Behind the French Menu: Modena

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Parmesan, the Italian Parmigiano-Reggiano is an Important Ingredient in French Cuisine.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

A whole 39 Kilo Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

Marked so that each wedge cut from the wheel may be identified.

Photograph courtesy of anacenumesimplu

https://www.flickr.com/photos/anacenumesimplu/3373504963/ FF

Parmesan cheese;

Genuine Paremsan is the Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Genuine Parmigiano-Reggiano is a hard cheese, dry and easily grated; it is made from slightly skimmed pasteurized cow's milk. The cheese has a light yellow pâte and its rind while edible is best left for the birds. The cheese has 25% fat and a unique grainy and flaky texture. Its flavor is distinctive but accommodating so that it stands ahead of French cheeses as a flavor component in French cuisine. If you are visiting Italy and want to take a whole Parmesan cheese home you may experience some difficulty with the airline's checked baggage rules; an entire wheel of Parmesan weighs approximately 39 kilos (86 lbs).

Parmesan in French cuisine

Parmesan is essential in French cuisine and used for much more than pasta. Many French dishes use Parmesan for a grilled topping, making a sauce, or as part of the main recipe.

Wedges cut from a 15 month-old Parmigiano-Reggiano. Photograph courtesy of Pascal Cardonna

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pascalcardonna/6942399010/ FF

Within the European Union, (28 members, the number as I write this) this is the only the cheese that may use the name Parmesan. Parmigiano Reggiano is produced in specific areas of Reggio Emilia, Modena, Parma, Bologna and Mantova, Italy.

French Parmesan cheese.

The French produce some excellent Parmesan type cheeses themselves, but they cannot sell them as Parmesan. Most French restaurants use the genuine Parmigiano Reggiano though you will rarely know that from the menu, usually only the word Parmesan is noted. Despite possible legal problems, quite a number of restaurants choose a good local imitation. You will probably not suffer from either the taste, aroma or the texture of the French version. Nevertheless, those that do suffer when imitation Parmesan is used are the Italian dairies and their bank managers.

Italy itself has some cheeses very similar to Parmigiano Reggiano; try that excellent cheese called the Grana Padano, it is different but, it is similar. However, Grana Padano will never be sold as Parmesan and it will not pass as Parmesan. It is a very good but different cheese.

Grana Padano

Photograph courtesy of Bruno Cordioli

https://www.flickr.com/photos/br1dotcom/4320435465/ FF

Taking Italian Parmesan home.

To take Parmesan Reggiano home, whether you buy it in Italy or France, buy a one-kilo wedge and have the shop cut it into smaller wedges for you as the cheese is not always easily cut at home. Have each wedge plastic wrapped, and then all vacuum packed for travel. Parmesan will survive a two or three-day trip home in your suitcase unless you are in the tropics. When you arrive home keep the plastic wrap on and Parmesan will keep well in a refrigerator for months. Nearly all good cheese stores in France and Italy offer vacuum packaging for travel but check before you buy. N.B. A cheese shop is a Formaggeria in Italian and Fromagerie in French.

Mixed salad with grated Parmesan.

Photograph courtesy of T.Tseng

https://www.flickr.com/photos/68147320@N02/14521526274/ TT

Keeping the cheese wrapped in plastic wrap will prevent the cheese from absorbing tastes from other elements in the fridge. One of the very few cheeses that you may store in a freezer is an old Parmesan, carefully wrapped in plastic wrap. Old Parmesan has little water and will not suffer too much. However, you may suffer; old Parmesan is quite a bit more expensive than the regular one-year-old Parmesan Reggiano. For more about buying cheese in France and taking it home click here.

Parmesan Cheese on the French Menus:

Salade Sucrine, Poulet Grillé, Œuf Mollet, Parmesan – This will make an excellent salad lunch. Sucrine is a baby Romaine lettuce, crisp and sweet; it is sold as the “Little Gem” in North America. The centerpiece of this salad is grilled chicken, here it will be served cold, or possibly warm. All are accompanied by an œuf mollet, a shelled soft-boiled egg.

