French Provincial Cooking (19 page)

 

Amidon de Blé
Also known by the proprietary name of Maizena. Cornstarch, cornflour.

 

Anchois
ANCHOVIES Salted anchovies from the barrel were formerly much used in England as well as all over the Continent, for flavouring and salting meat dishes. In certain southern dishes, the custom still survives. The anchovies most commonly used in England are the filleted variety, preserved in oil, and only mildly salted. When a recipe calls for anchovies, one should allow about four of these fillets for each anchovy specified.

 

Angélique
ANGELICA The crystallised stalks of angelica, a member of the umbelliferae family, are well known as a flavouring and decoration for cakes and creams. In the Nivernais district of France, angelica is used in powdered form for flavouring a cream cheese tart. Fresh, the leaves are occasionally used in salads, but the stalks in their fresh state, while giving out a powerful and delicious scent, have absolutely no taste. Angelica is considered to possess strong digestive powers and is much used in the composition of liqueurs.

 

Anis
ANISEED Used for flavouring creams, cakes and liqueurs, and a cheese called
Anisé
made in Lorraine.

 

Arrowroot
Used for thickening soups and sauces, particularly in cookery for children or invalids.

 

Aulx
Plural of
Ail
—garlic.

 

 

Badiane
. A variety of aniseed, also called Star or Chinese Aniseed, used in the anisette liqueur of Bordeaux.

 

Basilic
BASIL or SWEET BASIL A very aromatic herb not now much used in northern France but which figures in Provençal cookery, especially in the famous
Soupe au Pistou
of the Niçois country.

 

Bergamotte
A variety of lemon, from the skin of which is extracted the oil of bergamot used in perfumery, for flavouring sweet dishes and liqueurs and in the confection of sweets such as the famous
Bergamottes de Nancy.
Bergamotte is also the name of a variety of pear.

 

Beurre
BUTTER The uses of butter in cookery are too well known and too obvious for me to need to go into the question here. The method of clarifying butter for frying is explained on page 72.

 

Bigarade
BITTER or SEVILLE ORANGE Important for the orange sauces which go with wild duck and other game, but for which sweet orange is often substituted.

 

Blé
Corn.

 

Blé de turquie
Indian corn, maize.

 

Bouquet garni
The routine bouquet or faggot of herbs for meat dishes, soups, stews and so on, consists of a bayleaf, two or three sprigs of parsley with their stalks, and a little sprig of thyme tied together with a thread so that it can be extracted after the dish is cooked. A crushed clove of garlic is often included in the bouquet and, in Provençal cooking, a little piece of dried orange peel as well.

 

Bourrache
BORAGE So far as I know, not used in French cookery except in the Niçois district where, in the Italian manner, it may go into the stuffing for ravioli; the leaves may be fried in batter and served as sweet fritters.

 

Brunoise
A mixture of aromatic vegetables such as carrots, leeks, turnips and celery cut into very small dice to form the basis of a soup or a stuffing.

 

Camomille
Used for
tisanes
or soothing herb teas.

 

Cannelle
CINNAMON The bark of this plant of the laurel family is used both in powdered and in stick form for flavouring creams and cakes.

 

Câpres
CAPERS The best capers in France are considered to be those which come from plants grown in the Var and the Bouches-du-Rhône departments of Provence. They are called
nonpareilles.
The flower buds are small and round and, when pickled, are still much used for sauces and flavouring in Provençal cookery.

 

Capucine, Graines de
NASTURTIUM SEEDS Sometimes used as a substitute for capers. The leaves of nasturtiums can be used for salads and the flowers are still sometimes used for decorating a dish.

 

Cardomome, Graines de
CARDAMOM SEEDS A highly aromatic spice which goes into curry mixtures and is much used in Arab cookery (sometimes to flavour coffee) and in that of the East Indies. The seeds are encased in hard pods which are put whole into certain Oriental dishes, while for curry powders and other spice mixtures the seeds are taken from the pods and pounded.

