Behind the French Menu

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Beaujolais Nouveau

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Beaujolais -The wines.

Beaujolais, among the well known wines from Burgundy. We know the light, dry, red wines that are Beaujolais-Villages AOC and or the Beaujolais Nouveau; however, there are ten other well-known Beaujolais AOC wines from the area including, Brouilly, Fleurie, and Morgon among others. If you are in the area, try the different Beaujolais wines, and for a local digestif try their local Marc de Beaujolais. The names of the best Beaujolais wines are at the end of this link.

Beaujolais Nouveau

One of the most famous wines in all of Burgundy, even though it is far from the best of the region’s wines is Beaujolais Nouveau. Beaujolais Nouveau is bottled immediately after fermentation and drunk without any aging. By strict French definition this wine should be called a primeur; however, most people, including myself, would be hard pressed to remember the difference between a Beaujolais Primeur and a Beaujolais Nouveau. French regulations or not it is Nouveau Beaujolais to nearly everyone.

Beaujolais

Photograph courtesy of Hajime NAKANO

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Beaujolais Nouveau is a marketing manager's success story. Thirty or forty years ago Beaujolais Nouveau was a local new wine and nothing else. Outside of the immediate area, no one had heard of it, but now special dinners will be held on the third Thursday in November at midnight from New York to Tokyo when the new Beaujolais Nouveau is introduced. The noise that surrounded a new Beaujolais Nouveau has quietened in the last few years; nevertheless, the extraordinary success of this simple light wine is now a part of wine history.

Beaujolais wines on French menus:

Le Pied de Cochon Rôti, Sauce Beaujolais, Spaetzlés Maison – Roast pig’s trotter served with a Beaujolais sauce and the restaurant’s distinctive take on Spaetzlés. Spaetzlés are small dumplings from the Alsace; they look something like overweight bumpy noodles and will be served as a garnish instead of potatoes or rice. Despite their shape, they are made, like most other dumplings, with flour, eggs, and water or milk; some may be flavored with herbs or mushrooms.

Steak Charolais, Lard, Oignons Confits, St Marcellin, Sauce Beaujolais – A Charolais steak prepared with bacon, confit, slowly cooked onions, the soft cow’s milk St Marcellin cheese and served with a Sauce Beaujolais.

Millefeuille de Carpe Sauce Beaujolais-Villages – Carp, the fish, thinly cut as millefeuilles inter-leafed with vegetables and served with a Beaujolais-Village sauce.

The label from a bottle of Beaujolais Village.

Photograph courtesy of Mary Witzig

https://www.flickr.com/photos/marywitzig/2374710374 FF

Sandre de la Dombes Sauce Beaujolais Blanc - Zander in the USA and Pike Perch in the UK caught or farmed in the wetlands of the Dombes (near Lyon) and served with a white Beaujolais sauce

Pièce de Bœuf Grillée Sauce Beaujolais – A unique cut from the rump and considered the butcher’s choice served with a Sauce Beaujolais.

When choosing a Beaujolais wine there are the best, the Crus, and then the good, the Beujolais Villages AOC.

The 10 Cru Beaujolais:

The Cru Beaujolais are considered the best of all the Beaujolais wines; nevertheless, you need an up-to-date wine book or a good friend who is an expert. The variations that include the vintage and the vintner means that just picking a name and a year will not necessarily buy you a good wine. If you see a famous wine over five years old discounted in a supermarket leave it for others.

Caveat Emptor: A cheap wine from a great vintage and great vintner with a great taste would have been snapped up by the French connoisseurs on the day the wine went on sale. In France, there are few bargains in AOC graded wines.

These are the ten crus.

Brouilly; Chénas; Chiroubles; Côte de Brouilly; Fleurie; Juliénas; Moulin-à-Vent; Morgon; Régnié; Saint-Amour.

The Beaujolais Village wines:

The Beaujolais Village wines can be excellent, but here, more even than the crus, you need that up-to-date- wine book or friend who is a wine expert. In a restaurant a good sommelier may also help with the choice if he or she is given a budget.

Les Ardillats; Beaujeu; Blacé; Cercié; Chânes; La Chapelle-de-Guinchay; Charenta ; Denicé; Emeringes; Jullié; Lancié; Lantignié; Leynes; Marchampt; Montmelas-Saint-Sorlin; Odenas; Le Perréon; Pruzilly; Romanèche-Thorins; Quincié-en-Beaujolais; Régnié-Durette; Rivolet; St-Amour-Bellevue;

St-Didier-sur-Beaujeu; St-Etienne-des-Oullières; St-Etienne-la-Varenne; St-Symphorien-d’Ancelles; St-Vérand; St-Julien; St-Leger; Salles-Arbuissonnas-en-Beaujolais; Vaux-en-Beaujolais; Vauxrenard; Villié-Morgon.

More about the Beaujolais Nouveau.

It is said that during a great meal with excellent service and good company the second bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau achieves greatness. There are also stories of those who have found great truths in a third bottle;.however, they were probably drunk at the time. In the same area, there are many fine wines, and as you can see from the wines noted above you do not even have to drink Beaujolais Nouveau unless you want to.

Beaujolais wine aging in barrels.

