Behind the French Menu

Soufflé - A Soufflé. Soufflés on French Menus. Soufflés in French Cuisine.

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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

A soufflé.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/stuart_spivack/6893745/

At its simplest a soufflé is beaten egg whites with other ingredients added for flavor; all is then baked. Despite the apparent simplicity, not all soufflés are equal; the very best, are so light that out of the oven they may only last for three or four minutes before collapsing. These delicate soufflés will be served directly from the oven to the diner. Apart from these special soufflés, others may be sweet or savory and may be served hot or cold.

The meaning of the word soufflé.

Outside of restaurant usage, the French word soufflé translates directly to breath, breathing or a breeze. These words with their idea of a breath or breeze gave the name to the original light soufflés.

The chef will choose the soufflé dish your order requires.

Photograph courtesy of Didriks

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dinnerseries/14887535715/

Some articles and books give Antonin Carême, France’s greatest early 19th-century chef, incorrectly, the honor as the creator of the soufflé. The soufflé had made menus, and recipe books at least 70 years before Antonin’s recipe books offered them. Nevertheless, Antonin loved soufflés and called them La Reine de la Patisserie, the queen of pastry. Within the better French restaurant kitchens, a perfectly prepared soufflé will be one of the tests to decide if an applicant for the post of dessert chef gets the job.

A chocolate soufflé beginning to collapse.

Photograph courtesy of John Cruise

https://www.flickr.com/photos/uchunobushi/8613015626/

At the time that Antonin prepared his recipes China or Porcelain soufflé dishes did not exist; then a soufflé was cooked inside a particular pre-prepared pastry or bread casing called a croustade.

Pastry and bread croustades are still in use.

The word croustade remains in use even though soufflés have their own modern serving dishes. Croustade remains as the name for hollowed out loafs of bread in which soup may be served. Then again a croustade may part of the main dish with a stew inside. Other croustades may be a meat or fish dish baked or served in a pastry cover. However, bread or pastry covers cooked with meat or fish inside will mostly be on menus as a dish served …. en croûte.

Soufflés on French Menus:

Soufflé au Fromage – A cheese soufflé.

A chocolate souffle

Photograph courtesy of stu_spivack

https://www.flickr.com/photos/stuart_spivack/1528767980/

Soufflé Chaud au Grand Marnier et Son Jus d'Orange Pressé – A hot soufflé flavored with Grand Marnier and the juice of freshly pressed oranges. Grand Marnier is a liquor made from a blend of cognac and bitter oranges created in the 1880’s. Soufflés with added Grand Marnier remain very popular, and Grand Marnier alone continues to be one of France’s most famous and best-selling liquors.

The creator of Grand Marnier.

The inventor of Grand Marnier was Louis-Alexandre Marnier-Lapostolle, and he was not a shy man. He gave his creation his name and then added the title Grand to increase its importance. To ensure success Marnier-Lapostolle had Grand Marnier introduced to the world by his good friend César Ritz at the Savoy Hotel in London. Voila, instant celebrity; especially as the chef was César Ritz’s partner Escoffier. Grand Marnier’s popularity certainly did not suffer from its, occasionally disputed, inclusion in the original recipe of the dessert Crêpes Suzette.

Before Grand Marnier.

Another, earlier, creator of a very popular orange base liquor combined with Cognac was the producer of Bénédictine D.O.M. Then in 1863 a Fecamp wine merchant and businessman Alexandre Le Grand, Alexander the Great in English, claimed to have discovered in his family’s library a 16th-century Bénédictine manuscript. The document Le Grand claimed held the recipe for Bénédictine D.O.M. Alexandre Le Grand’s amazing factory come palace and castle may be visited in Fécamp, Normandy. Bénédictine D.O.M. continues to sell in the millions of Euros in France and around the world.

Soufflé Grand Marnier

Photograph courtesy of Amy Ross

https://www.flickr.com/photos/donutgirl/2328904132/

Soufflé Tiède de Homard aux Petits Légumes – A warm soufflé made with the meat of the European two-clawed lobster and baby vegetables.

Soufflé aux Épinard – A soufflé with spinach.

Seared duck with goat's cheese soufflé.

Served with a raspberry-cassis reduction sauce.

Photograph courtesy of Navin Rajagopalan

https://www.flickr.com/photos/navin75/5850839849/

Souffle Glacé aux Trois Mirabelles - A frozen soufflé made with three different tastes all created using the Mirabelle plum. The Mirabelle plum, the Mirabelle de Lorraine IGP is a small, yellow to reddish plum; in the season it will be on menus all over France. The Mirabelle is by far France’s favorite plum for confitures, jams or conserves. The Mirabelle is considered a local French fruit as it is the result of hundreds of years of cultivation and crosses. The plum is mostly grown in the region of the Lorraine. The Lorraine, however, since 1-1-2015 is part of the super region of the Grande Est, the Great East; If you are in France from mid-August through September try these plums fresh as they are rarely seen in the UK and probably never in North America. The first plum used in this soufflé will be fresh Mirabelle plums, the second will be dried Mirabelle plums, and the last will be a sauce made with a Mirabelle eau-de vie, probably the Mirabelle de Lorraine Eau-de-Vie, an excellent French plum brandy.

