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What kind of meat (or cheese) is it?

Started by scarface, October 11, 2015, 07:02 PM

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scarface

#230
Today, I'm going to present another recipe.

Looks at the photo below.
What kind of pâté is it? And what is the beverage? What is the language used on the bottle?


Actually, what you see on the photo is a duck terrine. It is very good with some bread. As for the beverage, it's an off-brand of Coca Cola (in France "Coke" is not used for Coca Cola, and the word "coke" is only used as a byword for coal..or as a familiar noun used by drug addicts for cocaine). As you can see, the brand "Classic Planet Cola" is using English words. However, these words are easily understood due to the resemblance to the French nouns (classique, planète).


Now imagine the scene.
The users of the forum all gathered for a feast.
Before the beginning of the meal, Maher and humbert were watching the episode of the X files "Ghost in the machine".
Shadow.97 was slumped back on the sofa, reading the short story Yvette, written by Maupassant (you can find the book here: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3664.epub.noimages)
Vasudev and aa1234779 were playing ping pong in the attic. At 8 pm I called everyone. I said "dinner is ready" but there were latecomers.
There were still leftovers from yesterday's meal. Maher was happy because he really enjoyed the raclette and a few cheese portions were still available.
There was no more rosette de Lyon, delicatessen connoisseurs like shadow.97 and humbert didn't leave anything. For shadow.97 who is always hungry, I prepared a gigot d'agneau. And I noticed a duck terrine in the fridge. I took it out. When I was back, shadow.97 and Maher were relishing their delicious meals. Humbert, aa1234779 and usman were enjoying the melted cheese with some red wine. I put the duck terrine on the table. I knew Maher is not eating pork meat and if he really enjoyed the raclette recipe with its cheese and potatoes, for the Rosette, he was voluntarily missing his turn. As far as the duck terrine is concerned, Maher was a bit suspicious: he knew something was amiss about it. As I was watching humbert and aa1234779, I noticed they were both licking their chops at the terrine. Like Maker, I know that aa1234779 doesn't eat pork and he doesn't seem to be aware that something is lurking under the surface. But aa1234479 will have to make a fully informed decision: I had to tell him the terrible truth about the duck terrine. First and foremost, I poured some Cotes du Rhône wine in his glass and asked him to drink. Then, it was high time I announced solemnly that behind the mention of duck terrine is in fact often hiding a product composed in large quantities of pork throat, pork meat, pork liver, pork fat and rind. Actually the existing French regulations allow a product containing only 20% of duck meat to be stamped "duck terrine".
Saying that aa1234779 was frustrated is a bit of an overstatement. Instead, he moved on to the raclette cheese and his apetite even gained momentum. Vasudev and shadow.97 helped him finish the bottle of beaumes-de-venise.

scarface

I hope that Vasudev, Maher and aa1234779 are taking well the little stories in this topic. For the duck terrine, you have probably understood why it is essentially made with pork meat: it's much cheaper than duck meat.

scarface

#232
Tonight, I'm going to show you another cheese.
Look at the photo below. What kind of cheese is it?

This cheese and the Planet Cola have something in common: could you find it?

Actually, this cheese is a Bleu d'Auvergne. It's a kind of "cheap version" of the Roquefort.
Bleu d'Auvergne is a French blue cheese. It comes from the Auvergne region of south-central France and is made from cow's milk.
Bleu d'Auvergne use a weaker form of mold, Penicillium glaucum, to create the blue veins, rather than the Penicillium roqueforti used in Roquefort and other blue cheeses.
You must be wondering what Blue Cheese and Roquefort have in common with the Planet Cola: The ranking of the Nutri score with the letter E. It's the worst ranking: it means it is very unhealthy. For the Planet Cola, it is because it contains a lot of sugar, and for Roquefort, because it contains a lot of fat. Early October,  makers of France's famed Roquefort cheese demanded a change to Nutri score, an increasingly widespread food labelling system in France (and in a few countries in Europe) that classes their pungent but popular products as being of poor nutritional value.
The Nutri-Score system is a voluntary labelling system adopted by France, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, but its rollout to the whole of the European Union has been contested by some countries, notably Italy.




