Sorry I'm a little late posting...I took a nap.

In October we started our journey through haute cuisine with a sampling of cuisine classique.  In November we finish with nouvelle cuisine.
I attempted to use recipes that had similar ingredients, or were an updated version of the dishes in the previous month, just to highlight the differences between the two parts of Haute Cuisine.  Here it is;

About Nouvelle Cuisine

Nouvelle Cuisine was a reaction to the cuisine classique placed into "orthodoxy" by Escoffier. Calling for greater simplicity and elegance in creating dishes, nouvelle cuisine is also called cuisine minceur, ("thin cooking"), because it is in general less fattening than cuisine classique. 

The term can be attributed to authors Henri Gault and Christian Millau, who in the 1960s used nouvelle cuisine to describe the cooking of Paul Bocuse, Alain Chapel, Jean and Pierre Troisgros, Michel Guérard, Roger Vergé and Raymond Oliver, many of whom were once students of Fernand Point.

 

 

Gault and Millau "discovered the formula" contained in ten characteristics of this new style of cooking. The ten characteristics identified were:

• A rejection of excessive complication in cooking.

• Cooking times for most fish, seafood, game birds, veal, green vegetables and pâtés was greatly reduced in an attempt to preserve the natural flavors. Steaming was an important trend from this characteristic.

• The cuisine was made with the freshest possible ingredients.

• Large menus were abandoned in favor of shorter menus.

• Strong marinades for meat and game ceased to be used.

• They stopped using heavy sauces such as espagnole and béchamel thickened with flour based roux, in favor of seasoning their dishes with fresh herbs, quality butter, lemon juice, and vinegar.

• They used regional dishes for inspiration instead of cuisine classique dishes.

• New techniques were embraced and modern equipment was often used; Bocuse even used microwave ovens.

• The chefs paid close attention to the dietary needs of their guests through their dishes.

• The chefs were extremely inventive and created new combinations and pairings.

 

Eggplant Caviar with Tomato Sauce

Bernard Loiseau
Loiseau was the undoubted star of Frech cooking in the 90's and has the distinction of being the first restauranter to have his restaurant incorporated and traded.  At the time of his death in 2003 he was the only Chef being traded on the stock market.

The French government awarded him its highest honour, the decorations of Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur, Officier de l'ordre national du Mérite and Chevalier du Mérite agricole.

Bernard Loiseau committed suicide on February 24, 2003. The Gault Millau guide had recently downgraded his restaurant from 19/20 to 17/20, and there were also rumors that Michelin were planning to remove one of La Côte d'Or's three stars. After Loiseau's death, three-star chef Jacques Lameloise quoted Bernard in an earlier conversation wherein he confided to Lameloise that "If I lose a star, I'll kill myself". It later emerged that Michelin had not been planning to do so. As of 2007 the restaurant, now in the hands of Patrick Bertron, is still a three-star establishment, much to the efforts of Bertron and Loiseau's second wife Dominique.

Loiseau is widely believed to be the inspiration for the character of Gusteau in the Pixar film Ratatouille.

 

Atlantic Lobster with Vanilla Beurre Blanc

Alain Senderens

Alain Senderens is a leading French chef credited as one of the founders of Nouvelle Cuisine.

He was the chef at Lucas Carton from 1985 until 2005, when he took over the restaurant and renamed it Alain Senderens. He famously claimed to hand back his three Michelin stars after the restaurant was relaunched, saying he could not charge an affordable price for meals while keeping up the standards Michelin required. As a result Senderens stated that the customers pay a third of the former prices, return more often, and the profits are nearly four times of what they were.

 

 

Fresh Fava Bean Soup

Fernand Point

Fernand Point  is considered to be the father of modern French cuisine.

From his restaurant "La Pyramide" in Vienne, an out-of-the-way town south of Lyon, he gained three Michelin stars and trained a generation of French master chefs: Paul Bocuse, Alain Chapel, Louis Outhier, Georges Perrier and Jean and Pierre, the Brothers Troisgros.

The restaurant was founded shortly after World War I. From its kitchen came the modern lightly-thickened sauces, baby vegetables and other aspects of nouvelle cuisine.

 

 

Sole Meuniere

Paul Bocuse

Paul Bocuse is a French chef, considered one of the finest cooks of the 20th century. He is widely credited with being one of the first chefs to emerge from the kitchen and to enter public life.

Bocuse is considered an ambassador of modern French Cuisine. He was honoured in 1961 with the title Meilleur Ouvrier de France. His father George Bocuse, had been apprenticed to Fernand Point and Bocuse dedicated his 1st book to him.

 

 

 

Armagnac-Drunken Capon

Michel Guérard

Michel Guérard  is one of the founders of nouvelle cuisine, and the inventor of cuisine minceur. 

In 1972 Guérard met Christine Barthelemy, the daughter of the founder of the Biotherm range and the owner of a chain of spas and hotels. They married, and in 1974 he moved with her to Eugénie-les-Bains, where she was running one of her family's smaller, less successful spas. They restored the buildings, and Guérard invented a style of food, cuisine minceur, a form of healthy cooking, designed to lure health-conscious Parisians to travel the 800 km to Eugénie. In 1977 his main restaurant received three Michelin stars, and all his properties in Eugénie have been very successful, transforming the tiny village into a significant tourist destination.

 

 

 

Beef Tenderloin with Fleurie Wine and Marrow

Brothers Troisgros

After apprenticing with Ferdinand Point the brothers John and Pierre opened a restaurant in their native Roanne and earned their first of three Michelin stars in 1955, at the tender ages of 29 and 27 respectively. 

Part of a group of chefs who promote an open-minded approach to French cooking, the brothers are honoured in 1972 by French critics Gault and Millau with the title "Best Restaurant in the World".

