Showing posts with label magret de canard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label magret de canard. Show all posts

Méli-Mélo (meli melo) on French Menus.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 

   
Apples and honey
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stuart_spivack/298494754/


 Never a mixture, a hodgepodge or an assortment
     
Méli-mélo in French can mean a mixture, a hodgepodge or an assortment. However, in the French kitchen a dish with méli-mélo in its name should never be any of those.  Méli-mélo comes from ancient Greek where meli was honey and melo (melon) was an apple; both were already highly valued for their taste and texture and their importance is seen in Greek mythology. Méli-mélo in French cuisine will be part of a name given to dishes that offer contrasting, but well-matched tastes, textures, and colors in foods that are served together.  
  
Méli-mélo on French menus:
     
Méli mélo de Framboise et Meringue -  Meli- melo of raspberries and meringue. That will be  the matching and contrasting tastes, textures, and colors between the raspberries and the meringue.

Méli-mélo de Legumes Croquants, Magret de Canard Fumé, Vinaigrette à l'Orange – The matching and contrasting tastes and textures of crunchy fresh vegetables and smoked duck breast served with an orange flavored sauce vinaigrette.
   
Salmon and beef filet, tenderloin.
Méli-mélo de Noix de Saint-Jacques et Queues d'Écrevisses – The matching and contrasting tastes and textures of King Scallop meat and crayfish tails.

Méli-mélo de Salades au Magret de Canard Fumé et Foie Gras – A salad with the contrasting tastes and textures of smoked duck breast and fattened duck's liver.
     
Vegetable meli-melo.
What could look more méli-mélo?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/5966002706/
     
 Méli-mélo de Sandre et de Truite, Sauce au Savagnin de Pupillin -A contrast in tastes and textures with zander (pike-perch) and trout prepared with the Savagnin sweet wine from the community of Pupillin in the département of Jura in the région of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.

Méli-mélo de Saumon Fumé et Saumon Gravelax, Crème Légère au Piment d'Espelette - Highlighted contrasts between smoked salmon and salmon gravlax served with a light, fresh cream flavored with Espelette peppers.
   
Grapes and cheese.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/winestyr/8692988715/
   
Some chefs just seem to like the words méli-mélo and the dishes they produce may stray far from the original meaning and be more like a jumble of ingredients. If it is not clear from the menu how the tastes and textures and colors on the dish offered are supposed to contrast and to complement each other, ask or choose something else.
 
The Greeks not only influenced French cuisine with the contrasting tastes and textures of apple and honey.  At the beginning of the Jewish New Year apple and honey are served together and blessed, expressing hopes for a " good and sweet" New Year.
      
Apples and honey.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/lilachdan/15154568538/
   
Connected posts:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   
  

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

 

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 

Copyright 2010, 2016.

Ossau-Iraty AOP. One of France’s Two AOP sheep’s cheeses.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com
   

Fromage Ossau-Iraty
Ossau-Iraty AOP Cheese.

  
Ossau-Iraty AOP – A 50 % fat, non-pasteurized, smooth, firm to crumbly sheep’s milk cheese. This is a semi-hard cheese with a white to ivory color and a subtle, slightly nutty taste; the rind is yellow-orange to reddish gray. The cheese is aged for a minimum of two to three months before being sold. The aging of this cheese is very important and is done in damp, temperature-controlled cellars; the cheese is turned and brushed every few days to ensure that each cheese matures evenly.
  
The most well-known sheep's cheeses.
 
Ossau-Iraty AOP is one of the two sheep's milk cheeses granted AOP status in France. (The other is Roquefort AOP). Whole cheeses weigh 4 -5 kilos ( 9 – 11 lbs) each. Ossau-Iraty will not only be on the cheese trolley it will also be on many menus:
   
A wrapped Ossau-Iraty Cheese.
 
Ossau-Iraty on French Menus:
 
Ossau-Iraty et sa Confiture de Cerises Noires – Ossau-Iraty served together with black cherries.  This is a popular dessert
 
Figues Fraîches au Jambon Sec de Montagne et Ossau Iraty: -Fresh figs served with cured mountain ham and Ossau-Iraty.
   
Omelet melon and Ossau-Iraty cheese.
Photograph courtesy of Guillaume Simon
 
Jambon Cru, AOC Ossau-Iraty, Piment d'Espelette, Pommes de Terre Risolées, Sorbet Griotte.-  Cured Ham, Ossau-Iraty AOP Cheese, Espelette pepper, deep fried rissole potatoes and a sorbet of sour cherries.
 
Le Merlu Étuvé Lentement, Poutargue et Ossau-Iraty, Slowly steamed whiting the fish. Here, it is served with portargue, the salted and dried roe of the gray mullet, and Ossau–Iraty.
   