An hors d’œuvre soufflé with shrimps.

Photograph courtesy of Edsel Little

https://www.flickr.com/photos/edsel_/10631706015/

Soufflé Rothschild - The most famous of all Antonin Carême’s soufflés. The Soufflé Rothschild uses fruits confit, preserved fruits, and an orange liquor, Grand Marnier had not been invented at the time. At the banquet where this new dish was presented Antonin received an untold number of compliments, and the recipe entered the history of Haute Cuisine. There are other soufflés in Antonin’s book Le Pâtissier Royal Parisien, including a Soufflé au Fraises, a strawberry soufflé, that often makes current menus. The Rothschild’s were Antonin’s last employers before his retirement.

N.B. Fruits Confit are not to be confused with Confits de Fruits which are fruits slowly cooked until they achieve the consistency of a jam. Fruits Confit used in the Soufflé Rothschild are candied or crystallized fruits. The fruit is preserved by slowly exchanging the natural water content of a fruit with sugar. The names Fruits Confit and Confits de Fruits may easily confuse, but they are very different products.

Soufflé Rothschild

Photograph courtesy of Marilane Borges

https://www.flickr.com/photos/marilaneborges/15647512089/

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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Salsifis – The Salsify or Oyster Plant on French Menus. The Salsifis in French Cuisine.

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Behind the French Menu

Bryan G. Newman

The white salsify flower. (tragopogon porrifolius).

Photograph courtesy of ✿ nicolas_gent ✿

https://www.flickr.com/photos/21680590@N06/4629939241/

The two familiar members of the family.

Salsifis – The Salsify or Oyster Plant is rarely on the menu in North America or the UK. In Europe it is often served in a similar manner to asparagus, though; apart from its shape, it is not that similar to asparagus. This vegetable is also called the oyster plant; a name that was awarded by those who consider the cooked plant to have a taste or texture of oysters. I disagree with that. I think it is more like an artichoke heart, both in texture and taste, but then I am naturally argumentative. In Europe, salsify may be served as an alternative to potatoes as it is a white root vegetable looking rather like a thin parsnip. There is also a black salsify, which, when peeled, is also white and is less fibrous than the white salsify. The black or Spanish salsify is called scorzonera or scorsonère in France but on most menus, no attempt is made to differentiate between these two cousins as they have similar tastes and will be on most French menus as salsifi.

Peter Henderson & Co's seed catalog.

New York :Peter Henderson & Co. :1872.Peas, Salsify, and Radishes.

Photograph of drawing from Biodiversity Heritage Library.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/biodivlibrary/15820414384/

White salsify is a pale brown while black salsify (scorzonera) unpeeles looks like a dark carrot and when cooked is much smoother. When their peel is removed they look very similar.

Sweetbreads, truffle, salsify and mushroom ragout

Photograph courtesy of stu_spivack

https://www.flickr.com/photos/stuart_spivack/12214272873/

The two salsify plants are regularly on Northern Mediterranean and European menus.

These plants were already known and cultivated in Roman times. Nevertheless, in France, cultivation only began in the 16th century and even later in the UK where it was originally grown for its attractive flowers. Now salsify, both varieties, are being treated seriously as the tasty vegetables they are, and they will be on menus in France Italy, Spain, and Germany.

Black (Spanish) salsify ready for peeling and cooking.

Photograph courtesy of martinlehnberg

https://www.flickr.com/photos/martinlehnberg/8398576619/

Salsify on French menus:

Blanc de Turbot Sauvage et Salsifis Dorés au Beurre - Filet of wild turbot served with salsify gilded in butter.

Côtelettes d’Agneau, Salsifis, Champignons, Tomates Confites, Poireaux - Lamb cutlets, salsify, button mushrooms, tomatoes cooked to the consistency of a jam and leeks.

Roasted leeks and salsify

Photograph courtesy of Laurel F

https://www.flickr.com/photos/laurelfan/4607703439/

Cuisses de Grenouilles, Vieux Gueuze, Ail, Salsifis et Persil – Frog legs prepared in an old (two or three years old) Belgian Lambic beer cooked with garlic, salsify, and parsley.

Filet De Bœuf Au Romarin et au Thym, Salsifis Braisés – A beef fillet, a cut from the tenderloin, flavored with rosemary and thyme and served with braised salsify.

Black salsify on sale at a farmer’s market.

Photograph courtesy of Beck

https://www.flickr.com/photos/beckayork/4140853822/

Grondin Rouge Salsifis, Haricots Noirs, Portobello et Noisettes - Red Gurnard; a fish with firm, white flesh, and taste not too different to red mullet prepared with salsify, black eyed peas, Portobello mushrooms, and hazelnuts.