Pappardelle with Perigord truffles.

Pappardelle is a pasta noodle that looks like a wider and thicker

version of fettuccine.

Photograph courtesy of Edsel Little

https://www.flickr.com/photos/edsel_/6613804233/

Carpaccio de Bœuf Vieux Parmigiano Reggiano Affiné 24 Mois -
Beef Carpaccio served with a 24-month-old Parmigiano Reggiano. Apart from the sauce, there are only three ingredients in the traditional Carpaccio de Bœuf. The first is the beef, the second the Parmigiano Reggiano and the third the sauce. In this listing, the Parmigiano Reggiano is two-years-old, a Parmigiano Reggiano Vecchio. N.B. This menu listing reads like the original Carpaccio.

Aubergine Confit , Ratatouille de Légumes, Gratinée au Parmesan Poulet Fermer de Licques, Tomates, Croûtons, Copeaux De Parmesan, Sauce Tiède Au Parmesan. The is the Label Rouge, red label, chicken from Licques in the northwest of France in the department of Pas-de-Calais. The chicken is served after being browned with Parmesan under the grill. It is accompanied by Ratatouille and an aubergine confit, in the USA eggplant. An aubergine confit is practically an aubergine jam. The dish is completed with tomatoes, croutons, shavings of Parmesan, and a warm Parmesan sauce.

The Label Rouge, red label, chickens from Licques

The chicken from Licques in this menu listing comes from a historic strain recognized for their superb taste. They are expensive chickens as they grow slowly, but they are considered worth it. Red Lable chickens actually taste like something. Additionally, all Label Rouge, red label, chickens are raised free of antibiotics, growth hormones and are fed a 100% vegetarian diet and, of course, whatever they find outside. Their daytime lives are spent 90% free range, though at night they are returned to the safety of their chicken coups.

A whole Parmesan cheese wheel

turned into a bowl for grated Parmesan.

You may also see hollowed-out Parmesan wheels turned into salad bowls.

Photograph courtesy of ciron810

https://www.flickr.com/photos/32307961@N06/8537076743/ FF

Tartare d'Artichauts et Légumes Croquants au Parmesan – A Tartar of artichokes served with crunchy fresh vegetables, chosen for their taste and colors, accompanied by Parmesan cheese.

Risotto d'Huîtres de Bouzigues et Fenouil, Émulsion de Crème au Parmesan – A risotto made with the Bouzigue oysters from the Étang de Thau on the Mediterranean. In this menu listing the risotto is flavored with fennel and served with a thick cream of Parmesan Sauce.

Parmesan in an Italian or French Cheese store.

In a good cheese shop in Italy or France, you may see that a single Parmesan cheese is not kept inside a cooled counter. A whole Parmesan cools slowly and in an air-conditioned store with a large clientele, it will not suffer. Taking a whole Parmesan cheese from the cooler for every customer and returning it immediately would require a trained weightlifter. Whole Parmesan cheeses will be removed from the cooler in the morning and returned at night. That is acceptable for a 39-kilo cheese, but it is not acceptable for small wedges.

Fake Parmesan. Not the real Parmigiano Reggiano,

Outside of Italy and the European Union, many kinds of cheese call themselves Parmesan. Some of these cheese are really terrible, just tasteless plastic; many come pre-grated in bottles and tins and lose any flavor they had very quickly. Luckily most of these low-quality imitations do not look or smell like genuine Parmesan and can be refused with a sniff. That being said France has some excellent unbranded Parmesan like cheeses.

How can you learn to appreciate Parmesan cheese?

