Behind the French Menu

Dreaming of the French Caribbean While Traveling in Mainland France?

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

The town of Saint Pierre in Martinique.

www.flickr.com/photos/jries/1793239573/

Cuisine Antillaise is the French - Créole cuisine of the French Caribbean island regions of Martinique and Guadeloupe, and the French-administered islands of St. Barts and Saint Martin. French regions are somewhat similar to USA states or UK counties and, despite the distance, over 6,000 km (4,000 miles) from the French mainland; think of Hawaii and mainland USA. These islands are as much part of France as Paris; gendarmes direct the traffic there are croissants for breakfast and you have to pay in Euros.

The green arrows indicate the French Caribbean islands.

Still Dreaming?

Look for One of the Many Mainland Restaurants

Serving French-Créole Antillaise Cuisine.

By the number of restaurants offering Cuisine Antillaise in mainland France, it is undoubtedly the most popular of France’s islands’ cuisine and the one that I have enjoyed the most.

Your Créole Antillaise menu may offer:

Accras de Morue – Deep-fried cod fritters made from rehydrated cod. The cod used for this dish is hydrated salt cod. Dried cod was a staple food that could be stored and transported before there were refrigerators, and the French Caribbean settlers imported it as a cheap protein to feed their slaves. Salt cod has remained very popular in France and in her overseas departments and regions. Accras de Morue will be on many mainland menus without any reference to their Caribbean origins.

Accra de Morue, Sauce Chien

The word Chien does translate as a dog; however, this sauce has nothing whatsoever to do with dogs and the origin of the name is lost. The sauce is a mildly spicy 100% vegetable dip.

Photograph courtesy of L’Atelier d’Odile

Morue, dehydrated salt cod, also called in mainland France, Merluche and Stockfish, and is still, after hundreds of years, behind many French comfort foods, Salt cod dishes will be on the menus of the best restaurants and bistros in mainland France with the most famous dishes called Brandade de Morue and Brandade Nîmoise.

If you want fresh cod, then look on the menu for cabillaud or morue fraiche:

Colombo de Porc - A pork stew made with a blend of spices associated with Tamil Indian and Sri Lankan cuisine. The Colombo spice group includes coriander, turmeric, cumin, mustard, cloves, fenugreek, and pepper.

Fricassé de Lambis - Fried conch; the popular and tasty large sea snail, often incorrectly called a clam, that is on menus all over the Caribbean. The first fricassées were French stews made with chicken; however, that was originally. Today fricassées are also made with veal, vegetables, other poultry, and shellfish, and that includes the conch of which there are many different types. The most popular conch seen on Caribbean menus is the Queen Conch,

The Queen Conch.

Photograph courtesy of Ambergris Today.

Ragout de Cabri Antillaise – An Antillaise goat stew, usually served with rice. Tasty Antillaise ragouts, stews, use fewer vegetables and different herbs and spices than mainland ragouts. In modern French, a goat is a chèvre, and the word Cabri comes from Occitan, the French language of d’Oc brought to the islands by settlers. The early settlers were mostly from the region of Occitanie and Provence. Apart from bringing their language, the Provencal settlers would also have also brought goats. The southeastern part of France did not bring cow’s milk into their diet until the 20th century and are still famous for their many excellent goat's milk cheeses. Occitan or d’Oc is the language that lost out in the search for a single language to unite France; however, despite losing to out to modern French there are, still today, millions of French citizens who speak or understand some Occitan or one of its dialects alongside modern French. Provencal and Nicoise have Occitan origins.

(The new French super-region of Occitanie was created on 1-1-2018 from the old regions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Mid-Pyrénées).

Vivaneau Frit, Riz et Rondelles de Bananes Plantains - Fried snapper served with rice and round slices of fried plantain cooking bananas. The plantain cooking bananas used in this recipe are an essential part of many French-Créole dishes. The vivaneau on the menu is most probably the silk snapper; also called the yellow-eyed (red) snapper.

