Showing posts with label Jean-Louis Françoise-Collinet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jean-Louis Françoise-Collinet. Show all posts

Sauce Béarnaise, its Creation, its Creator and its Connection with Béarn. Sauce Béarnaise in French Cuisine.

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

Filet Mignon with Béarnaise Sauce
    
Sauce Béarnaise (pronounced bay-are-naiz) is a superstar.  On steaks, with chicken, with salmon, over vegetables or poached eggs and on nearly everything else Sauce Béarnaise has been popular for almost 200 years.
 
Sauce Béarnaise is a “child” of Sauce Hollandaise
 
Sauce Béarnaise is a “child” of Sauce Hollandaise.  In the 1830’s the chef and restaurateur Jean-Louis Françoise-Collinet, took the recipe for Sauce Hollandaise, omitted the lemon juice and added white wine vinegar, shallots, chervil, and tarragon and made Sauce Béarnaise. It's the tarragon and white wine vinegar that supply the tang that makes us Sauce Béarnaise devotees.
   
Steamed Asparagus with Sauce Hollandaise.

The same chef Collinet, in the same restaurant, Pavillon Henry IV, 20 km (12.5 miles) from Paris in 1837,  created soufflé potatoes. The story of soufflé potatoes will need a separate post.
 
Sauce Béarnaise on French Menus today:
 
Brochette de Rognon de Veau Grillée Sauce Béarnaise – A skewer of grilled veal sweetbreads served with Sauce Béarnaise.
   
Steak with Sauce Béarnaise.
www.flickr.com/photos/djackmanson/38734190120/
 
Chateaubriand Grillé Sauce Béarnaise, Pommes Dauphines Tomates Roties au Sésame et Pointes d'Asperges – A grilled Chateaubriand Steak served with Potatoes Dauphin, asparagus spears and tomatoes roasted with sesame seeds. (Potatoes Dauphine are potato croquettes mixed with choux pastry, and fried).
 
Coquelet de Grain Fermier Désossé Grillé, Sauce Béarnaise, Pommes Frites- A young, grilled deboned, grain-fed, farm-raised cockerel served with Sauce Béarnaise and French fries.
   
Flank steak, Sauce Béarnaise, and watercress.
www.flickr.com/photos/60173925@N06/15530825490/

Daurade Royale de Loctudy, Langoustine Grillée, Céleri-rave, Sauce Béarnaise Gilthead seabream from the fishing village of Loctudy in Brittany served with a Dublin Bay prawn, Sauce Béarnaise, and accompanied by that tasty member of the celery family, celeriac.
 
The fishing village of Loctudy is in the department of Finistère in Bretagne, Brittany. The fish and shellfish from Brittany are considered the best in France. Even the name of the fishing port that brought in a particular fish is important when choosing the very best fish; a sort of Terroir of the sea.  Finistère is the most western part of mainland France and sticks out into the Atlantic. More about Brittany and its connection to Britain at the end of this post,
  
Tronçon de Turbot Grillé, Sauce Béarnaise – A cut from a  grilled turbot, the fish, served with Sauce Bearnaise, Here the cut, a  tronçon (pronounced tron-son) is used with its original meaning, a cut from across a flatfish.  Now the word tronçon is also used for meats where it indicates broad cuts.
   
Steak and Sauce Béarnaise,
 

Cold Entrées (French first courses).
 
Roast-beef Froid, Sauce Béarnaise – Slices of cold roast beef served with Sauce Béarnaise.
 
Saumon Froid aux Asperges Vertes Accompagné d'Une Sauce Béarnaise  – Cold salmon and green asparagus served with Sauce Béarnaise.
   
Salmon with Sauce Béarnaise.
Photograph courtesy of Gourmandasia.com

N.B. Some menu listings may note Sauce Béarnaise Maison, the house’s own Sauce Béarnaise. They are not indicating that only their’s is homemade and other restaurants are selling a store-bought sauce. Instead, the wording advises they are making slight changes to the original recipe and creating their own version; the Next Generation.
 
