Behind the French Menu

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Médaillons de Cerf

Medallions of venison served with a sauce poivrade, mashed potatoes, and sweet potato puree. (A sauce poivrade is based on beef or veal stock and red wine and traditionally served with meat and game).

Photograph courtesy of Kevin Harber

Médaillon in French cuisine may be a round or oval cut of meat or poultry, beef, lamb, pork,,veal, fish or vegetables. A médaillon may be small but thick, or the menu may offer médaillons, in the plural; in that manner indicating that the medallions are individually thinner or smaller. For chicken and other poultry, a médaillon will be a cut from the breast. For fish, the médaillon may be a filet or a cut across a thick portion, like a monkfish tail or in other cases a fish filet may be sliced and then formed into a round or oval shape. For vegetables, a médaillon will describe vegetables cut into a circle or oval shape.

Médaillons on French Menus:

Le Médaillon de Bœuf Bardé au Jambon Séché, Petite Sauce au Poivre Vert de Madagascar et Vin Blanc – A roasted or grilled medallion of beef barded (wrapped) in cured ham and served with a light sauce made with the green peppers of Madagascar and white wine. This cut may be a cut from the tenderloin or a cut from a rump steak. Ask.

(A Petit Sauce usually indicates a sauce developed from one of France’s mother sauces; such a sauce may also be called a child of the mother sauce. However, the Petit Sauce in this menu listing seems to be indicating a light green pepper sauce without indicating its maternal origins so ask).

Medallions of red cabbage

Photograph courtesy of Chris Schaer

https://www.flickr.com/photos/webtuefu/15616443558/

Les Médaillons de Filet de Veau et Leurs Brochettes de Ris de Veau Poêlés, Jus Court au Gingembre et Radeau de Macaroni au Reblochon - Veal medallions cuts from the fillet, the tenderloin, served with lightly fried brochettes (skewers) of veal sweetbreads. The dish is accompanied by a light court bouillon sauce flavored with ginger and served with reblochon cheese on a base of macaroni.

A Sweetbread Medallion

Photograph courtesy of ulterior epicure

Médaillon de Lotte Cuit dans sa Bisque de Crustacés, Légumes Automnales, Etuvée de Blancs de Poireaux au Lard – A round cut from a monkfish tail cooked in a bisque of crustaceans and served with Autumn vegetables and the white part of leeks steamed with bacon. (The crustaceans in the bisque will be mainly shrimps).

Médaillon de Lotte Rôtie aux Zestes de Yuzu Confits, Brisures de Blé Noir et ses Légumes de Saison - A cut across the tail of a monkfish flavored with the zest taken from the slowly cooked Yuzu fruit; accompanied by cracked buckwheat and the season’s vegetables.

The Yuzu is a member of the citrus family and originated, like all other citrus fruits, in China. The Yuzu has a taste somewhere between that of a grapefruit and an orange. In the Japanese kitchen, its rind is popular as it adds lots of flavor and the Yuzu's popularity among French chefs is growing. In this menu listing the flavor is taken from a Yuzu confit. The word confit indicates that the fruit was slowly cooked with wine, wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar. Brown sugar may have been added, and when ready the flavor will have been taken from the confit which will have the consistency of jam.

Médaillons de Chevreuil, Sauce à la Réduction de Vin Rouge aux Bourgeons de Sapin et Airelles - Medallions of roe deer served with a sauce made from the natural cooking juices flavored with red wine, pine buds, and European cranberries. In France roe deer are farmed; but despite that, during the limited hunting season wild roe deer may be on the menu as Chevreuil Sauvage.

Médaillons de Canard au Orange – Medallions of duck breast prepared with an orange sauce.

Nutmeg flavored goat cheese medallions

on a salad with mustard and honey dressing

Photograph courtesy of kochtopf

Médaillons de Foie Gras de Canard aux Cèpes Maison, Pain aux Noix - Round cuts from fattened duck liver served with wild French porcini mushrooms prepared in the restaurant’s unique manner and accompanied by walnut bread made with whole wheat flour

Médaillons de Porc avec Sauce aux Pommes Caramélisées - Medallions of pork served with a sauce and caramelized apples. Here the medallions will be cut from the pork fillet, the pork tenderloin.

Médaillons de Porc

Pork medallions with spätzle, chanterelle mushrooms, and cream.

Spätzle are small dumplings from the Alsace region in France and also Germany; these dumplings look something like overweight bumpy noodles and will be served as a garnish instead of potatoes or rice.

Photograph courtesy of Jessica Spengler

https://www.flickr.com/photos/wordridden/8027393608/

Steak de Cerf avec Sauce à l'Échalote Accompagné de Salade et de Médaillons de Pommes de Terre – A venison steak served with a shallot sauce accompanied by a salad and round cuts of potato.

Venison medallions served in juniper flavored cream

with Romanesco broccoli and hazelnut accented spaetzli.

Photograph courtesy of JaBB

Visitors to France from North America may be confused with the French usage of the word medallions though the usage of the word in all cuisines came from the French. North American butchers have created medallion cuts; these are cuts from inside the T-bone and have no connection to the French médaillons.