If you speak Italian or have a friend, who knows Italian well get his or her help and take the three short online video courses given by the Parmigiano Reggiano Academy It is a short online course in tasting and appreciating Parmigiano Reggiano divided into three steps. Each step consists of a video tutorial and a quiz to test your knowledge and qualify you as the owner of a refined palate. Of course, you also need some genuine Parmesan to take the course. With a trained sensory analysis of Parmigiano Reggiano, you will discover the complex world of aromas and tastes that characterize this very special cheese.

Consorzio Parmigiano Reggiano

This consortium controls the regulations for genuine Parmesan.

Photograph courtesy of Mark Goebel

How do the Italians test the cheeses that are produced?

To be legally approved at least one cheese in each lot must be tested, but since there are producers with colossal outputs, that means not less than one cheese in one thousand must be examined by an expert.

The test begins with an evaluation of the external appearance and aroma. Then using a hammer and a needle the tester may evaluate the cheese for the sound that would indicate internal cracks and vacuous spaces.

Finally, there is an organoleptic test from cheese that has been cut open. That is a tasting and smelling test and it is the most important part.

Every cheese must show the date that it passed inspection.

Photograph courtesy of Daniel Lobo

https://www.flickr.com/photos/daquellamanera/115094517/

The cheeses that are tested are marked

with indelible ink in three categories.

a) The first category indicates the wheels classified as First Grade Parmigiano Reggiano. They are marked “scelto sperlato", "zero" and "uno".

b) The second category indicates the wheels classified as Parmigiano Reggiano cheese mezzano “medium grade.”

c) The third category shows the wheels that fall below the accepted standard, and they will be marked "scarto" and "scartone."

The cheeses of the first and second category are embossed with the words "Parmigiano-Reggiano" and the year of manufacture.

The second category cheese is identified using an indelible mark applied around the wheel.

Aging Parmigiano-Reggiano

Photograph courtesy of Matt Lewis

https://www.flickr.com/photos/lewismd13/8905970004/

Aging Parmigiano Reggiano Cheeses

Parmigiano Reggiano. The youngest cheese is at least one-year-old. It is called, but not labeled, a Giovane. This is the youngest Parmesan that may be sold.

Parmigiano Reggiano Vecchio – A Parmesan matured for between eighteen months to two years.

Parmigiano Reggiano Stravecchio – A Parmesan matured for between two to three years, a very mature cheese.

Parmigiano Reggiano Stravecchione - A Parmesan matured for over three years; this is the grandfather of all the Parmigiano cheeses. When you buy Parmigiano Reggiano Stravecchione you will pay heavily for the pleasure that it brings.

You may also buy half a Parmigiano Reggiano

Photograph courtesy of andrea castelli

https://www.flickr.com/photos/davebowman/4055165771/ FF

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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Vinegar, Vinaigrette and Verjus in French Cuisine.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

The production of vinegar.

Drawing by Louis Figuier, (1819-1894).

Photograph courtesy of Biblioteca de la Faculthe ltad

de Derecho y Ciencias del Trabajo.

The University of Seville, Spain.

Vinaigre -Vinegar

To make a good salad is to be a brilliant diplomatist---the problem is entirely the same in both cases. To know exactly how much oil one must put with one's vinegar.

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900).

Author, poet, and playwright was born in Dublin he died in Paris.

From the play Vera, or the Nihilists.

This was the first play written by Oscar Wilde and was published in 1880.

Vinaigre – Vinegar; the word comes from the French for sour wine, vin aigre. Despite vinegar’s origins in today’s French kitchens, plain wine vinegars have a great deal of competition. Flavored wine vinegars and fruit vinegars are in every restaurant and home kitchen. Among the many fruit vinegars, Normandy and Brittany promote cider vinegars alongside their famous ciders and apple brandies. All over France distilleries producing alcoholic fruit eau-de vies will be out there selling their fruit vinegar as they are valuable by-products. The traditional sauce vinaigrette was made with wine vinegar. Nevertheless, fruit vinegars and of course, that much enjoyed Italian import balsamic grape vinegar is often in contention. When wine vinegar is used, then the name of the wine that was used to create the vinegar is usually on the menu.

