Behind the French Menu

Morbier AOP - Morbier is a Rich, Creamy, 45% fat, French, Cow’s Milk Cheese.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Morbier AOP

Morbier AOP is a rich, creamy, 28% fat cow’s milk cheese made with non-pasteurized milk. The cheese is made in the French Departments of Jura and Doubs in mountainous regions that become ski centers in the winter. An export version of the cheese made with pasteurized milk is available, and both versions are matured for a minimum of two months before being sold. The cheese is a yellow to ivory colored soft to semi-soft cheese. N.B. When you open a new Morbier cheese, you will immediately note its strong smell but "worry not" this is a rich, creamy, and tasty cheese.

Aging Morbier cheese

Photograph courtesy of leprogress.

The same region in the Jura that produces the Morbier AOP cheese also produces France’ fabulous Comté AOP hard, yellow, cow’s milk cheese, and from the department of Daubs comes the soft, cow’s milk cheese the Le Mont d'Or AOP also called the Vacherin du Haut-Doubs AOP

A wedge of Morbier AOP

Photograph courtesy of Alpha

https://www.flickr.com/photos/avlxyz/4985911507/sizes/m/

Upon seeing a Morbier cheese for the first time, the obvious point of interest is the separation of the cheese into two layers. Originally these layers were made with a thin layer of charcoal, but today it is a vegetable separation. Then separation marked two different cheeses; the lower half made with the milk from the morning milking and the upper half made with the milk from the evening milking, today that is no longer the case, but tradition is tradition. The cheese has been made for at least 300 years from when it was first recorded in the 18th century; it would become popular throughout France in the early 20th century.

Morbier paired

Photograph courtesy of Brett Jones

The Morbiflette

Like nearly all French cheeses Morbier AOP has an important place reserved on the cheese platter, but it also has a prominent place on the local menus. The most famous Morbier cheese dish is the Morbiflette. The Morbiflette is a traditional dish, much like a Reblochonade or Tartiflette which is made with the Reblochon cheese. In a traditional Morbiflette a wedge of cheese is melted and poured over boiled potatoes, small pickled onions and smoked bacon pieces flavored with nutmeg; it makes a delicious winter dish. However, this is the traditional farmhouse Morbiflette recipe, and so, in restaurants, you may expect additions. Here are two examples:.

Morbiflette - Roesti, Morbier, Jambon de Montagne, Jambon Cru – A Morbiflette prepared with roestis, m ountain ham and cured ham. (Roestis are an originally Swiss dish of grated fried potatoes; they may also be on a menu as crêpes de pomme de terre and may be described as grated potato fritters).

La Morbiflette - Gratin de Pommes de Terre, Lardons, Morbier, servi avec Charcuterie et Salade - Potatoes browned in the oven with Morbier cheese and served with bacon pieces alongside cold meats and a salad.

Two Morbiflettes ready for serving.

Photograph courtesy of Marmiton

Other dishes with Morbier cheese on French menus:

Galette de Maïs, Confit d'Oignons, Morbier Fondu, Salade, Jambon Cuit Fumé – A corn meal, in the USA maize flour, crepe prepared with an onion jam and smoked cooked ham covered with melted Morbier cheese.

Gratinée d'Escargots de Bourgogne au Morbier - Burgandy snails prepared with Morbier cheese and browned under the grill.

Nem de Saucisse de Morteau et Morbier. – A spring roll containing the Saucisse de Morteau and Morbier cheese. The Saucisse de Morteau is an AOP smoked pork salami type sausage that may be eaten without any additional cooking; nevertheless, it is often grilled or fried when made part of other dishes.

Learning to ski in the French Jura.

Photograph courtesy of Nicolas Buffler

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolasbuffler/16349681650/

Filet Mignon au Morbier et Jambon Cru Ht Doubs – A cut from a pork tenderloin, the fillet in the UK, served with a Morbier cheese sauce and cured ham of the Haute Doubs. N.B. A French filet mignon if not precisely described as a beef or veal filet mignon is always pork.

Tagliatelles Fraiches Sauce au Morbier et Saucisse de Morteau – Fresh tagliatelle pasta served with a sauce made with Morbier cheese and the Saucisse de Morteau AOP. (Tagliatelle is the long flat thin pasta, originally Italian, that may be up to 1 cm wide).

