Behind the French Menu

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

The Mouton Barèges -Gavarnie AOC

The Mouton Barèges-Gavarnie AOP; the sheep are something very special. This mutton is on only French restaurant menus from June through January. Practically none of their meat is exported, so when Barèges-Gavarnie is on the menu, do not let the opportunity pass you by.

Le Lac d'Aumar

Photograph courtesy of Tourisme Grand Tourmalet

www.flickr.com/photos/grand-tourmalet/14992824740/

Mutton, you may say, is meat from old sheep that no longer supplies milk and is only good for sausages. Now is the time to change your mind. The menu may offer a roast from a doubloon, an 18-month to two-year-old castrated male, that is considered the best of the breed. Another menu may offer a winter stew prepared from a two-year-old ewe. There are excellent lambs in France, but mutton has a different taste and texture, and the Mouton Barèges-Gavarnie sheep have red, marbled, tender meat.

To begin with, these are a unique breed, they are hardy and their summer pastures where they graze in complete freedom day and night at an altitude of between 1,600 meters ( 5,250 feet) and 2,600 meters (8,300 feet) high. The temperatures change from below freezing at night to 90ºF ( 32ºC) during the day, so they need their special wool.

Until you have tasted this mutton, you will never be able to understand how very different this is to lamb. It is not a replacement for lamb; you cannot compare them. They are very different meats with different tastes and textures.

The Official Logo of The Mouton Barèges -Gavarnie AOP.

Mouton Barèges-Gavarnie on the menu:

Brochette de Mouton Barèges Gavarnie à la Réglisse, Choux Vert et Châtaigne des Pyrénées – Skewers of the Barèges-Gavarnie mutton flavored with licorice served with cabbage and chestnuts from the Pyrenees.

Côtelettes de Mouton AOC Barèges-Gavarnie à la Crème de Serpolet - Chops from the Barèges Gavarnie mutton flavored with a cream of wild thyme sauce.

Gigot de Mouton Barèges-Gavarnie et Haricots Tarbais - Roasted leg of the Mouton Barèges-Gavernie served with the Label Rouge, red label dried beans from Tarbes in the Pyrenees.

Gigot de Mouton Barèges-Gavarnie

Photograph courtesy of Mon Œil

www.flickr.com/photos/claveirole/6064373291/

Navarin de Mouton Baréges-Gavarnie Printanier Navarin - A stew of Baréges-Gavarnie mutton cut into regular shapes, along with vegetables, nearly always including turnips. The navette, a turnip, is considered the source of the name navarin, a turnip stew. A Navarin becomes a Navarin Printanier, a springtime stew when it is made with lamb and young spring turnips along with other early vegetables.

Civet de Mouton AOC Barèges-Gavarnie – A slowly cooked stew from the Barèges-Gavarnie mutton. A stew like this will be prepared with vegetables and red wine. Civet were traditional stews associated with small wild game; that meant a lapin, a rabbit, or a lièvre, a hare, and occasionally a marcassin, a young wild boar. Now the term civet is used for many other stews like this menu listing.

The Mouton Barèges-Gavarnie sheep are brought to their mountain pastures in the area called the Pays Toy, in the department of the Hautes-Pyrénées, in the late spring.

Heading for higher pastures

In the high pastures, these sheep have total freedom; not even a shepherd to watch out for them except maybe once every ten days. Nevertheless, since writing this, I have been told that the tradition of permanent shepherds and sheepdogs is returning, as the wild animal protection laws have seen the local bear population increasing. By November, the sheep are back in a covered shelter in the valleys and feed on hay that comes from their summer pastures.

There is, of course, a fete for the Mouton Barèges-Gavarnie, but the date and place move every year within the region. Check ahead with the Tourist Information Office website below. This is not just a fete where the children can pet the sheep; this is also a chance to taste and enjoy, and then everyone can enjoy sheepdog trials and competitions.

