from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com
A faux-filet with French fries
and Sauce Bearnaise.
Photograph courtesy of stu_spivac
www.flickr.com/photos/stuart_spivack/4848411280/
A faux filet (also called a contre-filet) is a rich
and juicy cut taken from just below the entrecote (the US and UK ribeye). The way the steaks from this cut are prepared
and the sauces they will be served with make this a delightful part of your
culinary journey in France. You’ll be
thinking where can I get steaks like this back home.
The cut of beef shown above is known as a sirloin steak in
the UK and a strip steak in the USA (it may
also be called a Kansas City Strip or a Delmonico). The names may be different,
but they all describe a cut prepared very differently back home. Be aware that when the French menu has an
English translation only one of the English names will be used so it pays to have access to the names of the important French cuts; download the ebook version of this
book to your phone.
French chefs take meticulous care when preparing a faux-filet
dedicating more time and attention than that
ofm an average US or UK steakhouse. If a faux-filet
needs tenderizing, a French chef will rarely resort to simply hammering it.
Instead, they'll often use a red wine marinade to tenderize the meat while
preserving its shape and integrity. Whether
grilled, roasted, or lightly pan-fried, a faux-filet is best enjoyed
cooked from rare to medium, at the very most medium- well. Cooking this cut
well-done will inevitably result in a tough, less enjoyable steak.
Examples of a faux filet on a French menus:
Duo de Veau: Ris de Veau aux Morillons, Pavé de
Contre-filet de Veau Rôti
– A two-part serving of veal served together. You will be served veal sweetbreads prepared with the morillons, “the half-free morel”
mushroom and a thick, roasted veal faux-filet (the UK sirloin and the US strip steak).
Ris de Veau: Sweetbreads are the joy of gourmands around the
world and one of the finest and most easily digested cuts from veal and
lamb. Sweetbreads are best prepared with
simple recipes, that enhances their flavor.
Sweetbreads are the thymus glands or the pancreas, preferably from young
animals. Apart from some rural restaurants French chefs only use lamb and
veal.
Some diners have been pushed have been led to belive they wouldn't enjoy the inside cuts from veal such a sweetbreads and liver and almost certainly never had the chance to taste sweetbreads or calves' liver, etc. The menu-listing above is the perfect opportunity to try sweetbreads, their delicate flavor will shine through. Even if after trying sweetbreads you decide that they are not for you the veal steak on the same plate ensures that you will not be left hungry.
Morillons: The
half-free morels are wild mushrooms that resembles and tastes very much like its
family member, the true morel mushroom. However, it has a smaller cap and a
longer stem.
Morel mushrooms are a
whole family of somewhat odd-looking but delicious mushrooms. This mushroom
family lacks the gills and shape of regular mushrooms, but that does not mean
they are not very tasty. The half-free morel stems will be cooked with the cap
and stem; the stories about the true
morel stems not being edible are an urban legend; they simply need to be cooked
for a longer. However, according to more than one chef, all mushrooms from the
Morel family must be well-cooked and never served raw.
On
the left a morillon, the half-free morel mushroom
On
the right a morille, a morel mushroom.
Both
mushrooms come with different colored caps.
Carpaccio de Contre-filet de Boeuf et Copeaux de
Parmesan - A carpaccio, very thin
slices of beef, from the UK sirloin, the
USA strip steak, served with shavings of Parmesan
cheese.
Carpaccio: The nearly paper-thin
slices of beef marinated in virgin olive oil and lemon will nearly cover the
serving plate. The meat is drizzled with a white sauce made from fresh
mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, and lemon juice; shavings of Parmesan cheese
are often added. The thinly sliced marinated beef has a texture so delicate that it almost melts in your mouth, along with a flavor that is the Carpaccio's own.
