Behind the French Menu

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

French menus may offer Bœuf Stroganoff, Bœuf Stroganov, Emincé de Bœuf Stroganoff, or Filet de Bœuf Façon Stroganov. English language menus may offer Beef Stroganoff or Beef Stroganov.

Despite this dish’s Russian name, its creation would seem to be distinctly French. Thin slices of beef are cut from the fillet and accompanied by fried onions and mushrooms prepared in butter. The dish is then covered with white wine, paprika, and crème fraiche sauce lightly flavored with mustard and served with rice or thin dumplings on the side.

One look at the ingredients in the dish noted above, and you see France written all over the recipe; however, the chef who created this dish did not leave his signature. The arguments over the origins of this dish point to Russian cooking methods that are very different.

Boeuf Stroganoff

Photograph courtesy of Cuisine Actuelle, Thys/Supperdelux/Sucré salé.

An otherwise very knowledgeable French Maitre D’ advised me that this dish was named for a famous Russian diplomat, Count Pavel Stroganoff, in 1890. However, when I checked up on Count Pavel Stroganoff, I discovered that this renowned member of the Stroganoff family died in 1817; that would have been long before the dish was created.

French chefs only became important for the Russian aristocracy after Csar Alexander I hired that most famous of French chefs Antonin Carême in 1817. After that date the most probable Stroganov to hire a French chef and have a dish name after himself was Sergei Grigoriyevich Stroganov (1794–1882). Sergei Stroganov founded the Moscow Arts and Industrial Institute in 1825 and was the governor-general of Moscow from 1859 to 1860. He seems the most suitable candidate. Unfortunately, I cannot find out who his chef was.

Sergei Grigoriyevich Stroganov (1794–1882)

Photograph courtesy of es-kiz.ru

By the 1870s, there were no male Stroganoffs outside of the royal family to carry on the name, so Sergei Grigoriyevich Stroganov probably does hold the honor of Beef Stroganoff.

Today’s French chefs use crème fraiche while modern Russian recipes indicate the use of sour cream. Sour cream is not available in every French supermarket; just as crème fraiche is rarely seen in Russia and would have been completely unavailable in the 1800s. French chef’s working in Russia one hundred and fifty years ago would have used sour cream. When they returned home in the absence of sour cream, the traditional crème fraiche would have been used.

Inside the Stroganoff Palace.

St Petersburg, Russia.

Photograph courtesy of Alejandro

www.flickr.com/photos/43547009@N00/26656647604/

Connected Posts:

Antonin Carême: The Most Influential Chef in the History of French Cuisine.

Beurre - Butter. Butter in French Cuisine.

Champignons on French Menus. The Champignon de Paris, the Button Mushroom in French Cuisine. The Mushrooms of France I.

Crème Fraîche - Creme Fraiche. What is Crème Fraîche? Crème Fraîche on French Menus.

Moutarde – Mustard and Dijon Mustard in French cuisine.

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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com
Copyright 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2024.

from

Behind the French Menu

Bryan G. Newman

Updated July 2019

bryangnewman@gmail.com

Absinthe Robette Poster 1896

Photograph courtesy of trialsanderrors

www.flickr.com/photos/trialsanderrors/3060320478/

In the late 19th century, absinthe was a successful French export and one of the most fashionable drinks. Then, after hundreds of lives had been destroyed by the early 20th-century absinthe was finally outlawed in most of Europe and the USA. France was among the last to ban absinthe in 1915.

The original absinthe

The original formula for Absinthe came with an over 60% alcohol content along with a very popular aniseed taste; those two ingredients were the pathway to marketing glory. What was unknown, to the consumers and the producer's was that absinthe came with a very high neurotoxin count. Neurotoxins affect the nervous system, and the original formula of absinthe was addictive and sent heavy-drinkers into a world of hallucinations. For quite a number the result was permanent neurological damage.

Advert for Van Gough Absente Absinthe.

Photograph courtesy of Adam Russell

www.flickr.com/photos/blackplastic/2288230492/

Absinthe and its formerly secret formula had been created in Switzerland as a patent medicine. That formula was sold to a Swiss businessman Daniel Henri Dubied (1758-1841) who began distilling absinthe in Switzerland in 1797. Daniel Dubied’s partners were his son Marcelin (1785-1841) and his son-in-law Henri-Louis Pernod (1776-1851). Absinthe, with its secret formula and background as a medicine, was instantly in demand.

Absinthe production came to France in the early 1800s.

With demand in France growing Henri-Louis Pernod would, with his son Jules-Félix Pernod (1871-1928), open a factory in France to supply the fast-growing French market. The first Pernod distillery was opened just over the Swiss border in France, in the town of Pontarlier, in the department of Doubs in the region of Franche-Comté now part of the new super-region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Today the department of Doubs is more famous for its cheeses, sausages, and hams including Mont-d'Or AOP, Morbier AOP. French Gruyere IGP, Comté AOP, Saucisse de Montbéliard and Saucisse de Morteau

Absinthe and the Green Fairy, the La Fée Verte.