 

Cari, Kari
CURRY POWDER This crops up in unexpected places in French cookery, usually in a very mild form, in dishes derived from French colonial cookery.

 

Carottes
CARROTS One of the essential flavouring vegetables for stews, soups and many sauces and stuffings.

 

Carvi
CARAWAY The fruit, usually referred to as the seeds, of this plant of the umbelliferae family are used, like aniseed, for flavouring cakes, creams and liqueurs, and a little bowl of caraway seeds is nearly always served as an accompaniment to the Münster cheese of Alsace.

 

Cassonnade
Soft, unrefined sugar, either from the cane or the beet, Rarely used in modern French cookery.

 

Cédrat
CITRON A large variety of citrus fruit with a very thick, aromatic skin, used mainly in its candied state. Grown in Provence and Corsica, where it is used to flavour a liqueur called
cédratine.

 

Cerfeuil
CHERVIL One of the most common herbs of French cookery, nearly always included in the mixture of
fines herbes
for omelettes, and much used for sprinkling into soups. The flavour is more delicate and elusive than that of parsley but, although it is very easy to grow, it is rare in English herb gardens. The leaves, plucked from the stem rather than chopped, are always known as
pluches de cerfeuil. Cerfeuil bulbeux
is turnip-rooted chervil, used as a root vegetable.

 

Champignons de couche
CULTIVATED MUSHROOMS Used with other flavouring vegetables to make various basic mixtures such as duxelles,
salpicons,
and formerly
fines herbes.

 

Champignons secs
DRIED MUSHROOMS These are usually cèpes, or boletus, and are used for flavouring stews, soups and sauces, although less in French cookery than in Italian. A small quantity goes a long way. They should be soaked in tepid water for half an hour or so before cooking.

 

Chapelure
Breadcrumbs for coating meat, fish, etc., to be fried, or for sprinkling over dishes to be browned in the oven or under the grill. See
Panage
, pages 77-8.

 

Ciboule
SCALLION, WELSH ONION.

 

Ciboulette, Civette
, Cives CHIVES Used fresh to flavour salads and sauces.

 

Coriandre
CORIANDER The dried seeds of the coriander plant have an aromatic and slightly orangey scent, and were at one time used to flavour sweet creams, and coated with sugar were popular children’s sweets or comfits. Neither the seeds nor the leaves are much used nowadays in French cookery, although both figure in the cookery of the Arab countries and of Spain and Greece.

 

Cornichons
GHERKINS The immature fruit of the gherkin cucumbers; pickled, they appear as an accompaniment to the beef from the
pot-au-feu
, and in hors-d’œuvre, especially in northern and eastern France; and chopped gherkins always appear in any dish labelled
charcutière,
e.g.
côtelettes de porc charcutière.

 

Couennes de porc
FRESH PORK RINDS Much used in country daubes and stews to give richness and a gelatinous consistency to the sauce.

 

Crépine de porc, Coiffe de porc
PIG’S CAUL An outer membrane which covers the intestines of the pig and to which a certain amount of fat adheres. When the greater part of this fat has been removed to be melted down for lard, the
crépine
is soaked in salt and water to cleanse it, and subsequently used for wrapping round the flat sausages which, taking their name from this covering, are called
crépinettes.
This
crépine
,
coiffe,
or
toilette
as it is sometimes called, as also that of the calf, is used a good deal in French cookery as a protective and fat wrapping for braised liver and various kinds of chopped meat mixtures. The best substitute when it cannot be obtained is a wrapping of very thin slices of back pork fat.

 

Cumin
,
Graines de
CUMIN SEEDS A characteristic, warm and pungent flavouring of North African Arab cookery; also used occasionally in the cookery of Alsace.
Cumin des près
is wild caraway.

 

Curcuma
TURMERIC The spice ground from the root of this plant is responsible for the yellow colour and part of the pungent flavour of curry powders.