Now imagine the scene.
After a substantial meal, some guests have already left the table to relax. While Vasudev and shadow.97 are talking about the new Intel's 12th gen chip, humbert is turning on the TV. There is the opening credit of Baywatch. Maher sits next to humbert to watch this series which brings back some 80's memories (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgnvGifrRoY). Aa1234779 and usman are putting some music of Elvis (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO9my-HWjoE).
Unfortunaly, I have to remind everyone that the meal is not over: we have not dealt with the Roquefort yet. I'm asking usman to fetch a bottle of Château cheval blanc. Humbert knows the unrivalled taste of this cheese, he and Maher leave Baywatch alone. Shadow.97 is excited about testing this cheese. When Usman is back with the bottle of wine, everyone knows it's high time we served the cheese.

scarface

Note that another recipe will be presented tomorrow.

scarface

#234
Tonight, I'm going to present another recipe.

Look at the photos below.
The ingredients: Cheese, "lardons", potatoes and crème fraîche. Maher and usman must be wondering if it is a raclette.














What you see here is not a raclette: it is a tartiflette.
Let's start with the basis of the recipe, without which Tartiflette just wouldn't be Tartiflette: the Almighty Reblochon de Savoie! Reblochon is a Savoyard cheese and Its name comes from the term "re-blocher" literally meaning "to milk a second time". In the XVIIth century, the milk for Reblochon was produced through a second milking of the cows. It was therefore richer and creamier than that first milking, which is what gives Reblochon de Savoie its traditionally creamy texture.
To do this recipe we also need some firm-flesh potatoes (Roseval or Belle de Fontenay varieties for example), some lardons (and onions which are not present in the current photos).
You can add a dash of thick cream to enhance the dish's creaminess.


Now imagine the scene.
The users of the forum have gathered for another feast.
Vasudev, Maher and iih are in the living room, they are watching an episode of Walker texas ranger (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKebLNk04is). Meanwhile, shadow.97 and usman are playing smb3 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg4i99HyAA8).
I'm playing belote with humbert. Aa1234779 and topdog are in the kitchen: they are preparing a Tartiflette. A delicious smell fills the living room. Aa1234779 brings the ovenproof dish with the Tartiflette and the Savoyard wine that best accompanies it.

scarface

#235
Tonight, I'm going to present another cheese.
Look at the photo below.





What you see here is an Emmental cheese. Even though it is a Swiss cheese, most of the Emmental cheese found in France is actually produced in France.
As for the piece of bread, you are probably wondering if it is stale bread if you look at its texture. In fact, it's not moldy: the black grains you are seeing are poppy seeds, therefore it's a piece of poppy seed bread (known as "pain au pavot" in French). It gives the bread its characteristic appearance and texture. Stale bread is not good but it's not always lost for everyone: my grandmother used to give it to the hens (in France we call that "pain rassis").


Vasudev and aa1234779 must be wondering why this cheese is "holey". The Emmental cheese gets its holey appearance and distinctive flavor thanks to the bacteria that turns milk into cheese. All cheeses contain bacteria, since they're responsible for producing lactic acid, which help them develop into a final edible product, yet not all those bacteria are the same.
To make Emmental cheese, the cultures of the bacteria S. thermophilus, Lactobacillus and P. shermani are mixed with cow’s milk. The bacteria helps produce curds, which are pressed and soaked in brine inside of cheese molds. The cheese is then stored at 22 to 26 degrees celsius and left to ripen. It's at this point when the bacteria really does its work. While it's working, it releases lactic acid and one of those bacteria, a gassy one, consumes it.
That bacteria, more specifically P. shermani, releases carbon dioxide when it consumes the lactic acid and forms bubbles. The bubbles don't just disappear, they form little air pockets, resulting in the holes of the cheese. The size of the holes can be controlled by cheese makers through the acidity, temperature and maturing time.

scarface

#236
Tonight, I'm going to present another recipe.
Look at the photo below.



I strolled about for one hour in Sceaux and Fontenay-aux-Roses and this evening was very cold. When it's cold, you want to eat something hot. And for this, there is nothing better than hot potatoes. Those potatoes were boiled then thinly sliced. Some lardons were added, as well as shallot sauce and crème fraîche. A white beer is completing the dish.