Photograph courtesy of karaian

https://www.flickr.com/photos/karaian/3798493743/

Beaujolais produces more wine than the Burgundy wine regions of Chablis, Côte d'Or and Mâconnais put together. This possible as the region of Beaujolais was already cultivated by the Romans who planted the areas along its trading route up the Saône valley. The Roman vineyard Brulliacus is located on the hillside of Mont Brouilly and the Romans also planted vineyards in other areas that are now Beaujolais. From the 7th century through the Middle Ages, most of the viticulture and wine-making was done by the Benedictine monks

Connected Posts:

AOP, IGP and Vin de France. New Labels on French Wines.

Araignée, the Spider; Merlan, Whiting, the Fish; Poire, the Pear; Langue de Chat, the Cat's Tongue. France’s Unique Cuts of Beef That are also Called the Butcher’s Choice.

Bacon in France. Bacon and Salted Pork on French Menus. Lard in French Means Bacon in English.

Bœuf Charolais - The Charolais Beef. Le Bœuf Charolais du Bourbonnais AOP - The Charolais Beef is Considered Among the Best France.

Carpe - Carp, the Fish on French Menus. Smoked Carp, Fried Carp, Carp Sausages and More.

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

Millefeuilles, Mille-feuilles, Feuilles, Feuilleté and Feuillantine on French Menus.

Sandre - Zander in the USA and Pike Perch in the UK. Sandre in French Cuisine.

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Grenadier

www.naturalhistorymag.com

The Grenadier family members seen on French menus includes the Grenadier gris or Grenadier Berglax and the Grenadier de Roche. (On most French menus only the word Grenadier will be used). These two members of the larger Grenadier fish family compete for space on some beautiful French tables. Nevertheless, you and I are unlikely to tell the difference between either of these two fish. On the menu, only a filet will be offered.

Steamed Black grenadier

prepared with coconut milk and a light touch of curry

Photograph courtesy of Pavillon France

These two family members come from the deep waters of the North Atlantic, and they provide very firm sweet white meat. Chefs consider it them superior to pollack or whiting and they will be offered as filets pan fried or baked. They are large fish reaching up to a meter in length; however, the head takes up to 25 of the length and the long thin tail even more. All that is brought back to France is the filet.

The Grenadier fish on French menus:

Filet de Grenadier à la Concassée de Tomates et Basilic – A filet of grenadine prepared with coarsely chopped tomatoes flavored with basil. I imagine that the filet being offered here is pan-fried.

Grenadier Piccata with Zucchini Noodles.

In the UK the zucchini is called a courgette.

Piccata means sliced, sautéed, and served in a sauce containing lemon, butter, and spices. In this photograph, we can see chives and parsley. Piccata is usually a fish or meat dish.

Photograph courtesy of Real Good Fish.com

Grenadier Cuit au Four, Concassée de Tomates, Beurre de Sydre

"Les Argelettes" - Grenadine, the fish, baked in the oven with coarsely chopped tomatoes cooked in a cider butter prepared with cider from Les Argeletts.

When a chef has a duck, chicken, wine or cheese that he or she believes is very special then the name of the farm or the producer may well be on the menu. Here the menu notes the brand name of a cider used for the cider butter in the dish mentioned above. I looked into Les Argelettes and found that this is the private brand of cider. It is produced by a boutique cidriculteur, a boutique cider maker. In this case, the cider is made by an ex-three star Michelin Guide sommelier, Eric Bordelet. Eric gave up the world of wine to return to his family’s roots as a cider maker.

Pan fried Roughhead Grenadier

with fresh prawns and bok choy in crayfish sauce.

Photograph courtesy of Ingrum.

Filet de Grenadier aux Épinards Sauce Citron – A filet of grenadine prepared with spinach and served with a lemon sauce.

There are quite a number of other grenadier family members and no doubt some of them may grace the occasional French menu, but I have yet to encounter them. As you travel, you may meet the Pacific Grenadier on a menu on the USA’s West Coast and the Blue Grenadier in Australia or New Zealand.

Grenadier Gris

attached to the back of this fish is a parasitic copod.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/noaaphotolib/14318884118/

Photograph courtesy of NOAA Photo Library

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The Grenadier fish in the languages of France's neighbors:

The Grenadier Gris or Grenadier Berglax: - The Grenadier, the Roughhead grenadier or Onion-eye grenadier. (Dutch - noordelĳke grenadier),(German- grenadier, grenadierfisch or rauhköpfiger grenadierfisch), (Spanish - grenadero de roca).

The Grenadier, Grenadien, Grenadier de Roche – The Roundnose grenadier, Black grenadier, Rock Grenadier. (Dutch - grenadier ), (German –- grenadier, grenadierfisch), (Spanish – granadino).

Connected Posts:

Basil, Common Basil or Sweet Basil. Basilic or Herbe Royal; Herbs and Spices in the French Kitchen II.

Beurre - Butter in French. Butter in French Cuisine.

Céleri - Celery. The Joys of Celery on French Menus.

Ciboulette – Chives, the herb, in French Cuisine.

Cidre - Cider in France. France's Fabulous Ciders, Sparkling Ciders and Basque Cider.

Citron – The lemon; the fruit behind many of France’s culinary successes. Also the Citron Vert - Lime, the Cedrat – the Citron, the Combava – the kaffir lime and the Chadec - the Pomelo.

Crevettes - Shrimps and Prawns on French Menus. Shrimps and Prawns are Some of the Many Tasty Crustaceans seen in French Cuisine.

Écrivisse - Crayfish, Crawdad, or Crawfish. The Écrivisse is the Freshwater Crayfish and may be Among the Crustaceans on Your French Menu. Crustaceans III.

Persil - Parsley in French Cuisine. Parsley on French menus.