Grossane Olives are large, round olives that are harvested when black. The flesh separates easily from the pit. They can be used to make a fragrant oil, but the oil has a short shelf life. They are used mostly for producing “Olives Noires de la Vallée des Baux de Provence.” They are grown in France…
French Food
Hanger Steak
Hanger steak is a small cut (about the size of your hand). It is very popular in France, but available in North America only at specialty butchers. It is from the plate at the lower part of the diaphragm of the cow, between the loin and the last rib and attached to the bottom of…
Hazelnut Oil
Hazelnut oil is an oil pressed from hazelnuts. Cold-pressed hazelnut oil will be a light golden brown; hazelnut oil pressed from roasted hazelnuts will be a nutty brown colour, and have a very pronounced, strong flavour of hazelnuts. It is very popular in France as a finishing oil. Hazelnut oil and food fraud Cheaper hazelnut…
Herbes de Provence
Herbes de Provence (courtesy Mary Harvey) © Denzil Green Herbes de Provence is a mixture of herbs that are typical in Provence, a region in the south of France. The mixture may include any of the following: basil; bay; fennel; hyssop; lavender; marjoram; oregano; rosemary; sage; savoury; thyme. Thyme and savoury are usually among the…
Homard à l’Américaine
Homard à l’américaine is a lobster dish. There are some variations, but generally to make it, lobster pieces are sautéed in olive oil, then a sauce is added to the pan in the form of cayenne pepper, garlic, onions, tarragon, tomato, a splash of cognac and white wine. The lobster pieces then finish cooking by…
Hydromel
Hydromel is a beverage. Some people interpret the name to mean “watered down” honey, but it isn’t at all, it just means that it’s made with water and honey. And it while it is a type of mead, it drier than other meads. It does not much honey flavour or aftertaste. You start with clear…
Jambon de Paris
Jambon de Paris is a lean, unsmoked, mild-flavoured ham that is sold cooked and ready-to-eat. It is pale-coloured and boneless. It is only lightly-salted. The meat used is not allowed to be frozen first; it must be fresh, and be “superior” or “choice” grade. The bones are removed, then the meat is cured in a…
Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
Brillat-Savarin was not a chef, but he wrote the world’s first ever book on gastronomy. He attempted to create an intellectual structure for the appreciation of food.
Jean-Étienne de Boré
Life and Times Jean-Étienne de Boré lived from 27 December 1740 to 2 February 1820. [1] He was the man who first commercially produced granulated sugar. He was not, as some also say, the first sugar refiner in Louisiana — that was Valcour Aime. Jean-Étienne was born in Kaskaskia, Illinois [2]. His father was Louis…
Jean-Pierre Clause
Life and Times Jean-Pierre Clause is known now as the creator of Pâté de Contades. Cynics point out that really what Clause really achieved was to take a peasant dish, dress it up, and make all the rich people swoon over it. But still, he does seem to count as the one who thought of…
Julia Child
Julia Child was the person who more than anyone else brought French cooking to North American middle-class households. She was not the first person to run a cooking programme on television, but in many people’s minds, she was the first one that counted by making a lasting impression on American culture.
La Maison Dorée
La Maison dorée: 20 Boulevard des Italiens, Paris Life and Times La Maison Dorée, located at 20, Boulevard des Italiens, was one of the most famous restaurants in Paris in the 1800s. It opened in 1840 in a building that was five storeys tall. Previously, it had been the site of the Café Hardy, and…
Lamb’s Lettuce
Lamb’s Lettuce has small, thin, long leaves, rounded on the ends, though some varieties are more pointy and have wider leaves. There are about 30 different varieties. The leaves can be light or dark green depending on the variety (Winter Lamb’s Lettuce, for instance, has darker green leaves.) Depending on the variety, the plant can…
Lardons
Lardons are fatty, thick bacon that has its rind cut off, and that is then chopped into small cubes. You can buy the strips of meat and chop them yourself, or buy them in packages already chopped. They can be made from smoked or unsmoked bacon and depending on which is bought, are used for…
Lavender
Lavender © Denzil Green Lavender is an herb with long, narrow leaves and small purple flowers that grows in clusters on spikes. Both the leaves and flowers are heavily scented. Lavender can be grown from seeds and cuttings. Once settled in, it can grow up to 3 feet tall (1 metre) and is a perennial….
Le Creuset
Le Creuset is the brand name of a line of stove and ovenware. It is best known for its cast iron pots and pans coated in porcelain enamel. Marilyn Monroe’s 12-piece set may have been the most expensive set of cookware ever sold at auction.
Lingot Beans
Lingot Beans are oval white beans, that are somewhat flattened. The plant is a bush-type bean plant and they are grown for use as a dried bean. There are 5 to 6 beans per long pod, Lingot Beans come in two varieties. Both are creamy and plump when cooked. The beans are grown primarily in…
Louis Eustache Ude
Louis Eustache Ude was one of the most famous French chefs in England in the early 1800s. He was also the author of two influential cookbooks.
Madelines
Madelines are a French sponge cookie, sometimes likened to small “genoises.” They have a distinctive shape which is traditional for them, which comes from being baked in a special pan to make them look like seashells. They are made from eggs, butter, sugar, flour, and a flavouring such as lemon zest. To make them, the…
Madrange Ham
Madrange is a brand name of mild-tasting, well-marbled ham made in France for sandwiches. The pork comes from anywhere in Europe. Boneless hams are passed through Fomaco brine injectors, then are tumbled. The top grade of Madrange Ham has 8% brine injected, but because it loses 10% of its juices during tumbling the company can…
Maître d’Hôtel Butter
Maître d’Hôtel Butter is butter that has been blended with chopped parsley, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. In classical French cooking, it is used to accompany boiled vegetables, grilled meat, and fish that has either been grilled or cooked in breadcrumbs. Maître d’Hôtel Butter can be melted, and poured over or under the ingredients it’s…
Mandarine Impériale
Mandarine Impériale is a yellowish-orange liqueur made in Corsica from alcohol, orange skin, mandarin oils, sugar, water and other ingredients that are secret. The mandarin oil comes from Paris or from the Grasse region. The orange skins come from oranges grown by the company right there in Corsica. The skins are let steep in neutral…
Mandarine Napoléon
Mandarine Napoléon is an orange-flavoured liqueur with a cognac base. Mandarin peel from Sicily is chopped finely and steeped in cognac, then filtered, then added to alcohol, sugar, and 21 spices and herbs (they are secret, of course, but supposedly include clover, coriander, cumin and green tea.) The alcohol is then distilled three times and…
Margarine
Margarine is an edible fat product meant to be an alternative to butter. It can be made from vegetable fats, animal fats, or a mixture of both. It is typically flavoured and coloured so that sensorially it resembles butter.