The name Béarnaise
 
The name Béarnaise may seem to indicate that the sauce comes from the old province of Béarn, once part of the independent kingdom of Navarre that had one border in Spain and the other in France. While Navarre had many recipes of its own none were related to Sauce Béarnaise. Nevertheless, when the chef Collinet named the sauce, he did have Béarn and Navarre on his mind. His restaurant was called The Pavillon Henry IV, and Henry IV was, before assuming that title, Henry III of Navarre and Prince of the Principality of Béarn; he had spent much of his childhood in Béarn. (Henry IV was, in France, also called the Good King Henry though few French citizens, looking back, would call him good.  With the evil will and drive of Catherine de Medici, then the Dowager Queen of France, he planned and carried out the massacre of France's Protestants.
    
Flag of the of Béarn, France
In Alexandre Dumas (Pere)’s book The Three Musketeers,
 the hero d'Artagnan comes from Béarn.  
     
When Henry received the French crown, he also became the first Bourbon King of France. As part of the arrangements that made Henry King of France, he also brought the French part of the kingdom of Navarre on the North-side of the Western Pyrenees into France. In international relations, something from Navarre had always been offered in trade and even England had had two queens who were born in Navarre. Today the French part of the old province of Navarre including Béarn is part of the department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques in the new super-region of Occitanie. The Pyrénées-Atlantiques reaches from the Pyrénées at the Spanish border to the plains below. (The city of Pau had been the capital of the province of Bearn and is now the capital of the department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques).
   
Béarnaise and Mother Sauces.

The French chef Antonin Careme in the early 1800s, wrote down all the laws for France's Haute Cuisine, many of which he had developed, including the idea of mother sauces.  A mother sauce is a basic sauce, and with small changes, a new sauce is created. These new sauces are called the children of the mother sauce. Seventy years later Auguste Escoffier, together with his collaborators, in the early 1900s, adapted French cuisine for the first half of the 1900s. They changed Careme’s four mother sauces to five.

The five mother sauces are: 

Sauce Hollandaise - Apart from its name this sauce has nothing to do with Holland;
Tomato Sauce;
Sauce Béchamel - Named after Louis de Béchamel the treasurer of King Louis XIV (the Sun King);
Sauce Espagnol - Apart from its name this sauce has nothing to do with Spain;
Veloute - The origin of this name was lost in the smoky kitchens of the 1800s.

The most famous child of Sauce Hollandaise is Sauce Bearnaise, and Sauce Bearnaise now has many children and grandchildren of its own.

A few of the Children of Sauce Bearnaise

Sauce Choron.

The chef Alexandre Étienne Choron (1837 - 1924), took Sauce Béarnaise and added tomatoes. Sauce Choron is served on steak, chicken, eggs, and vegetables.

Sauce Foyot or Sauce Valois.

A chef whose name has been lost took Sauce Béarnaise and begat Sauce Foyot also called Sauce Valois. Sauce Foyot is Sauce Béarnaise with the addition of the glazed cooking juices of the roasted meat. With Sauce Foyot’s taste, it is a perfect addition for grilled meats.

Sauce Palois.

Another chef whose name I cannot find took Sauce Béarnaise and begat Sauce Palois. Sauce Palois is Sauce Béarnaise with the tarragon replaced with mint. That makes Sauce Palois a very popular French sauce with lamb dishes where it is usually served warm.


Brittany

Brittany was taken over by Celtic tribes who fled Britain as succeeding waves of conquerors made their lives impossible. The first group fled with the Roman invasions, the next groups left when the Germanic tribes of Angels and Saxon ravaged their villages and the final groups left when overrun by the Vikings.   
 
When visiting Brittany around the 21 of June, the longest day of the year you may join local, make believe, Druid ceremonies celebrated with a great deal of the Druid's alcoholic honey-based mead called Chouchen. (Chouchen is available in Brittany all year round and will also be flavoring dishes on local menus).For those who prefer it, Champagne is also available anywhere in Brittany.
  