Photograph courtesy of Mexico-Fish, Marine Life, Birds, and Terrestrial Life.

Gratin Chouchou à la Morue – A dish of chayote, also called custard marrow, and rehydrated cod, usually served as an entrée, the French first course. For this dish, the recipe calls for the pale green to whitish vegetables to be baked like potatoes, and then after the skin is removed, mashed. The mashed chayote will be mixed with the rehydrated cod, and baked until it browns, just before serving grated Gruyere Cheese may sometimes be sprinkled on top for a golden-brown gratiné finish.

Chayote originated in Mexico but is now a Caribbean staple, and fresh chayote is also served as a salad or as part of a mixed salad. One of Chayote’s other French names is Christophine, in honor of Christopher Columbus who brought the vegetable to Europe from Mexico.

Chayote

Photograph courtesy of Leslie Seaton

www.flickr.com/photos/lacatholique/5194455316/

Blaff de Poisson – Fish marinated in lime juice and then boiled or baked; sweet potatoes or yams traditionally accompany this dish. With a menu listing like this ask what fish is being served. Blaff may be made with almost any fish, white meat or shellfish and nearly all Créole Antillaise menus will include at least one dish of blaff. All blaff dishes are marinated in lime before cooking, and the recipes come with accents of curry, and or coconut.

Blaff de poisson

Photograph courtesy of KreyolFood

www.flickr.com/photos/88832582@N08/8134575775/

Gateau Patate – A French Créole cake based on the patate douce, sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are those purple to brown, and sometimes almost white, skinned tubers that often come with pointed ends; they have a white to yellow to orange flesh inside. It was Christopher Columbus who brought the sweet potato to Spain from South America. From Spain, the sweet potato quickly reached all of southern Europe where it grows well but it was not accepted as part of modern French cuisine until the mid-20th century. (The potato reached Spain 40 years after Colombus when the area now called Peru when in1532, Francisco Pizarro conquered the Inca Empire and claimed the region and potatoes for Spain).

Sweet potatoes.

Photograph courtesy of Girija Patel

www.flickr.com/photos/159917264@N08/42839245415/

The sweet potato in the languages of France mainland neighbors:

(Catalan – moniato. batata), (Dutch - zoete aardappel or bataat), (German - süsskartoffel, batate, weisse kartoffel), (Italian - patata dolce, batat), (Spanish- patata dulce).

Crêpes Flambée au Rhum - Crepes flambéed in rum. The first crepes to be publicly flambéed in alcohol, according to tradition, were served to Great Britain’s Prince of Wales, in Monte Carlo, in 1896, by the chef Henri Charpentier. The Prince was asked to name the dish, and chose the name the Crêpes Suzette; that was in honor of an eight-year-old girl who accompanied her father, as the Prince’s dinner guest.

Crepes Flambé

Photograph courtesy of La Feuille de Vigne

Rum, with 40% alcohol, is made from distilled sugar cane, and France’s only AOC/AOP called Rhum Agricole is produced in Martinique. Martinique is a leading exporter of cane sugar, and so there is plenty available for making rum.

Rhum Agricole Martinique AOC six-years-old.

Photograph courtesy of liwi.s

www.flickr.com/photos/saleg-w/11619781865/

Martinique rum producers offer both white and dark rums with the best rums matured in oak barrels. When buying Rhum Agricole, look on the label for the age. Some rums may be labeled Rhum Vieux, old rum; however, the real age, if written at all, is written in years, as it is in the picture above. The age is not necessarily in the large print and from my experience only buy rum that is over three-years-old. The usual meanings of VSOP, VSOP, Napoleon, and XO, etc. when printed on the labels do not have the same meanings as they do for Cognac, Armagnac, and Calvados; look for the written age. All of the above is true, but at the same time, there are plenty of other rums from Guadeloupe and Martinique that do not have an AOP. Many are excellent but try them before buying a case.