For the fete and touring in the region in summer or winter, see the English language website:

http://www.luz.org/en/

The same website has information on the highest spa in France, where the Barèges waters, a constant 42 °C (107.6 °F), are known for their help with bone reconstruction, rheumatism, and respiratory system. The spa has been known since the beginning of the 17th century and is the highest in the Pyrenees. The ski resort of Barèges is one of the largest skiing centers in the region of the Midi-Pyrénées.

Cross-country skiing with the family

Photograph courtesy of Tourisme Grand Tourmalet

www.flickr.com/photos/grand-tourmalet/7008047935/

The English language website of Gavarnie Tourist Information office:

http://summer.gavarnie.com/

Connected Posts:

Cabbage; Cabbage in a French restaurant? Of Course, Cabbage is very important in French Cuisine.

Châtaignes and Marrons on French Menus. You Will Have Chestnuts From Your Hors d’Œuvre to Your Digestif.

Civet – A traditional French stew associated with small wild game. Civet on French Menus.

Côte, a rib or rib roast, a cutlet or a chop; Côté, a side or a filet; Côtes, (cotes) the hills or the coast in French. All will be on French menus.

Gigot, Gibelotte, Gigolette, Gigotin and Gigue on French Menus and in French Cuisine.

Haricot Tarbais – The Bean from Tarbes is one of France’s Favorite Beans. The Haricot Tarbais on French Menus.

Lapin - Rabbit and Hare on French Menus.

Sanglier - Wild Boar on French Menus?

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Thyme in France. Thyme, Serpolet, Farigoule and Thym Citron, Lemon Thyme in France. Thyme. One of the most important herbs in French cuisine.

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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

Epicurus

Epicurus – Epicurus was a Greek philosopher (341 –270 BCE). For the last two hundred years or so his name has been used to label people who enjoy good food and wine. Today, if you know about and enjoy good food and wine you are an epicure. The only problem is that when they handed out Epicurus's name to foodies, they had the wrong information. Epicurus never wrote about food and wine,

For Epicurus food and wine was no more than a basic need. He was, incorrectly, branded a hedonist by the early Church. Epicurious was a very gentle person who believed in the rights of man, while a hedonist is a person who only lives for personal pleasure.

We can enjoy Epicurus’s philosophy and food and wine.

No damage has been done even if today's food-centric Epicures know little of Epicurus's philosophy. If you like good food and wine then today you are an epicure, and that is not bad at all. If you also appreciate the philosophy of Epicurus in addition to good food and wine, then you will be an epicure twice over.

The influence of Epicurious.

Epicurus’s gentle philosophy did, however, influence many of those who studied him. The most well-known of his students, in the era of the enlightenment, was the British philosopher John Locke (1632-1704). John Locke’s own works went on to influence the founding fathers of the USA, and the French men and women who drafted France's Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen in 1798.

The Rights of Man and the Bill of Rights.

The authors of France's Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen influenced and were influenced by the authors of the American Bill of Rights; that is the first ten amendments to the USA Constitution. The two documents were first published some thirty days apart. That is quite revealing and tells much about common ideas in countries long before fax, email or telephones. The two future country's future leaders worked together for the freedom of their citizens.

The US Declaration of Independence.

The second paragraph of the declaration of independence was heavily edited by Thomas Jefferson together with Benjamin Franklin and John Adams. Their work shows the influence of John Locke, the most famous of Epicurus's disciples; their original drafts remain.

John Locke (1632 – 1704)

John Adams (1735 – 1826) Benjamin Franklin (1705-1790)

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

The second paragraph

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Under the heading The Pursuit of Happiness I include the enjoyment of good food and wine.

Bryan G Newman

Epicurus, the man.

Epicurus was branded a hedonist by early Church philosophers when they were trying to make ancient Greek philosophy fit the teachings of the early Church. Far from being a hedonist, Epicurus was a gentle, thoughtful man, a philosopher who believed that individuals could happily live this life on earth with kindness and friendship; he taught moderation and personal responsibility. Epicurus's philosophy is laid out in the second paragraph or the USA declaration of independence.

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