for two official groups with the same name.  Today a chef may be using five or six spices rather than four, and they will still be on the menu as the quatre épices.   The group always includes Poivre, pepper: Noix de muscade, nutmeg: and Clous de girofle, cloves.  The disputed fourth is Gingembre, ginger or Cannelle, Chinese cinnamon with the Chinese cinnamon usually being replaced by Cannelle de Ceylan, Ceylonese cinnamon. 

 Despite this spice group being slightly out of fashion, it remains on some menus. Chefs who went to cooking schools enjoy sharing their knowledge and will use this traditional spice group with a fresh recipe.
   
 
Roquette, Arugula – Rocket, Garden rocket.

Not to be confused with the garden flower called Dame's Rocket or Sweet Rocket.  Rocket, with its spicy taste, is mainly used to spice up salads; however, it may also be found in cooked dishes.  When Roquette, rather than arugula is on the menu in France, then you are being served wild rocket with its narrower leaves and cleaner taste. There are a number of varieties of rocket, and they have varying degrees of pungency along with with other flavors and the pungency increases with the age of the fresh leaf; the best and milder leaves are young and small.
    
   
Rosemary

  
 
Sauge -  Sage.    

Sage is popular all Mediterranean cuisines.  In French recipes, sage is often added to special vinegars and herbal butters, and occasionally sage may be added to the herb group Les Fine Herbes. 

In France, as well as elsewhere in Europe, sage is also used to flavor preserved meats like sausages. The name sage comes from the Latin salvere or salvation, and that relates to its historical use in homeopathic medicines.

Sarriette - Summer savory.

The leaves flavor vegetable dishes, vinegars, and herbal butters and are an essential ingredient in the Herbes de Provence.  Summer savory is also used as a tisane, a herbal tea where it is believed to aid the digestion and soothe upset stomachs.
      
 

  
Vanilla pods.
www.flickr.com/photos/68177867@N00/305006748/

Travel outside the major towns and cities of France, and you will see herb gardens that even the smallest restaurants build and use. In towns and cities lack of space usually makes private herb gardens a rarity, and so they have agreements with market gardeners who bring fresh herbs and spices daily.  Large restaurants often use their market gardener's herb garden as if it were their own private fife with a private section closed off.  Then again, chefs build links to ramasseurs, gatherers, who bring wild mushrooms, berries, herbs, and spices in from the country.

In a visit to any French private home, fresh herbs and spices will scent the kitchen even before they decorate and flavor that home's food.  Ask for permission to look in any French restaurant's herb store; there, you will realize the importance of fresh herbs and spices over the dried or otherwise preserved options.

The difference between herbs and spices.

In modern kitchens, the differences between herbs and spices are often blurred. While avoiding great botanical detail as I am not a botanist, it is enough to say that most herbs are the leafy parts of plants and spices come from the rest.  In any case, smell easily differentiates most herbs from spices. Spices smell and taste like they should…..strongly. 

Herb and spice groups.

Also included in this post are the two most important French herb and spice groups: "Les Fine Herbes,"  the Fine Herbs, and "Les Herbes de Provence," the Herbs of Provence.   Additionally, I have spared a few lines in this post for the "Quatre Épices or Épice Parisienne," the four spices; they are the oldest recorded French spice group still in use.

My sources.

To help me with conflicts on usage and names, I relied on two very knowledgeable sources. They are Gernot Katzer from Austria and his Gernot Katzer's Spice Pages and Eric Schoenzetter from France, and his Toil d'Épices.  These two experts assembled, checked, and published a fantastic amount of information on herbs and spices.  I used their knowledge to double-check the information I had prepared as well as to add new details. I have also used their expertise to lay-to-rest a number of old wives tales that I had been sold along the way.   Still, the history of French cuisine is not written in stone, and I have also collected and included many other opinions, stories, bits of history and added my own value judgments. Any mistakes that have resulted are mine alone.
-----------------------------------

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

 

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Copyright 2010, 2019
 
---------------------------

Searching for the meaning of words, names or phrases
on
French menus?

Just add the word, words, or phrase that you are searching for to the words "Behind the French Menu" (best when including the inverted commas), and search with Google or Bing,  Behind the French Menu’s links, include hundreds of words, names, and phrases that are seen on French menus. There are over 450 articles that include over 4,000 French dishes with English translations and explanations.
  


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


from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
 Updated April 2017
bryangnewman@gmail.com
  
  
   
European seabass has a firm, delicate, white flesh. Whether caught at sea or raised on a fish farm they are a delicious fish and consequently, they are one of the most popular fish in France.  Despite the excellence of sea farmed bass, in a blind tasting, you may note the difference.  The bass caught at sea are tastier and have a different texture.   Where fish are concerned, you are what you eat.

The names of the European Sea Bass in French.
Bar, Bar Commun, Bar Sauvage or Bar de Ligne, 
and Loup, Loup de Mer or Lubina.
   