The French departments of Jura and Doubs are part of the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The departments of Jura and Daubs border Switzerland. For more about the joining together of the regions of Bourgogne, Burgundy and Franche-Comté into the super region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté along with other changes in France’s regions click here.

The weights of Morbier cheeses.

Whole Morbier cheeses weigh from 6-8 kilos (13.2 lbs – 17.6 lbs) with a half size cheese weighing 3 kilos. Even the half size cheese too large to take home for most of us so buy a half kilo (1.1 lb) or 1 kilo (2.2 lb) wedge in vacuum packaging which most serious
fromageries, cheese shops, offer.

Buying Morbier cheese.

For my post on buying cheese in France and taking it home click here.

The village of Morbier

The cheese takes its name from the village of Morbier in the department of Jura in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Today the village and the communities around it have a population of just over 2,000, but not everyone in the village is making cheese, and so it is made in farms and dairies in other parts of the Jura and Daubs. Morbier is 58 km (36 miles) from Geneva, Switzerland and 96 km (60 miles) from Besançon the regional capital of Franche-Comté.

The village of Morbier

Photograph courtesy of Bookine

Other famous products and activities of the Jura and Doubs

The Jura in winter is one of France’s most famous skiing regions, but among France’s chefs, it is better known for its fantastic wines, sausages, and cheeses. The Jura’s wines include their Vin Jaune AOP, their yellow wine, that is matured for at least six and a half years and though it is not fortified like sherry it tastes much like a dry Fino sherry. The Jura also produces their Vin de Paille AOP, a sweet dessert wine, and their great but inexpensive sparkling Crémant du Jura AOP.

Vin Jaune Chateau-Chalon

Vin Jaune come is a distinctively shaped bottle called the clavelin.

Photograph courtesy of Dominic Lockyer

https://www.flickr.com/photos/farehamwine/14894950670/

Not forgotten is the Jura's liquor the Macvin AOP; which is produced in a similar manner to Pineau de Charente of Cognac and Pommeau from Calvados; it is an eau-de vie mixed with a fermenting wine and drunk cold as an aperitif. The department of Doubs is also famous for its smoked Saucisse de Montbéliard a smoked pork sausage along with its even more famous cousin, with a different taste, the Saucisse de Morteau AOP pork sausage.

Morbier Cheese and Saucisse de Morteau AOP cooking.

Photograph courtesy of Mon Œil

https://www.flickr.com/photos/claveirole/401195504/

Connected Posts:

AOC and AOP on France's Foods and Wine labels? Why did the AOC become an AOP?

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

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

Bottles in France. The names, shapes and sizes.

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

Comte AOP (AOC), the premiere cheese of France.

Cremants are the Best Value in French Sparkling Wines.

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

Escargots - Snails on French Menus and How to Order Snails in France. If You Enjoy Cockles, Mussels and Conches, Then Snails will not be Strange.

Filet Mignon in France and Filet de Bœuf in French Cuisine.

France’s Mainland Regions and Their Borders Have Changed. Keep This List With Your GPS and Map.

Jambon Sec (Cru) - Air-Cured Ham. The Ten Most Popular Air-Cured Hams on French Menus.

Macis and Fleur de Muscade, Mace and Nutmeg. Important Spices in French Cuisine.

Pineau de Charentes; the Aperitif of France’s Cognac region. Cognac III.

Reblochon Cheese AOP. One of the greatest cheeses from the Savoie, France.

Salades - Salads. The Forty Most Popular and Simple French Salads. Salads in French Cuisine.

Sausages in France. A Short Introduction to France’s World of Sausages. The Sausages of France III.

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Gibier – Wild game. Wild game in French Cuisine. Wild Game on French Menus.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Game

Photograph courtesy of 52bobbyblack

https://www.flickr.com/photos/robertlenoir/8716386577/

Gibier – Wild game

The French term gibier covers all types of wild game. Game may legally be hunted in France; each in its specific season. Hunting is licensed and controlled by the different departments.