Aging Ossau Iraty Cheese
  
Demi Magret de Canard, Cuit au Sel de Guerande, Céleri au Miel et Galette de Pomme de Terre a  l'Ossau Iraty. Half a duck’s breast cooked on the salt from Guerand, along with celery with honey, a potato pancake, and Ossau Iraty.
.
Brochettes aux Figues Fraîches, Ossau Iraty et Jambon Sec de Modena. - Skewers of fresh figs, served with Ossau Iraty cheese and cured ham, from Modena, Italy.
 
Salade Tiède de Poires Comice, Ossau Iraty et Noisettes Torréfiées – A warm salad with comice pears, Ossau-Iraty Cheese, and roasted hazelnuts.
    

The cheese’s most important producer.

There is an age-old dispute over who first created this cheese; the dispute is between the historic regions of Béarn and the Pays Basque, the Basque Country.  Until the 1970’s the same cheese was called Ossau in Béarn and Iraty in the Pays Basque. Then someone said let us work together to market this cheese properly; that may mean increased incomes, maybe a new television, maybe a new car, maybe Common Market subsidies?. Then, voila, after hundreds of years of disagreement, a compromise was reached, and since 1970, the cheese has been called Ossau-Iraty AOP. Economics won out; the cheese itself has not changed.
 
Ossau-Iraty AOp will be on many local menus and may be offered with a salad or used as a gratin on the main dish. The longer the cheese is matured, the stronger tasting it becomes; matured Ossau-Iraty cheeses will be on the cheese trolley and in the supermarkets and, fromageries, cheese shops all over France.
 
Ossau-Iraty AOC is an important part of the local economy and you may obtain a map for their Route du Fromage AOC Ossau-Iraty, the Ossau-Iraty cheese road. This special road is prepared for just one cheese, and it does direct you to many farms that produce it, and you may taste it at different stages of maturity. Nevertheless, many of these farms make other local cheeses, and that will make your tasting more enjoyable. Wine cellars, shops, and other farms along the route may also offer, for a small additional charge, local wines that include Irouleguy and Madiran.  Those farms that make other local, though less well-known, cheeses include other sheep’s cheeses as well as cow and goat's milk cheeses. Tasting requires a small contribution to the local economy. (see AOC and Basque).

Ossau-Iraty has a French-language website. Using the Google and Bing translation apps makes their information very clear.


On the same website, you may download a PDF with their Route du Fromage:
 

  
Connected Posts:
 
 
 
 

 

 

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Copyright 2010, 2016, 2024.
 

Déglacé, Déglacer, Déglacez – Deglaze, Deglazing; Réduction – Reduction and Jus Corsé in French Cuisine.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com 

 
Checking the wine to be used in the sauce!
 
Sauces
Déglacé, Réduction and Jus Corsé 

The sauces in this post may be served with an entrée (the French first course), a plat principal (the main course), or a dessert. The names above do not refer to the ingredients, rather the method of preparation. Be aware that many French menus often contain words from the kitchen that often do not appear in travelers' French-English dictionaries.  

Translating words from French menus to English.

Some words may confuse English speakers when encountered for the first time on a French menu. That was particularly true for those who, like me, tried to translate menu listings using English words that sounded similar. Most of these words came into English from the French when William the Conqueror and his barons brought their cooks with them to England in 1066.  Since 1066, a great deal of time has passed and while the words owe their origins to French their English meanings have often changed.

Three of those words used for sauce have precise meanings, but without an explanation, they may confuse a diner. Some 40% of the English language has French roots, but we are often confused when faced with a seemingly irrational change in usage. Nevertheless, don’t blame the French. It’s the British who changed the meanings or didn’t keep up with changes in French cuisine.

Déglacé, Jus and Réduction on a French menu listing.

Menu dishes will often note that a sauce has been "deglazed" and or "reduced" or made with "Jus."  However, the words' direct translations do not tell us, the average diner, very much. Cooks, both amateur and professional, know the meanings very well, The English word juice also came from old French jus, and so jus on a French menu may include other meanings besides fruit and vegetable juice.

  


Preparing a reduction with 
shallots
Photograph courtesy of Jon-Eric Melsæter
www.flickr.com/photos/jonmelsa/10583856636/ 

Déglace - To deglaze.

Many sauces begin with the natural juices from cooked dishes, including the bones, from meats, poultry, fish, and fresh or cooked fruits and vegetables. The untouched sauce from cooking will be called a jus, a suc, or a jus corsé. Then, when an additional flavor is added, the description of how it was flavored will be on the menu listing with the word déglace. The deglazing will bring all the flavors from the original juices, including those tasty bits that may have been stuck to the base of the pan. 

