Behind the French Menu

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Port Salut Cheese.

The Port Salut cheese comes from the department of Mayenne in the region of the Pays de Loire. The cheese is a mild, semi-soft, 27 % fat cow’s milk, cheese made with pasteurized milk and aged from 14 to 21 days. Along with Port Salut’s mild flavor comes a surprisingly strong smell when the cheese is opened; however, though that in no way detracts from the cheese’s popularity and you will see Port Salut on many cheese trolleys and cheese plates. The cheese is made in sizes of 200 grams (7 ounces), 320 grams (11 ounces), and 2.2 kilos (5 lbs).

A Port Salut pre-prepared croissant

Pre-prepared snacks of Port Salut are very popular.

Photograph courtesy of Ben Aston

https://www.flickr.com/photos/benaston/393284418/

Taking Port Salut home.

This cheese is made with pasteurized milk and appropriately packed will not smell on the journey home. For more about buying French cheeses and taking them home click here.

The cheese is sold with a number of names including SAFR Port Salut, Entrammes, and Saint Paulin. All the names relate to the Abbey of Notre Dame de Port Salut and its history. The cheese was created by the Trappist monks in the Abbey in 1873. The abbey may be visited and is just 16 km (10 miles) from the town of Laval, the departmental capital of Mayenne in the Pays de Loire. Just a little further down the road, 96 km (60 miles) away is the town of Lemans so famous for its 24 hours car race and the longest go-kart track in the world.

The abbey may be visited and also offers rooms for guests. They have a French language website that may be viewed in English with the Bing or Google translation apps.

http://www.portdusalut.com/

Port Salut leaves the abbey.

As the Port Salut cheese became more and more popular in the 20th century, the monks could no longer produce the quantities that were being ordered. They solved that problem by selling the name and the production rights to a private company whose initials were SAFR and the so the name SAFR Port Salut is seen on the labels.

Despite the sale of the production rights of the Port Salut cheese the monks retained the right to make their cheese in smaller quantities with a different name and that was originally destined for their personal consumption. They gave that cheese the name Entrammes after the village next to the Abbey. However, that cheese also became popular and consequently again became too much for the production capacity of the Abbey which was seeing fewer and fewer monks joining. Now a local fromagerie called La Fromagerie Bio Du Maine in the village of Entrammes, next to the Abbey, makes the cheese.

The Entrammes cheese packed and aging

Photograph courtesy of Marguerite a Paris

Producing the Entrammes Cheese.

The Fromagerie Bio Du Maine now makes the Entrammes cheese in four versions, which apart from the traditional version includes a cheese flavored with caraway seeds and another with pepper. The Fromagerie may be visited, and they have a French language website. Nevertheless, using the Bing or Google translation apps, you may view this site in English.

http://www.fromageriebiodumaine.com/-Contact-.html

Port Salut on French Menus:

Tourte aux Pommes de Terre et Port Salut – Potato pie flavored with Port Salut

Suprême de Poulet Farci aux Cranberries et Fromage Port-Salut - Chicken breast stuffed with cranberries and Port Salut.

Entrammes on French Menus:

Tartine à l’Entrammes au Poivre Vert, Miel et Noix - An open sandwich made with Entrammes cheese green pepper, honey and walnuts.

Noix de Saint Jacques dans le Coquille en Croûtes d’Herbes Étuvée de Poireaux a l’Entrammes et Figues Séchées – A King scallop cooked in its shell covered with herbs and accompanied by steamed leeks, Entrammes cheese and dried figs.

Fondue a l’Entrammes au Cidre Fermier, Pommes, Boudin Blanc, Pain de Campagne – A cheese fondue made with Entrammes cheese and a farmhouse cider accompanied by apples, pork sausages and country bread.

Saint Paulin on French menus:

Légumes Farcis au Saint Paulin – Vegetables stuffed with Saint Paulin.

Soufflé au Saint Paulin et aux Amandes – A Saint Paulin souffle with almonds.

Saint Paulin

Saint Paulin is another cheese with a taste very similar to the Port Salut; however, this time it was not produced after being sold by the monks. It makes you wonder if someone stole the monk’s recipe! The Saint Paulin Cheese's name is not protected like the Port Salut cheese and so it is produced by a number of dairies in the North of France as well as by dairies elsewhere in Europe and in Canada.

Saint Paulin

Photograph courtesy of IGA

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Buying Cheese in France. Bringing French Cheese Home and a Lexicon for buying French Cheese.

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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

Ceylonese Cinnamon

Photograph courtesy of mhiguera

https://www.flickr.com/photos/manuuuuuu/6437950307/

Cinnamon is traditional in certain French desserts and pastries and absolutely a must in hot punches; nevertheless, its use is a fraction of that seen in recipes from one-hundred years ago.

Despite cinnamon’s drop in popularity, it will still be in many pastries and desserts, and powdered cinnamon will also decorate cappuccino coffees while whole sticks of cinnamon will be used in pickling.

Cappuccino with Cinnamon

Photograph courtesy of Anastasia Liem

Cinnamon on French Menus:

Pomme au Four à la Cannelle - Baked apples flavored with cinnamon.

Salade d'Oranges Fraîches Parfumée à la Cannelle – A salad of fresh oranges scented with cinnamon.

Cinnamon Rolls

Photograph courtesy of Daryn Nakhuda

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ddaarryynn/2955397132/

Tarte Tatin et sa Glace Cannelle – Tarte Tatin served with cinnamon flavored ice-cream.

Crêpe,Poire Pochée au Gingembre et Cannelle, Sauce Chocolat Chaude – A crepe served with a poached pear flavored with ginger and cinnamon and covered in a chocolate sauce.

