Bœuf
Fin Gras du Mézenc AOP. The Finest Beef in
France and Only on French Menus Between February and Early June.
from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
Finely
marbled beef.
Photograph
courtesy of Alpha
www.flickr.com/photos/avlxyz/4450266254/
The Fin Gras du
Mézenc AOP cattle are raised in the high-altitude pastures of
France's Mézenc Massif, which spans the Ardèche and Haute-Loire departments in
the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The Fin
Gras du Mézenc cattle yield a truly exceptional beef that begins here where the
pastures are over 1,100 meters high and the rich grasses, upon which the cattle
graze for over six months a year, include over forty different herbs and
mountain flowers. These AOP-certified cattle have finely
marbled beef and will only be on the menu between February and early June. The
cognoscenti, with calendars in hand, watch specific restaurants that feature
this beef on their menus every year.
This remarkable
beef is a seasonal delicacy, available only between February and early June.
Discerning diners eagerly anticipate its arrival, tracking specific
restaurants. However, even in Paris and Lyon—France’s two capitals of
fine dining— relatively few French diners have the opportunity to taste this
remarkable beef, as less than 800 head of cattle reach the market every year in
a country of over 68,000,000 people. While excellent for steaks, the
actual depth of this beef's flavor and texture is best experienced in
slow-cooked dishes like stews and roasts, where its unique characteristics can
shine without the dominance of grill or frying flavors.
Hikers
with a farmer and his calf in Mézenc
Photograph
courtesy of Peter
Lorre.
On a few select menus between February
and early June:
Belles Tranches de Bœuf AOP Fin Gras
du Mézenc Justes Marinées et Condiments d’une Béarnaise
–Beautifully marinated Slices of AOP Fin Gras du Mézenc Beef with
Béarnaise Condiments (This dish sounds like a Fin Gras du Mézenc take on
a Carpaccio).
Condiments d’une Béarnaise
- The flavoring elements that define Sauce Béarnaise, though possibly
it's just menuise, the language of menus. At the same time, it may
be that Sauce Béarnaise itself is a prominent feature. Ask.
Pièce de Bœuf Fin Gras du Mézenc
à la Plancha et Purée aux Cèpes – A
large steak prepared on a plancha accompanied
by mashed potatoes and French porcini
mushrooms.
Pièce
de Bœuf – Can
translate as a large steak and this is often the case, especially in a
restaurant setting. However, check the price and ask for more information.
A Plancha or Planxa - An
original Basque cooking tool. The plancha is a flat iron sheet,
almost one and a half centimeters (0.6”) thick that provides a very even method
of cooking that uses very little oil and results in a taste of its own. The
modern plancha may look like the flat cooking plate of a fast-food
restaurant, but look again carefully, it has three times the thickness and
produces a very even heat. (Apart from the Basques the Spanish also claim
ownership of the plancha).
Bourguignon de
Boeuf "Fin Gras du Mézenc" AOP - A beef Bourguignonne made
with the beef from the Fin Gras du Mézenc AOP.
Bœuf à la Bourguignonne
- A beef stew braised in a red Burgundy wine that is so much part of French
cuisine that it will, in the winter, be on menus all over France. The meat will have been marinated for 24
hours in a dry red Burgundy wine, and that is the secret. No other wine will
do. After marinating, the beef will be allowed to cook slowly with added wine, veal
stock and vegetables. Bacon, in the form of lardons, bacon
pieces, may sometimes be added for flavoring; the dish will, traditionally, be
served with boiled potatoes.
Bœuf
Bourguignonne
Tartare Fin Gras du Mézenc de en
Rouleau, Croquette de Joues et Queues de
Bœuf au Sésame –
A steak
tartar from the Fin Gras du Mézenc
rolled and served alongside fried croquets made with beef cheeks and ox-tails
flavored with sesame. Instead of the typical mound of tartare, here it’s served
shaped into a roll, possibly within some kind of edible "roll" (like
a spring roll wrapper), though that’s less likely for tartare.
Croquettes -Small,
breaded, and deep-fried rolls or balls, typically containing a thick mixture of
finely chopped meat, fish, or vegetables bound with a béchamel sauce or similar
binder. The name comes from the French word croquer, meaning “to
crunch,” which is exactly what you get on the outside. The meat comes from beef
cheeks and ox-tails decorated with sesame.
Joues de Bœuf - Beef cheeks are a cut of meat
that is well-suited to slow cooking, becoming incredibly tender and flavorful
when braised. They are a popular choice in French bistro cuisine.
Queues de Bœuf
- Oxtails are also a cut of beef ideal for long, slow cooking, resulting in a
rich, deeply flavored, and tender meat that easily falls off the bone.
