Text 35577, 108 rader
Skriven 2013-04-02 06:15:00 av Dave Drum (65764.cooking)
  Kommentar till text 35544 av JIM WELLER (1:123/140)
Ärende: French cuisine
======================
-=> JIM WELLER wrote to DAVE DRUM <=-

 DD> jacked the price and pretentiousness out of sight [...] snob
 DD> appeal [...] it often is. So often, in fact, that around here
 DD> such is stereotypical [...] And often (see above) people
 DD> peddling things as "French" hope that no one will look behind
 DD> the curtain to see who is pulling the levers.

 JW> Ah, I finally get it. You perceive all French restaurants to be
 JW> over-priced, with snobbish waiters, based on your experience in
 JW> Indiana. I come across that stereotype all the time in jokes and
 JW> cartoons but never took it seriously. I have not had that experience
 JW> in Canada even at high end places specializing in haute cuisine.
 
Those jokes and cartoons have enough of a basis in real world experience that
they strike a chord with many people - or they'd not be as successful as they
so obviously are.

Oddly you have more actual French restaurants run by actual French people there
in the Yukon than I have here in the Great American Outback. I don't perceive
*all* French restaurants to be over-priced with snobbish wait staff and a
volatile chef de cuisine. There are (rare) exceptions here and there. You paint
with far too wide a brush.
 
 JW> Historically the French were the second largest ethnic group in Canada
 JW> after the English and so today, French cuisine is a key element in
 JW> Canadian cuisine, from the finest of haute cuisine down through to
 JW> the cabines a frites (French fry shacks).

 DD> I just don't see anything to get all a-flutter about at the
 DD> mention of French cuisine. Your mileage obviously varies.

 JW> Yep. Generally speaking French cooking is superior to English,
 JW> Scottish, Irish or German cooking, the other big four styles that
 JW> came to Canada during the colonial era. Whenever I compare one of my
 JW> mom's every day English recipes to one of Roslind's mom's French
 JW> versions, the latter is always the superior one.

 JW> For example my mom's basic stew: cubes of beef stewed in water with
 JW> onions, vegetables, salt and pepper, the liquid thickened with a
 JW> flour and water slurry. Everything added all at once.

 JW> Her mom's basic stew: cubes of beef coated with seasoned flour and
 JW> browned in lard in a cast iron skillet, then stewed in water
 JW> enriched with red wine and/or tomato paste, with onions and garlic,
 JW> maybe leeks, vegetables, salt, pepper and assorted herbs. Thickened
 JW> with a buttery roux. Ingredients added gradually, depending on their
 JW> ideal cooking time, from two hours for pre-soaked dried beans down
 JW> to 30 seconds for fresh peas. A little more care and effort, a few
 JW> extra ingredients, a lot more flavour.

My beef stew is coated with a dusting of flour w/S&P and seared in fat (not
always lard) and stewed with onion and garlic, bay leaf, herbs, a rib or two of
sliced celery, water and/or whatever left over beef broth I have on hand. At
the proper time tatties, carrots and celery are added. When the stew is done
the meat and veg (except the onion(s)) and one potato are removed to a separate
bowl and the broth, onion, potato and whatever shard of veg remain are hit with
an immersion blender to make the gravy - which is then poured over the stew.

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06
 
      Title: Provencal Beef Stew
 Categories: Stews, Wine, Beef, Vegetables, Pasta
      Yield: 6 Servings
 
      2 lb Beef chuck
  1 1/3 c  White wine vinegar
    1/4 c  Olive oil
    1/2 ts (ea) Salt & ground pepper
      1    Turkish bay leaf
      2 cl Garlic; peeled, crushed
      1 ts Minced fresh thyme
      2    Narrow strips orange peel
      2 c  Dry red wine
      2 tb Minced parsley; garnish
           Buttered noodles; to serve
 
  Trim meat of excess fat and cut into 2" cubes. In a
  large bowl, whisk together vinegar, 2 tb of the oil,
  salt, pepper, bay leaf, garlic, thyme, and orange
  peel. Add meat, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and
  refrigerate for 12 to 18 hours. Drain meat, reserving
  marinade. Pat meat dry with paper towels.
  
  In a Dutch oven or large skillet with lid, heat
  remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil over moderately high
  heat. Brown meat well on all sides. Add wine and
  reserved marinade. Bring to a simmer and cook,
  uncovered, for 3 minutes. Reduce heat to maintain a
  bare simmer. Cover and cook until meat is meltingly
  tender (about 3 hours). For best flavor, allow stew to
  cool to room temperature, then refrigerate, covered,
  overnight. Reheat gently to serve. Ladle stew into
  warm soup bowls, over buttered noodles, if desired,
  and garnish each serving with parsley.
  
  Recipe by: the California Culinary Academy
  
  From: http://www.recipesource.com
  
  Uncle Dirty Dave's Archives
 
MMMMM

... In France cooking is a serious art form and a national sport. - Julia Child
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