Cap'n Crunch Cinnamon Roll Crunch

Photograph courtesy of Mike Mozart

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeepersmedia/15949684770/

Glace a la Vanille de Madagascar et Mirabelles Poêlées a la Cannelle De Ceylan – Ice cream flavored with vanilla from Madagascar and served with France’s own Mirabelle plums cooked with Ceylonese cinnamon.

The island of Sri Lanka

The island of Sri Lanka (formerly called Ceylon), southeast of India is home to this popular member of the cinnamon family. Several attempts have been made to transplant cinnamon trees to other parts of the tropics, but outside of Sri Lanka, in commercial quantities, it has only been successfully transplanted to the Seychelles where it also grows wild.

Ceylonese Cinnamon Quills

Photograph courtesy of Cinnamon Vogue

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cinnamonvogue/14724175617/

Cinnamon, for the French, is the bark of Ceylonese Cinnamon tree. Despite that, four-hundred years ago the Chinese Cinnamon, called Cassia, was the cinnamon that was used in France. Then with the discovery of the route around Africa Ceylonese Cinnamon became available in quantity and at competitive prices and by the early years of Haute Cuisine, 200 years ago, Chinese Cinnamon, Cassia, was pushed into the background

Cinnamon quills in the market in Lyon

Photograph courtesy of vanjasphotos

https://www.flickr.com/photos/vanjasphotos/8031845241/

There is a large family of cinnamon trees, but the Ceylonese cinnamon has a stronger aroma, and it is sweeter, with none of the kick of Chinese cinnamon. The Egyptians were the Ceylonese Cinnamon importers who brought Cinnamon from India to Egypt on camel trains. Their wholesalers to the Mediterranean countries were, as usual, the Phoenicians and they made Ceylonese Cinnamon a sought after spice. The long overland trek to Egypt and the additional costs involved in the subsequent secondary distribution limited quantities and made Ceylonese cinnamon very expensive, but despite that the Egyptians used Ceylonese cinnamon in cooking and even in their embalming fluids!

Until the Europeans found their way around Africa, only the wealthy could afford Ceylonese cinnamon. The beautiful part about both cinnamon trees is that their bark is cut down, and that supplies the cinnamon quils. Then the bark grows back, and one year later it may be harvested again.

Cinnamon Bread

Photograph courtesy of Amee

https://www.flickr.com/photos/brownsugarsweets/6246772500/

www.brownsugarsweets.com

Ceylonese cinnamon has a sweet taste and clear aroma that is missing in all other cinnamon family members. Try both Chinese Cinnamon and Ceylonese Cinnamon in a blind test and you will immediately sense the difference.

Sri Lankan Cinnamon (Ceylonese) in the languages of France’s neighbors:

(Catalan - canyella), (Dutch - kaneel), ( German – zimt, echter zimt, zimt Cinnamomum), (Italian – canella), (Spanish – canela).

Cannelle de Chine, Casse, Canéfice

Cassia, Chinese Cinnamon.

The Cassia tree is larger than that of the Ceylonese Cinnamon tree, but that does not mean the Ceylonese tree is small, it grows to over 12 meters. The Cassia has pale yellow flowers that are pollinated mostly by flies, and birds, which swallow the soft black fruit as soon as it is ripe and scatter the seeds.

Cassia

Photograph courtesy of Julien Menichini

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jul/5101650364/

In Chinese cookery, cassia is an essential ingredient and used in the famous Chinese five spice powder and in spice mixtures used for slowly simmered dishes. Together with other spices, cassia is also essential for several Chinese cooking techniques. Nevertheless, Ceylonese cinnamon is making its way into the Chinese kitchen and even into the Chinese five spice powder.

Cassia

Photograph courtesy of zoyachubby

https://www.flickr.com/photos/zoyachubby/464108350/

Chinese Cinnamon, Cassia on French Menus:

Crumble de Fruits de Saison à la Cannelle de Chine, Glace aux Gousses de Vanille – A crumble made with the season’s fruits, flavored with Chinese Cinnamon and served with ice-cream flavored with vanilla pods.

Filet de Canard Rotî aux Cinq Parfums Anis Étoilé, Graines Fenouil, Girofle, Cannelle de Chine, Poivre Sichuan – A cut of roast duck breast flavored with five spices: star anise, fennel seeds, cloves, Chinese cinnamon, and Szechuan pepper. (This menu listing came from an excellent French-Chinese restaurant).

Cassia, Chinese Cinnamon, is still today the cinnamon mostly widely used in Asian cuisine. However, I have seen it advertised in French homeopathic pharmacies where the essential oils of Cassia are offered along with other Cassia potions.

Chinese Cinnamon

Photograph courtesy of 素珍徐

Chinese Cinnamon, Cassia in the languages of France’s neighbors:

(Catalan - cassia cinamom xinès, ), (Dutch - kassie, bastaardkaneel, valse kaneel), (German - Chinesischer zimt, kassie, cassia), (Italian - cassia, cannella della cina), (Spanish - casia, canela de China).

Connected Posts:

Canard – Duck on French Menus.

Chocolate and France. Visiting a Chocolatier, a real chocolate maker.

Clous de Girofle - Cloves. Cloves in French Cuisine

Crepes,Galettes, Gauffres, Mille Crepes, Pannequets and more.

Fenouil - Fennel, the Herb, and the Vegetable.

Gingembre – Ginger, the Spice. Ginger is very important in French Cuisine, and Gingerbread is Very Popular.

Glace – Ice-cream. Ice-cream on French Menus. Glacé and Glacée are Desserts That are Frozen, Iced, Chilled or Glazed.

The Real Tarte Tatin. The Tarte des Demoiselles Tatin, the Tart made by the Tatin Sisters.