Behind the French Menu: girolle chanterelle

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Merlan – Whiting, European Whiting. Whiting the Fish on French Menus

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Whiting

Photograph courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library.

www.flickr.com/photos/biodivlibrary/6384086591/

Merlan, Lécaud, Nasellu, Varlet – Whiting; English Whiting; European Whiting; Golden Cutlet; Spelding. Most of the whiting on French menus are caught off France's Atlantic coast or come from fish farms; only rarely is European whiting caught in the Mediterranean. Whiting is a tasty fish with a delicate flesh; the smaller fish may be grilled whole while larger fish will be prepared as filets served with a sauce and poached, sautéed or baked. Whiting, silver hake and blue whiting all tend to get mixed up on menus; these fish are also very similar when cooked, so just eat and enjoy. Whiting will be on menus fresh, and smoked, and frozen filets are in all the supermarkets.

Whiting, European Whiting, on French Menus:

Filet de Merlan Mi-cuit, Compotée de Tomates à la Vanille de Sambava et sa Purée – Filet of whiting, very, very lightly cooked; served with a thickened puree of tomatoes flavored with the highly rated Black Bourbon Vanilla pods from around the town of Sambava in Madagascar. The dish is accompanied by pureed potatoes.

Whiting, red mullet and shrimps.

Photograph courtesy of Yves Jalabert

www.flickr.com/photos/yves_jalabert/5078342972/

Merlan de Ligne Poêlé aux Girolles et au Coulis de Poivrons Grillés - Whiting caught at sea, on a rod a line, not, from a fish farm. Here the fish is lightly fried together with girolle chanterelle mushrooms and served with a puree of grilled sweet peppers. When fish are caught at sea the chef will often emphasize the fact, even if they are caught in a net. Fish are very much what they eat.

Whiting

Photograph courtesy of Tim Peters
www.flickr.com/photos/tim_peters/14614492106/

Merlan aux Herbes, Petit-Épeautre – Whiting cooked with herbs and served with small spelt. Small spelt is an ancient grain and today, in France, small spelt is only grown commercially in Provence in France. On some traditional Provencal dishes, small spelt may take the place of rice.

Rillettes de Merlan, Sauce Rouille, Vinaigrette à l'Anis Vert. - Rillettes served with a spicy rouilles and an aniseed-flavored vinaigrette. Rillettes may be made with fish, duck, goose or pork and are on the menu as an hors d’œuvre and sometimes as an entrée. Here the fish rillettes will have been slowly cooked in fat until the fish’s, meat can be made into a paste to spread on toast or bread. The Sauce Rouille is a thick, spicy sauce, made of peppers, tomatoes, garlic, saffron and olive oil all worked into bread or occasionally a potato base. Sauce Rouille is traditionally served alongside bouillabaisse and other fish soups. The diner adds the spicy sauce at his or her discretion to spice the soup or spread on toasted bread with grated cheese and soak in the soup.

Competition for the catch of the day.

Photograph courtesy of Shahin Abasov

www.flickr.com/photos/zoom_in/24737086047/

Terrine Maison de Merlan aux Crevettes Roses et Laitue de Mer - The chef's pate of whiting with pink shrimps and sea lettuce.

Filets de Merlan

Photograph courtesy of patrick janicek

www.flickr.com/photos/marsupilami92/16877697217/

Merlan Poché à l'Huile de Cameline, Asperges - Whiting poached with camelina oil and asparagus. Camelina oil comes from is a flowering plant in also known in English as gold-of-pleasure, or false flax, and German Sesame. This is an ancient plant that was already cultivated by the Celts as for its edible oil. Other vegetables with higher oil production saw Camelina out of the market; however, today the high content of Omega 3 in Camelina has brought the oil back into popularity. Camelina is popular in organic farming as it is resistant to many pests and disease. Use as a seasoning for salads and crudités or after cooking for your vegetables and grains and then camelina oil should not be heated. The whiting is accompanied by asparagus.

The camelina plant.

Photograph courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library.