The differences in the Créole cuisines begin with the different herbs, spices, fish, and meats that were locally available. To the local foods add the languages, traditions and cultural heritage brought by the French settlers, the slaves the French settlers brought from Africa, and later the indentured workers from India.

French - Créole from Louisiana

and French – Créole from the French Antilles.

Travelers arriving from the USA quickly realize that the French - Créole Antillaise cuisine is distinctly different to the French - Créole cuisine of Louisiana. That is not too surprising as Louisiana is 2,000 km (1,300 miles), from the French Caribbean. However, that difference is nothing compared with the French Island regions of Réunion and Mayotte in the Indian Ocean; they are 13,000 km (9,000 miles) away from the French Caribbean and 9,000 km (5,000 miles) away from mainland France. Even when a dish has the same French name the recipe can be very different as local ingredients take over.

The Créole language in the USA

In the USA, the largest French - Créole speaking group are the Haitian immigrants. A Haitian Créole speaker and Louisiana Créole speaker will need a translator to talk to each other unless they speak in English or modern French. Caribbean Haitian French - Créole cuisine is also markedly different to the Antillaise Créole cuisine due to the

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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

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Dinde - Turkey. The Turkey in French Cuisine.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Male Rio Grande Wild Turkey

Meleagris gallopavo ssp. Intermedia

Photograph courtesy of wikiphotographer

www.flickr.com/photos/frank_schulenburg/46737108124/

The first turkey to arrive in France was the domesticated Mexican turkey, and that was in the 16th century. Since then, the turkeys on most French menus are descended from a different bird to their cousins the North American wild turkey whose descendants are on most North American and UK menus. A turkey, even a wild turkey, is too large for a single-family meal and so like geese, the first whole turkeys began to be associated with celebrations. Then butchers started to sell turkey parts and already two hundred years ago many recipes created especially for turkey began to be seen on French menus.

Dindon Rouge de Ardennes.

The red turkey from the French region of the Ardennes.

Photograph courtesy of ProNatura-France.

Dinde – A turkey; a hen turkey.

Dindo – Turkey in Provencal.

Dindon - A male turkey, a turkey-cock, a tom turkey.

Dindonneau - A young turkey.

The turkeys of France.

For four hundred years, the best French breeds of turkeys have been raised as free-range birds for most of their life; they have a far better taste than most of the turkeys offered in the USA and UK.

Look out for menus offering the Dinde Blanche d’Auvergne, the white-feathered turkeys of the Auvergne or the Dinde Noir de Gers, the black-feathered turkeys of Gers. There are at least twelve unique French turkey breeds, all with accepted claims to exceptional tastes. The French turkey considered the best, even head and shoulders above all others, and it is undoubtedly the most expensive, is the Dinde de Bresse AOC, it is the only turkey with an AOC/AOP. If you are in the area of Bresse in mid- December, check ahead with the French Government Tourist Office and see which towns are having special events at the dinner table. December is the month when the farmers have competitions for the best poultry in the municipalities of Bourg-en-Bresse, Pont-de-Vaux, and Montrevel-en-Bresse in the département of Ain and the town of Louhans-Chateaurenard, Saône-et-Loire in Burgundy.

Dinde Noir de Sologne

The Sologne covers a large forested area in North Central France in the Loire Valley between the River Loire and one of its tributaries, the River Cher.

The Château de Chambord is in the Sologne

Photograph courtesy of SuperToinette.

Turkey on French menus:

Blanquette de Dinde – A blanquette is stew that was originally made with white meats meaning veal, pork, or rabbit. The word blanc means white in French and is the origin of the name blanquette, and today, blanquettes include fish and poultry. Most recipes for blanquettes include button mushrooms and a cream sauce with many, including white wine. When the menu listing is like this one and gives no information, ask!

