French Provincial Cooking (20 page)

 

Fromage
CHEESE Swiss and French Gruyère and Emmenthal cheeses and imported Parmesan are the ones most frequently used in French cookery, although certain local dishes are naturally made with the particular cheese product of the region; there are, for example, several regional dishes in the Auvergne made from the excellent local Cantal or from
Tomme de Cantal
, which is a fresh unfermented cheese. Soft cream cheeses, of which there are scores of different varieties, are much used for sweet dishes.

 

Froment, Farine de
Fine wheat flour. Also called
faŕine de gruau.

 

Genièvre
JUNIPER The dried berries (
baies de genièvre
) have a warm, pungent flavour and an aromatic scent, and are used in the mountainous districts of central and eastern France, in Provence and in Corsica, for flavouring the stuffings or sauces for small game birds and for pâtés; an excellent flavouring also for pork and venison. The appearance of juniper berries in a list of ingredients often puzzles English people, which is odd considering that they constitute one of the main flavouring agents of gin, which gets its name from the Latin
Ginepro
or juniper, and juniper grows wild on the hills in many parts of England. At one time juniper berries were commonly used in England in the spicing of beef and hams.

 

Gingembre
GINGER Little used in French cookery proper, although occasionally recipes which have filtered through from the French colonies call for a flavouring of either powdered or fresh green root ginger.

 

Girofle, Clous de
CLOVES Two or three cloves stuck into an onion are a traditional seasoning of the
pot-au-feu
and of various meat stews in France. Ground cloves are also used in the composition of mixed spices (see
Épices
).

 

Glace de viande
MEAT GLAZE Highly concentrated extract of meat used to heighten the flavour and give body to sauces. A recipe for making it in small quantities is given on page 112.

 

Gousse d’ail
A clove of garlic.

 

Graines de paradis
A relative of the Cardamom family, known in England as Malagueta pepper. Cultivated and used in the French African colonies of Dahomey, the Ivory coast and French Guinea.

 

Graisse de rognons de bœuf, Graisse de friture
The rendered down fat of beef kidneys, considered by many French cooks to be the best for deep frying. For the method of rendering fat, see
Saindoux
.

 

Graisses alimentaires, Végétales
Vegetable fats, mixed cooking fats, synthetic fats and margarines.

 

Gruau, Farine de
Fine wheat flour. Also called
farine de froment
.

 

Guimauve
MARSHMALLOW, MALLOW
Pâte de Guimauve
is the equivalent of our marshmallow sweet, which however contains no mallow. See
Mauve
.

 

Huile d’arachides
GROUNDNUT OIL Suitable for frying and for making mayonnaise for those who do not care for the flavour of olive oil.

 

Huile d’olive
OLIVE OIL Good olive oil seems to me as essential to good cookery as is butter, but as I have gone into this question in some detail elsewhere in this book (see pages 74,122 and 283) and also in the paragraph on
Olives
below I will not discuss it further here.

 

Hysope
HYSSOP A bitter herb, used at one time in savoury stuffings but mainly regarded as a medicinal herb. Used also in liqueurs.

 

Jambon de Bayonne
A ham usually served raw, cut in fine slices, as an hors-d’œuvre; the special method of curing Bayonne hams (which are mostly made near Orthez in the Béarn) includes wine in the pickling mixture and, unlike Parma ham, Bayonne hams are usually smoked, although only very mildly. When raw ham of this type is called for in a recipe, the best English substitute is a slice of mild gammon.

 

Jambon blanc
Boned cooked ham, also called
Jambon de Paris
and
Jambon glacé.

 

Jambon du pays, Jambon de montagne
Almost every district has its own local methods of curing hams and a slice from these is often used as an ingredient in soups, stews and so on. Two country hams with well-justified reputations are those of the Ardennes and the Auvergne.

 

Jambon d’York
York ham is much admired in France and enormous quantities of imitations are sold, although seldom with any pretence to being the genuine article.