Chouchen

The Druids from Southern Britain would have taken the shortest possible route to France. They would have left from somewhere close to where the Port of Falmouth, England is now and would have reached Amor, the land that would become Bretagne, somewhere close to Plouescat, France.  Plouescat today is a seaside resort with its own small Casino; it is very popular with the French.
   
Falmouth, England to Plouescat, France is 179 km  (111 miles)
Map courtesy of Google Maps ©

Today, the Pavilion Henri IV is a boutique hotel with a beautiful restaurant set in a classified historical building that was completed in 1603. In this building, the future Sun King, who built the Chateau de Versailles, King Louis XIV, was born on September 5, 1638. The hotel and its restaurant (that I have not yet dined in) is located in Saint-Germain-en-Laye (Yvelines), 18 km (11 miles) from the center of Paris and can be reached by train in 15 minutes. The Pavillon Henry IV is 570 km (350 miles) away from the old province of Béarn.

The Hotel and Restaurant Pavilion Henri IV
Saint-Germain-en-Laye

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Estragon - Tarragon. Tarragon, the herb, in French Cuisine.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

­­ 
 
Tarragon, a very important herb.
www.flickr.com/photos/notahipster/4104268280/
 
Tarragon  

As one of France’s favorite herbs, fresh tarragon leaves will be in salads, salad dressings, vinegar, sauces, soups, egg dishes, tomato dishes, and herbal butters. Tarragon will also be accenting many meat and fish recipes. Tarragon’s aroma reflects its mild aniseed taste that adds a pleasant bittersweet flavor. While I do not like heavily accented aniseed dishes or pastries very much, tarragon is perfect.

Tarragon is an essential part of France’s most well-known herb group Les Fine Herbes and is the most important herb in Sauce Béarnaise. French bouquets garni nearly always include tarragon and tarragon is often included in the Provencal herb group the Herbes de Provence. Tarragon adds a flavor that can be identified as French though few first-time visitors to France can identify it by name.  

(A bouquet garni is made by tying several herbs with a thread and dropping them into the pot to flavor a stew or soup. When the herbs have created enough flavor the bouquet garni is removed by a tug on the thread.)


Bresse Chicken with Tarragon, Wild Rice
Photograph and recipe courtesy of Rostang Père & Filles
 
Which tarragon do French chefs use.

French chefs insist on fresh French Tarragon, (also called German Tarragon). Dried tarragon, as opposed to most other herbs, tastes stronger when dried and so is rarely seen in French kitchens. There are other tarragon family members, but they will not usually be used by French chefs. You may see a herb called Russian tarragon in the markets, it is more bitter than French tarragon and has a very mild tarragon taste. According to one of the chefs I talked to about herbs and spices, he said:” Russian tarragon is at its best when flowering in a garden!”

Cucumber-Tarragon Fizz
www.flickr.com/photos/edsel_/34973853581/
 
Tarragon on French menus:

Carpaccio de Magret de Canard a la Framboise, et Estragon -  Carpaccio of duck breast flavored with raspberries and tarragon.


Penne au Poulet et à l'Estragon
Penne pasta with chicken and tarragon
Photograph courtesy of Isabelle Hurbain-Palatin
www.flickr.com/photos/ipalatin/4085762877/
 

Côtes d’Agneau à l’Estragon – Lamb chops flavored with tarragon.

Langouste, Macédoine de Légumes, Mayonnaise à l'Estragon Lobster tail prepared with cubed vegetables and served with a tarragon flavored mayonnaise. A macédoine is a French culinary size for cubed vegetables, and occasionally fruit, that should be cubes about 5 mm (0.2”) by 5 mm (0.2”) by 5 mm(0.2”). Great importance is given to the uniformity so check the exact measurements with calipers.

 
Scallops, creamed corn and tarragon.