Déglacé on French menus:

 

Le Filet de Loup de Mer, Braisé, Déglacé de Vin Blanc – A braised filet of European Sea Bass served with a deglazed sauce; the sauce has been made with the fish’s cooking juices flavored with the addition of white wine. A great deal of thought will have gone into choosing the right wine to create the matching taste. Ask the waiter for more information on the wine used.

 

 N.B. The Loup de Mer, theEuropean Sea Bass is mostly on French menus as Bar, but in southern France it is called Loup.

 


Deglazing.
Photograph courtesy of Cheryl DeWolfe
www.flickr.com/photos/dinnerseries/15789710686/

  

Poêlée de Saint-Jacques en Persillade Déglacer Vinaigre de Xéres – The cooking juices of lightly fried King scallops prepared with chopped parsley and garlic, and flavored with sherry vinegar.

 

You may be surprised to see PortMadeira, Sherry, and other imported wines on French menus, but they have been recognized for their significant influence on French cuisine for over 200-years.

  

Supreme de Caille Déglacer au Vieux Banyuls - Breast of quail served with its natural cooking juices flavored with an aged Banyuls AOP wine. Banyuls AOP famous for its famous sweet wines, mostly reds, from the town of Banyuls sur Mer on France’s Mediterranean coast 25 km (16 miles) from the Spanish border. Banyuls will only occasionally be on the wine list, but they will be in most restaurants’ kitchens and used for a wide variety of sauces. In restaurants where Banyuls is on the wine list, it may accompany a cheese course or be offered as a dessert wine; that is an opportunity to try a Banyuls instead of a glass of port with which it has much in common. (Banyuls also have rosé and white wines). The European quail is a smaller cousin of the North-American quail, and the one on this menu is farm-raised.

 

Banyuls-sur-Mer

Photograph courtesy of Jorge Franganillo

www.flickr.com/photos/franganillo/20603924884/

 

Magret de Canard Déglacé au Vinaigre de Framboise -  Duck breast prepared and served with a  sauce deglazed with raspberry vinegar. Duck nearly always works well when cooked with a fruit sauce and only rarely will that be a sweet fruit; here raspberry vinegar takes away the fruit’s natural sweetness.


Raspberry Vinegar
Photograph courtesy of Rhian
www.flickr.com/photos/rhian/2138548884/

Why the act of changing a flavor is also called deglazing in English, I do not know; however, in the French kitchen, tradition is tradition, and so it is déglacé. The addition of wine or another liquid to deglaze a sauce increases the volume, and that brings in the next part of this post, the réduction.

The Réduction - The Reduction

After creating a new sauce with a combination of the natural cooking juices and an added flavor, the chef may need to reduce the volume of the new sauce and thicken it to concentrate the flavor; that is the reduction.

In modern French cuisine, no good chef will thicken a sauce by adding flour. Adding flour may be quick and easy, but flour or cornflour changes the taste of a sauce. The thickening, the reduction, will be done by allowing the sauce to reach a low boil and evaporate on the stove.

Menu listings often appear on a menu using the words déglacé and or réduction in the title. Sometimes the two words becomes muddled; however, as long as we know the meaning, no harm is done.

The final taste is more important than the technical names used and most menus will note the wine, liquor, eau de vie, herbs, or fruits used to change the taste. They will have changed and concentrated the flavor of the original cooking juices, and a deglazed sauce has been created.

The final taste of the sauce is apparent when the sauce has been thickened, reduced in quantity, and the taste concentrated.  


Fennel Crusted Lamb Sirloin, 
Farm Fresh Grilled Summer 
Vegetable Ratatouille Crispy Parsnips, and a Bordelaise Reduction Sauce
Photograph courtesy of Didriks
www.flickr.com/photos/dinnerseries/5062734490/

The French diner is used to menu listings including the names of the herbs used, the method of cooking, and sometimes the name of the kitchen equipment used. In many cases local diners will already know the high standards of a particular product, even the name of the farm where the chickenspigeonsoysters, or lambs were grown and so they may be included in a listing.

Réduction on French menus: 

Le Filet de Lieu Noir Rôti et sa Réduction de Crème de Morilles – A filet of saithe, pollack in the USA. The fish will be roasted and served with a reduced and creamy sauce flavored with morel mushrooms. (The fish is also called Merluche in France).


Brussel sprouts drizzled with a balsamic reduction
before roasting.
Photograph courtesy of Robert Couse-Baker
www.flickr.com/photos/29233640@N07/49802274571/

  

Onglet de Bœuf de Salers, Réduction de Bière à la Cerise - A hangar or skirt steak from the much-appreciated Salers beef. The steak will have been grilled and served with the reduced sauce made with a cherry-flavored beer. The cows from the Salers cattle produce the milk for the Salers AOP and Cantal AOP cheeses, and so most of these steaks will have come from bulls or bullocks. The beer used here is likely to be a Belgian Kriek cherry-flavored beer. The Belgians have hundreds of beers, more than France has cheeses, and their Kriek beers are very popular. Though not the case here, the cut called an onglet, the hanger or skirt steak, is the cut most often seen behind France’s excellent but relatively inexpensive steak frites.