 

 

Warm Chocolate Soufflé Cakes

Michel Guérard

An additional entry by this Chef, who first found reknown as a patisserie.

October was the first part of a two month journey through Haute Cuisine.  This month we surveyed some of the great dishes from some of the great chefs of Cusine Classique, spanning about 130 years from 1800 to 1930.  I definately benefitted this time from standing on the shoulders of giants.  From Careme to Escoffier this was an outstanding can't miss menu.  Here it is, with a brief biography of the Chef's.  I'll add in the wines later this week.

Canapés a la Danoise Auguste Escoffier - Ritz Hotels
Sliced brown bread coated with horseradish butter topped with smoked salmon and caviar.

Georges Auguste Escoffier (28 October 1846–12 February 1935) was a French chef, restaurateur and culinary writer who popularized and updated traditional French cooking methods. He is a near-legendary figure among chefs and gourmets, and was one of the most important leaders in the development of modern French cuisine. Much of Escoffier's technique was based on that of Antoine Carême, one of the codifiers of French Haute cuisine, but Escoffier's achievement was to simplify and modernize Carême's elaborate and ornate style. It was while Chef at the Grand Hotel in Paris that a young staff member, Prosper Montagne, urged Escoffier to do away with any decoration extraneaous to food. Escoffier was unimpressed and the matter might have ended there but for the intervention of another chef, Phileas Gilbert, who persuaded Escoffier that Montagne was taliking sense. Like any convert, Escoffier became quite enthusiastic, eventually abandoning all grandiloquent display and service a la francaise (all the dishes being served at once) in favor of simplified dishes and a reduced menu, served in courses (a la russe), the service we know and expect today. Another of Escoffier's contributions to cooking was to elevate it to the status of a respected profession, introducing organized discipline to his kitchens. He organized his kitchens by the brigade system, with each section run by a chef de partie. In 1903 Escoffier published his first major book, Le Guide Culinaire, containing 5,000 recipes. The importance of this book in the world of French cooking cannot be overestimated, and even today it is used as both a cookbook and textbook for classic cooking.

Lobster Newburg in Vol au Vent Charles Ranhofer - Delmonico's
Sautéed lobster meat, flamed with Cognac robed in a custard sauce of eggs and cream, and served in pastry shells.

Charles Ranhofer was born in 1836 in St. Denis, France. By the time he was 20 years old, Ranhofer had completed a solid foundation in cooking and had served as the chef de cuisine for Prince Henin of Alsace.In 1856, Ranhofer came to the United States and found only one cook worth of the title, Felix Delice, who was at Delmonico's. Ranhofer continued to study and grow, in his travels around the United States. In 1860, he returned to France, where he was in charge of arranging the great balls at the court of Napoleon III. In 1861, he returned to the United States and assumed the management of the kitchen at the newly opened Maison Doree, at Union Square. In May, 1862, soon after Lorenzo Delmonico opened his own restaurant at Unions Square, he prevailed on Ranhofer to become his chef de cuisine. He was chef at Delmonico's from 1862 to 1896. During this classic period, Delmonico's set the standard for gourmet food. Ranhofer is responsible for many recipes which continue to be famous, such as Baked Alaska (which he "invented" in 1867 to celebrate the purchase of Alaska from Russia). In 1894, Ranhofer published The Epicurean, a treatise on food with more than 1,100 pages and 3,500 recipes. It is worth noting that it was not until 1903, almost a decade after Ranhofer published his treatise on "French" cuisine, that Auguste Escoffier published his "Le Guide Culinaire". Charles Ranhofer deserves much of the credit for the fame of Delmonico's Restaurant. Ranhofer's creativity and pursuit of excellence had very few peers in the history of haute cuisine. Lobster Newburg: During the Gilded Age of the 1870's, Ben Wenberg was a successful, wealthy sea captain who operated in the fruit trade between New York and Cuba. During his stays in New York, Wenberg frequented Delmonico's Restaurant. One evening in 1876, Wenberg told Charles Delmonico about his discovery of a new way to cook lobster. Wenburg prepared the dish with the assistance of Delmonico staff, and it was tasted and declared delicious. Ranhofer studied the recipe and added his refined touch. The dish was added to the menu as Lobster a la Wenberg. Some months after Wenberg shared his discovery with Charles, the two men fought or argued over an as-yet-undiscovered and probably trivial matter. The upshot was that Charles banished Wenberg from Delmonico's and ordered Lobster a la Wenberg struck from the menu. Patrons, however, continued to demand the dish, so Charles hit upon a devilishly clever solution. Charles simply reversed the letters W and N in Wenberg's name, so that WEN became NEW, and the dish forever became Lobster a la Newberg.

Roast Pork a la Montagne Prosper Montagne - Grand Hôtel of Paris
Inspired by Prosper Montagne's Roast sucking Pig. Saged Pork Roast glazed in lemon syrup and served with reduction.

Prosper Montagné - After Carême, the two men who probably had the greatest impact on French gastronomy and that of the world at large were Prosper Montagné and Georges-Auguste Escoffier. Montagné was one of the great French chefs of all time, and is probably best known for writing the great culinary work: ‘Larousse Gastronomique’(1938): a colossal volume of the A – Z of the kitchen; with references to items such as famous culinary people/chefs, ingredients, classical dishes and garnishes. It is still today considered the bible of cuisine.  Montagné was also an early champion of the simplification of haute cuisine. His work signaled a break with the preceding era of French cookery as exemplified by the architectural creations of Marie Antoine Carême. Montagné emphasized dishes that were simple by Carême's standards, and the shortened menus were delivered in the Russian style service—meals were served in courses on individual plates. This philosophy inspired Escoffier and others who were to codify and popularize it, ultimately leading to nouvelle cuisine.  Pork a la Montagne - this is an adaption of a Suckling Pig recipe by Montagne that consists of only four ingredients, in perfect harmony, a dish that would fit well with the nouvelle cuisine of 50 years later.