Many of the animals hunted as wild game in France are now also farmed and they will be on menus all year round. Nevertheless, there are great differences in taste and texture between farmed and wild game. Worry not, when game is served out of season, you will not be eating the poacher’s catch.

Game that is legally hunted in France.

The game that may, in season, with a license, be legally hunted include: Bécasse, woodcock; Bécassine, snipe; Caille, quail; Cerf Rouge, Cerf Élaphe or Cerf Noble, Red Deer; Cerf Sika, sika deer; Chamois, the Alpine mountain goat and the Isard, Izard, the Pyrenean Chamois: Chevreuil, roe deer; Daim, fallow deer; Gélinotte, grouse; Faisan, pheasant; Perdrix, Partridge; Pigeon Ramier or Palombe, wood pigeon; Mouflon, the mouflon sheep, France’s native wild sheep; Sanglier, wild boar; along with many wild ducks and game fish.

Wild rabbit, lapin sauvage and hare, lièvre sauvage, maybe hunted all year round. However, farmed rabbit and hare are larger and tenderer than the wild variety. Apart from some traditional recipes that require wild rabbit or hare the French diner prefers the farmed variety. You will rarely see wild rabbit or hare on the menu. (Squirrels, écureuils, may be hunted at any time but I have never seen a squirrel on a menu).

There are a large number of wild ducks that may be hunted, and game fishing is also popular. The French term for the hunt, la chasse, came into English as the chase and the same word is also used for game fishing in France.

Many restaurants will make additions to their regular menus when fresh game is available. N.B. In certain areas, some restaurants that specialize in wild game only open during the hunting season.

French words that will be on the menu during the hunting season.

Carte de Chasse-The Menu of the Hunt.

Cerf – Deer. The word is used to refer to any deer but generally will indicate the red deer.

Gibier à Poil – Furred wild game.

Gibier de Plume - Game birds.

Gibier en Saison – Game in season.

Gibier Frais de Chasse Locale – Fresh, local, wild game.

Caille Sauvage – Wild quail.

Wild quail is smaller with darker and tastier meat than the farmed variety, but with limited availability do not ignore farmed quail outside of the hunting season.

Quail

Photograph courtesy of shankar s.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/shankaronline/8454285953/

Caille Sauvage de Provence Accompagnée d'Olives et Legumes – Wild quail from Provence accompanied by olives and vegetables.

Roti Sur Une Crapaudine De Caille Sauvage Au Vrai Jus Gnocchi de Pommes de Terre. A roasted, butterflied, wild quail served with its natural cooking juices and accompanied by potato flour gnocchi.

The European quail is a little smaller than the American quail. Despite the quail family's connection to pheasants, you would not know it to taste one or to look at one. Farms that raise quail also raise these birds for their beautiful eggs; quail eggs are an essential part of quail farming economics.

Quail in the languages of France’s neighbors:

(Catalan - guatlla, guatla, guàtlera), (Dutch - kwartel), (German - wachtel), (Italian - quaglia comune), (Spanish - codorniz común).

Canard Sauvage – Wild duck.

Wild duck is almost an entirely different bird to farmed duck. The meat is much darker, the flavor completely different. The chef must make sure that the ducks he or she buys are not old. Unfortunately, old wild ducks often have a fishy flavor and are always very stringy.

France has many wild ducks with the Canard Colvert, the mallard duck, most often on the menu. When the menu does not explicitly identify the duck, then it is the mallard duck. The mallard duck is the most common wild duck in France and probably the most common wild duck in the rest of the world as well. Colvert means green collar, the identifying mark of the male duck. This is a tasty, lean duck that was once only caught in the wild; however, now it is also farm raised, though the taste and texture are not the same as its wild cousin.

The male wild mallard duck.

Photograph courtesy of Sergei ~ 5of7

https://www.flickr.com/photos/5of7/5527341011/

Wild duck on French menus:

Magret de Canard Sauvage aux Figues Caramélisées au Miel d'Acacia – Breast of wild duck prepared with figs caramelized with France’s much-loved acacia tree honey.

Filet de Canard Sauvage aux Airelles, Mousseline de Céleri - A cut from the breast of wild duck prepared with European cranberries and served with a celery mousse.

