Showing posts with label food in France. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food in France. Show all posts

Cidre - Cider in France. France's Fabulous Ciders, Sparkling Ciders and Basque Cider.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

A Normandy, cider shop.
Also on sale here are Perry, Calvados and Pommeau.
Photograph courtesy of Rolye.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/essaitlr2712/5496862210/
     
The origin of the word cider.
    
The drink we call cider was brought to England by the Normans; then they called it sider or sydre, and that became in  English cider and modern French cidre. For various reasons, including local usages that never changed, the words sider or sydre will still be seen on cider bottles in certain areas in France. In fact, I discovered, when tracing the origins of the word sider, sydre, and cider they go back further than Norman French, though then they were not specifically applied to apples; Dictionary.com notes the Random House Dictionary tracing the word’s origins back to Biblical Hebrew.
France is justifiably proud of its many apple ciders, with the most famous ciders coming from the régions of Normandie, Normandy, and Bretagne, Brittany, as well as the Pay Basque, the Basque country in southwest France. Despite that plug for France’s three most famous cider-producing regions, there are plenty of apples to go around in France, and you will find many other excellent local ciders, less famous perhaps, but still excellent.
  
Cider apples awaiting the press.
A single cider may contain over 15 different cider apples to arrive at the correct taste; the job of the apple master is to realize that same taste every season.
   

            
French ciders are typically alcoholic ciders, and may contain up to 6% alcohol; the label must show the percentage. Alcohol-free cider is the exception in France and, when available, will usually be called nouveau, a new cider; it will be still apple juice and alcohol-free; however, always check the label.  Generally, the sweeter the cider, the less alcohol it will contain.
                 
                  Cidre Doux – A sweet cider that has between 1.5 – 3% alcohol.
  
                 Cidre Demi-Sec – A medium dry cider with 3- 3.5% alcohol.
   
                  Cidre Sec or Cidre Brut – A dry cider, with at least 5% alcohol.
   

A bottle of Cider (brut).
Photograph by courtesy of yrpopqueen.
    
Cider in Brittany
       
When you order cider in Brittany, do not be surprised when, instead of a glass, you are served with a Bolée à Cidre; a bolée is the traditional cup used to drink Bretagne’s cider. A bolée will not be offered in every restaurant, but when it is offered you will see a seemingly rather oddly shaped tea cup that holds about 200 cl of cider. N.B. Some of these bolées are made without handles.         
       
A crepe Bretonne accompanied by a carafe of cider with a traditional bolée à cidre cup.
  bolée is Brittany's special cider cup; it is seen on the right-hand side of the picture.
 Photograph by courtesy of Marie Guillaumet.
    
For more on the Crepe Bretonne see link for crepes, pancakes, and waffles at the end of this post.
   
Basque cider; sidra in the Basque language 
             
In the Basque country, their cider is called sidra, their various ciders have very different tastes to the ciders from the North, and the best are considered those that have the sharpest taste. Basque ciders are flat ciders, not sparkling. The Basques claim that the Pays Basque is the home of the original cider apple; with all other cider apples in the world being the descendants of their Basque apple.  The Basque country has at least two different routes de sidreria, cider roads, as well a separate Route Gourmande des Pays Basques, the Basque country gourmand’s road. My suggestion would be to order these maps in advance, and then look for those parts of the routes that are close to each other, how can you go wrong with that?  During the day enjoy Basque cider and traditional Basque dishes, in the evening sample fine Basque wines and the best of the new Basque cuisine. N.B. An interesting tradition is the way the Basques drink cider; try it while you are there.
     


    
A dry Basque sparkling cider "Basa Jaun".
Photograph by courtesy of Renée Suen.   
On a memorable visit to Giverny, near Paris, famous for the home and garden of Monet, the painter, we decided to try some of the local Norman cuisine before we went to see, once again, the beautiful garden that had inspired the painter.   Giverny is just 50 minutes from Paris, but for the visitor, it is a world away in Normandie, in the département of Eure.   We had chosen a sunny day, and so when we stopped for a light lunch we chose a restaurant with a garden; there we ordered their chef’s recommended pâté accompanied by a dry Norman cidre bouché; that is a sparkling cider that comes in a champagne shaped bottle.  Our bottle noted brut, dry, and 5% alcohol.  By the time we had finished our snack that I admit included some excellent patisseries, coffee and, of course, the country air, we felt at peace with the world. Indeed, by the time we arrived at Monet's home his garden glowed the way I believe it did while he was painting it!
 
French sparkling cider.

A bottle of cidre bouche, French sparkling cider, with its traditional champagne style bottle and cork.
The cider here is accompanied,
as may be expected in both Normandy or Brittany, by an apple pie.
Photograph by courtesy of mightymightymatze.
  