Lamb Cutlet Reform Alexis Soyer - Reform Club
Lamb Cutlets breaded with smoked ham, garnished with carrots and gherkins in a red current port demi-glace.

Alexis Benoît Soyer (4 February 1810 – 5 August 1858) was a French chef who became the most famous cook in Victorian London. He also tried to alleviate suffering of the Irish poor in the Great Irish Famine (1845-1849), and improve the food provided to British soldiers in the Crimean War. After apprenticing in many Parisian restaurants Soyer fled France for England during the July revolution of 1830, and joined the London household of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge. In 1837, Soyer became chef de cuisine at the Reform Club in London. He designed the kitchens of the newly built Club. He instituted many innovations, including cooking with gas, refrigerators cooled by cold water, and ovens with adjustable temperatures. His kitchens were so famous that they were opened for conducted tours. During the Great Irish Famine in 1847, he invented a soup kitchen that opened in Dublin and his "famine soup" was served to thousands of the poor for free. Whilst in Ireland he wrote Soyer's Charitable Cookery. He gave the proceeds of the book to various charities. In 1854 he wrote A Shilling Cookery for the People , a recipe book for ordinary people who could not afford elaborate kitchen utensils or large amounts of exotic ingredients. He also opened an art gallery in London, and donated the entrance fees to charity to feed the poor. In 1849 Soyer created his "magic stove" which allowed people to cook food wherever they were. It was designed to be a portable stove or a stove that can be used in cramped conditions. During the Crimean war he designed his own field stove, the Soyer Stove, which remained in British military service into the late 20th century.  Lamb Cutlets Reform - Soyer invented this dish at the Reform Club - the late arrival of a tricky and hungry club member and an ingenious chef who had to make the most of what he had in his kitchen might explain the creation of this somewhat strange concoction. But the tangy sweet and sour sauce works and Lamb Cutlets Reform is still on the menu of the eponymous club.

Tournedo Rossini Adolphe Dugléré - Café Anglais
Tournedo of filet served en croute, topped with foi gras and port demi-glaze.

Adolphe Dugléré (born Bordeaux, June 3, 1805 - died Paris April 4, 1884) was a pupil of Carême who rose to prominance later in life as Chef of the Cafe Anglais. Dugléré was a chef de cuisine to the Rothschild family until 1848, and was manager at the restaurant Les Frères Provencaux at the Palais-Royal from 1848 to 1866. In 1866 he became the head chef of the Café Anglais which was the most famous Paris restaurant of the 19th century and where he is believed to have created the dish Pommes Anna. The Café Anglais opened in 1802 and was named in honour of the peace treaty which had recently been signed between Britain and France. At first it had a clientèle of coachmen and domestic servants but later it was frequented by popular actresses. In 1822, the new proprietor, Paul Chevreuil, turned it into a fashionable restaurant with a reputation for its roasted and grilled meats. But it was with the arrival of Dugléré that the Café Anglais achieved its highest gastronomic reputation and it was from that time on that it was frequented by customers from the world of finance and the most elegant and well-off section of Paris society. It was at the Cafe Anglais in 1867 that Dugléré served perhaps the most famous meal ever - the Dîner des trois empereurs, ('Dinner of the Three Emperors') for Tsar Alexander II of Russia, his son the tsarevitch (who later became Tsar Alexander III) and King William I of Prussia, as well as Prince Otto von Bismarck who were in Paris for L'Exposition Universelle.  Tournedos Rossini - It was composer and gourmand Gioachino Rossini who dubbed Dugléré Le Mozart de la cuisine (The Mozart of the Kitchen). Legend has it that on one occasion Rossini was in the restaurant and asked that Dugléré prepare his filet at his table in a chafing dish. Dugléré made some excuse and Rossini is reported to have said, "Eh bien, faites-le tourné de l'autre coté, tournez-moi le dos!" ("Alright, do it somewhere else. Turn your back on me!").

Potage of Pureed Peas Marie-Antoine Carême - Chateau Valencay
A simple yet elegant soup of spring peas

Marie Antoine (Antonin) Carême (8 June 1784–12 January 1833) "the king of chef's and the chef of kings" was chef de cuisine to the famous diplomat Talleyrand, the Prince Regent (later George IV), the Tsar Alexander I and banker James Mayer Rothschild. In his first major position, Carême worked as chef de cuisine to Talleyrand. More than simply an employer or sponsor, Talleyrand actively encouraged Carême to produce a new refined style of eating, using fresh herbs and vegetables and simplified sauces with fewer ingredients. Talleyrand's table became famous during the negotiations that followed the fall of Napoléon, at the Congress of Vienna. When the Congress dispersed, both the map of Europe and the culinary tastes of its upper classes were thoroughly revised. Carême's impact on culinary matters ranged from trivial to theoretical. He is credited with creating the standard chef's hat, the toque; he designed new sauces and dishes, he published a classification of all sauces into groups, based on four mother sauces. Carême wrote several encyclopedic works on cookery, above all L'Art de la Cuisine Française (5 vols, 1833–34), which included, aside from hundreds of recipes, plans for menus and opulent table settings, a history of French cookery, and instructions for organizing kitchens. The branch of Haute Cuisine known as Cuisine Classique is entirely derived from this publication. Potage of Pureed Peas - Carême was set a test by Talleyrand: to create a whole year’s worth of menus, without repetition, and using only seasonal produce. This potage is one of the results.