The Mallard duck in the languages of France’s neighbors:

(Catalan - ànec collverd, ànec de bosc), (Dutch - wilde eend),(German – stockente). (Italian - germano reale), (Spanish - añade real).

Other wild ducks that are on French menus include:

Canard Chipeau - The gadwall or sand-wigeon:

(Catalan ), (German – schnatterente), (Italian – canapiglia), (Spanish - ánade friso),

Canard Siffleur – The Eurasian Wigeon

Despite this duck’s odd-sounding English name, this is a well-liked wild duck. In season it will be on many menus all over Europe.

(Catalan - ànec xiulador), (Dutch - smient), (German - pfeifente). (Italian - fischione), (Spanish - silbón europeo),

Canard Souchet – The shoveler or northern shoveler duck:

This duck’s name comes from the shape of its beak.

(Catalan - ànec cullerot),(Dutch - slobeend) (German – löffelente), (Spanish - cuchara común or patos cucharas), (Italian – mestolone),

Cerf –Venison

Venison is the meat of any member of the deer family. In France, when no particular deer is named then it will be the red deer.

Venison on the menu:

Carpaccio de Cerf Sauvage à la Roquette et au Parmesan – Wild Venison, marinated and served as a Carpaccio with the herb rocket and Parmesan cheese. Wild deer need to be marinated for at least 24 hours, farmed deer are much tenderer, but wild deer have a different and better flavor.

Civet de Cerf Sauce Grand Veneur et Polenta – A venison stew, again probably the red deer, served with a Grand Veneur sauce, the sauce of a great hunter. The stew is accompanied by polenta, the French version of the North Italian dish of cornmeal polenta. For the European peasantry, it was cornmeal and corn flour, maize flour, which saved many from starvation. Today polenta has become a fashionable side dish though today’s French farmers, no longer peasants, mostly ignore polenta and buy pasta, rice and or potatoes in the supermarket. Grand Veneur is a traditional sauce created to serve with game. The recipe has changed over time and now is usually made with red wine vinegar, butter, fresh berries and crème fraîche. The term veneur means a huntsman.

Filet de Cerf Sauvage Choux de Bruxelles Pommes de Terre Confits, Thym, Citron – Fillet of wild venison, a cut from the tenderloin, Brussel’s sprouts, and potatoes baked with oil and garlic and flavored with thyme and lemon.

Cerf Rouge, Cerf Élaphe or Cerf Noble

The red deer.

An adult red deer is a cerf, a young male, under six months of age, is called a faon; from here comes the English word fawn. A young female red deer, like the young male she is called a faon until she is one-year-old; then she will be called a bichette. At two years, she is considered mature and called a biche. The English word bitch comes from the French biche.

Red deer

Photograph courtesy of ERIC FORGET

https://www.flickr.com/photos/tarchamps/2784083069/

Salade Gourmande au Cerf Rouge Sauvage Fumé et Fromage de Chèvre aux Amandes – A gourmand’s salad made with smoked meat from the wild red deer, goat’s cheese, and almonds. A salad like this will usually be served with a vinaigrette sauce; ask. The use of the word gourmand on a menu should indicate something exceptional and rarely available, not just expensive; this dish would seem to meet that criterion.

Cerf Rouge Sauvage Rôti, Purée de Betterave Blanche, Crosnes, Shiitake et Pulpe de Canneberges – Roasted wild red deer served with pureed white beetroot, Japanese artichokes, shiitake mushrooms and cranberry pulp.

Red deer in the languages of France’s neighbors:

(Catalan - cérvol or cérvol comú), (Dutch - edelhert ), (German - rothirsch ), (Italian - cervo nobile ( ), (Spanish - ciervo común, ciervo europeo, ciervo rojo).

Chevreuil

the European Roe Deer

The roe deer is relatively small and when roasted or grilled will be barded, wrapped in fat, as the meat is very lean.

Female roe deer (Chevrette).

