Behind the French Menu: Cloves

Showing posts with label Cloves. Show all posts

Aneth – Dill. The spice with a very light aniseed flavor and a favorite in the French kitchen.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Dill

(Dill weeds are dried dill leaves, and they certainly are not weeds.

Photograph courtesy of Seeds Needs

The taste of dill.

I am not a great fan of strong aniseed tastes; however, dill is not aniseed. Dill is mild, and in marinades, soups, and sauces, it adds a light aniseed accent that I do like. The French use the feathery dill leaves to marinate fresh salmon and other fish dishes.

Dill seeds.

The seeds are 4–5 mm (0.16–0.20 in) long and 1 mm (0.04 in) thick.

Photograph courtesy of fireramsey

www.flickr.com/photos/44799719@N00/368305912/

Fresh dill leaves, surprisingly, have a lighter taste than the same leaves in their dried form. Dill leaves and their seeds, which are their fruits, are available fresh or dried. Dill leaves are milder than the seeds and more likely to be used on their own in herbal butters, herbal vinegar, or flavor salads. Dill seeds are used as a salt substitute, for pickling, and to flavor pastries.

Dill on French menus:

Carpaccio de Bœuf Mariné Citronné et à l’Aneth – Beef Carpaccio marinated with lemon and dill.

Barbecuing tiger prawns flavored with dill.

Photograph courtesy of Alpha

www.flickr.com/photos/avlxyz/10511535635/

Escalope de Veau Panée, Sauce Crémeuse à l’Aneth et Citron – A breaded veal scallop/escalope served with a cream sauce flavored with dill and lemon.

Feuilleté aux Moules et à l’Aneth – A puff pastry casing filled with mussels flavored with dill.

Plaice in a dill sauce, with peas and potato pancakes.

Photograph courtesy of Ward van Wanrooij

www.flickr.com/photos/40132124@N00/10560573566/

Petites Tartelettes au Thon, Chèvre Frais et Aneth – Small tuna tarts, made with fresh goat’s cheese flavored with dill.

Salade de Carpe Fumée Maison, Crème Citronnée à l’Aneth et Œufs de Lumps - A salad of home-made smoked carp; served with a lemon-flavored cream sauce with added dill and lumpfish eggs. N.B.: Lumpfish eggs are called lumpfish caviar outside of France. In France, the only fish eggs that may be called caviar are those that come from the sturgeon.

Dill marinated salmon.

Photograph courtesy of mari

www.flickr.com/photos/birdies-perch/1794151133/

Saumon Mariné à l'Aneth – Salmon marinated in dill. When this dish is well-made and thinly sliced, it is the only dish I know to compete with the best smoked salmon for flavor and texture.

Dill and Fennel.

Dill’s green stalks, leaves, and seeds look like a smaller version of fennel; that is not too surprising as they are members of the same family. However, dill is the spice of choice for recipes when a light aniseed touch is needed. Fresh dill keeps well in a refrigerator, but when fresh dill is not available, unlike many other spices that lose flavor when dried, dried dill is an acceptable alternative and is stronger than fresh dill.

Dill’s origins.

Some herb and spice experts will tell you that dill originated in Europe and others in Central Asia. In Europe, we know the Ancient Romans and Greeks used dill in many recipes, and from those two countries, you may see how the taste for dill progressed with recipes, including dill spreading throughout the Mediterranean. In Asia, India has its own variety of dill called Sowa.

Wherever dill originated, it was undoubtedly one of the Old-World exports to the New World. In North America, dill leaves are marketed as dill weeds; however, dill weeds are dried dill leaves, and they certainly are not weeds.

The origin of dill’s English name.

The English name dill comes from the Scandinavia, where the words, dill, dild, dila, are all words that indicate calm. French and other homeopathic doctors prescribe dill to calm an upset stomach and other disorders.

Salad with cucumber, radish, and dill with yogurt sauce

Photograph courtesy of Marco Verch

www.flickr.com/photos/30478819@N08/48841116057/

Dill and aniseed.

Dill has two other French names, Faux Anis and Fenouil Bâtard, but they will not usually be seen on menus. For those seeking real Aniseed in France, it is called Anis and Anis Vert. Star Anise, the star-shaped fruit of the Chinese Aniseed flavored spice, is called Anis Étoile and Badiane.

