Behind the French Menu

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

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Bryan G. Newman

Updated April 2017
bryangnewman@gmail.com

The European seabass

Photograph courtesy of 4johnny5

www.flickr.com/photos/johnny4ever5/3579578115/

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.

European seabass and mussels

Photograph courtesy of Karen Bryan

www.flickr.com/photos/europealacarte/24283530739/

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

Photograph courtesy of Sharrod Glover.

www.flickr.com/photos/95046011@N07/9711945371/

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.

If you want a fish go out and catch your own.

Photograph courtesy of Bob Tilden

www.flickr.com/photos/bobtilden/4865232514/

Carpaccio de Loup – A Carpaccio of sea bass.

At the fish market in Sète

Photograph courtesy of Céline MOSNIER

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).

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Bryan G. Newman

Behind the French Menu

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behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Barbue - Brill, the Fish. Brill in French Cuisine.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Barbue – Brill.

Photograph courtesy of Wing, the Cornish Fishmonger.

Brill is a tasty but mild, well-textured fish, with firm white meat. On French menus Brill will be grilled or sautéed, but, just as often poached or baked, but always served with a sauce. Many recipes initially created for turbot are also offered for brill.

A braised brill filet

Photograph courtesy of Chris Pople

www.flickr.com/photos/60173925@N06/16121440667/

Brill and turbot are often confused though they have some recognizable differences but are related flatfish. Wild turbot and brill have a very a similar taste and texture with the experts giving turbot a slightly stronger taste and somewhat firmer flesh. Despite that, since both turbot and brill are usually served with a sauce few of us can tell them apart when cooked.

The most famous brill recipe is still on menus today though it was created over 150 years ago; that recipe is Filets de Barbue Duglére, brill in the manner of Duglére. In France's culinary history of Haute Cuisine Adolphe Duglére is one of its most famous and creative chefs.

Brill on French menus:

Barbue Sauvage Sauce aux Crustacés, et Pineau des Charentes - Wid brill served with a sauce made from crustaceans, (that will be mainly from shrimps and Dublin Bay Prawns) flavored with Pineau des Charentes, the Aperitif of France’s Cognac region. Pineau des Charentes comes in two versions, whites, really light to dark yellows, and rosés, with some of the rosés dark enough to be called reds. These are wines whose aging and fermentation has been stopped by the addition of Cognac. (Despite this menu listing's emphasis all brill are wild).

Filets de Barbue Duglére - Filets of brill in the manner of the chef Duglére. Here the fish is poached in the oven in a sauce based on fish stock, tomatoes, parsley, butter, shallots, and white wine. This dish was created while Dugléré was the executive chef, at the legendary Café Anglais, Paris and is still on many menus though the Café Anglais closed 100 years ago.

Filets de Barbue Duglére

Photograph courtesy of Skyrock.com

Filet de Barbue Snacké, Faitout de Coques, Palourdes et Couteaux au Jus de Chlorophylle, Émulsion de Crevettes Grises – A lightly braised filet of brill served with a casserole of cockles, clams, and razor clams cooked in a green, vegetable broth and served in a thick sauce made from grey sand shrimps. French menus often include the named of the cooking utensils used and the faitout used here is a casserole; the same cooking pot may elsewhere be called a marmite. Chlorophylle is chlorophyll, the green pigment of plants that allows photosynthesis. Here the chef is telling the diner that the green color of the broth comes from green leaf vegetables. Depending on the vegetable used, for example, spinach, watercress, kale, cabbage, peas, and mint; the color may or may not add flavor.

Tronçon de Barbue Rôti au Beurre Salé et Velouté d'Huître Fine de Claire - A generous cut of brill roasted with a lightly salted butter and served with a velvety sauce made with fine de claire oysters. This cut, a tronçon, (pronounced tronson) is a traditional name used for filets from flatfish. Despite its origins tronçon is now used for a cut of meat also. Fines de claire are oysters fattened for approximately one month before being sent to market.

Filet de Barbue, Noix de Saint-Jacques au Boudin Noir - Filet of brill prepared with the meat of the king scallop and slices of black pudding sausage.

Brill, Oysters, Wasabi, Cucumber amazingness

Photograph courtesy of Simon Doggett

www.flickr.com/photos/simondee/1686890671/

Are brill and turbot different?

The two fish have similar tastes and textures. Consequently, restaurants have been known to use the smaller but similar tasting and less expensive barbue, brill, when wild turbot is unavailable, and I have seen a Parisian fish shop that was very clearly selling brill marked as turbot. In a fishmonger's you can tell brill from turbot when they are uncooked and unskinned. The absence of the protruding skin bubbles that clearly mark a turbot is a clear giveaway. Brill also have scales while turbot has none. Wild turbot may be over 70 cms long and a wild brill that reaches 50 cms long is a large brill. However, since much of the turbot on French menus comes from farmed fish when you do see brill on the menu go for it. Fish are what they eat.

Filet de Barbue, Artichaut Poivrade et Sauce aux Olives Vertes

Filet of brill served with baby artichokes and a green olive sauce.

Photograph courtesy of Pavillon France.

Brill in the languages of France’s neighbors:

(Catalan - Rèmol), (Dutch - griet ,(German – glattbutt), (Italian - rombo liscio), (Spanish -– corujo).

Brill in other languages:

(Chinese (Mandarin) –菱鲆), (Danish- slethvarre), (Greek – Ρομβοπισί, romvopisi), (Hebrew – putit, פוטית).. (Portuguese - rodovalho ), (Rumanian - calcan mic), (Russian – Romb), (Ukrainian - gladkii kalkan), (Turkish - Çivisizkalkan balığı). (Latin - scophthalmus rhombus). With thanks for assistance in these languages to Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2014. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version (11/2014).

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