Peaches Melba Auguste Escoffier - Ritz Hotels
Peaches poached in dessert wine with vanilla ice cream and Melba Sauce (raspberry coulée).

Peach Melba - We begin where we started, with Escoffier. Dame Nellie Melba was a famous Australian opera soprano. Escoffier had heard Nellie Melba perform at Covent Garden one night and was inspired to create a dessert just for her. Rumour had it she loved ice cream, but did not dare eat it often, believing it would affect her vocal cords. In Peach Melba, the ice cream, being only one element in a whole, would not be as cold and thus not harm her vocal cords. Her name is associated with four dishes, all of which were created by Escoffier: Peaches Melba, Melba Toast, Melba Sauce and Melba Garniture.

For this month my wine obsessed patrons decided to use Bordeaux wines, which I should have seen coming...hard to resist for long the best wines in the world.  The problem for me was the shifty nature of the cuisine.  The city and region of Bordeaux has been, in no particular order, part of Aquitane, early Basque dominated Gascony, later Occitan dominated Gascony, an English Border region,  a Viking Fortified town, a Frankish marche.  Every time I read about the food, I got a different cuisine.  My familiarity with Occitan foods (from earlier surprise dinners from Provence and Catalonia) led me to lean on Gascon foods, with a healthy dose of Basque and a little nod to Aquitane.  Here it is.

Foie Gras and Potted Duck (Rillettes de Canard) Wine - Sauvignon Blanc, Lafayette

The origins of Foie gras are lost in the mists of time. A fresco was found representing Egyptians cramming a goose, 2500 BC. The technique was also known to the Greeks and Romans. Forgotten following the decline of the Roman empire, the Foie gras reappears in the 14th century. This "art" developed itself in Europe through the Jewish Diaspora. Indeed the Judaic religion, carrying many interdicts and food constraints, imposes the cooking and the conservation of the meat in oil or animal grease. The flesh conservation in grease also answered a daily reality: fear of shortage. Thus during centuries the principal interest of the fatty poultries was to constitute a reserve or preserves meat. One of the great revolutions of this period is the introduction of corn in Europe via the Americas which allowed a better cramming of the animals. Throughout 16th century, the know-how of the Jews of Central Europe and the farmers of South-west re-started the production of the Foie gras and installed it in French gastronomy. Made with goose or duck, the realization of a good Foie gras requires much time. The breeding is done in the open air and the cramming begins only at the time of the 12th week. The period of fattening lasts 2 weeks for ducks and 3 for geese. If the goose Foie gras considered soft and is refined, the duck Foie gras attracts the fans of true flavours with the frankness from its taste.

Rillettes de Canard is a regional variation of the more famous Rillettes de Porc from Tours.

 

Garbure

Garbure was the daily sustenance of Gascon peasantry. It differed from one home to the next and varied with the rhythms of the seasons, the resources of the cook, and with household income. The basic principle behind this dish is the lengthy simmering of an assortment of vegetables and meats, generally meats preserved en confit. As far as vegetables go, anything is possible. The cabbage may be accompanied by broad beans, fresh or dried, fava beans, mange-tout, potatoes, turnips, peas, onions, carrots, celeriac, kohlrabi, beets, lettuce, chestnuts, nettles or borage. Thus the garbure could be adapted to the needs of every household. Frequently the meal would end with a traditional chabrot, which is a custom of consuming the liquid left in the bottom of ones's bowl after eating the solid contents and then mixing half a glass of red wine in it.

 

Basquaise Mussels Wine - Chardonnay, La Noble

Bassin d’Arcachon, a natural inland sea with the largest beach in Europe, produces 90% of France’s mussels.

The traditional Basque method, slightly spicy with bell peppers and tomatoes, has become one of the classic preparations of French cuisine.

 

Poulet Basquaise Wine - Rose de Syrah, Marnemon

Another peasant staple. What makes this special is the particular way Basque Chicken are raised - like all the poultry in the area, for maximum fat content.

 

Basque Salad

A traditional summer salad in the Niciose Style.

 

Cassoulet Wine - Carrere, Chateau La Fleur

Cassoulet (from Occitan caçolet), yet another peasant dish is a rich, slow-cooked bean stew or casserole originating in the southwest of France, containing meat (typically pork sausages, pork, goose, duck and sometimes mutton), pork skin (couennes) and white haricot beans.

Numerous regional variations exist, the best-known being from Castelnaudary, the self-proclaimed "Capital of Cassoulet", Toulouse, and Carcassonne. The dish is named after the cassole, the distinctive deep round earthenware pot with slanting sides in which cassoulet is ideally cooked. In the process of preparing the dish it is traditional to deglaze the pot from the previous cassoulet in order to give a base for the next one. This has led to stories of a single original cassoulet being extended for years or even decades.

 

Glace aux Pruneaux (Prune and Armagnac Ice Cream) Wine - Chateau Guynot

Andre Daguin, champion of Gascony cooking, is best known for the brilliant Magret de canard. He has never really been properly credited with another innovation that helped catapult Gascon cuisine from a folk curiosity into the realm of cuisine: his prune-and-Armagnac ice cream. The confection has been imitated so often that it could become the chocolate mousse of modern French cuisine.