Not from France.

One of America's favorite pickles, the kosher dill cucumber.

Photograph courtesy of Maggie Mudd

www.flickr.com/photos/maggiemuddphotography/4347393210/

Dill in the languages of France’s neighbors:

(Catalan – anet), (German - dill, gurkenkraut), (Italian – aneto), (Spanish - hinojo hediondo, abesón, aneldo, eneldo).

Dill in other languages:

(Chinese (Mandarin) -歐洲蒔蘿 ōu zhōu shì luó, 蒔蘿 shì luó), (Dutch – dille), (Greek – Άνηθος, anithos)m (Hebrew- shevet rehanee, shamir, שבת ריחני, שמיר ), (Japanese -ディル, イノンド, siru, inondo), (Korean -딜, 이논드, tir, inondu), (Malay - adas china, adas pudus, ender), (Norwegian – dill), (Polish - koper ogrodowy), (Portugues – endro, aneto),(Rumanian - mărar), (Russian – Укроп, ukrop), (Ukranian - kріп, kріп запашний, yкріп, kопер, krip, krip zapashnyj, ukrip, koper). With thanks to Gernot Katzer and his spice pages for the many translations and other assistance.

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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

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Connected posts:

Anis, Anis Vert - Anise or Aniseed. Anis on French Menus and in Pastis

Anis Étoile or Badiane - Star Anise the Spice. Star Anise on French Menus.

Carrelet, Plie or Plie d'Europe – Plaice, the fish. Plaice on French Menus.

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

Carpaccio on a French Menu. How to Order a Carpaccio in France.

Caviar in France. The Different Caviars on French Menus. Sturgeon, the fish, Esturgeon on French menus.

Chèvre and Chevreau or Cabri – Goat’s Cheese and a Young Goat, a Kid, on Your French Menu.

Citron – The Lemon. The Lemon, the Lime, the Citron, the Kaffir Lime and the Pomelo in French Cuisine.

Darphin, Paillasson, Dauphine and Dauphinois on French Menus.

Enjoying Veal in France II - Escalope de Veau or Paillard de Veau. A Veal Cutlet, Escalope, Escallop or Scallop.

Fenouil - Fennel, the Herb, and the Vegetable. Fennel on French Menus.

Fumé – Smoked. Smoked Foods in French Cuisine.

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

Ordering mussels in France. More than just Moules Frites, and How to Order Moules Frites.

Saumon – Salmon. Salmon in French Cuisine.

Thon - Tuna, the Fish. Tuna in French Cuisine.

For other herbs and spices from behind the French Menus see:

Herbes et Épices – Herbes and Spices. The Most Popular Herbs and Spices in French Cuisine.

Clous de Girofle - Cloves. Cloves in French Cuisine

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Cloves, fresh and dried.

Photograph courtesy of National Gardening Association.

Cloves are one of the world’s oldest recorded spices; we know the Chinese were using cloves in their cuisine over 4,000 years ago. Cloves are strongly aromatic and can have an intense and fiery taste. When cloves reached, the West is uncertain, but both Greek and Roman cuisine used cloves. Either one of those two usual suspects brought cloves to France, or possibly they arrived even earlier through those early Mediterranean wholesalers, the Phoenicians. Then cloves were immediately incorporated into French cuisine.

Baked pears with honeyed cinnamon and Cognac

Photograph courtesy of Chris Gehlen

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rumble1973/4201477332/

Cloves will be in both French savory and sweet dishes; cloves will also be used in alcoholic and alcohol-free punches to add a little fire, and for the same reason cloves will be in many marinades and pickling solutions.

Cloves drying before being sent to market in the Pemba Island.

Photograph courtesy of Community Forests International

In French cuisine, cloves are part of the oldest French spice group still in use, the Quatre Épices, the four spices, or the Épice Parisienne, the Parisian spice. This French spice group goes back at least four hundred years. Many chefs now use five spices rather than the original four, though they will still be on the menu as the quatre épices, the four spices. The Quatre Épices includes more or less, the original four spices: poivre, pepper, noix de muscade, nutmeg, and clous de girofle, cloves. The disputed fourth was initially gingembre, ginger or cassia, Chinese cinnamon. Today the Chinese cinnamon will be replaced by the Cannelle de Ceylan, Ceylonese cinnamon. French cuisine uses many spice groups with the most famous being Les Fine Herbes.

