Pain de campagne is a big round loaf with a chewy, thick crust. It can be made with white flour, rye flour and / or “farine bise” (aka Farine de Blé Type 80.) These last two flours are mixed in with the white, which remains the predominant flour. It is made from a starter, and…
French Food
Pain de Mie
Pain de mie is what English speakers would consider regular sandwich bread. It is sold in French supermarkets sliced and packaged. It has sugar in it, making it sweeter than other French breads, but not as sweet as normal North American commercial breads, which have a lot of sugar in them by anyone’s standards. It…
Pain Paysan
Pain paysan is similar to “Pain de Campagne”, but it is made in a ratio of ¾ wheat to ¼ rye flour. Milk is used in it, which gives a finer crumb, a soft crust, and helps the bread stay fresh a bit longer than regular Pain de Campagne.
Pain Poilâne
Pain Poilâne is a round loaf of sourdough bread made by the famous Poilâne bakery in Paris. Its actual name is “miche Poilâne.” Made since 1932, it’s only ingredients are wheat flour, sea salt, tap water, and sourdough starter.
Pain Viennois
Pain Viennois is normally made in the shape of a baguette, though the crust is softer than a baguette, the texture is finer, and the taste is sweeter. The loaves will have horizontal slashes on top, and be glazed with milk and sugar before baking. It can also be made as rolls (“petits pains”.) It…
Pastis
Pastis © Denzil Green Pastis is a generic name for a type of anise-flavoured liqueur made in France. Though it is drunk throughout France, the strongest association is with area of Provence. It is generally quite sweet, though a few brands are unsweetened so you can sweeten them yourself. There are brands such as Boyer,…
Pâté
Pâté is a ground meat or fish mixture, similar to forcemeat and meatloaf. It is highly flavoured, and often made in layers. Mousse ones are made from liver or fish, and are very rich. They are often topped with a layer of aspic, which has a decorative function, plus a more important one of giving…
Pâte de Guimauve
Pâte de guimauve is a sweet, French marshmallow paste made from egg whites, sugar and gelatin. It contains no real marshmallow root. It is flavoured with vanilla or rosewater. The paste is pressed into a wide, flat pan, let dry for 12 hours on one side, then 12 hours on the other side. Both sides…
Pâton
A French term for pastry ready and waiting to be used. The pastry can be any pastry: pie pastry, pâte brisée, or puff pastry. In the French sense, “ready and waiting” also implies that the pastry has had an hour or so resting period in the fridge. Or, as the New Larousse Gastronomique advises, 12…
Patxaran
Patxaran is a clear, reddish-brown, sweet digestive liqueur made in the Basque areas of Spain such as Navarre, and somewhat in the bordering Basque-speaking Pyrenées area of France. Thus, you will see both Spanish and French terms used in discussing it. It is made from sloe plums let steep for several months (between 1 and…
Pernod
Pernod is a famous brand of Pastis. See the entry on Pastis. The Pernod Ricard company has, over the decades, bought out many other alcohol companies.
Persillade
Persillade is a mixture of minced parsley and garlic. Used in French cooking, it is often employed to form a crust on meat. Occasionally, some chefs will also add fresh white breadcrumbs. Cooking Tips You press the persillade into the surfaces of the meat (which are often coated first with Dijon, so that the Persillade…
Pierre Pérignon
Life and Times Pierre Pérignon is the man better known today as Dom Pérignon of Champagne fame. Sadly, much of the “information” that is written about him in material for marketing is just that — marketing myths. He was not the creator of the bottled wine called today “Champagne.” Pérignon dedicated his wine practice to…
Pig Sauce
Pig Sauce is an Acadian meat sauce. The main ingredient is pork — fresh pork meat, along with brain, and marrow from the pig’s spinal column. To this is added chopped ham, green onions, parsley, garlic cloves and dry white wine. The brain serves to thicken the sauce and whiten it. To make it, you…
Pineau des Charentes
Pineau des Charentes is a French Apéritif made in the Cognac region. It is classified as a vin de liqueur. Pineau des Charentes can be white (actually gold-coloured), made from white grapes, or rosé, made from red grapes. Very ripe grapes are pressed to produce fresh grape juice, then let sit for a few hours…
Pissala
Pissala is a fish paste. Fish is fermented for a few days, then puréed and mixed with olive oil and seasoned with thyme, bay leaf, cloves, etc. Generally anchovies are used, but sardines can also be used. Unlike some of the earlier Roman fish sauces and pastes that were made, the strong taste of the…
Pithiviers
A Pithiviers is a type of cake or large pastry made in France. It is usually about 10 inches (25 cm) wide, with a top and buttom crust made of puff pastry, with a dense almond paste (“Crème d’amandes) filling inside. The top is rounded and higher than the edges, and slashed, typically in a…
Poirelle
Poirelle is pear-flavoured liqueur made from essences distilled from William Pears. These essences are combined with cognacs that have been aged at least 10 years in wood. It’s made by the Maison Roullet-Fransac in Chermignac, France (Chermignac is in the heart of the Cognac region.) The company was founded in 1838 and is still family…
Poolish
Poolish is a starter leavener. You use all of it in making your bread. This is still considered the method of choice for making French baguettes.
Porcini Mushrooms
Dried Porcini Mushrooms © Denzil Green Porcini Mushrooms are pale brown with a meaty texture and a rich, woodsy flavour. They don’t have gills underneath the cap; they have pores instead. The caps can be anywhere from 1 to 10 inches wide (2.5 to 25 cm.) They are still collected from the wild; efforts to…
Pots de Crème
Pots de Crème are small pots of soft custard, usually flavoured with vanilla or chocolate.
Poutine
Poutine are very young fish fry about ½ cm (¼ inch) long, and so young they’re still transparent enough that you can see their insides. What types of fish are served as “poutine” varies by breeding season for the fish, and by locale. It can be freshwater fish from rivers. When saltwater fish are used,…
Pralines
Pralines are a candy made by binding almonds together with a sugar syrup. You can eat the candy whole as is, or crush it to be used as a topping or a garnish between layers of a dessert. To make Pralines, almonds are toasted, then stirred into a sugar syrup with is then caramelized. At…
Pre-Ferments
A pre-ferment is a dough that has had a head-start on fermenting before the rest of the ingredients are added. It adds taste and strength to the dough.