Chevreuil Rôti, Béarnaise au Vinaigre de Banyuls, Purée de Panais et Échalotes - Roast roe deer, served with a Béarnaise sauce flavored with vinegar from the famous sweet wines from the town of Banyuls sur Mer on the Mediterranean coast.

Cœur de Bœuf, Rôtie au Vinaigre Chardonnay, Salade et Truffe d'Été - The beefsteak tomato roasted and served with a salad with winter truffles flavored with chardonnay wine vinegar.

Choose your vinegar

Photograph courtesy of Bon Appétit

Fines Tranches d’Agneau, Vinaigre de Merlot, Huile de Noisettes Courgettes et Tomates Confites, Racines d’Hiver. Thin slices of lamb served with merlot wine vinegar and hazelnut oil, accompanied by a thick and sweet courgette, the USA zucchini, and tomato jam and winter root vegetables.

Tranches de Foie Gras aux Figues et Gelée au Vinaigre de Muscat de Rivesaltes – Slices of fattened duck's liver served with its own jelly and a fig jam flavored with vinegar from the sweet Muscat de Riversaltes wine.

Vinaigre Balsamique - Balsamic vinegar.

Balsamic vinegar is only legally produced in and around the city of Modena, Italy. Despite balsamic vinegar’s Italian provenance, the French recognize and happily receive the best products from around the world and they incorporate them in their kitchen. Balsamic vinegar is very popular and its use will be noted on the menu.

Testing Balsamic Vinegar in Modena, Italy

Photograph courtesy of Marenello.

Balsamic vinegar comes from the Trebbiano grape. It owes its unique taste not only to that grape but also to the manner in which it is aged. The aging process takes the vinegar through to five different wooden barrels, each adding to the flavor. This grape vinegar is unlike most grape-based vinegars as it was never a wine. However; despite never having been a wine the vinegar itself does ferment. Then, as part of its aging, the cellar master, as with fine wines, must evaluate the exact amount of fermentation as the vinegar passes through the five barrels: oak, chestnut, cherry, ash and finally mulberry, before being bottled. A young balsamic vinegar will rarely be less than five years old.

The finest balsamic vinegars are aged for 15 to 30 years and are more expensive than many fine wines. Foods and salads prepared with balsamic vinegar offer a different and unique taste.

Salade de Chèvre Chaud, Échalotes Rôties au Vinaigre Balsamique- A hot goats’ cheese salad served with roasted shallots and Balsamic vinegar.

Cailles Rôties et Pimientos au Chèvre Frais, Vinaigre Balsamique Réduit - Roasted quail and sweet peppers and fresh goat’s cheese served with a thickened balsamic vinegar sauce.

Risotto aux Légumes, Vieux Vinaigre Balsamique, Roquette et Parmesan - A vegetable risotto flavored with an aged Balsamic vinegar, rocket and Parmesan cheese.

Magret de Canard au Miel et Vinaigre Balsamique – Duck breast cooked with a honey and Balsamic Vinegar sauce.

Soupe de Fraise au Vinaigre Balsamique - A cold strawberry soup flavored with Balsamic Vinegar.

Steak, rocket and aged Balsamic vinegar.

Photograph courtesy of wEnDy

www.flickr.com/photos/wwny/655374509/

Balsamic sauce

A balsamic sauce sometimes called a Balsamic reduction is made by heating Balsamic vinegar until it slowly concentrates and thickens. This process results in the quantity being reduced and that explains the term reduction. The process intensifies the flavor of the Balsamic vinegar and may be added to a sauce or cooked directly with meat dishes. A balsamic sauce will also add a rush of flavor to salads

Vinaigre d'Orléans – The vinegar of Orleans. A wine vinegar from the town most associated with Joan of Arc. Orleans is on the Loire river in the valley of the Loire. This vinegar is aged for a minimum of six months before being sold.

