Behind the French Menu

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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Aiguillettes de Bœuf

https://www.flickr.com/photos/thebusybrain/2885879361/

Aiguillette was originally used for slices of beef, but now will be on menus for slices of chicken, duck and even fish. In any case, read the menu carefully as there is also a cut for roast beef with the name aiguillette.

Aiguillette de Boeuf on your menu will usually indicate slices from a rump steak. N.B. The North American and UK rump steaks do not come from the same cut. In France, a rump steak will be barded while cooking; meaning that it will be tied around with fat to prevent it drying out as naturally this cut has little fat. The result is that French cuts from the rump, when roasted or served as steaks, will usually be tastier than similar cuts at home. The cut used for an aiguillette de bœuf is also the preferred cut for the chopped or ground beef used for a steak tartare.

Aiguillettes on French Menus:

Aiguillettes de Bœuf aux Girolles – Slices of beef served with wild chanterelle mushrooms.

Aiguillettes de Salers Braisée – Braised slices of beef from the Salers breed of cattle. The cows from the Salers breed produce the milk for the famous Cantal and Salers AOC cheeses from the Auvergne. Despite the cow’s fame for their milk, historically they have always been bred both for their milk and their beef.

Sliced duck in red wine, grapes, and thyme

served with asparagus and potatoes.

Photograph courtesy of Alpha.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/avlxyz/4729783387 FF

Aiguillettes (L’) de Rumsteck en Croûte d’Herbes Fraîches –The rumsteck here is covered in herbes and then roasted. You will be served slices. When finding a dish on the menu like this ask more about it Those who do not ask may well be missing out on an excellent meal.

Aiguillettes de Canard – Slices of duck, usually slices of duck breast. Duck breast in French is Magret de Canard.

Aiguillettes de Canard, Sauce Montmorency – Slices of duck breast served with Sauce Montmorency. The sauce is made with Montmorency (sour) cherries made with orange juice, sweet berries, and kirsch. The area of Montmorency, once famous for its cherry orchards, has given its name to a type of sour cherry. Montmorency itself is now a bedroom suburb just 14 kms (9 miles) from the center of Paris.

Aiguillettes de Canard.

Photograph courtesy of Digital Wallpapers

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Aiguillette de Saint-Pierre et Crumble de Noisettes, Topinambour Jus de Volaille Acidulé - A fillet of John Dory, the fish, served with a crumble made with hazelnuts, Jerusalem artichokes, and a slightly acidic veal sauce.

Aiguillette de Saumon – Slices of salmon.

Photograph courtesy of Alpha

https://www.flickr.com/photos/avlxyz/4354980706/ FF

Brochette d'Aiguillettes de Volaille Marinées à l'Huile d'Olive and Citron Vert – Skewers of slices of chicken breast marinated in olive oil and lime.

Ris de Veau, Aiguillettes de Poulet, Champignons, Crème, Porto – Veal sweetbreads served with slices of chicken and button mushrooms; accompanied by a cream sauce flavored with Port Wine.

Salade d'Aiguillettes de Canard au Sésame Déglacées au Vinaigre Balsamique de Modène - A salad of slices of duck breast with a sauce made with sesame oil deglazed with Balsamic Vinegar from Modena.

Connected Posts:

Button Mushrooms - The Champignon de Paris. The Mushrooms of France I.

Cantal and Salers; Two of the Best Cheeses From the Auvergne, France.

Chanterelle Mushrooms, the Most Famous Four. Chanterelle Girolle Mushrooms on French Menus.

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.

Duck Breast- Magret de Canard or Lou Magret.

En Croûte on French Menus.

French Olive Oils. Enjoying France's Best Olive Oils.

Montmorency Cherries on French Menus. Camille Pissarro and Jean-Jacques Rousseau who made the village of Montmorency internationally famous.

Saint-Pierre, that unique fish. John Dory in French Cuisine.

Sweetbreads in French cuisine, Ris de Veau (d'Agneau) on French Menus.