Vasudev and aa1234779 have probably noticed that the potatoes were not peeled: I decided to keep the skin since potato skin has more nutrients than the rest of the potato. Potato skin contains vitamins B, vitamin C, iron, calcium, potassium and other nutrients.
My foster grandmother had a farm in Isère near Grenoble and she used to give the potato peelings to the hens when I was young. The hens really liked them. Based on the following assumption: "what is good for the chickens is universally good", that's also why I decided to eat the skin of the potatoes. If Vasudev, humbert or aa1234779 are wondering whether this assumption is a Kantian concept, I must answer in the negative: this is my own assumption.

scarface

#237
Tonight, I’m going to present another recipe.

Look at the photo below.


Here, you can see spinach raviolis (épinards aux ravioles in French). My grandmother used to make homemade spinach raviolis with grated Parmesan cheese.


Now imagine the scene:
Humbert and Topdog are in the kitchen. They are preparing some spinach raviolis. The smell of home cooking permeates the room where the guests are waiting for their meal.
Everybody goes about their occupations. I'm playing belote with Maher, Ahmad and aa1234779. Usmangujjar and shadow.97 are watching T.J Hooker (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hci3fWEx-JA). I was watching this TV series in the early 90's (For humbert: in the 80's and in the 90's, all the American TV series were broadcast in French. Nowadays American series are less popular in France). Vasudev and iih are playing tennis outside.
Finally, humbert is bringing the meal. Usmangujjar is licking his chops. Practically everyone is enjoying the spinach raviolis. I already knew this recipe would please humbert since he has eclectic tastes. But I quickly notice that shadow.97 is not eating his raviolis. I'm asking humbert to come to the adjacent barn: we have to prepare something else for shadow.97. Humbert is a bit cross, but I tell him that we can't let shadow.97 starve. We both know that he really likes blood pooding, also known as "boudin" in French. I'm leading humbert toward the piglet. I'm taking the front legs and humbert is catching the throat, but the little piglets is wiggling: we need help. Back in the living room, I'm looking for a nice and strong fellow. I'm looking surreptitiously at Maher: he's the chosen one. He's following me into the barn. In front of humbert and the pig, I'm now telling him that he can't go back: shadow.97's fate rests on his shoulders. He's catching the back legs of the beast, I'm catching the front legs and humbert cuts the throat of the poor beast. Humbert is now preparing some fresh boudin. Thanks to our bravery, a feast awaits shadow.97.

humbert

In real life I don't know how to cook. I buy prepared food and warm it up in the microwave, or maybe prepare sandwiches. If it were up to me I wouldn't eat at all.

scarface

Tonight, I'm going to present a new recipe on the forum.

Look at the photos below.




This time, the dish consists of Burgundy snails (escargots de Bourgogne in French), with mushrooms. A white wine, such as Riesling or even better, a Sauternes,  is an excellent complement to snails.
The mushrooms (the biggest ones were cut in half) will be boilt.
As for the Burgundy snails (remember the French name: escargot de Bourgogne), they were stuffed with garlic butter and put in the oven for 10 minutes.


Now imagine the scene.
We are in 2025. There is no more oil. In France, there is no more electricity after the closure of the last power plants . The users of the forum decided to follow their leader Maher in France, where he settled permanently, in a little farm in the department of Isère. I leaved the Hauts de Seine and I joined the other users of the forum. In France The fluency in French is a major asset, outside Paris and I'm astounded by the proficiency in French of Maher and Humbert. And yet, aa1234779 and Maher speak to each other in Arabic when  they have to keep certain things confidential.
Since it is Christmas, the users want to eat something different. Vasudev and aa1234779 picked up some snails and a few mushrooms in the forest a few days ago. We are going to the barn. Shadow.97 is particularly excited: he expects humbert to prepare some fresh blood sausages. But this time we'll see the snails: they are in the barn, in a bucket. Usmangujjar and aa1234779 say that they have been fasting long enough: they are ready.
Tonight is the night: humbert and shadow.97 are cooking the snails.
Everyone seems to enjoy this dish. Despite his modesty, humbert turns out to be a great cook. However, something is wrong: Maher is not eating his Burgundy snails. And he is pulling a face. I'm asking him if something is wrong. He tells me that he heard the story of a young American who fell into a coma after eating a raw slug. This story is true, indeed. But I'm telling him that there is no parasite in the snails, they were cooked by Humbert. I'm pouring some Sauterne in his glass. Maher feels reassured. He's now eating his snails.