Au Sésame:
This means "with sesame" or decorated with sesame. This suggests that
toasted sesame seeds are incorporated into the croquette mixture or used as a
coating, adding a nutty and aromatic dimension to the dish.
Steak
Tartar
Photograph courtesy of
NwongPR
www.flickr.com/photos/nwongpr/6999679796/
Côte de Boeuf de
Fin Gras du Mézenc, Simplement Poêlée, Jus Corsé à la Syrah (pour
deux personnes) -
A bone-in beef
rib simply fried in a jus corsé, the natural cooking
juices, flavored with a Syrah red wine. This
serving is for a minimum of two diners as a beef rib is a very large portion.
Jus Corsé
- The natural cooking juices and Syrah red wine flavors this sauce. (Syrah is
best known outside France as Shiraz).
Here on the Mézenc Massif, one may begin to
understand the importance of the French concept of Terroir. Terroir
refers to a single location where land and climate combine to produce
consistently superior and unique food products, wines, and, in this case, the
finest beef. Here, the contribution of nurture and nature clearly shows the
difference. Other French AOP cattle are specific breeds, and the Fin Gras du Mézenc
is not. They are mixed herds, and the taste can only be down to
Terroir.
Before being taken
to market, the Boeuf de Fin Gras du Mézenc must have passed two summers freely
grazing on the Mézenc Massif above 1,100 meters. When they are brought down for
the winter, they may only be fed hay that was grown in the same pastures where
they grazed in the summer, along with limited amounts of cereal and other
naturally grown products.
Mont
Mézenc, 1754 meters
and La
Grosse Roche, Haute-Loire.
Photograph courtesy
of Olive Titus
www.flickr.com/photos/96064256@N04/35865172485/
The cattle are only sent to market from
February through June, which means that the youngest animals are sent to market
at 24 months, while most are over 30 months old. As with all AOP cattle, they
must be raised without the use of antibiotics and growth hormones, and the
calves must be raised by their mothers.
How
do you know the beef really is the Fin Gras du Mézenc?
The Fin Gras du
Mézenc AOP also has traceability, which prevents other cattle from being sold
under this valuable name. All animals raised for sale will have a piece of
cartilage taken from their ears, which allows a DNA test to be made at any time
during the marketing of the beef. Now high-tech tests can connect
the meat on your plate to the farmer who raised the beef.
The Mézenc Massif
is very sparsely populated; for the visitor, this area offers a view of a
distinctly different France well away from the crowds. Even in the
winter, when the Massif has cross-country and some downhill skiing, those who
visit are the sports lovers who want to get away from the crowds in the most
popular skiing areas. In the summer, there is rock climbing, hiking, fishing,
and mountain biking.
Winter
in the Mézenc Massif
Photograph courtesy of Gabriel
De Siam
www.flickr.com/photos/gcardaire/39972710994/
The Fête du Fin Gras du Mézenc
The first
weekend of June is the Fête du Fin Gras du Mézenc AOP, the feast of the Fin
Gras du Mézenc AOP. During
the fête, each of the villages around the area grew from a few hundred
inhabitants to 4,000 and more. All visitors will come to watch parades of
cattle, along with sales of other farm-made products, including local cheeses,
conserves, honey, and more.
The festive dinners based on the Fin
Gras du Mézenc AOP are the
main attractions. The villages in the départements of Ardèche and
Haute-Loire alternately divide the responsibilities for the fête. The
Fête's website is in French, but it can be easily understood with the help of
the Google Translate or Microsoft Translate apps. The French government
tourist office will also have the names of the villages hosting next year's fête
https://www.maisondufingras.com/f%C3%AAte-du-fin-gras
Farmer
with a young bull he is bringing to the fete.
Photograph courtesy of the Maison du Fin Gras du
Mézenc
Parade in
the Fête du Fin Gras du Mézenc
Photograph courtesy of
the Maison du Fin Gras du Mézenc
Sel de Cistre
Salt of Alpine fennel
If you are in the area of the small village of Chaudeyrolles at any time of the year, in the Haute-Loire, visit their Maison du Fin Gras du Mézenc AOP; their information center for these fine cattle. Here, they will tell you all about their cattle, emphasizing their traditional methods of farming, show videos, and also offer recipes. The information center also sells jars of Sel de Cistre, a salt made from the plant called the Cerfeuil des Alpes or Fenouil de Montane, also known as Alpine fennel. According to the locals, this wild herb adds tremendous flavor to any steak.
Cerfeuil
des Alpes, Cittern, Fenouil de Montagne or Fenouil de Alpe
Alpine
Fennel
Photograph
courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library
https://www.flickr.com/photos/biodivlibrary/6298809304/
------------------------------
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Behind
the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
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