 

Duxelles
A preparation of chopped mushrooms, shallots and onion, melted in butter and used as a foundation for various sauces and croquette mixtures.

 

Échalote
SHALLOT A small variety of onion which divides into two or more cloves when skinned. One of the most frequently used aromatic vegetables of the French kitchen. While its flavour is no milder than that of the onion, it is said to be easier to digest. The shallot also emulsifies to a greater extent than the onion, which no doubt accounts for its presence at the base of a number of sauces such as
bercy
and
beurre blanc,
and in basic preparations like
duxelles
and
mirepoix.

 

Épeautre
SPELT, GERMAN WHEAT A coarse grain which was grown a good deal at one time in Provence. It is said to be the grain from which macaroni was originally made in Italy.

 

Épices composées
A mixture of spices and herbs used for flavouring. Carême gives the composition as follows: thyme, bayleaves, basil, sage, a little coriander and mace. All these ingredients, perfectly dried, are pounded together and sieved. Add to this mixture a third of their weight in finely ground pepper. Store them in a sealed box in a dry place.

 

Épices, quatre, or Épices fines
Another mixture of herbs and spices composed, according to the
Larousse Gastronomique,
of 700 grammes of white pepper, 300 grammes of allspice or pimento berries, 100 grammes of mace and 50 grammes each of nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, bayleaves, sage, marjoram and rosemary, pounded and sieved as above. See also
Sel Épicé.

 

Estragon
TARRAGON An aromatic herb very typical of French cooking. A little goes a long way but its affinity with chicken is remarkable, and a few leaves steeped for a short while in a consommé and in clarified broth destined for aspic jelly make the whole difference to the finished dish. Tarragon is an essential flavouring in
sauce béarnaise, sauce verte,
and Montpellier butter and also goes into the
fines herbes
mixture for omelettes, into salads, sole dishes, and cream soups. The best tarragon vinegar, which makes all the difference to salad dressings, is made by steeping whole sprigs of the fresh herb in bottles of wine vinegar or Orléans vinegar. (The latter is also wine vinegar, the Orléans process of distilling it being somewhat different from that used for other wine vinegars.) For the tarragon vinegar of commerce, the herbs are removed after a short period of steeping, and the vinegar filtered. If made at home, leave the whole branches of tarragon in the bottles until the vinegar is all used up. The flavour will be much finer. If you are buying tarragon plants for the garden, make sure to get the variety known as True French. The kind called Russian tarragon has no scent and a rather acrid flavour.

 

Farigoule
The Provençal name for wild thyme.

 

Fécule de pommes de terre
POTATO FLOUR, POTATO STARCH Used for thickening soups and sauces.

 

Fenouil
FENNEL The dried stalks and branches of the common wild fennel are used in Provençal cookery for the famous
grillade au fenouil
(page 286) and for flavouring
court-bouillons
in which fish is to be cooked. The little feathery leaves, in their fresh state, can be chopped up to flavour sauces and salads for those who like the pronounced aniseed flavour. The bulbous leaf stem of the cultivated Florentine fennel is eaten raw, like celery, or sliced up, dressed with oil, lemon and salt to make an hors d’œuvre. It can also be cooked in much the same way as celery, partly boiled, cut in half and finished in butter with a sprinkling of cheese.

 

Fennel seeds, which taste very similar to caraway seeds, are used as a flavouring for sausages and stuffings in Italian cookery. The common fennel is very easy to cultivate in English gardens, although the Florentine variety (there is a drawing of it on page 129) rarely grows successfully in England.

 

Fines herbes
Unless otherwise specified, this means a mixture of parsley, chervil, chives and tarragon, most commonly used for flavouring omelettes but also for grilled fish and chicken. At one time
fines herbes
meant mushrooms and shallots, but nowadays this mixture is called a
duxelles.

 

Fournitures
Salad greens and fresh herbs, which include sorrel, chervil, chives, cress, etc.

 

Frigolet
Another Provençal name for wild thyme. Also a local liqueur.