Photograph courtesy of Ong-Ma

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rucher_orgeval/23286609401/

La Selle de Chevreuil Sauvage Désossée et Rôtie en Croûte de Cuchaule, Sauce à la Moutarde de Bénichon – A saddle of wild roe deer, the back deboned, roasted and covered in cuchaule, the saffron flavored brioche type bread, from Switzerland and served with a sauce flavored with the Benichon Mustard from the Swiss Canton of Fribourg. The Benichon mustard is a sweet mustard jam made of mustard flour, flour, white wine, cooked wine, candy sugar and water perfumed with cinnamon, star anise, and cloves. It is nearly always served together with the cuchaule brioche.

Paté de Chevreuil Sauvage de Sologne aux Chanterelles. Pate made with the wild roe deer and wild chanterelle mushrooms from the Sologne. The Sologne is in North Central France includes parts of the departments of Loiret, Loir-et-Cher and Cher in the region of Centre-Val de Loire. The Sologne is a 5,000 square kilometer (1,900 square mile) area of France that is practically untouched. It is well known for its fishing and wild game. N.B. Much of the hunting and fishing rights in Sologne are privately owned and not open to the visitor.

Roe deer in the languages of France’s neighbors:

(Catalan - cabirol), (Dutch - ree), (German - reh), (Italian - capriolo), (Spanish – corzo).

Chamois

The European Mountain goat

There are three, possibly four separate groups of the Chamois family of mountain goats in France. The two that are permitted to be hunted are the Alpine Chamois and the Pyrenean Chamois. These goats are not farmed and will be on the menu only if they have been caught in the wild.

The Chamois

Photograph courtesy of Umberto Nicoletti

https://www.flickr.com/photos/unicoletti/5795682257/

Dos de Chamois des Alpes Rôti au Jambon de Sanglier et aux Légumes Anciens, Pulpe de Coing au Vinaigre de Framboises, et une Sauce aux Baies de Timut - A thick cut from the Alpine Chamois roasted with wild boar ham and served with heirloom vegetables, a puree of quince-flavored with raspberry vinegar and a sauce flavored with the timut pepper from Nepal. Timut pepper is similar to Szechuan pepper with a grapefruit tang.

Selle de Chamois aux Herbettes et Baies Sauvages – The saddle, the back, of the Chamois prepared with flavored wild grasses and wild berries.

The Alpine Chamois Chamois in the languages of France’s neighbors:

(Catalan – isard), (Dutch - alpengems), (German - gämsen), (Italian - camoscio alpino ), (Spanish - rebeco, gamuza, sarrio).

Isard, Izard or Pyrenean Chamois in the languages of France’s neighbors:

(Catalan: isard pirinenc),(Dutch - Pyrenese gems),(German Pyrenäen-Gämse) (Italian: camoscio, camoscio pirenaico, camoscio dei Pirenei

Faisan – Pheasant

In season wild pheasant will be on many menus and is well worth looking out for.

Pheasant

Photograph courtesy of Mickaël Dia

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mickaeldia/4178045633/

Wild pheasant on French Menus:

Suprême de Faisan Sauvage de France, Polenta. Breast of wild pheasant served with polenta.

Terrine Maison de Filets de Paisan Sauvage aux Pistaches et Confiture d'Oignons – The restaurant’s unique pate made with slices of wild pheasant breast prepared with pistachio nuts and served with an onion jam.

Filets de Faisan Sauvage en Brochette, aux Raisins Frais et Noix, Jus au Pineau Des Charentes, Flan D’échalotes Aux Châtaignes – Cuts from the breast of wild pheasant on skewers prepared with fresh grapes and walnuts served with the natural cooking juices flavored with Pineau Des Charentes, the Cognac-based aperitif, and accompanied by a shallot and chestnut tart.

Pheasants in the languages of France’s neighbors:

(Catalan - faisa), (Dutch - fazant), (German – fasan), (Italian - fagiano comune), (Spanish - faisán común).

Gélinotte - Grouse

Grouse may be hunted during a short season: however, like many birds that are also farmed wild grouse are rarely seen on restaurant menus; the hunters will have taken home their catch home.

Grouse

Photograph courtesy of André Provost

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ste-rose/8244088453/

Grouse in the languages of France’s neighbors:

(Catalan - tetraónidas), (Dutch - ruigpoothoenders), (German -raufusshühner), (Italian – urogalli, tetraoni), (Spanish - tetraóninos).