Velouté De Salsifis Crevettes Grises – A veloute is a velvety soup, here made with salsify and sand shrimps.

White salsify ready for peeling and cooking.

Photograph courtesy of Edsel Little

https://www.flickr.com/photos/edsel_/6415908299/

The white salsify in the languages of France’s neighbors:

(Catalan -salsifi ), (Dutch -paarse morgenster, boksbaard ),(German – haferwurzel , purpur-bocksbart, schwarzwurzeln). (Italian – scorzobianca, sorzonera), (Spanish – salsifí, barba cabruna) ,

Scorzonera hispanica, black salsify or Spanish salsify is also known as the black oyster plant is also a member of the sunflower family and likewise cultivated as a root vegetable.

Black or Spanish Salsify in the languages of France’s neighbors:

(Catalan - escurçonera, escurçonera hispana ),(Dutch - grote schorseneer, ), (German - garten-schwarzwurzel, Spanische schwarzwurzel), (Italian - scorzonera di Spagna ), (Spanish - escorzoner),

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Champignons on French Menus. The Champignon de Paris, the Button Mushroom in French Cuisine. The Mushrooms of France I.

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.

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Bryan G. Newman

Behind the French Menu

For information on the unpublished book behind this blog contact Bryan Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Saint-Honoré and the Gateaux Saint-Honoré - The St Honore Cake.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

A Saint Honore Cake.

Photograph courtesy of Recettes et Terroirs

The origins of the Gateaux Saint-Honoré

The Gateaux Saint-Honoré, the St Honore cake, was created in 1847 by the pâtissier Auguste Jullien the head pastry chef in the patisserie of M. Chiboust on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris. It is not too surprising that a cake was created in this street, after all it is named after Saint-Honoré the patron saint of bakers, pastry chefs, flour merchants, and confectioners.

The narrow but very important street of

Faubourg Saint-Honoré

This narrow street may not be as impressive as the nearby Champs-Élysées, but it is home to many of France’s top fashion houses as well as the official residence of the British Ambassador to France, the United States Ambassador to France and the Élysée Palace the official residence of the President of the French Republic. If you came to Paris for Haute Couture this is one of the roads that will be on your shopping list. Unfortunately, on my last visit, I did not find a single bakery producing its own products.

The Rue Faubourg Saint-Honoré

Photograph courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

What’s in the cake?

The cake is made with pâte feuilletée, a variation of the puff pastry used for millefeuilles. (Another form of pâte feuilletée pastry is pâte levee which is yeast based and used for croissants). Also utilized in preparing this cake are various shapes made with pâte à choux which is filled with Crème Chiboust and covered with caramel. N.B. Pâte à choux is the puff pastry used for éclairs and profiteroles etc.

Another Saint Honore Cake.

Photograph courtesy of Recettes De

The Crème Chiboust is a crème pâtissière made with milk, eggs, egg whites, flour, and sugar. It is usually flavored with vanilla and in my opinion best when whipped cream is included in the recipe. Crème Chiboust may have its flavor changed at the chef’s choosing, The Saint Honore cake will be on many restaurant menus around the 16th of May, the date of Saint-Honoré’s death in 600 CE along with celebrations of bread making.

St Honore aux Fraises

A Saint Honore cake with strawberries.

Photograph courtesy of Le Journal de Femmes

Patron Saints.

Patron Saints and Saint’s Days have long been part of the Roman Catholic Church’s tradition and many of these Saint’s days have now become part of the secular culture. Age-old traditions include St Honoré and St Valentine, (Valentine’s Day) along with many others. Even in Israel New Year’s Day is called Sylvester after the 4th century Pope Sylvester who died on 31 December 335 CE. The Jewish New Year does not follow the Gregorian (another saint) calendar and so the imported Sylvester is used for the celebrations on 31 December.

Preparing the final touches to a Saint Honore Cake

Photograph courtesy of Patrimoines Ile de France

Where Saint Honore became a saint,

The City of Amiens, in the North of France, is the where St Honore was the Bishop and here he was martyred and according to Roman Catholic tradition became a saint. Amiens is the departmental capital of the Somme in the region that was Picardie. The Amiens Cathedral’s origins date back to1220, and it is considered the most impressive Cathedral in the whole of France; its is also, obviously, a UNESCO world heritage site.

Amiens’ Cathedral

Photograph courtesy of Nina Jean

The changes in the region of Picardie, Picardy.

Since 1-1-2015 Picardie together with the region, Nord-Pas-de-Calais became part of the new super region of Hauts-de-France. On 1-1-2015 France reduced the number of mainland regions from 22 to 13. France’s regions are in certain matters similar to USA States, and UK Counties and the reduction in the number of regions is intended to reduce administrative costs and bureaucracy. The name Hauts-de-France means the Heights of France and refers to the region’s importance and position in the North of France.