Years ago whiting was not considered a fish to serve in fine restaurants; in fact, it was a very cheap fish. Today's popularity of the whiting and its close family members show that times, prices and tastes change. Whiting will be starring in the finest restaurants. Whiting caught at sea will be larger and mostly served as filets. Whiting from fish farms will be smaller and may be served whole for a single diner.

European Whiting in the languages of France’s neighbors:

(Catalan - merlà),(Dutch - wijting), (German – wittling or merlan ), (Italian – molo or merlano), (Spanish – liba, merla or merlán).

Merlan Bleu, Merlan de Paris, Merlus –– Blue Whiting. When blue whiting and whiting are cooked and served it will be difficult for an amateur like me to see the difference. The taste will be similar and the occasional confusion on a menu will not be serious. Blue whiting is at home in the Mediterranean while the European whiting is not. In Provence, the merlan, the European whiting, on your menu may well be merlan bleu, blue whiting.

Blue Whiting in the languages of France’s neighbors:

(Catalan – Melu), (Dutch - blauwe wijting), (German - blauer wittling), (Italian – melu or potassolo) (Spanish- bacalá).

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Bouillabaisse and Bouillabaisse Marseillaise on French Menus and Links to Recipes for Bouillabaisse.

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Huiles d'Olive Française - French Olive oils. Enjoying France's Best Olive Oils.

Pates and Terrines. An introduction to the meat, fish, vegetable and fruit pates on French menus.

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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 400 articles that include over 3,000 French dishes with English translations and explanations.

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Huile d'Argan – Argan oil on French Menus.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

The Argan Nut

Photograph courtesy of Martin and Kathy Dady

www.flickr.com/photos/thedadys/16943563106/

The origins of argan oil.

Argan oil with its darkish color comes from the lightly roasted nuts of the argan tree in the south-west of Morocco. The argan tree once covered large parts of North Africa but is now a protected tree limited to parts of Morocco. With its unique taste, the Berbers of Morocco have used it for centuries to flavor local dishes. The nuts of the argan tree that supply the oil are very hard, and they have defeated automated nut-cracking machines; today, the oil is produced by co-operatives of Berber women.

French chefs are always on the lookout for new tastes and the use of the tasty, though expensive, argan oil can renew interest in a chef’s favorite recipe. For new dishes, the addition of argan oil will draw attention as it is an oil rarely found in private homes. France has had a long association with Morocco, the source of 99% of the world's argan oil, and Argan oil is not a new discovery. However, despite that interlocked history mainline French chefs only began to showcase the oil less than eight or ten years ago.

Organic argan oil

Photograph courtesy of Margarita Matthews

www.flickr.com/photos/185624136@N02/49112358772/

From the menu listings below you may see that argan oil is used as a flavoring just like a fine virgin olive oil. That means it is added to an already cooked or cold dish; it is not used for cooking as that destroys the flavor. When cooking with argan oil, the flavor is king.

Your menu with argan oil may offer:

Carpaccio de Dorade, Vinaigrette Tranchée à l'Huile d'Argan - A Carpaccio of gilt-head sea bream, the fish, served with a vinaigrette sauce, distinctly flavored by argan oil. (Tranchée –In a restaurant, tranchée may mean sliced, but mostly will indicate something that makes a clear-cut difference to the taste, or sharply contrasts with other parts of a dish).

Poêlée de Champignons des Bois Assaisonnés à l'Huile d'Argan - Forest mushrooms, wild mushrooms, lightly fried and seasoned, and just before serving, flavored with argan oil. The climate limits wild mushrooms to specific areas; ask for information on the mushrooms served. Every restaurant has agreements with its own ramasseurs, gatherers of wild mushrooms, and wild herbs. If you are lucky, you may be in France during the Chanterelle Girolle mushroom season.

Carpaccio de Saint Jacques

Légumes Acidulés, et Vinaigrette à la Clémentine et Huile d’Argan

King Scallop meat Carpaccio with tangy vegetables and clementine and argan oil vinaigrette.