Seabass has quite a number of names on French menus. Do not worry, they are all the same fish. Most of the fish served in the center of France and along France’s Atlantic coast will be on the menus as Bar, Bar Commun, Bar Sauvage or Bar de Ligne.  In the South and along France’s Mediterranean coast the local Occitan language name remains with the European seabass being called Loup or Loup de Mer. Close to Spain, the Spanish name Lubina may be on the menu. 
  
  
Wild sea bass and farmed sea bass in France
                 
Seabass that have been farm raised will usually weigh less than 600 grams (21 oz) each and smaller fish may be served for one. A Bar Sauvage, or a Bar de Ligne, the European Sea Bass caught in the open sea, may easily weigh over two kilos (4.4lbs). These and even larger fish will be served as filets.

The European seabass on French menus:
             
Bar au Beurre Blanc – European sea bass with a Beurre Blanc Sauce.  A Beurre Blanc Sauce is often called a Sauce Nantaise and is one of the best sauces for white fish. Nantaise means from the City of Nantes where the sauce was first served.
       
Crispy sea bass with warm spinach salad and blueberry sauce


Bar au Four a la Graines de Fenouil –  European seabass baked in the oven with fennel seeds. Fennel has a stronger licorice flavor than its cousin dill. Wild fennel fruits, the seeds,  are mostly used by French chefs with fish and shellfish dishes. Many chefs outside the large cities have wild fennel gathered for them as it has a different taste to the herb bought from market gardeners.  Most wild mushrooms gatherers, ramasseurs, also gather wild herbs. These ramasseurs have specific chefs and restaurants as their loyal customers from year to year.
               
Bar de Ligne, Artichaut Violet, Jus de Crustacés – Wild seabass cooked with small violet artichokes, and seasoned with the cooking juices from shrimp and other crustaceans.  Bar de Ligne translates as a European Sea Bass caught with a rod a line; however, it only shows that the fish was captured in the wild, not specifically with a rod and line. What counts for the chef is that the fish did not come from a fish farm. The crustacean flavoring, probably mostly from shrimps, comes from the shrimps’ shells and this sauce will flavor the whole dish.
   
   
Carpaccio de Loup – A Carpaccio of sea bass. 
    
At the fish market in Sète
www.flickr.com/photos/hirondellecanada/3164858800/
  
Sete is the largest fishing port on France’s Meditteranean coast and was built as the Mediterranean entrance to the Canal de Deux Mers, the canal that joins the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.  The Atlantic entrance is Bordeaux.    Sete is also famous for its fish and seafood dishes.
           
Filet de Loup Cuit à la Vapeur d'Algue sur Coulis de Poivrons (Le) –A filet of sea bass steamed over one of France's edible seaweeds, and served with a puree of bell peppers. The use of the word loup tells us that this fish was caught in the Mediterranean. The name loup comes from the Occitan language. (Occitan lost out as the language that would unite France. However, France still has over 25 local languages and dialects that are still used; Occitan is the most important).
 
The fishing port of Sete on France's Mediterranean coast.
Photograph courtesy of  Cees Wouda.
www.flickr.com/photos/ceesjw/868094033/
  
Filets de Bar Grillés sur la Peau, aux Senteurs de Provence – Filets of sea bass grilled in their skin, and flavored and scented with the Herbs of  Provence herb group. 
  
Other fish called bass
  
European seabass and black seabass from the Western Atlantic are different fish though they are related. Once cooked and on your plate, they will seem close enough. However, there are many other fish with the word bass in their names in North America that are not related at all  These can be both fresh and saltwater fish. I, with my family, caught large-mouthed bass in Maine and they were a very tasty unrelated freshwater fish. Chilean Seabass is a tasty fish, but it is no relation to the European seabass; its name was chosen by the marketing department. Its real name is the Patagonian Toothfish.
    
The many names of the European Sea Bass.
 
It may seem strange that a single fish, the European seabass has so many French names. History, local languages, and local usage create many names for the same fish and that is true in North America and the UK.  The English names may appear on a menu or in a fishmonger's as bass, common bass, sea perch, white salmon and king of the mullets.

N.B. In France, there is one completely different fish that share a name, but not the taste or texture with European Sea Bass.  That is the Loup de Mer, the Atlantic wolfish; also called the Atlantic catfish. The Atlantic Wolfish is a very different fish and can reach 12 kilos or more. WhenAtlantic Wolfish are caught as a bycatch they may end up as a daily special where they will be baked, and served, as filets.  If you have a choice go with the European seabass,
 
The European Sea Bass in the languages of France’s neighbors:

(Catalan – llobaro), (Dutch - zeebaars ), (German – wolfsbarsch, meerbarsch), (Italian- branzino),  (Spanish – lubina, lupi, lupa).
             
Connected Posts:
  
   
  
 
 
 
    
   
Searching for the meaning of words, names or phrases
on
French menus?


Just add the word, words, or phrase that you are searching for to the words "Behind the French Menu" and search with Google. Behind the French Menu’s links include hundreds of words, names, and phrases that are seen on French menus. There are over 400 articles that include over 3,000 French dishes with English translations and explanations.
Bryan G. Newman

Behind the French Menu
Copyright 2010, 2015, 2017

For information on the unpublished book behind this blog contact Bryan Newman
at
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

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