The dish's original creator was an Italian,
Giuseppe Cipriani (1900–1980), owner of Harry's Bar in Venice, Italy. According
to the Cipriani tradition, the dish was created for a regular customer of
Harry's Bar whose doctor had forbidden her to eat cooked meat. It was created
in the 1950s and called Carpaccio di Manzo, which is Italian for Beef
Carpaccio. Cipriani named the dish in honor of the famous Venetian
Renaissance painter Vittore Carpaccio (1460 – 1526).
Changes have been made to the original
Carpaccio, and today there is a whole world of Carpaccios. Still, the most
popular is the original, paper-thin beef. However, Carpaccios now include other
meats, fish, shellfish, and vegetables; but all the new Carpaccios have at
least one thing in common: they are nearly all uncooked, although some meat and
fish may have been marinated, and shellfish, such as shrimp, may be lightly
cooked.
Copeaux: On the menu copeaux indicates shavings, thin cuts or flakes of an ingredient; a versatile term that can describe a variety of items, from cured ham and foie gras to vegetables and truffles, as well as hard cheeses like Parmesan. On a beef Carpaccio, you may find Parmesan cheese shavings, and on a cake, you might find chocolate flakes. These delicate shavings are often an integral part of a dish, providing contrasting textures and flavors that are at the heart of many dishes.
z 
Beef Carpaccio with
Parmesan cheese flakes.
Faux-filet de Bœuf Sauce Poivre
Vert ou Cèpes - A UK sirloin, a US strip steak, prepared with a green
pepper
sauce and served with wild French
cepes, (porcini), mushrooms.
Poivre Vert: Green pepper. Most French pepper steaks are prepared with green peppercorns, and for good reason. Their milder profile makes green pepper sauce easier to control, ensuring the dish is perfectly seasoned without overpowering the other flavors. When a more fiery taste is desired, poivre noir, black peppercorns will be used.
Whether noir, black; blanc, white; rouge, red, or vert, green, these are all the same fruit; however, they are picked at different times and treated differently. Each of these four peppercorns offers a distinct level of heat and flavor. Also, be aware that there are many plants with 'pepper' in their name; however, if your French menu only notes the single word Poivre, followed by a color, then that pepper will have come from peppercorns. Peppercorns took their name from the Indian Sanskrit name pippali. The peppercorns’ grow on vines with a possible 1,500 peppercorns on a single vine.
Cèpe: The Cèpe or Porcini (also called the Penny Bun in English) is one of the tastiest wild mushrooms. France is blessed with many pine forests, and those are the trees that wild Cèpe likes. In season fresh French Cèpes, as Porcinis elsewhere will be on many menus. That is the time to enjoy the many ways that French chefs offer Cèpes. Dried Cèpe (Porcini) mushrooms are also popular out of season because they offer a more intense, earthy flavor compared to many fresh mushrooms, and they have a long shelf life. Their ability to be stored for extended periods makes them a convenient and versatile ingredient, especially since fresh Cèpes are difficult to cultivate and in France are in season from July through October though those dates depend on the weather and the region.
CèpePorcini or Penny
Bun MushroomPhotograph courtesy
of Maxime
THIBAULT
A faux-filet with French fries.
Photograph courtesy of Joanna Poe
www.flickr.com/photos/jopoe/3676325679/
A sirloin roast was never knighted by an English king or
queen.`
At this point, it may be a good time to remove a rather unnecessary story that floats around the USA and UK dining rooms. A loin cut was never knighted by an English King or Queen, hereby creating a Sir Loin—that is nonsense. Instead, much of the English in today's kitchen, including the word 'sirloin,' comes from the changes the French connection brought to the English kitchen brought by William the Conqueror and his friends. The French word sur means 'above'; so the sirloin is, for the British, a 'sur-loin,' a cut above the loin. Additionally, discussions with British, French, and American butchers and their various diagrams confirm that the British sirloin is what the USA butchers call the short loin.
The USA and UK cuts are not the same.
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Ordering a Steak in France, Cooked the Way you Like it.
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The Cèpe, The Porcini Mushroom Grows Wild in France. Enjoy the Tasty Wild Mushrooms Of France III.
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What Does Copeaux Mean on a French Menu?