Cidre AB or Cidre Agriculture Biologique – When the label contains the initials AB, agriculture biologique, then that is an organic cider certified by the French government.
                   
       
The official French government mark that will be on all inspected organic produce, ciders, and wines.
           
When a label reads Cidre Fermier AB  that indicates that the organic cider was produced on the same farm where the apples were grown.
              
Cidre Bouché   The French sparkling cider; a naturally sparkling cider that comes in a champagne type bottle with a champagne type cork. This French sparkling cider is sold with a variety of tastes that correspond to the degree of alcohol and sweetness, all noted on the bottle.  Cidre bouché is often the drink of choice at celebrations in Normandy and Brittany and elsewhere.
              
Cidre Brut -  A dry sparkling French cidre bouché; the best cider to accompany most fish or meat dishes. A dry cider, like a dry wine, does not interfere with the tastes of most dishes as would a sweet cider or sweet wine.
             
Cidre Cornouaille AOP (AOC) This is the Bretagne, Brittany’s AOC cider. Its apples come from the area called Cornouaille in the département of Finistère. If you are visiting this area take their Route du Cidre AOC Cornouaille, their cider road.  For those visiting from the UK and investigating the relationship between Bretagne, Brittany and Britain note that Cornouaille is Cornwall in English, and the département of Finistère’s  name means Land’s End!  Like all other ciders this comes in a variety of strengths, look at the label.
     
Cidre de Poiré and Poiré Domfront (AOC) AOP - Pear ciders or perries. The best of these is the Poiré Domfront (AOC) AOP  comes from the area around the small and attractive town of Domfront, in Normandy, very close to Brittany, in the western part of the Park Naturel Normandie-Maine.  Here, you will find in the same area producers of the Calvados Domfrontais (AOC) AOP, a Calvados apple brandy made with at least 30% pear cider. Cidre de Poiré is not to be confused with poire au cidre on a  menu, that would be pears cooked in apple cider! 
              
Cidre de Pays d'Auge (AOC) AOP – Cider that comes from the Pays d'Auge  in the département of Calvados. Drive through their route du cidre, their cider road, a drive of approximately 40 kms; that drive will take you through many beautiful villages, with plenty of restaurants along the way. Cambremer is the largest village on the route and has a Fête des AOC de Normandie in May celebrating their cider, Calvados, Pommeau as well as the wonderful butters, cheeses and crème fraiche all from of Normandy.
                  
Cidre en Fut – Cider in a barrel, draft cider.
               
Cidre Fermier - Farm produced cider. Grown and processed to cider and bottled on the same farm.  If the cider is organic, then the letters AB will be on the label.
                      
Cidre Nouveau  –  A new, young,  cider; nouveau cider is mostly alcohol-free, however, please do check the label.  Most new ciders are sweet as they are not far removed from when they were just apple juice.
                

   

Apple Juice
Photograph by courtesy of  Thierry Llansades.
     
Cidre Traditionnel - Traditional cider; in England called hard cider.  The labels on these ciders usually indicate 6% alcohol, and you will find that these are extremely pleasant dry ciders that have less sparkle than other French sparkling ciders.
             
Cidres IGP – Ciders that have been granted the European Union, certification covering their particular area of production.
          
Cidriculteur  -   A cider producer.
              
Bar à Cidre  - A cider bar sometimes called a Bar à Sidre and in the Basque country called cider a sideria. These cider bars also offer the aperetif pommeau and wine brandies; in Normandy that is Calvados AOC, and in Brittany Lambig.
   
Routes de Cidre – Cider Roads.
  
The routes de cidre will take you through the cider country, via producers that are willing to let you see, in season, how their product is made, and while there you may try their product; if you like  their cider you may buy a bottle for a small contribution to the local economy.  Take the routes de cidre together with other the other maps offered by the tourist offices in Normandy you will find cider producers near to the producers of cheeses, cream, butter, oyster and mussel farms, and, of course, restaurants. In Normandy expect plenty of seafood and cream sauces and on their cheese plates and trolleys their famous  AOP (AOC) cheeses: Camembert, Brie, Livarot, Neufchâtel, and Pont-l’Évêque along with other excellent local cheeses. 
     

   

In Brittany celebrations with oysters at the center
will often be accompanied by cidre bouché , not champagne.
Photograph courtesy of Baie de Morlaix Tourisme.
   
In Brittany combine their routes de cidre not with cheese but with visits to oyster and mussel farms; along Brittany’s coast expect nothing but the finest shrimps, lobsters, crabs, other seafood and sea fish. For more about France's delicious shrimps, crabs, rock lobsters, mussels and oysters see the links at the end of this post.
    