Photograph courtesy of Cuisine AZ

Suprême de Volaille au Citron Confit, Couscous d'Aubergines et Fruits Secs Parfumé à l’Huile d’Argan - Chicken breast served with a lemon confit, along with couscous made from aubergines (the US eggplant), and dried-fruit lightly-flavored with argan oil. Here the breast of chicken is served with a lemon confit on the side. A fruit confit, as it is offered here, will probably have been the cooked until it reaches the consistency of a thick jam; it may have been sweetened or cooked without any additions. The lemon confit will provide a distinct contrast to the chicken breast as you can add the confit to suit your taste. The aubergine couscous and dried fruits, flavored with argan oil, make this dish a contrast in many flavors and textures. A dish like this is a real test of a chef’s ability to manipulate each component and allow the diner to enjoy the contrasts.

A Chocolate Tatar with Nasturtium, Argan Oil, Miners Lettuce

Miner's lettuce or winter purslane, is a flowering plant that got its name during the California gold rush.

Photograph courtesy of H. Alexander Talbot

www.flickr.com/photos/ideasinfood/8311235465/

Tartine de Truffesd'Automne à l'Huile d'Argan – Autumn truffles prepared with Argan oil and served, probably, on toasted bread; possibly a sliced toasted baguette; a tartine is an open sandwich. The Truffe d’Automne, the Autumn truffle, is more commonly called the Burgundy Truffle,(the tuber uncinatum); this truffle has many names as it found in many parts of Northern France and each area adopt this valuable truffle as their own. The local gourmands, where this truffle is found, will insist it is superior to its more famous and more expensive Périgord truffle cousin, the tuber melanosporum.

The tartine on which this truffle is served will be much like an open sandwich. This menu listing may be a French take on the Italian bruschetta. However, in a French home at breakfast, a tartine or tartine beurré means bread and butter.

Goats in an Argan tree.

Visitors, in Morocco, are often greeted by the sight of goats who climb the argan trees for their leaves.

Photograph courtesy of Mikel Santamaria

www.flickr.com/photos/mikelsantamaria/16536682646/

Homard Breton Grillé de Nos Côtes, Sucrine à l'Huile d'Argan - Grilled local Brittany lobster served with a baby Romaine lettuce flavored with the argan oil. The sucrine is the lettuce sold under the name Little Gem in North America. The oil used to baste the lobster while grilling will not have been argan oil; there its taste would have been wasted; the oil will be added to the lettuce only, and then just before serving. When ordering lobster in France, be aware of their sizes and costs. The European lobster is a very close cousin of the American lobster, but very much more expensive in France than in North America; check the price carefully. In France, the rock lobster, the owner of the lobster tail, is a more economical, if slightly less tasty, alternative. The North American lobster is imported into France as the Canadian lobster, the Homard Canadien, and when on the menu, it will cost far less than its local relatives. Discussions over which of these two-clawed lobster cousins are the tastiest are without end.

Berber women in a cooperative breaking open argan nuts.

Photograph courtesy of Danilo Tic

www.flickr.com/photos/yak4yak/6230412946/

Argan oil and cosmetics.

Argan oil is rich in vitamin C, and its use in cosmetics where natural oils are required competes with its use in the kitchen. Since the oil’s supply is limited, its price is high,

Organic argan conditioner

Photograph courtesy of Karla Young

www.flickr.com/photos/185690060@N08/49108026403/

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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

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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" (best when including the inverted commas), and search with Google, Bing, or another browser. 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.

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Caille - Quail. Quail on the Menu in France.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Quail and their eggs.

Photograph courtesy of Yay Micro.

Farm-raised quail taste slightly sweeter than chicken and when simply roasted you will note that slightly sweeter taste. N.B. Quail is also more easily flavored than chicken and so often that slightly sweeter taste is lost among the other flavors in the cooking process.

Roast quail for three.

Photograph Yay Micro

A serving of quail, a whole European quail, will most likely weigh in at less than 150 grams (5.30 ounces) and that’s with the bones; if the quail are smaller you will often be served two.