Cloves are also often used in cocktails.
These are sidecars.

A sidecar is Cointreau, Cognac, Lemon Juice, and in this example, there are added cloves.
(To read how seafood cocktails reached French menus from North America click here).

Photograph courtesy of Jax House.

www.flickr.com/photos/jaxhouse/7125636331/

The name clou in French originates from the old French word for a nail; if you look at the picture at the top of this post a single clove does somewhat resemble a nail. They look somewhat like the rather wonky nails of 2,000 years ago. The name clou arrived in England with the French-Norman conquerors in 1066, and a clou later became a clove in English.

Cloves on French Menus:

Compote de Chocolat Blanc, Poires Infusées aux Clous de Girofle – A compote of white chocolate and pears infused with cloves.

Gibier Confit Pommes de Terre; Assaisonnez de Cannelle, de Clou de Girofle – Wild game prepared confit, cooked in its own fat, and then served a few days later with potatoes and seasoned with cinnamon and cloves.

Infusion de Clous de Girofle et Cannelle – An infusion, a tisane, a herbal tea, made with cloves and cinnamon. Cloves, in small quantities, are considered an aid in speeding recovery from indigestion in French homeopathic medicine.

La Soupe de Cerise est Composée d’un Bouillon Froid avec un Fort Goût de Cannelle et de Clous de Girofle et des Cerises Entières - A cold cherry bouillon with a strong flavoring of cinnamon and cloves and served with whole cherries.

Magret de Canard Sauce Quatre Épices et Miel – Duck breast prepared with a sauce made of the four spices spice group and honey.

Oil of Cloves

Oil of Cloves, in both Chinese and Western medicine, has long been used as an antiseptic and pain reliever. The picture above is an old bottle of an oil of clove pain killer; this one was probably sold for toothaches. The bottle pictured above probably came at the latest from the 1950s or 1960s, though oil of cloves is still used as a homeopathic painkiller.

Photograph courtesy of Amanda Slater.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pikerslanefarm/3515226366/

Chefs must be careful with the quantities, as too many cloves will numb your mouth and then you will not be able to taste anything. Cloves are also an essential ingredient in that partly Indian, partly British sauce; Worcestershire Sauce. Cloves are also critical to the Cinq Épices Chinois, the Chinese five-spice powder.

Serious cultivation of cloves, as usual, began with Dutch who had a practical monopoly until the 18th century. Cloves grow on an evergreen tree that can reach over 3 meters in height; the tree flowers twice a year, and the cloves are the unopened buds.

Clove trees, up to three meters tall.

Photograph courtesy of National Gardening Association.

The world’s largest producer of clove is a single island, the island of Pemba; part of Tanzania, on the East coast of Africa. Nearly the whole island of Pemba is covered with clove gardens. According to travelers who have visited Pemba by ship, the cloves from the island can be smelled over the horizon before the passengers on the ship approaching the island can see it. Madagascar and Indonesia are also large producers.

Cloves in the languages of France's neighbors:

(Catalan - clavell, clau d'espècia), (Dutch - kruidnagel ), (German – nelke, gewürznelke). (Italian - chiodo di garofano), (Spanish – clavo), (Latin - syzygium aromaticum).

-----------------------------------------

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

-------------------------------------------

Searching for the meaning of words, names or phrases

French menus?

Just add the word, words, or phrase that you are searching for to the words "Behind the French Menu" and search with Google. Behind the French Menu’s links include hundreds of words, names, and phrases that are seen on French menus. There are over 450 articles that include over 4,000 French dishes with English translations and explanations.

Connected Posts:

Cannelle or Cannelle de Ceylan – Ceylonese Cinnamon; the spice.

Cherries in France. The Cherry on French Menus.

Chocolate and France. Visiting a Chocolatier, a real chocolate maker.

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.

Cocktail de Fruits de Mer - How American Seafood Cocktails Arrived on French Menus.

Cognac the Town, and Visiting Cognac and Tasting the Product. Cognac IV.

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

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

Gingembre – Ginger, the Spice. Ginger is very important in French Cuisine, and Gingerbread is Very Popular.

Les Fine Herbes; the Most Important Herb Group in French Cuisine.

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