Joues de Boeuf aux Pleurotes & Estragon – Beef cheeks prepared with oyster mushrooms and tarragon. Beef cheeks are a bistro favorite and cooked for hours until they are really soft.


Asparagus, smoked trout roe, toasted brioche, tarragon
Photograph courtesy of Lou Stejskal
www.flickr.com/photos/loustejskal/18926879348/

Poëlée d'Escargots Fondue de Tomates et Beurre d'Estragon – Lightly fried petit-gris snails prepared with tomatoes cooked to a pulp and flavored with tarragon butter.


Poached Chicken with Tarragon Yogurt Sauce
Photograph courtesy of Michele Frazier
www.flickr.com/photos/michelecolettefrazier/8104762922/

Palourdes de Quiberon au Vin Blanc, Estragon et Salicorne Clams from Quiberon cooked in white wine and tarragon and served with samphire (Salicornia).   Samphire is often, mistakenly, called an edible seaweed; it is not.  Samphire is a coastal plant, with many family members, and grows in salt marshes and in the sand along the coast, not in the sea.  Its shape, not its taste, gives samphire another name, sea asparagus. Quiberon is a peninsula on the southern coast of the department of Morbihan in Brittany, and apart from its fishing industry and oyster and mussel farms Quiberon  is a very popular summer holiday vacation spot for the French.  In July and August do not even think about looking for a free hotel room; the hotels are often booked one year in advance. 

Soupe de Poisson aux Croûtons et sa Rouille à l’Estragon – A fish soup served with croutons and a tarragon flavored rouille sauce. Rouilles are thick sauces that are used to add spice and flavor. They will be served on the side, usually together with the croutons, and then the rouille and the croutons may be added by the diner to the soup, drop by drop or piece by piece, to his or her taste. 
 

Sauce Béarnaise on French Menus.

Le Saumon Grillé d'Ecosse, Label Rouge, Sauce Béarnaise - Grilled Red Label Scottish salmon served with Sauce Béarnaise. (It is tarragon that give Sauce Bearnaise its special flavor).  A few, unique, Scottish salmon farms produced the first non-French product to be awarded the French Label Rouge, red label, for its taste, consistent quality, as well as its manner of production. These same Scottish salmon farms came along with the British RSPCA label of Freedom food.  The RSPCA Freedom Food rating is the highest standard for farmed fish in the world.  

Chateaubriand Grillé, Sauce Béarnaise – A chateaubriand steak served with Sauce Bearnaise. The Chateaubriand is cut from the center, the best and thickest part of a tenderloin, a beef fillet. The same cut is used for a tournedos including the famed Tournedos Rossini.  A Chateaubriand is a very thick cut from the center of the filet that is first roasted and then cut into two large portions that are then lightly grilled before serving. This roasting and grilling are behind the tradition of Chateaubriand only being served for two persons, as you cannot roast a single 300-gram steak. (The early Chateaubriand steaks were closer to 400 grams (14 ounces) each).

Chateaubriand, the man whose name is behind this dish, was François-René, Vicomte de Chateaubriand, (1768-1848), Chateaubriand was a writer, a gourmand, as well as a politician. We traditionally have given the rights to the creation of the Chateaubriand steak to Chateaubriand’s personal chef Montreuil who named the dish after his employer. To order your Chateaubriand or any steak or roast in France, cooked the way you like it, click here.


Steak Entrecote, French Fries and Sauce Bearnaise.
Photograph courtesy of Trevor Pittman 
www.flickr.com/photos/46485532@N04/8445938443/

Côte de Veau Grillée, Pommes Rôties, Ratatouille Maison , Sauce Béarnaise - A grilled veal chop, served with roast potatoes, the chef’s version of Ratatouille and Sauce Béarnaise.

Tarragon and Les Fine Herbs

Les Fine Herbs, France’s most important herb group includes five herbs: Cerfeuil, ChervilCiboulette, Chives; Tarragon; Persil, Parsley, and Thym, Thyme. While the percentages of each herb in this group are not written in stone tarragon is used with a gentle touch. Too much tarragon and it may out flavor the other herbs.