Salade de Mâche et Betteraves et Vinaigre d'Orléans "Vieille Réserve”. - A salad of France’s wonderful lambs’ lettuce salad greens, beetroots, and an especially old Orleans vinegar.

Ravioles d'Épinards, Sauce au Vinaigre d'Orléans. Spinach ravioli served with an Orleans vinegar sauce.

Vinaigre de Cidre – Cider vinegar. Most cider vinegars though fermented are made from apple juice before it has become cider. Despite that, there is a great deal of competition for the sale of cider vinegars and some will be aged in oak barrels. Chefs use cider vinegar in recipes where its unique taste makes a difference. Still, cider vinegar is a strong tasting vinegar and so it is used carefully.

At one-time cider vinegar was sold like a patent medicine or a cure-all and it is still recommended for its homeopathic properties. Maybe there is something in that “apple a day.”

Colvert Rôti, Navets Confits au Vinaigre de Cidre – Mallard duck served with a sweet turnip jam flavored with cider vinegar.

Pavé de Cabillaud Rôti au Vinaigre de Cidre, Pot au Feu de Légumes - A thick slice of roasted cod flavored with cider vinegar and served with a vegetable pot au feu, a heavy stew.

Suprême de Pintadeau Braisé aux Pommes et Vinaigre de Cidre – Guinea hen breast braised with potatoes and flavored with cider vinegar.

Vinaigre de Fraises - Strawberry vinegar. Strawberry vinegar may be either a flavored wine vinegar or a vinegar made from a strawberry eau-de-vie. Strawberry vinegar along with other sweet berry and fruit vinegars are mostly used to flavor sauces. The examples below show just three fruits, but practically every fruit that is made into an alcoholic eau de vie also has its own vinegar.

Carpaccio de Lotte au Vinaigre de Fraises. – A monkfish Carpaccio marinated in strawberry vinegar.

Rhubarbe et Vinaigre de Fraises- Rhubarb cooked with strawberry Vinegar.

Vinaigre de Framboise – Raspberry vinegar

Magret de Canard au Miel d'Acacia et Vinaigre de Framboise – Duck breast cooked in accacia honey and raspberry vinegar.

Spanish strawberry and raspberry vinegars.

Photograph courtesy of Esencia Andalusí

www.flickr.com/photos/esenciaandalusi/16344693545/

Salade de Gésiers d'Oie déglacée au Vinaigre de Framboise - A salad of goose gizzards cooked in a thickened raspberry vinegar.

Viinaigre de Jerez - See Vinaigre de Xérès .

Vinaigre de Pêches - Peach vinegar.

Aiguillettes de Canard au Vinaigre de Pêches. – Slices of duck flavored with peach vinegar.

Vinaigre de Pommes - Apple vinegar. See Vinaigre de Cidre.

Vinaigre de Reims (Le) – Reims Vinegar; a vinegar made from Champagne; this is considered to have a lighter touch than other wine vinegars. Reims is the largest city in the Champagne-Ardenne region and that region that is home to most of the Champagne vineyards.

Daurade Marinée, Pommes de Terre, Oignons Rouges au Vinaigre de Reims - Marinated gilthead sea bream, potatoes, red onions prepared with the Reims vinegar.

Entrecôte de Bœuf Échalottes au Vinaigre de Reims – An entrecote steak prepared with shallots and flavored with Reims vinegar. Reims is the most important town in the Champagne area and is made with Champagne.

Vinaigre Vieux - Aged vinegar. While the words aged vinegar could refer to any vinegar when no further description is offered it is an aged wine vinegar that will be used.

Farci de Tomate aux Fregola Sarde, Girolles et Vinaigre Vieux- Stuffed tomatoes with the unique Sardinian toasted wheat pasta prepared with chanterelle mushrooms and flavored with aged vinegar.