Feel that little nip in the air?  That's right, it means the regional surprise dinner at Beaujena's is over for another year.  I really enjoy this meal as it allows me to use and showcase some of the very best from the magnificent products we have here in Manitoba.  To celebrate our aqusition of an ice cream maker,  we threw in an additional course for this menu (Sorbet), making a total of eight.

smoked whitefish on cucumber rounds

The lake whitefish, also known as the common whitefish, vies with the walleye for the lead as the most economically valuable freshwater species of the Prairie Provinces and Northwest Territories. Its exceptionally fine flavour has been extolled since the days of the early explorers. Member of the salmon family which also includes trout, chars, and graylings. A cold water fish, it has a large amount of fat, which made it prized among natives. Today, the fat makes it an excellent candidate for smoking.

roasted asparagus soup

Asparagus has been used from very early times as a vegetable and medicine, owing to its delicate flavour and diuretic properties. There is a recipe for cooking asparagus in the oldest surviving book of recipes, Apicius’s third century AD De re coquinaria, Book III. It was cultivated by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, who ate it fresh when in season and dried the vegetable for use in winter. Asparagus is low in calories, contains no fat or cholesterol, and is very low in sodium. It is a good source of folic acid, potassium, dietary fiber, and rutin. The amino acid asparagine gets its name from asparagus, the asparagus plant being rich in this compound.

linguini with lambs quarters, sunflower seeds and flax oil

Lambs quarters are a fast-growing weedy annual plant in the genus Chenopodium. There are two main common varieties - Chenopodium Album (Europren) and Chenpodium Berlandieri (American), which hybridize freely. The standard English name is Fat-hen; other names include White Goosefoot, Lamb's Quarters, Pigweed or Dungweed, Pitseed Goosefoot, Southern Huauzontle or more ambiguously as just Goosefoot. The name Lambs Quarters probably comes from the fact that it drops its seeds after Lamas (August 1st), or in the quarter of the year after Lamas.

The leaves and young shoots may be eaten as a leaf vegetable, either steamed in its entirety, or cooked like spinach. Each plant produces tens of thousands of black seeds. These are high in protein, vitamin A, calcium, phosphorus, and potassium. Quinoa is a closely related species which is grown specifically for its seeds.

Although widely regarded today as a weed, the American species was once part of the Eastern Agricultural Complex (along with sunflowers and squash) of prehistoric North America, and was a fully domesticated pseudo cereal crop some 4 000 years ago. It's possible that the European species was also cultivated at an early date. Archaeologists analyzing carbonized plant remains found in storage pits and ovens at iron age and Roman sites in Europe have found its seeds mixed with conventional grains and even inside the stomachs of Danish bog bodies. As the common names suggest, it is also used as food (both the leaves and the seeds) for chickens, hens and other poultry.

The sunflower is native to the Americas. Current research shows that it may have been domesticated twice, first in Mexico and later in the middle Mississippi Valley. Alternatively, it may have been introduced northward from Mexico at an early date. The evidence thus far is that the sunflower was first domesticated in Mexico by at least 2600 BC. The earliest known examples of a fully domesticated sunflower north of Mexico have been found in Tennessee and date back to around 2300 B.C. Many indigenous American peoples used the sunflower as the symbol of the sun deity, including the Aztecs and the Otomi of Mexico and the Incas in South America. Gold images of the flower, as well as seeds, were taken back to Spain early in the 16th century. The Spaniards tried to suppress cultivation of the sunflower because of its association with solar religion and warfare. During the 18th Century, the use of sunflower oil became very popular in Europe, particularly with members of the Russian Orthodox Church because sunflower oil was one of the few oils that was not prohibited during Lent. Sunflowers also produce latex and are the subject of experiments to improve their suitability as an alternative crop for producing hypoallergenic rubber.

matelote bourginon with northern pike

The northern pike (Esox lucius), sometimes called the jack, jack fish and great northern pike, ranks third in value among the freshwater species caught commercially in the northwest. Circumpolar in distribution, it inhabits waters in the northern parts of Europe, Asia and North America. The fishery is carried out winter and summer with the largest commercial catches being taken in Manitoba followed by those of Saskatchewan. Although generally acknowledged as a "sporting" quarry, most anglers release pike they have caught because the flesh is considered bony, especially due to the substantial (epipleural) "Y-bones". However, the larger fish are more easily filleted, and pike have a long and distinguished history in cuisine and are popular fare in Europe. Historical references to cooking pike go as far back as the Romans. The flesh is white and mild-tasting.

golden caviar and pink champagne sorbet

Golden Caviar comes from the eggs of the Whitefish. the roe that is small, firm, and, like its name implies, golden in color. It has a great crunchy and crispy texture that pops in the mouth, but with a mild and subtle flavor.

elk osso buco

Wapiti, (Cervus canadensis) second largest (after the moose) member of the Deer family. Its name is Shawnee for "white rump." Wapiti came to North America via Beringia late in the Ice Ages but expanded their range and population only after the extinction of the American mega fauna about 11 000 years ago. Although valued for its hide by Native people, the wapiti was not a favourite food animal and played no great role in aboriginal economics. Elk are hunted as a game species; the meat is leaner and higher in protein than beef or chicken. There are four distinct phenotypes in North America, (wrongly classified as sub- species) of which Manitoba has it's very own (C. canadensis manitobensis). Wapiti have been domesticated in Siberia and China, where the antlers are used for medicinal purposes. Like most members of the deer family Elk are highly adaptable, and in areas where they have been introduced have often succeeded at the expense of native fauna. This negative impact on native animal species has led the International Union for Conservation of Nature to identify the elk as one of the world's 100 worst invaders.

bison and strawberry salad with red onion mustard vinaigrette

The American bison is a relative newcomer to North America, having originated in Eurasia and migrated over the Bering Strait. About 10,000 years ago it replaced the steppe bison, a previous immigrant that was much larger. It is thought that the steppe bison may have become extinct due to a changing ecosystem and hunting pressure following the development of the Clovis point and related technology, and improved hunting skills. During this same period, other mega fauna vanished and were replaced to some degree by immigrant Eurasian animals (like the Wapiti) that were better adapted to predatory humans. The American bison, technically a dwarf form, was one of these animals.