 

Lard frais
The layer of hard back pork fat nearest to the skin of the animal, used mainly for lardoons (see
Lardage,
page 75). The second layer of fat, nearest the flesh, is softer in consistency and is that mainly used for rendering down, after which process it is known as
Saindoux.

 

Lard fumé
Cured and smoked belly or flank pork, similar to our bacon.

 

Lard de poitrine
Fat from the belly or breast of the pig, usually salted, or salted and smoked, in which state it is similar to our streaky bacon.

 

Lard salé
The best quality of salted pork fat comes from the top layer of fat in the back of the pig, the same as that used for lardoons (see
Lard frais
above). The second quality comes from the belly and flank; this is also known as
petit salé
and is similar to our salt or pickled pork. Both salted and smoked pork are used a good deal in braised and stewed dishes, the former rather more than the latter; so when ordinary salt pork is not available, the best alternative is unsmoked bacon.

 

Laurier, Feuilles de
BAYLEAVES Part of the traditional
bouquet garni
and a flavouring for scores of stews and soups.

 

Levure
YEAST.

 

Macis
MACE The beautiful bright orange, lacy outer covering of the nutmeg. Ground mace is a valuable seasoning for many aromatic preparations, such as stuffings and pâtés, as well as for spiced cakes and breads.

 

Maïs, Farine de
MAIZE FLOUR, POLENTA Common in the south-western provinces of France, and used to make various coarse rustic cakes and breads as well as for cramming geese which are being fattened for the sake of their livers.

 

Maizena
A proprietary name for CORNFLOUR.

 

Marc, Eau de vie de
A spirit made from the skins of the grapes after the juice has been pressed for wine.
Marc
is made in every wine-growing area and the quality varies enormously. The best ones seldom reach the market, as every wine-grower is allowed by law to distil only a certain very small percentage of
marc
, fixed in proportion to the amount of wine he produces. These
marcs
are, of course, used a certain amount in cookery since they are ready to hand and also much preferred by the people who make them to the brandies of Cognac and Armagnac. When a recipe specifically calls for
marc
, vodka makes a reasonable substitute.

 

Marinade
For details of the process of marinating and for recipes, see pages 77 and 128.

 

Marjolaine
MARJORAM An aromatic herb used to flavour stuffings and stews. More commonly used in England, especially to flavour sausages, than in France.

 

Mauve
MALLOW I have never come across this plant in French cookery, although I believe it is still used as a vegetable, and for infusions, in country districts. In the Middle East it is the basis of a popular soup called
Melokhia;
its mucilaginous nature makes it rather an acquired taste for Europeans.

 

Mélisse
LEMON-BALM Used in infusions and in a liqueur called
eau des Carmes, or eau de mélisse des Carmes.

 

Menthe
MINT Very little used in French cookery. Our mint sauce is considered positively barbaric by the French;
sauce paloise,
a béarnaise sauce flavoured with mint, is, however, admitted to be a good, although recent, invention.

 

Miel
HONEY The most highly prized honey in France comes from the Narbonne district and is said to owe its distinctive aromatic flavour to the nectar of the rosemary flowers which have been sucked by the bees. Other excellent honeys come from the Gâtinais, Normandy, Burgundy, Champagne, the Savoie, Saintonge, and upper Provence. A number of spiced breads and cakes, particularly the
pain d’épice
of Dijon and other districts, are made with honey and rye flour.

 

Mignonnette
Coarsely ground white peppercorns. According to Larousse,
mignonnette
formerly meant a mixture of allspice, nutmeg, coriander, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves enclosed in a little muslin sachet which was steeped for a few moments in a dish, in order to impart an aromatic flavour.

 

Mirepoix
A basic preparation of chefs’ cookery, composed of the red part of carrots, onions, celery and raw ham all cut into dice and stewed very gently in butter, with the addition of bayleaf and thyme. The mixture forms the basis of many sauces, including
espagnole,
and of preparations such as braised chickens, croquettes and so on.