Quail on the French menu:

Caille à la Stanislas - Quail in the manner prepared for Stanislas, Duke of Bar and Lorraine, France. In the original recipe, the quail was deboned, roasted and then served stuffed with fattened goose liver, foie gras de oie. Caille à la Stanislas is still on some French menus today; however, the amount of fois gras will be greatly reduced from the serving in the original dish. That should not be too surprising, given today's cost of foie gras in France.

Stanislas, before he became a French Duke, was a Polish king who was fired from that job, twice! Unemployed kings do not usually have good job prospects. Nevertheless, Stanislas received the title Duke of Lorraine with a job to go with it from his son-in-law, who was King Louis XV of France. Stanislas also received a chateau outside the city of Nancy in the Lorraine. The chateau was not a small one, and it is still known as the Versailles of the Lorraine. Stanislas's building of three stunning squares in the City of Nancy would make the city world-famous, and the squares are now UN World Heritage sites. Despite Stanislas's great works and (for the times) progressive rule, he is best remembered as the man who gave the name to the dessert Rhum Baba. Rhum Baba or Rum Baba and other dishes that were first served in Stanislas's chateau. The Savarin or Savarin au Rhum is based on the Rhum Baba but named after Jeanne Anthelme Brillat-Savarin who lived over 100 years later.

Fig and quail egg salad.

Photograph courtesy of Yay Micro

Caille Rôtie Farcie de Girolles, de Cèpes et de Roquette, Sauce Porto – Quail roasted while stuffed with the girolle chanterelle mushroom, and cèpes, the French Porcini mushroom, along with rocket leaves. The dish is served with a port wine sauce. Despite France having its own Port style wines, both Port and Madeira wines will be in every French kitchen and in many sauces.

Caille Aux Raisins - Quail prepared and served with grapes.

California quail

Photograph courtesy of Phillip Cowan

www.flickr.com/photos/71073348@N08/6920753719/

La Crème de Topinambours en Cappuccino et Son Effilochée de Poitrine de Caille – A frothy cream of Jerusalem artichoke soup served with small pieces of quail breast.

The use of the word cappuccino in this menu listing refers to the froth on the soup and not to coffee. When the Italians named their coffee creation cappuccino little attention was paid to the froth. Cappuccino coffee received its name from the color of the milky coffee, which is similar to the color of the hood of a Capuchin friar's robes. However, do not let us get confused by the facts. On today's French menus cappuccino, apart from when the word is actually used for cappuccino coffee, means froth. The word effilochée in this menu listing indicates the way the quail meat has been cut. Your French-English dictionary will show the translation of effilochée as frayed; however on a French menu effilochée refers to the way meat is cut and here it indicates the slicing of quail breast into small pieces to serve in the soup.

Salade d'Oeuf de Caille, Pointe d'Asperge et Aiguillette de Canard - A salad of quails’ eggs, they will be served either fried or boiled, whichever looks better, along with asperge, asparagus spears, and slices of Magret de Canard, duck breast.

Fig and quail egg salad.

Photograph by Apolonia courtesy of freedigitalphotos

Salade de Cailles Rôties au Vinaigre Balsamique – A salad of roasted quail dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette.

Quail Eggs

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 eggs

Photograph by Phiseksit courtesy of freedigitalphots.net

Quail eggs taste exactly the same as a chicken egg; however, if you were planning to make an omelet the size of a two chicken-egg omelet you will need about 10 quail eggs.

A hen’s egg and a quail egg.

Photograph courtesy of Yay Micro.

During the short hunting season, wild quail are legally hunted in France; if they appear on a restaurant’s menu the term used will be caille sauvage, wild quail. Wild quail are smaller and stronger tasting than the farmed variety, but they are also tougher and so they will be prepared with different recipes to farmed quail.

Wild quail in the bushes.

Photograph courtesy of Sid Mosdell

www.flickr.com/photos/sidm/4220112535/

In the Old Testament, Exodus 16, it is the quail, along with Manna that God sent for the Israelites to eat in the desert. The original recipe served at that time, has been lost in the sands of the Sinai desert. In France, there are many new and recreated recipes for quail.

Caille - Quail in the languages of France's neighbors:

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

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