Bison were a keystone species, whose grazing pressure was a force that shaped the ecology of the Great Plains as strongly as periodic prairie fires and which were central to the lifestyle of Native Americans of the Great Plains. But there is now some controversy over their interaction. "Hernando De Soto's expedition staggered through the Southeast for four years in the early 16th century and saw hordes of people but apparently did not see a single bison," Charles C. Mann wrote in 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus. Mann discussed the evidence that Native Americans not only created (by selective use of fire) the large grasslands that provided the bison's ideal habitat but also kept the bison population regulated. In this theory, it was only when the original human population was devastated by wave after wave of epidemic (from diseases of Europeans) after the 16th century that the bison herds propagated wildly. In such a view, the seas of bison herds that stretched to the horizon were a symptom of an ecology out of balance.

Bison are now raised for meat and hides. Over 250,000 of the 350,000 remaining bison are being raised for human consumption. Bison meat is lower in fat and cholesterol than beef. In 2005, about 35,000 bison were processed for meat in the U.S. There is even a market for kosher bison meat.

 

Recent genetic studies of herds of bison show that many of them include animals with genes from domestic cattle. For example, the herd on Santa Catalina Island, isolated since 1924 after being brought there for a movie shoot, were found to be mostly crossbreeds. It is estimated that there are as few as 12,000 to 15,000 pure bison in the world. The numbers are uncertain because the tests so far used mitochondrial DNA analysis, and thus would miss cattle genes inherited in the male line. Most hybrids look exactly like purebred bison.

The typical cultivated strawberry comes from the Americas, and is a hybrid of the North America F. virginiana and the South American F. chiloensis, developed through accidental hybridization in the early 18th century.

Several theories exist as to the origin of the English name "straw" berry:

• It could come from gardeners' practice of mulching strawberries with straw to protect the fruits from rot

• It might derive from the Anglo-Saxon verb for "strew" (meaning to spread around) which was streabergen (Strea means "strew" and Bergen means "berry" or "fruit") and thence to streberie, straiberie, strauberie, straubery, strauberry, and finally, "strawberry," the word which we use today. The name might have come from the fact that the fruit and various runners appear "strewn" along the ground.

• Strawberries may have received their name from the long-time practice of packing the delicate fruit in straw.

The Online Etymological Dictionary states that the origins of the name are uncertain, but that it may refer to the seeds on the fruit, which look somewhat like straw-chaff.

bothwell cheese plate

The rainy rainy month of June is over, and I have to say it was appropriate as we were doing food from countries with gray clad skies - Hungary, Poland and Sweden.  I started out trying to do Eastern Europe, but I quickly figured out that Denmark might well deserve a month of it's own, and that the best of the remainder came from the three countries already mentioned.  I was pleasantly surprised at some of the well developed dishes I found - I thought this month might end up with a lot of un-reconstructed peasant food, with dill dill dill cut with some beets here and there, but there does exist a level of cuisine and a variety.  Here's what we ended up with.

Eastern European Foods Defined

The cuisine of Eastern Europe is a blend of hearty peasant dishes -- groaning bowls of steaming dumplings, sauerkraut perfuming the air, beet soup striking a colorful pose -- with elegant gourmet offerings.

In both comfort food and more complex dishes, the ingredients are always simple. It's the preparation and sauces that set them apart.

Eastern European cuisine has been forged by the natural resources of the region. Fish and seafood are plentiful from the Baltic to the Black Sea, the unique flavor of the native juniper wood lends itself to smoking hams and sausages, an abundance of sour cream and cream cheese is a natural byproduct of the thriving dairy industry.

Mushrooms abound in the many forests that are also home to wild game that finds its way into dishes like hunter's stew.

Fertile farmlands produce grains to create the staggering varieties of breads, noodles and dumplings, and to serve as feed for the pigs, ducks and lambs that end up in so many recipes.

And the seemingly ever-present home gardens yield up harvests of potatoes, cucumbers, kohlrabi, sweet and hot peppers, and dill. Lots of dill.

There is such a crossover of regional influences, sometimes it's hard to say which dish originated in which country. Certainly there are many variations on a theme, as in the case of stuffed cabbage.

To make matters more interesting, marriages of the nobility centuries ago brought the flavors of Italian, French, Turkish, Russian, Jewish and German foods to mingle with those of Eastern Europe. The result is a delightful culinary stew.

Salmon-Asparagus Rolls - Eastern Europe

Eastern Europeans love smoked or brined fish. This classy dish of smoked salmon and asparagus easily can pass as a native appetizer in any Scandinavian or Eastern European country.

Cold Rhubarb Soup ("Chlodnik Rabarbarowy") - Poland

Rhubarb is plentiful in Poland, so to find it in soup is not uncommon. In the heat of late spring and early summer, cold rhubarb soup was refreshing for the farmers returning from the fields for a quick noontime meal.

Potato Finger Dumplings ("Kartoflane Kluski") - Eastern Europe

Potato Finger Dumplings or "Kartoflane Kluski" in Polish, can be eaten as a side dish with butter or as the main course when combined with caramelized onions and fried bacon or other smoked meats. Every Eastern European region has a variation of this dish.

Hungarian Chicken Paprikash ("Csirke Paprikas") - Hungary

This one-pot classic dish combines five key Hungarian ingredients -- onions, green peppers, tomatoes, paprika and sour cream.

Polish Hunter's Stew ("Bigos") - Poland

"Bigos" is considered the national dish of Poland. It's a hearty, long-simmered meat-and-sauerkraut stew that goes back centuries. It was traditionally served at the start of the hunting season, from fall through Mardi Gras, or until the family's supply of barrel-cured sauerkraut ran out. Today, it's enjoyed year-round.