Vinegar, Vinaigrette and Verjus 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

Roquefort cheese.

Photograph courtesy of Milan Stankovic

https://www.flickr.com/photos/milstan/5304118608/sizes/m/ FF

What makes the Roquefort cheese special?

This cheese is the famous, blue-veined, semi-soft, 33% fat, sheep's cheese, made with unpasteurized milk. It has a medium to strong flavor and has no rind. It is slightly pungent, crumbly, and somewhat moist. The cheese comes from the village of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon in the department of Aveyron in the Occitanie.

This is the cheese that many call the king of cheeses and was the first cheese to be awarded an AOC (in 1925), and that was before the first wine carried those initials. The cheese is aged for five months before it may be sold in the natural damp, aired caves that are close to the village.

Roquefort is one of France's oldest known cheeses; it was probably already appreciated by the Romans when they occupied France in 121 BCE. Roquefort is not unique because it is a sheep's cheese or because of its age; however, it is unique as it is the first recorded blue-veined cheese inside or outside France.

Roquefort cheese aging.

Photograph courtesy of Per-Olof Forsberg FF

Comparing Roquefort and the other blue cheeses.

When discussing blue cheeses Roquefort's name will always come up and I read an article recently where Roquefort was compared to English Stilton. However, Roquefort and Stilton are not the same at all! Their tastes and texture are very different. Even more to the point, Stilton is a cow’s milk cheese and Roquefort is a sheep's milk cheese. Both are excellent blue veined cheeses and much appreciated on their own or with a glass of Port and a few grapes but there the similarity ends.

The village of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon

Photograph courtesy of kmaschke

https://www.flickr.com/photos/14174853@N04/4114900938/sizes/m/ FF

Where Roquefort is produced.

The village of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon may have given its name to the cheese but today since there are less than 700 inhabitants in Roquefort-sur-Soulzon you may be sure that most of the farmers come from outside the town. The cheese is ripened in the local limestone caverns called Causses; these caverns are part of the Parc Naturel Régional des Grands Causses. You may visit the park, with its mineral and hot springs and see the limestone caverns. For a few Euros you may try the cheese and or buy one. If you speak French you may still have some difficulty listening in on the local’s private conversations that is because many of them, amongst themselves, speak the local Occitan dialect, the traditional language of the area.

Entrecote with Roquefort Sauce and French Fries.

Photograph courtesy of Mover el Bigote

https://www.flickr.com/photos/moverelbigote/9542609101/sizes/m/ FF

The Grands Causses Regional Natural Park has an English language website.

https://www.parc-grands-causses.fr/en

When in the area you will also find other local blue-veined sheep’s cheeses on sale. They are not made in Roquefort-sur-Soulzon and have no AOP on their label; however. some are very good, and they are also much less expensive! Do not forget that within the Midi-Pyrénées there are many excellent cheeses and three more that hold the AOP grade. These are the cow’s milk Bleu des Causses. the cow’s milk Laquiole, and the goat’s milk Rocamadour.

Salad with Roquefort and walnuts

Photograph courtesy of cyclonebill

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclonebill/4300818225/sizes/m/ FF

If you are looking for a local wine to accompany your Roquefort cheese, consider the Entraygues-Le-Fel AOP and Estaing AOP these are whites, roses, and reds that were probably originally planted in Roman times.

Entraygues Le Fel AOP

Also, try the red and rose Marcillac AOP wines. This is a wine brought to the Mediaeval village of Conque 125 km (78 miles) away from Roquefort by the monks who also saw their abbey become a major stop on the Saint-Jacques de Compostelle pilgrimage on the way to Spain.

Connected Posts:

Entrecôte (Entrecote). Ordering a Perfect Entrecote Steak in France.

French Fries, Frites, Pomme Frites, Chips in the UK. French Fries on French Menus.

Laguiole AOP Cheese. One of France's finest cheeses.

Rocamadour Goat’s Cheese, AOP and the Medieval city of Rocamadour.