Pressed duck is a duck dish. In French, it is also known variously as: Caneton au sang, Canard à la presse, Caneton à la presse, and Caneton Tour d’Argent. It consists of duck served in a sauce of duck blood. A few restaurants in France are famous for it. One is La Couronne restaurant in…
French Food
Profiteroles
Profiteroles with ice cream © Leclaire & Schenk A Profiterole is a small puffed hollow pastry round made from choux pastry dough, typically piped onto a baking sheet and baked. Despite the simplicity of the definition, some confusion has emerged from varying opinions as to the use of these baked pastry rounds. Some people (mostly…
Quiche
Quiche © Paula Trites A Quiche is a French, open-faced pie baked in a pie shell with a savoury custard filling, often with flavouring ingredients besides. It can be served for any meal, including breakfast (though the French wouldn’t serve it for breakfast.) It is usually made in a round shallow dish with straight but…
Ragoût
Ragoût is a stew or sauce that can be made of fish, poultry or meat (the meat can be game.) It may or may not have vegetables. The French version is called “Ragoût” and is a stew. The Italian version is called “Ragù” and is a sauce. French Ragoût The meat is cut into even…
Raymond Calvel
Life and Times Raymond Calvel (1913 to 2005) was one of the 20th century French leading authorities on bread. Julia Child referred to Calvel as her first breadmaking teacher. Her husband Paul had been trying to make French bread to help Julia, but then gave up and pointed Julia at Calvel, whom he’d run across…
Red Anjou Pears
Red Anjou pears have the same shape, taste and flesh characteristics as Green Anjou Pears. The only difference is that their skin is a deep red colour. Red Anjou will continue to ripen after being picked, ripening from the inside out. The red colour does not change as the pear ripens. To check for ripeness…
Red Wine Vinegar
Red Wine Vinegar is made from red wine, as the name would hint. There are red wine vinegars that are made more quickly, using so-so wine, that are sold cheaper, and there are more expensive ones, aged for a few years in oak barrels, etc. In general, red wine vinegars require longer aging than white…
Roux
A roux is a thickener made from starch and fat, typically wheat flour and butter. It is used to thicken sauces, soups and stews. It came into being as a cooking technique sometime around the start of the 1600s.
Rove Goats
Rove Goats are goats from the south of France, near Marseille. They have lyre-shaped horns that can be up to 4 feet (1.2 metres) long. The hair on the goats is short and thick. It can be red or black, or greyish colours in between. Females will weigh 110 to 130 pounds (50 to 60…
Rump Steak
What a rump steak is depends on where you are. North Americans have a completely different interpretation from the rest of the English-speaking world, and in France, it is completely different again, taken to higher levels of refinement. When you are looking at recipes for rump steak, it’s very important to suss out what audience…
Salt
Salt may be the only food item that doesn’t need an expiry date. It doesn’t lose its taste, and doesn’t go bad. And our relationship to it is complicated: we need a little of it, but too much is bad for us, and without it, many things won’t cook properly, and things often just don’t taste right.
Sel Gris
Sel Gris is a sea salt that is a by-product of making Fleur de Sel by evaporating basins of sea water. See “Fleur de Sel” entry for more information. The clay at the bottom of the basins gives the salt its flavour and grey colour. History Notes Sometimes it is called Celtic Salt because the Celts,…
Shallot
Shallot © Denzil Green In North America, the UK and Europe, Shallots are small onions with a pear-shaped bulb. They are commonly used in French cooking owing to their delicate flavour when cooked, but they are much hotter when eaten raw. In each bulb there are 2 to 3 cloves, with each clove covered in…
Snails
Snails are a something that people either can’t get enough of, or swear they will never pass their lips.
Solilemmes
Solilemmes are bread rolls made in northern France from a yeast-risen dough that is like an eggy brioche dough. They are served hot. Cooking Tips To serve Solilemmes, split horizontally and butter with melted, salted butter, replace the top. They are often served with slices of smoked fish. History Notes Some speculate that Solilemmes actually…
Sorrel
Sorrel © Michelle Mattern Sorrel is a leafy herb that can be used as a salad leaf, or a pot herb. The leaves have a tangy, slightly sour taste, that gets tarter as the leaves get older and bigger. The tartness comes from oxalic acid in the leaves. The leaves look something like spinach or…
St Valery Carrots
St Valery Carrots grow up to 10 inches (25 cm) long. They will be up 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7 ½ cm) broad at the top, and tapered. Above ground, the fine leaves grow up to 20 inches (50 cm) tall. The carrot itself is orangey-pink, with a fine texture, and a complex…
Starters (French Bread)
French starters for sourdough bread are not one-stage starters. They are two- or three-stage starters, beginning with a starting leavener dough that they call the “chef.”
Steak Tartare
Steak Tartare is a savoury dish made from raw beef that is ground or finely chopped. Occasionally unwary people order it, thinking it is steak with tartare sauce. Many people who do try it, don’t like it on account of the texture of the raw meat. It is popular in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland,…
Suze Bitters
Suze Bitters are yellow-coloured with a dry, bitter taste that can be drunk straight, either on ice or at room temperature. The ingredients include gentian root. It is 16% alcohol. Suze is made by Pernod-Ricard. History Notes Suze Bitters were invented in 1889 by a Fernand Moreaux.
Taillevent: Medieval French Cook, Author of Le Viandier
Tomb of Taillevent and his two wives Notre Dame Priory, Hennebont, Brittany. Life and Times Taillevent wrote an historically-important French cookbook called “Le Viandier” towards the end of the Middle Ages. Suggested dates for the book include 1375, 1380 and 1381. There were at one point five different versions of the manuscript, ranging from a…
Tapenade
Tapenade is an olive paste or spread most associated with Provence, an area in the south of French, though it is popular in other Mediterranean countries such as Spain. You can use it as a dip for vegetables, mix some into pasta, salad dressings, spread on breads, etc. It is usually made by puréeing black…
Tarbais Beans
Tarbais Beans grow on a pole-type bean plant. Some Tarbais Beans are harvested young to be sold as a fresh green beans; some are let fully ripen for harvesting as a dried bean. The dried beans are large white beans that look a bit like shorter, flattened white kidney beans. Tarbais Beans have a mild…
Tartiflette Tart
Tartiflette is a French savoury pie. There are many variations on how to make this. A casserole dish is buttered. Into this is placed a layer of fried diced potatoes. Some recipes have you boil them then slice them first; other recipes have you peel them but put the potatoes in raw. Most advise that…