Any combination of game, beef, pork, poultry and vegetables works. This recipe is just one version.

Served with cwikla (beet horseradish), and pork schnitzel.

Marinated Cucumber Salad (Inlagd Gurka) - Sweden

A dish of marinated cucumber salad is ubiquitous on tables across the Scandinavian countries. Sliced thin and soaked in a sweetened mixture of vinegar and lemon juice, these cucumbers retain a summer crispness and serve as a light, fresh complement to a meal.

Strawberry-Meringue Tart - Poland

This is a good way to use the bounty of late-spring strawberries. The crackly meringue topping is a surprising addition to a fruit tart.

I do a lot of my shopping, particularly for produce, at Eatit.ca, an on-line organic store with a physical location at 603 Wall Street.  Why mention this?  Naked self interest.  Yes, they have fresh organic produce at the best prices in the city, but the important thing is that they are now selling Beaujena's line of pasta and ice cream treats, made by yours truly in my brand new 20 year old pasta machine (that works a dream) and my brand new (really new) ice cream maker.  Presently selling 8 oz of fresh organic pasta for $2.99.  I'm not sure of the pricing on the ice cream.  Check it out!

The marathon five weekend Argentina (and Chile) surprise dinner is at and end.  Thanks to all who helped us raise Canada's average beef consumption.  I write this as Argentina (and Chile) because we wound up with a menu from Argentina (with one exception).  Conversely, the wines were mostly from Chile.  The reason for this is largely economic.  The economics of Argentina and Chile, not Beaujena's.  There is no cuisine in Chile, as there isn't much of a middle class.  The rich eat European food, and the poor eat beans and tortillas.  In Argentina, however, the food of the masses is beef, and lots of it (100 kg per person per year, down from a high in the 19th century of 180 kg).  When I looked at wines I was surprised to discover that Argentina is the 5th largest producer of wine in the world, well ahead of Chile!   However, Argentines drink 90% of the wine they produce (they are the third greatest consumers of wine, just behind France and Italy).  Chilean wine is grown for export, as, again, there isn't the middle class to provide a local market.  So, we wound up with wonderful Italian and French influenced Argentine cuisine with world class (and still underrated) Chilean wine.  Here it is;

Empanadas

It is likely that the empanadas in the Americas were originally from Galicia, Spain, where an empanada is prepared similar to a pie that is cut in pieces, making it a portable and hearty meal for working people.

Argentine empanadas are a common dish served at parties, as a starter, as a main course or in festivals. Shops specialize in freshly-made empanadas, with many flavors and fillings. The Argentine empanada is a little bigger than the empanadilla of Spain and smaller than that consumed in Chile. The dough is usually of wheat flour and lard with fillings differing from province to province: in some it is mainly chicken in others beef (cubed or ground depending on the region), perhaps spiced with cumin and paprika, whilst others include onion, boiled egg, olive, raisins of grape and in some provinces even peas. Potato is often added as a filler in poorer areas. Empanadas can be baked (more common in restaurants and cities) or fried (more common in rural areas and at festivals). They may also contain cheese, ham and cheese, fish, humita (sweetcorn with white sauce) or spinach; a fruit filling is used to create a dessert empanada. Empanadas of the interior regions can be spiced with peppers. In modern restaurants in Argentina, adventurous new fillings are being tried, with the traditional recipe being reinvented by modern chefs.

We served a simple beef and onion empanada from the northern province of Tucuman, where the empanadas are probably the tastiest in Argentina. This province hosts The National Empanada Festival, in the city of Famaillá.

Sopa de Mondongo (Tripe and vegetable soup)

Sopa de Mondongo is a hearty traditional soup of Latin America and the Caribbean. It is made from slow-cooked diced tripe (the cleaned stomach of a cow). Vegetables like bell peppers, onions, carrots, cabbage, celery, or root vegetables are added.

Chupe de Marisco (baked scallops in cream & cheese sauce)

An example of the wonderful rich seafood that can be found in Chile.

Potato Noquis

Italian food is popular Argentina and the Noquis are traditionally eaten on the 29th day of each month, the day before payday, when money was tight and gnocchi were cheap and hearty fare. On these occasions, some people leave a banknote under the plate to attract prosperity. Argentines and Uruguayans still gather each month for "ñoquis del 29" (literally, "gnocchi of the 29th"). In a curious reversal of meaning, in Argentine and Uruguayan slang ñoqui has also become a way to denote a government employee that is listed in the payroll but only shows up to collect his or her paycheck around the 29th of each month.

Served with Salsa and cheese.

Parrillada Mixta (Argentine mixed grill), served with chimichurri and Ensalada Rusa

Beef is king, and the way beef is cooked is on the Asado (grill). It is typically composed of Sausages,Offal and Steaks. Some of the more common items are; falda - skirt steak, matambre – flank steak, chorizo - spicy sausage, salchicha - long, thin, slightly less spicy sausage, higado – liver, riñones –kidneys, mollejas – sweetbreads, ubre – udder, chinchulin - lower intestine, asado de tira - short rib steak, bife de costilla- T-bone steak, bife de chorizo - rib roast steak. The meat is cooked in huge cuts on a spit over fire, and sections cut by the grill chef, or asador, to be finished to taste, either in the kitchen or at the diner's table on a portable grill. Grilling is in the following order: sausages, offal, then the steaks. The parrillada is best when eaten immediately and is served sometimes with lemon wedges, always with Chimichurri.

For the North American Palette, here we used ribeye steak (from a pampas raised animal) and a medium spicy sausage.

Ensalada Rusa - Russian Salad

This Argentine adaptation of a Russian salad is extremely popular. You'll find it on the menu as a side dish to any meat entrée.