 

 


Thyme flavored Duck Breast with a Red Wine Reduction
Photograph courtesy of Mike Fleming
www.flickr.com/photos/flem007_uk/3562993273/

 

Pavé de Filet de Bœuf à la Réduction de Marcillac et Échalotes  - A large cut from a beef fillet served with a reduced sauce made from the red Marcillac wine (from the department of Aveyron in south-western France) and shallots. (For ordering a steak cooked the way you prefer, click here). 

 

Carpaccio de Saumon, Réduction de Balsamique et Baies Rouges  A Carpaccio of salmon served with a sauce made from reduced Balsamic Vinegar and berries.

On a dessert menu, sauces served with fruits and pastries may also have been flavored; on a menu listing, that flavoring may also be noted as a reduction.

Reduced sauces on French dessert menus:


Ananas Rôti aux Épices Réduction de Jus d'Orange – Pineapples roasted with spices and served with a reduced orange sauce.

 

Tarte aux Pommes avec Reduction de Cidre et au Grand Marnier – An apple tart served with a reduction of cider and Grand Marnier.

Grand Marnier is a liqueur, a blend of cognac and bitter oranges. Despite being created in the 1880s, Grand Marnier remains one of France’s most famous and best-selling liquors. The inventor, Louis-Alexandre Marnier-Lapostolle, was not a shy man and gave his invention his name, to which he added the title Grand.

 

About 20 years before the creation of Grand Marnier, a wine merchant and businessman from the Norman Atlantic town of Fecamp calling himself Alexandre Le Grand, Alexander the Great in English, claimed to have discovered an old Benedictine recipe. In his family’s library, he found a 16th-century Bénédictine manuscript with the recipe for the original orange liqueur made in the original Bénédictine monastery in the town. The liqueur recreated from the recipe is the sweet, orange, and honey flavored, 40% proof, a liqueur called Benedictine D.O.M.  Benedictine D.O.M is also in many French kitchens and often on the list of digestifs offered at the end of the meal.


A bottle of Bénédictine D.O.M.
Photograph courtesy of Bacardi-Martini

Sauces made directly from a Jus Corsé,
the natural cooking juices.

When a sauce is made from the natural cooking juices alone (water may be added), that sauce is called a jus, a suc, a jus de cuisson or a jus course.

Originally a jus corsé was a sauce or gravy based on veal or beef stock along with the marrow from the bones; apart from water, not even wine was added. Today jus and jus corsé have moved on; your menu may offer a jus corsé for fish, seafood and vegetables that may be flavored with small additions of herbs, spices, fruits, vinegar or wine.

Jus Corsé on French Menus:

  

Fillet de Boeuf Jus Corsé, Gratin de Macaronis – A beef fillet served in its natural cooking juices and accompanied by macaroni browned in the oven with added cheese, usually Parmesan or Gruyere.

   

 

Guinea Hen with Irish Oat Risotto, Figs,

and a Port-Black Pepper Reduction

Photograph courtesy of Chris Chen 陳依勤

www.flickr.com/photos/cchen/52629630/

 

 

Langoustines Roties au Jus Corse – Langoustine, the Dublin Bay Prawn, Scampi, also called the Norwegian Lobster, served in its natural cooking juices. Despite the traditional English names, the langoustine is neither a prawn nor a shrimp; nor are practically any of them caught near Dublin. Do not confuse langoustine with the much larger langoustethe langouste is the spiny lobster and owner of the lobster tail. Dublin Bay prawns grow up to 20 cm (8"), but most of those seen in restaurants are rarely more than 15 cm (6"). Dublin Bay prawns may look like tiny two-clawed lobsters, but they are a very, very, very distant member of that lobster family.   

 



Langoustine – A Dublin Bay prawn


There is no meat in the head of a Dublin Bay Prawn and little or none in the

 claws.


The only meat is in the tail.
Photographcourtesy of pierrO

https://www.flickr.com/photos/poil0do/2502522679/

Suprême de Volaille Farci a la Tapenade, Jus Corsé - Breast of chicken flavored with tapenade and served with the natural cooking juices. The tapenade used here for flavor is a Provençal anchoyade spread, made with anchovies, olives, garlic, olive oil, and added capers. The Provençal word for capers is tapéno, and so when we add capers to an anchoyade, we have a tapenade.

  

French diners grow up knowing about herbs and sauces. It is not enough to offer a braised or roast fish or steak. If a chef is preparing a dish with a sauce or herb, the diner wants to know all about it.

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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman 
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com 
Copyright 2010, 2015, 2021,2024.

 
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