Pickling olives with red wine vinegar

Weeks after picking, the olives are jarred with a 3 to 1 mixture of water and red wine vinegar, oregano, lemon slices and garlic cloves. Ready for tasting in another 45 days. Photograph courtesy of Jessica Merz

www.flickr.com/photos/jessicafm/3139773279/

Vinaigre de Xérès - Sherry Vinegar. Despite its Spanish provenance, this is a very popular vinegar in French kitchens. Sherry vinegars are produced in the same area where sherry wines are produced in Spain. Sherry vinegar is aged in oak barrels for a minimum of six months and while in the barrel, like other wine vinegars, the presence of oxygen allows bacteria to convert the alcohol to vinegar. True vinegars have at least 6% acetic acid and sherry vinegars additionally have about 3% residual alcohol. The original taste of the sherry remains with the vinegar and allows it to produce some very special tastes. A sherry vinaigrette sauce with a salad can be wonderful.

Sherry Vinegar

Photograph courtesy of Terroirs

Like the producers of balsamic vinegar, sherry vinegar producers have realized that there is a great deal of added value when they sell well-aged and flavorsome vinegars. All sherry vinegars are aged in a barrel for at least six months and then may be sold as a Vinaigre de Jerez. Older sherry vinegars spend two years in a barrel, usually oak; these vinegars are called Gran Reserva, and their price is much higher than the six-month-old vinegars. After ten years in the barrel, a very expensive vinegar will be produced; this is a unique vinegar called Vinagre de Jerez Gran Reserva.

Ris de Veau, Risotto Arborio au Parmesan, Jus Aigre Doux au Vinaigre de Xéres. – Veal sweetbreads served with a risotto made with Arborio rice and Parmesan cheese and flavored with a sweet and sour sauce made with Sherry vinegar.

La Salade Tiède de Scampis Grillés au Vinaigre de Xérès et Pointes d'Asperges – A warm salad of grilled scampi, Dublin bay prawns, served with Sherry vinegar and asparagus tips.

Salade de Rillauds d'Anjou au Vinaigre de Xérès. A salad of spiced pork belly pieces, prepared in the manner of Anjou, cooked until crisp and crunchy.

Pigeon Entier, Désossé, Sauce au Miel et Vinaigre de Xérès – A whole pigeon, deboned and prepared in a sauce made of honey and sherry vinegar.

Vinaigrette - The most well known of all French sauces or salad dressings. The original and traditional French dressing is olive oil, vinegar, mustard, garlic and herbs. This is the dressing often just called a French dressing and that it is; it is also always better when tasted in France!

Vinaigrette olive oil and Balsamic vinegar

Photograph courtesy of Chris Dlugosz

www.flickr.com/photos/chrisdlugosz/3405367811/

Verjus - Juice from unripe grapes. Unripe grapes are not sweet and while verjus does not taste like vinegar it was used in the Middles Ages in much the same way as vinegar is used today. Then a few hundred years ago vinegar took over from verjus in the popularity polls. Now, knowledgeable chefs are looking at the different tastes that certain verjus’s create. They are using those tastes and putting them back on the menu and recreating flavors that were lost along with new creations. The name verjus is old French and simply means green juice.

A Flatiron (rare) steak, (Macreuse de Bœuf in French),

mushroom jerky, grape, verjus

Photograph courtesy of Krista

www.flickr.com/photos/scaredykat/8513826232/

Huîtres en Papillote au Verjus – Oysters baked with verjus inside a sealed baking parchment paper or aluminum foil. When ready the sealed parchment or foil will be placed on the table and opened in front of the diners. Then the concentrated aroma may be appreciated before the dish is served.

La Salade de Canard Fumé au Verjus – A salad made with smoked duck and served with verjus instead of a vinaigrette sauce.

Poitrine de Colvert au Verjus – Breast of mallard duck prepared with verjus.

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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

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

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