Elsewhere in the USA, the term medallions may be used to refer to the small round cuts from the end of the beef tenderloin (the fillet). The misuse in of the word Filet Mignon, in the USA, which is used for most cuts from the tenderloin, has created problems for North American visitors to France. In France, where the word originated, the word Filet Mignon means a dainty filet; a whole tenderloin in the USA weighs between 2.25 to 2.75 kilos ( 5 - 6 lbs), and that is not dainty. On French menus without any further information, a filet mignon will be a cut from a pork tenderloin, the pork fillet. For a beef filet mignon, the cut will be from the narrow end of the tenderloin with the thicker part being cut as fillets in France.

A police medallion from Arlington County, Virginia, USA,
This is the shape that gave its name to the original French médaillons.

Photograph courtesy of Arlington County

https://www.flickr.com/photos/arlingtonva/7983206713/

Medallions in the languages of France’s neighbors:

(Catalan - medallóns), (Dutch - medaillons),(German – medaillons), (Italian - medaglioni), (Spanish - medallones).

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Bisques and Seafood Bisques on French Menus

French Bread - Different Types of French Bread. (Bread in French is Spelled Pain and Pronounced as Pan).

Canard – Duck on French Menus.

Chanterelle Mushrooms, the Most Famous Four. Chanterelle Girolle Mushrooms on French Menus. The Mushrooms of France IV.

Confit? All About That Confit on Your French Menu. Confit in French Cuisine.

Crevettes - Shrimps and Prawns. Some of the Many Tasty Crustaceans on French Menus.

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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Charolais AOP goat’s cheese.

Fromage Charolais AOP - A 28% fat, creamy, goat’s milk cheese made with unpasteurized milk. These are small cheeses, which are aged for a minimum of 16 days. At 16 -30 days this cheese may be served warm with a salad, but it will not be on the cheese trolley as it is too mild though the cheese has a slightly nutty and mushroom taste. After 30 days the cheese begins to manifest a stronger flavor with a very light bite. Aging may continue for up to three months when the cheese has a sharp bite, and that is the age preferred by many of the cheese’s aficionados. Most Charolais cheeses are made on the farms where the goats are raised, and they may easily be identified by the round green label attached to every cheese or to its wrapping.

Charolais Cheese.

Photograph courtesy of Fromage Pouillot.

http://www.fromage-pouillot.fr/

The Charolais cheeses are shaped like a barrel and weigh from 250 to 300 grams (8.50 – 10 ounces) each. The rind begins with an ivory color, and as the cheese ripens blue and gray spots appear on the rind. This Burgundian cheese comes from the area of Charolles close to the Beaujolais vineyards.

Charolais AOP goat’s cheese on French menus:

Tartelette Sablée au Fromage Chèvre de Charolais, Tomate Confite -A shortcake tart prepared with the Charolais goat’s cheese and a tomato jam.

Charolais goats heading for higher pastures.

Photograph courtesy of lexpress

Terrine de Fromage Charolais Frais au Basilic et Poivrons Grillées – A pate of fresh, young, Charolaise cheese prepared with basil, the herb, and grilled sweet peppers.

Ravioles de Fromage Charolais ou les Noisettes de Chevreu - Ravioli made with Charolais cheese and served with delicate cuts of the meat from roe deer.

Warm Charolais goat’s cheese salad

Photograph courtesy of Pauline Kenny

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cohenkenny/4254874185/

Croustillant de Saumon et Chèvre Charolais – Crisply cooked Atlantic salmon served with Charolais goat’s cheese.

Fromage de Chèvre Charolais au Miel d'Acacia et aux Fines Herbes, Servi Chaud sur un Lit de Mâche – Charolais goat’s cheese served with acacia tree honey and flavored with the herb group Les Fine Herbes; served hot on a bed of mâche, the salad green called field lettuce in English.

The area where the goats are raised was formerly called Charolais Bourbonnais, and one thousand years ago that was the home of the Bourbon kings of France. Now Charolais Bourbonnais is part of an agricultural and economic area called Le Pays Charolais-Brionnais. The area covers part of the South West of Burgundy and part of the Auvergne - Rhône-Alpes. In this area, goats will also be on many restaurant menus; the young males will not grow up to provide milk and so they will contribute to the local economy in a different manner than the females.

Charolais sheep have reached New Zealand.

Photograph courtesy of Charollais New Zealand

In addition to the goats that provide the milk for this very special cheese the area is also famous for its beef and lamb. The Charolais Bourbonnais beef cattle, Le Bœuf Charolais du Bourbonnais AOP, is one of the most highly rated cattle breeds raised in France. Also from the same area comes the farm-raised Charolais Bourbonnais red label lambs, l’Agneau Charolais Fermier du Bourbonnais, Label Rouge. These are among the most highly rated lambs in France. The manner in which all these animals are raised is a condition of their grading. The beef herds and the flocks of sheep and goats all spend at least half the year grazing freely, and no antibiotics or growth hormones may be used or added to their diet. Additionally, the calves, lambs, and kids must be raised by their mothers until they are weaned.