If you are visiting Southern Normandy and looking for cider, take a trip to the small town of Nogent-le-Rotrou.  Here, are based the Commanderie Percheronne des Gouste-Cidre, a commanderie is similar to a confrérie, a brotherhood and sisterhood that promotes local products.  This commanderie organizes those of similar dependable and unwavering faith, to protect and promote cider from all over France; in other words, they try to ensure that we all drink cider every day, wherever we may be in France. Of interest to others  will be the nearby town of Mortagne-au-Perche, the site of the international Foire de Boudin Noir,  the international black pudding sausages fair. Here, you may enjoy cider and black pudding sausages, wonderful!
   
Pommeau de Normandie  (AOP) AOC
and Pommeau de Bretagne (AOP) AOC
    
 In Normandy and Brittany many cider producers also produce pommeau, a light 16-18% alcohol apéritif made with apple juice and a young apple brandy; in Normandy that is a young Calvados and in Brittany a young Lambig. Pommeaus  are made in much the same way as Pineaux de Charente  is made in Cognac country and Floc de Gascogne  in Armagnac country; there they use grape juice and a young Cognac  or a young Armagnac. When made in the wine country, they call these light alcoholic apéritifs  reinforced wines; I have not checked but surely pommeau must, therefore, be called a reinforced cider?
         
The Pommeau de Normandie  (AOP) AOC and the Pommeau de Bretagne (AOP) AOC are the most famous  of the many excellent Norman and Brittany pommeaus.  Many the Norman cider producers also make one of the three different Calvados apple brandies; it will need another post and more dedicated tasting to describe the differences in  the three different Calvados AOC brandies.
                
For your lunch or dinner apéritif  in Brittany choose between a Bretagne pommeau and a Kir Breton; a Kir Breton is the local version of  Burgundy's famous Kir apéritif; here the white wine replaced by an excellent cider or for a Kir Royal Breton  a sparkling cider.

Cider: (Catalan - sidra), (Dutch - cider), (German - apfelwein, apfelmost), (Italian - cedro), (Spanish – sidra dulce used for apple juice or non-alcoholic cider, and sidra used for alcoholic cider).

Links of interest:
 
  
  
  





Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

 

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 

Copyright 2010, 2013, 2016
  


The Cavaillon Melon. The Best Melon in France.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 

     
The Cavaillon Melon
When it is a Cavaillon Melon, it says so!

The Melon du Cavaillon is a unique melon; not just a sweet melon or a pleasant melon. This melon has a taste and fragrance that is different and you will remember your first Melon de Cavaillon when another is offered years later.  Inside a ripe Cavaillon melon, the flesh is an orange color and the taste is sweet but far from sugary. The small French town of Cavaillon in Provence around which this melon is grown has played many roles in French history.
   

Inside the Cavaillon melon
https://www.flickr.com/photos/inra_dist/23649229036/
   
The Cavaillon melons are nearly round, with yellow-green skins, and uniform dark green stripes. In season, from mid-June through September, the air in an open market where they are selling these melons can be quite heady
  
Cavaillon is charming, and even without the melon is well worth a visit. The town has just a lover 20,000 inhabitants and is in the department of Vaucluse in the region of Provence, Alpes de Sud.  If you are traveling in the area Cavaillon is just 25 km (16 miles) from Avignon, 28 km (18 miles) from Carpentras and 20 km (13 miles) from Saint-Remy-de-Provence. 
  
The English language website for the area of Luberon in Provence which includes Cavaillon is:


              
The Cavaillon Melon on French menus:

Melon de Cavaillon au Jambon de Bayonne– Cavaillon melon served with cured Bayonne ham. Melon and cured ham is a traditional entrée, the French first course. Bayonne ham comes from the France Basque country on the border with Spain, the Pays de Basque, it is the most popular cured ham in France. The city of Bayonne is the capital of the Pays Basque.
   

Slices of the Cavaillon melon and Bayonne ham.
 
Melon de Cavaillon au Magret de Canard Fumé – Cavaillon melon served with smoked duck breast.

Melon de Cavaillon Nature – A Cavaillon melon served without any additions. Cavaillon melon served as it should be.
 
Melon de Cavaillon Rôti, Glace aux Calissons et Coulis de Melon au Muscat De Beaumes De Venise A roasted Cavaillon melon glazed with almond paste and crystallized melon calisson cookies served with a melon puree flavored with the glorious, sweet Muscat De Beaumes De Venise wine.   (Calissons were originally sold as part of celebrations welcoming the end of the Black Plague. The last outbreak of plague in France was the Great Plague of Marseille in 1720, and then the disease killed over 100,000).
Méli mélo de Jambon Serrano et Filet Mignon de Porc Fumé, Copeaux de ParmesanMeli Melo is a contrast in tastes and colors; here it is provided by Cavaillon melon, cured Serrano ham, smoked pork fillet, and shavings of Parmesan cheese. (The smoked pork fillet mignon offered here, is cut from the pork fillet, the US tenderloin).