Crepes Farcies au Jambon de Dinde Fume – Crepes, pancakes, stuffed with smoked turkey ham; however, do not confuse French smoked turkey with the taste of U.K. or USA turkey ham. Smoked turkey ham in France has a flavor somewhat similar to cured ham and European bacon.

Escalope de Dinde à la Crème – A slice of turkey breast served with a cream sauce. An escalope is a cut that is boneless and usually more or less round or oval-shaped. English names used in translating escalope include a cutlet, a scallop, and an escalope. A similar cut from veal is an escalope de veau, though the term paillard will also be used. N.B. The meaning of the English word scallop for an escalope refers to the shape of a scallop’s shell, not the meat inside.

Roast turkey

Photograph courtesy of Paul Townsend

www.flickr.com/photos/brizzlebornandbred/23964265927/

Cuisses de Dinde Fermière de Loué Cuisinées Comme un Coq au Vin - Turkey legs from the farm-raised turkeys of Loué cooked in the manner of coq au vin. Turkey, chickens, ducks, and guinea fowl raised by the farmers in Loué are known all over France. Nearly all the poultry from around the town of Loué have a Label Rouge, red label, for their consistent quality, and many have the French AB organic label. For poultry,the red label also ensures that the birds are all free-range until two weeks before being marketed. The town of Loué is in the department of Sarthe in the Pays de la Loire.

Dinde Farcie aux Marrons – Turkey with a chestnut stuffing. French chestnut stuffing will typically have a sausage meat base and include the addition of wine or Cognac; the stuffing will be cooked as it should be, inside the roasting turkey. Around Christmas time and on other festive occasions, the unique French turkey breasts appear on French menus.

Stuffed turkey breast

Photograph courtesy of K Tao

www.flickr.com/photos/ktao1/8221187453/

Poitrine de Dinde Rôtie Farcie aux Herbes – A whole turkey breast stuffed with herbs and roasted. With a dish like this on the menu, you will be served slices cut across the breast.

Why did the French call the turkey dinde.

The French, like everyone else, accepted Christopher Columbus’s assumption that he had discovered the western part of India; still today the Caribbean islands are called the West Indies. Following on Columbus’s assumption in the late 15th century the first domesticated Mexican turkeys arrive in France and so they called the turkey the poulet d’Inde, the hen or chicken of India. However, that created a problem as Guinea fowl had been brought to France from Africa a short while before by the Portuguese.

Now, the Portuguese did introduce these birds as the poules de Guinée, the Guinea hens, but with the confusion of the time as to the bird’s origin, the French called this bird the poulet d’Inde, the Indian chicken. I imagine the assumption was that the birds originated in the Portuguese South American colonies. The Guinea fowl, the first poulet d’Inde, was eventually renamed the Pintade, which refers to its coloring. On the other side of the Channel, the English knew the birds came from North America but the first merchants who traded turkeys in wholesale quantities were Turkish and so turkey became the bird's popular English name.

The North American Wild Turkey

meleagris gallopavo

Photograph courtesy of rachidH

www.flickr.com/photos/rachidh/6075162770/

While the error in the origin of the turkeys that arrived in France was quickly discovered; the name had already been accepted. The French may have got the turkey’s name wrong but then so did everyone else. In the 18th century to end the confusion in France they changed the name of the turkey, then called the poule d’Inde to dinde, and that is name used now; it is a neutral name that acknowledges the original mistake.

Dinde - Turkey in the languages of France’s neighbors:

(Catalan - gall dindi), Dutch – kalkoenen), (German – truthahn), ), (Italian – tacchino), (Spanish – pavo).

Dinde – Turkey in other languages:

(Arabic - دجاج رومي ), (Chinese (Mandarin) - 火雞 ). (Hebrew – tarnegol hodu - תרנגול הודו ), (Korean - 칠면조), (Japanese - シチメンチョウ属（シチメンチョウぞく、学), (Portuguese - peru), (Russian –Индейки), (Tagalog – pabo). Language corrections and additional languages are appreciated.

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