Perdrix - Partridge

Partridge will be on many menus though nearly all will be farm raised as only a few departments permit the hunting of wild partridge. The two menu listings below are showing farmed partridge.

The gray partridge

Photograph courtesy of Jean-Marie Van der Maren

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jmvdmaren/16421067161/

Perdrix au Miel et aux Fruits Secs – Partridge prepared with honey and dried fruits.

La Demi Perdrix Rouge Désossée et Farcie aux Cèpes – Half of a red-legged partridge deboned and stuffed with wild French Porcini mushrooms.

The Partridge in the languages of France’s neighbors

(Catalan - perdiu), (Dutch - patrijs), (German - rebhühner ), (Italian - pernice), (Spanish - perdices).

Saumon Sauvage, Saumon Atlantique

Wild Atlantic Salmon

Wild salmon is a very different fish to the farmed variety. The only wild salmon native to France is the Atlantic salmon, and that is the same salmon that is native to Scandinavia and the British Isles. The best farmed salmon from Scotland is the only salmon with a French Label Rouge, the red label for quality and farming practices; those excellent farms also posses the British RSPCA Freedom Food label. When you have tasted the best wild salmon, there is a clear difference in taste and texture, also in price! Wild Atlantic salmon stocks are now carefully managed and there is no over-fishing. Other salmon family members that may reach French menus will have been imported.

Fishing for wild salmon.

It takes lots of patience.

Photograph courtesy of Alden Chadwick

https://www.flickr.com/photos/aldenchadwick/6102390417/

Wild Atlantic salmon on French Menus:

Grande Assiette de Saumon Sauvage Baltique Fumé – A generous serving of smoked wild Baltic salmon. The Baltic Sea is part of the Atlantic ocean but almost enclosed by Sweden, Finland, Russia, Latvia, Lituania, Estonia, Poland, Germany, and Denmark. It is famous both for the region’s farmed salmon and the wild salmon caught there.

Carpaccio de Saumon Sauvage Mariné à la Vinaigrette de Limes, Crème Aigrelette au Raifort – Carpaccio of wild salmon marinated in a lime vinegar and served with sour cream flavored with horseradish.

The Atlantic Salmon in the languages of France’s neighbors:

(Catalan - salmó), (Dutch - zalm), (German – lachs, wildlachs), (Italian – salmone atlantico), (Spanish – salmon).

Sanglier – Wild Boar

Wild boar will be on the menu twelve months a year. The French discovered that by closing off parts of forests and leaving good food out, wild boar allowed themselves to be farmed. The real wild boars, which are considered a serious nuisance by French farmers may be culled in season. Then the menu will read Sanglier Sauvage…..wild wild boar. Real Wild boar is very carefully controlled before it may be sold. Each and every animal must have part of the meat send to a government laboratory before sale or consumption. The wild boar on your menu will have been approved as disease free.

Wild boar

Photograph courtesy of peupleloup

https://www.flickr.com/photos/peupleloup/22245021664/

Filet Mignon de Sanglier Sauvage à la Crème de Topinambour, Truffe – A cut from the fillet, the tenderloin, of wild boar served with a Cream of Jerusalem Artichoke and truffles.

Civet de Sanglier Sauvage aux Lardons et Petits Oignons Glacés, Purée de Panais – A wild boar stew flavored with bacon pieces and small pickled onions and accompanied by a parsnip puree.

Wild boar in the languages of France’s neighbors:

(Catalan - senglar, porc senglar, porc fer ), (Dutch - wild zwijn ), (German - wildschwein ), (Italian - cinghiale ), (Spanish - jabalí, jabalí euroasiático).

Connected Posts:

Ail - Garlic. Garlic in French Cuisine.

Amande or Almondine – The almond, the nut. The Almond in French cuisine.

Bacon and Salted Pork on French Menus.

Caille - Quail. Quail on the Menu in France.

Carpaccio on French Menus.

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

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

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

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.

Crème Fraîche - Creme Fraiche. What is Crème Fraîche? Why is Crème Fraîche Part of so Many of France’s Famous Sauces.

Échalotes - Shallots. One of the Most Important Herbs in the French Kitchen