Tarragon and Béarnaise sauce.

Sauce Béarnaise is a “child” of Sauce Hollandaise. In the 1830s the chef and restaurateur Jean-Louis Françoise-Collinet, in his restaurant, Pavillon Henry IV, 20 km (12.5 miles) from Paris, took Sauce Hollandaise and omitted the lemon juice. To replace the lemon juice Jean-Louis took white wine vinegarshallotschervil, and tarragon, with the accent on the tarragon; voila, Jean-Louis had created Sauce Béarnaise. During the nearly two hundred years that have followed, Sauce Béarnaise has become more and more popular. The restaurant and hotel, the Pavillon Henry IV, with new owners, is still open today.

The origin of the name Sauce Béarnaise.

Béarn was part of the ancient independent kingdom of Navarre on France’s southern border with Spain. Today Béarn is part of the department of Pyrénées-Orientales in the administrative region of Occitanie. While Sauce Bearnaise is not an ancient recipe Jean-Louis’s sauce did take its name from Béarn. King Henri III of Navarre, whose name was used for Jean-Louis’s restaurant, Pavillon Henry IV, spent his childhood in Béarn. King Henri would become King Henri IV of France and with the French crown, King Henri became the first Bourbon King of France.


Strawberriesgoat’s cheese, and tarragon.
Photograph courtesy of Cajsa Lilliehook
www.flickr.com/photos/cajsa_lilliehook/19892545826/
 
Where did tarragon come from?

Some food historians believe that the tarragon in French cuisine was brought from Eurasia by the usual suspects, the Romans. The Romans brought many trees, fruits, and vegetables from home when they colonized France beginning in 121 BCE. Despite that possibility, others award the honor to the Greeks; the Greeks loved good food, no less than the Romans, and had built the port city of Marseille in 600 BCE. The Greeks had also settled many other parts of Southern France long before the Roman settlers arrived and brought grapevines that are related to some of southern France's vineyards. Then to confuse us all, wild French tarragon is also found in North America. How tarragon arrived in North America I do not know; it certainly ­­­­arrived there without the help of the Romans or the Greeks!

Tarragon in French homeopathic medicines.

Homeopathic medicines are recommended by many French doctors. These natural medicines and remedies are trusted by many doctors and their patients and France’s national health insurance covers them. Tarragon is an important homeopathic herb and may be offered as a herbal tea; in France, herbal tea is called a fusion or a tisane. Tarragon is said to stimulate the appetite, relieve stomach cramps and reduce the effects of stress among other valuable attributes. 

Older beliefs in the value of tarragon

Gernot Katzer, a recognized expert on herbs and spices, allows me to use his website to check out the stories I have heard from chefs and others. I also use  Gernot’s translations. From Gernot’s notes on the history of tarragon, I learned that the origin of the herb’s name may be linked to Ancient Greek. The word estragon links to drakon, meaning dragon, and snake. In the Middle Ages, there was a widespread belief that tarragon could ward off serpents and dragons and heal snake bites. Following along on that I advise anyone visiting Transylvania to take some tarragon along with the garlic they will be carrying. Together tarragon and garlic will keep away the dragons and preclude any visits from vampires. 

  
Dragons and snakes.  
Wave a bunch of tarragon and they will be gone.
Photograph courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library
www.flickr.com/photos/biodivlibrary/8595536420/
                                 
Tarragon in the languages of France’s neighbors:

(Catalan - estragó), (Dutch - dragon), (German – französischer estragon), (Italian – estragone Françaisedragoncello), (Spanish - estragón), ( Latin - artemisia dracunculus).    

----------- 

Searching for the meaning of words, names or phrases
on
a French menu? 

Just add the word, words, or phrase that you are searching for to the words "Behind the French Menu" (best when including the inverted commas), 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. 

---------- 


Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

 

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 

Copyright 2010, 2015, 2021
 
 

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

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