Absinthe was nicknamed, in France, the La Fée Verte, the Green Fairy; this referred to the liquor’s green color which changed to a cloudy white when water was added; very similar in manner to today’s Pernod, Pastis, Ricard, etc. When absinthe was banned in France in 1915 Louis Pernod’s new drink Pernod, and Pastis still turned green and filled his son’s Jules-Félix Pernod’s (1871-1928) bank account with that other green stuff.

A few of the famous artists who drank absinthe.

The French poet Paul Verlaine was an alcoholic and hooked on absinthe, he is the eldest of the group mentioned here and died at age 52. Vincent Van Gogh, that great genius of an artist, cut off his ear, and then killed himself at age 37. Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, despite being confined to a sanatorium managed to discharge himself and passed away at age 37. Oscar Wilde may not have died from drinking Absinthe, but it certainly did help him along, and he died aged 45.

The new Absinthe.

Nearly 100 years after Absinthe was banned a new and radically different version of absinthe, with a different formula and very different neurotoxins came on the market. France permitted the sale of these new versions of absinthe in 2011. The new absinthe is much closer to today’s Pernod, Pastis, Ricard, etc., The main flavor comes from anise, aniseed.

Absinthe on sale today.

Photograph courtesy of Mike Steele

www.flickr.com/photos/21022123@N04/34414894613/

Today's absinthe on French menus:

Escalope de Dinde à la Crème à l’Absinthe – Turkey breast prepared with a cream sauce flavored with absinthe.

Feuilleté d' Escargots Crémés à l'Absinthe - Puff pastry leaves or cups filled with chopped snails prepared in a creamy sauce flavored with absinthe.

Ganache de Chocolat et son Sorbet à l'Absinthe - Chocolate melted into fresh cream on top of a sorbet flavored with absinthe. A sorbet is made from sweetened fruit puree, a type of water-ice.

An Absinthe shop.

Photograph courtesy of Colores Mari

www.flickr.com/photos/nachoeuropa/6519138037/

Papilotte de Dorade Royale à l'Absinthe- Gilthead sea bream scented with absinthe cooked inside a bag of parchment paper. En papillote seals in all the flavors of a dish while it is cooking; when ready it will be opened for the diner to enjoy the aroma.

St Jacques Juste Saisies, Beurre Blanc à l'Absinthe – The meat of the king scallop perfectly seared, prepared with a beurre blanc sauce flavored with absinthe. Juste Saisies, perfectly seared, is the only way to cook scallops; any more and a delicate scallop loses its flavor and much of its texture. Beurre blanc is one of France's favorite sauces for fish and seafood.

Pastis, Pernod, Ricard, Granier Mon Pastis

All were produced to replace the original but banned absinthe.

Photograph courtesy of Kenn Wilson

www.flickr.com/photos/kchrist/339160004/

An educational exercise.

As an educational exercise see the original of Degas’s painting of a woman, L'Absinthe in the Musée d'Orsay, Paris. That painting should give you an idea of the original absinthe’s effect.

L'absinthe by Degas.

Pernod’s name remains well-known today as the producer of Pernod, the very popular aniseed-flavored drink that replaced their original absinthe in 1916. The company Pernod joined, in 1975, with another famous pastis distillery Ricard to become Pernod-Ricard. Pernod-Ricard is now an international company that also owns Absolute Vodka, Chivas Regal Whisky, Jameson’s Irish Whiskey, Seagram’s Gin, Mumm Champagne among many other well-known liquors and wines.

Today’s Pernod Absinthe

Photograph courtesy of Dominic Lockyer

www.flickr.com/photos/farehamwine/12500278875/

Visiting the history of absinthe in France.

The painters' village.

If you wish to know more about the history of absinthe and to see where Van Gogh, Cézanne, Pissarro and others lived and worked, then visit the small town of Auvers-sur-Oise. Auvers-sur-Oise is a 20-minute train ride or 30 km car ride from the center of Paris, and there you may visit the Musée de l'Absinthe, the Absinthe Museum. The town also hosts the Musée Daubigny, the Daubigny Museum; Charles-François Daubigny (1817-1878) and others of the Barbizon school of painters are considered precursors to the impressionists. The village is in the department of the Val-d'Oise, in the Ile de France.

The museum’s website is in French only but easily understood with the Bing and Google translate apps:

www.musee-absinthe.com/contact.htm

The French language Daubigny museum website:

https://museedaubigny.com/

Oscar Wilde's Tomb in the Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris.

The tomb was designed by the sculptor Sir Jacob Epstein

Photograph courtesy of Stephan Rinke

www.flickr.com/photos/stephanrinke/697953320/

Wilde’s companions in the cemetery include, among many others, Édith Piaf, Jim Morrison of the Doors, Moliere, Chopin, Marcel Proust, Modigliani, Sarah Bernhardt, Pissarro, Marcel Marceau, Balzac and Gertrude Stein and her companion Alice B. Toklas. With thousands of visitors annually leaving lipstick kisses on the tomb in 2011 a glass frame was added to Wilde's tomb to make the kisses governable.

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