Soupe Froide de Melon Cavaillon – Cold Cavaillon melon soup.
  
Melon soup.
   
Tranche de Pastèque et de Melon de Cavaillon au Jambon Cru San Leo – A slice of watermelon and Cavaillon melon served with the cured ham of San Leo. San Leo is close to Rimini on Italy's Adriatic coast.
 
Comparing the Cavaillon Melon with other French melons.
                
A restaurant with melon on the menu may be serving great fruit, but if it was a Cavaillon melon, you may be sure its name would be on the menu.  Equally, when the markets and supermarkets are selling the real thing every Cavaillon melon will be labeled.  Other melons may be delicious; but, the Cavaillon melon holds one grade above excellent.  Cavaillon claims that their land, their terroir, makes this a unique melon.  Their seeds grown elsewhere will produce delicious melons, but it will not be a Cavaillon melon. The Cavaillon melon has that je ne sais quoi, that something the others do not.

The Confrérie and the Cavaillon melon.
           
Protecting the Cavaillon melon from cheap imports is the Confrérie des Chevaliers de l'Ordre du Melon de Cavaillon, the Brother, and Sisterhood of the Knights of the Order of the Cavaillon melon.  These brave knights work to advance the cause of the Cavaillon melon, identify the competition and explain the differences.  Notwithstanding their work, long before this confrérie came into being the Cavaillon melon had already attracted the attention of French gourmets, and that was over 150 years ago.
   
It's great fun to dress up in would be ancient costumes
 and then march through town promoting a melon.

Above are members of the Confrérie de Chevaliers du Melon de Cavillon.
Photograph courtesy of Véronique Pagnier

The Count of Monte Christo and the Cavaillon melon
           
The author of the Count of Monte Christo and the Three Musketeers was Alexandre Dumas, Père. Dumas was internationally renowned for his over 400 works and in France was equally respected as a gourmet, and he loved Cavaillon melons.  Dumas Père loved Cavaillon melons so much that he offered the municipal library of Cavaillon a copy of every one of his published works; at that time that was over 300 separate works, in exchange for 12 Cavaillon melons a year for life.  The council accepted the offer, but Dumas Père felt he had the best part of the agreement. Dumas also wrote two books on French cuisine, the larger of the two is Dumas’s Grand Dictionnaire de Cuisine, The Great Dictionary of Cuisine. Dumas’s Grand Dictionnaire has been translated into English in an excellent, concise version called Dumas on Food by Alan and Jane Davidson, printed by Oxford University Press.
     


Alexandre Dumas, Père.

Cavaillon is situated on the edge of the Parc Naturel Régional du Luberon, the Luberon Regional Nature Park. The park has a French language website but is easily understood using the Google or Microsoft translate apps:
  
   
If you are in Provence in early July do not miss their Fête du Melon, their melon fete held on the Friday and Saturday preceding the 14th of July, Bastille Day, Le Quatorze Juillet, check the dates. Bastille Day, Le Quatorze Juillet in French is the most important of all French National Holidays.
  
The Fête de Melon, Cavaillon
Photograph courtesy of La Cuisine du Marché
 
The town of Cavaillon has a long history, and as the Romans were here, maybe they brought the first melons. Many Cantaloupe type melons are linked to their origins in Italy where they developed from fruits, introduced by the Romans, that came from Armenia and Persia.  Exploring the town, you will find a 1st-century Roman arch
  
Remains of the 1st Century Roman Arch
                         
Explore more, and you will find the remains of a 12th-century Cathedral including a Cloister.
Remains of the 12th-century Cathedral.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28413104@N06/sets/72157606127028464/

The whole area was, from 1229 to 1791, a separate Papal State called Comtat Venaissin. From 1309 to 1377  the Popes ruled the Roman Catholic world from Avignon.
  

Map of the Comtat Venaissin
Photograph courtesy of ChrisO.
                                  
As opposed to much of the rest of Europe the Jews of this area were protected by the Popes who ruled the Comtat Venaissin, Look around some more, and you will find a reconstructed 18th-century synagogue, now a museum,  the Musée Juif Comtadin, the museum of the history of the Jews of Comtadin.
   
The reconstruction of an 18th-century synagogue.
Photograph by courtesy of Shoshanah.
 http://www.flickr.com/photos/shoshanah/19046174/
    
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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

 

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 

Copyright 2010, 2017.


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