 

Moutarde
Mustard, one of the oldest condiments of French cookery, is mainly sold in France in the form of mustard flour mixed with verjuice, grape must or vinegar, and aromatic herbs and spices. The one most commonly used for flavouring sauces is the tarragon mustard of Dijon. The firms of Grey-Poupon and Maille are famous for the finesse of their Dijon mustards, and that of Louit for Bordeaux mustard. This firm also puts out a mustard flavoured with the
piment
of the Pays Basque, which is excellent. It is worth spending the small extra sum for genuine Dijon or Bordeaux mustards, for the English imitations of French mustards have not the same flavour. For sauces, choose a mustard with a good yellow colour; the darker ones spoil the look of the sauce.

 

Moutarde de Chine
The variety of mustard which, in English parlance, goes with cress.

 

Muscade, Noix de
NUTMEG Used a good deal in French cookery, for flavouring stuffings, sauces, spiced cakes, even vegetables, particularly spinach. In Italian cookery, nutmeg goes into almost every preparation containing cheese.

 

Oignons, Ognons
ONIONS Onions are one of the basic aromatic vegetables of all European cookery. The French grow several varieties which we lack here, chiefly the small flat ones called
grelots
, which are so much used for garnishes and which are often cooked in their fresh state, while the skins are still green and the flesh very white and strong. The mild red Spanish type of onions are grown mostly in southern France, while another popular one in the south and south-western districts is a red flat Italian onion. In the north the straw-coloured flat
oignons jaune paille des Vertus
and the orange
rouge pâle de Niort
are popular; the equivalent of our own round white onions are known as Lisbon or Portugal onions, and
oignons de Mulhouse
(Alsace) are the equivalent of our pickling or silverskin onions.

 

Olives
Both black and green olives are, naturally, used a good deal in southern French cookery for stuffings and sauces, as well as for garnishes. Green olives are gathered immature and, after a preliminary steeping in a solution of potash, which helps to eliminate the bitter flavour, are preserved in brine. Black olives are the ripe fruit treated simply in brine, the best varieties of black olives for the table being subsequently preserved in a marinade of olive oil. Black olives make a delicious stuffing for a chicken (see page 395) and I have also come across them used as a flavouring for a duck pâté, which was quite excellent. When olives are bought loose, whether black or green, the best way to store them is to pack them into jars and cover them with olive oil. In times when olive oil is scarce, as it was during the war, its flavour can be imitated for salad dressings, to a certain extent, by steeping olives in otherwise tasteless groundnut oil. And since I have mentioned groundnut oil (
huile d’arachides
) it is as well to remark here that the people of northern France, who understand the use of butter in cookery better than that of olive oil, often express a preference for groundnut oil both for cooking and for making mayonnaise. Personally, I cannot agree with them, but on the other hand it is often difficult in the country, even in Provence, to obtain really good olive oil, for a great quantity is sent to Paris, where it fetches high prices, which means that badly seasoned salads are all too prevalent in country and provincial restaurants. To a real Provençal, however, the quality of his oil is very important and he will be able to tell you, just as a wine grower recognises the variety of grape used for any wine, from what kind of olives any given oil has been pressed.
Le Rougeon, le Redoutant
,
le Broutignan, la Coucourelle
are some of the different varieties of Provençal olives.

 

Orge perlé
PEARL BARLEY.

 

Origan,
WILD MARJORAM
Origanum
is generic latin for all marjorams.

 

Oseille
SORREL The acid green leaves of wild and garden sorrel and of wood sorrel are treated as a flavouring herb for salads, omelettes and soups, as well as being cooked in the same way as spinach to make a garnish for veal and certain white fish, particularly the shad (
alose
) of the Loire and the white fish of the cod family known as
merluche
or hake. A recipe for sorrel sauce is on page 127.