Simple Tomato Lettuce Onion Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette

An example of the kind of salad usually served with Argintine Barbeque.

Postre Vigilante (semi soft cheese with preserves)
One of the most famous Argentine desserts is the Policeman Dessert. It is simply a slice of cheese with a slice of preserve, often sprinkled with toasted walnuts. Considered the best dessert for an asado.

We used a sweet potato compote with Port Salut cheese, a french cheese that is also produced in Argentina.

Mother's day was uber  successful, with 44 people being served, a fair proportion of them being mother's.  We even had to re-set a couple of tables, an un-heard of occurrence at Beaujena's.  Thank you all for coming out, it was the most fun I've ever had in the middle of the night at work  (10:00 am is the middle of my sleep period, comes from years of working evenings).

We are changing our menu again! Only the third of fourth time in the past 12 months, but this time we might keep it a while.  It's not so much a change but an addendum as  we are adding some items to fill out our steakhouse identity. 
Of course, we are keeping the Surprise Dinner (next month Continental), but we are going to offer it with the wine as an option.  As well, we will be offering specials to the customers in our data base, a discount on the 1st Friday of the month for surprise dinners, and a special chef's table on the 3rd Friday of the month.  So, if you aren't on our e-mail list, get on it!

For the curious here  is the new menu, sans descriptions:

Appetizers

Moules Marinieres

Honey Garlic Hemp Shrimp

Grilled Scallops

Escargots de Bourgogne

Soups/Salads

Soup of the day

Caesar Salad

House Salad

Steak House Salad

Entrees

Filet Mignon

New York Strip

Gaucho Steak

Rack of Lamb Provencel

Apricot Chicken

Swordfish Steak

Elk Chop Bourginon

Beer Braised Bison Short Ribs

Sides

Brandy Peppercorn Sauce

Garlic Shrimp

Scallops

Sauteed crimini mushrooms

True confession time - I hate buffet brunches.  Hate might seem a strong word coming from a man of renowned even temper such as myself, but its true.  Even in those situations where I've been fortunate enough to serve good food to nice people, it still somehow feels like getting up in the middle of the night to  fill the trough with swill.  So, in order to keep sanity and still fulfill our Mother's day obligations, we have a non  - buffet non- a la carte Chef's table of a Mother's day menu that de-constructs the standard buffet fare.  To tempt you further, here is the menu, hope to see you on Mother's day (bring your mom along, if you want).

Mother's Day

Kir Royale

Tired of the standard champagne and orange juice? Us too. Cassis and Sparkling wine should spark up your morning.

Eggs in an Egg

Scrambled eggs with caviar served in an egg shell. A whimsical offering from the French Laundry that is on its way to becoming a classic.

Bacon, Eggs and Toast

Not really. How about a Prosciutto Scotch egg and Brioche French Toast instead?

Ham and Cheese Omelette

Again, no. We take those ingredients, add asparagus and give you an Asparagus, Ham and Cheese Souffle.

Waffle with Strawberries and Cream

By now you realize you won't get this, but you will get a Strawberry Creme with Mini Maple Waffle Crisp. If you're especially nice I'll put some sugar on your creme and take a blow torch to it.

Another month another sad good bye.  Catalonia was really fun to do and people seemed to really enjoy the food.  It's an interesting region with as much claim to nation-hood as many others (I didn't SAY Kosova), with it's own language, culture etc.  The cuisine isn't as refined as some in Europe, but  has gone some steps along that road, with a cultural centre around Barcelona.  Nice combination of rustic and refined.  Here's the menu (it was pretty consistent throughout the month).

Tonyina en escabetx (Tuna Escabeche on crostini)

Escudella i carn d’olla (Catalonia's National Dish)

The carn d'olla is a tray with all the meat used in the stew.

The final tray is that of the vegetables used.

Escudella i carn d'olla, is regarded by Catalonia as its national dish. Luis Bettonica, probably the most knowledgeable proponent of Barcelona's Catalan cookery, says escudella i carn d'olla is ''perhaps the most representative dish of our cooking.''

Unlike many national dishes that are rooted in folklore, escudella i carn d'olla had its beginnings in the rich larder that has been a Catalan constant for centuries. As far back as a thousand years ago it was the daily meal of Catalonia, utilizing native livestock, vegetables and spices, and it was properly eaten only after it had been simmered for an entire day so that all its ingredients blended.

Escudella (Broth and beans from the escudella i carn d'olla)

Canelones (Cannelloni)

The Catalan consumption of pasta is second only to Italy. This cannelloni has a uniquely Catalan filling of chicken livers, lamb, ham and loin of pork. Served with Bechamel.

Bacalao con Samfaina (Salt Cod with Samfaina)

Samfaina is an exuberant vegetable mixture widely used in Catalan cuisine as a sauce or base for meat, fish and fowl dishes. It's a succulent vegetarian dish that you can eat as a first course or side dish too. Often called the Catalan ratatouille, traditionally the recipe includes onion, peppers, eggplants, and tomatoes. And as usual, there seems to be as many variations as households. Some leave the onion out, others add garlic, or roast the peppers previously...

Cod (salted, dried, fresh, etc.) is the used extensively in Catalonia, particularly in the coastal areas. Salted Cod is perhaps the most common form, it's use dating back to the 15th century.

Pato con Peras (Duck with pears)

Traditional recipe that mixes salty and sweet tastes.

Carn d'olla (Meat and vegetables from the Escudella i Carn d'olla)

Crema Catalana (cinnamon custard with burnt sugar)

Catalan Creme Brulee? Perhaps, but an equal claim can be made that the French learned Creme Brulee from the Catalans, as this particular dish seems to have been extant for as much as three hundred years.

 

.