Recipe: Info on the foods of Bordeaux /recipes

Hello Deb!
Here is some information about Bordeaux for you...and I added some recipes from a fantastic Cookbook..The Art of French Cooking...Hope this helps!!
I have only tried one of the recipes posted as I am not a big fan of seafood...but he is an authentic French cook and all the dishes I have tried from this collection has been wonderful!! I love french cooking!!

INFO:
Occupying the prime grape-growing regions along the Atlantic coast, Bordeaux and Charente make the very most of their terrain. Bordeaux is the world's largest producer of high-quality red and white wines, thanks to the fertile valleys of the Garonne, Dordogne, and Gironde rivers. The reds are distinguished by the use of the Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grape varieties; the whites, by Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, and Muscadelle. Such famous wineries as Mouton-Rothschild and the Chateaux Margaux, Lafite, and Latour are to be found there, in addition to dozens of others.

Just to the north, beside the Charente river, grow the grapes from which Cognac and Armagnac are distilled. This process, developed during the 17th century, was originally intended to reduce the cargo tariffs due on wine exported to England and Holland. The plan was to cook the wine down to reduce the volume, transport it, and reconstitute it at the other end. Instead, they discovered that boiling wine created something worthwhile in itself.

Bordeaux, and especially the capital city that gives the region its name, is considered one of the gastronomic highlights of France. Atlantic seafood forms the basis of many local specialties. Oysters and mussels are plentiful. Eel is prepared in a number of ways -- the full-grown are simmered into a soup called bouilliture, and baby ones (pibales) are served saut ed with garlic. The lamb from the town of Pauillac is renowned.

In Charente, which shares Bordeaux's cuisine, the town of Echir produces exceptionally rich butter, over 83% fat, as compared to the 78% that is standard in America. Wild mushrooms -- c pes -- grow in the Charentain forests, which also yield a fair share of truffles.

The truffle is the elite local specialty, especially the Perigord black truffle, which is found in the region along the Dordogne (as well as in Languedoc and Provence). These ebony-colored, potent-flavored fungi are unearthed from around the roots of the forest trees, where they hide quite out of sight. Traditionally, they were harvested by leaving the search to pigs, to whom their scent was irresistably similar to that of a female of the species in heat. These days, dogs are more popular truffle-snufflers. They're willing to lead their handlers to the source in exchange for a treat -- and they have little interest in the truffle once it is found. Here's a couple of recipes that would be found in that region...Hope this helps!!

Mussels Mariniere

Recipe By : Fernande Garvin

2 quarts Mussels
1/4 teaspoon Pepper
2 tablespoons Chopped parsley
1 pinch Thyme
1 tablespoon Finely chopped shallots
(or scallions without tops)
1 cup Dry white wine
1 tablespoon Beurre Manie -- * see recipe that follows
Wash and scrub mussels. Place mussels in large saucepan. Add pepper (no salt), 1 tablespoon parsley, thyme, shallots (or scallions), and wine. Bring to boil and continue simmering for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the mussel shells open. Discard top shell and keep mussels warm in heated serving dish. Bring cooking liquid to boil in pan and continue boiling for 5 minutes. Add Beurre Manie. Correct seasoning. Add remaining parsley. Cook for 3 minutes, or until sauce thickens. Pour over mussels. Serve hot.

Comments: Shallots stand somewhere between garlic and onions, with a distinctive though subtle flavor of their own. They are small, russet brown, and divided inside into bulblets like garlic. Though somewhat difficult to obtain, the results justify the trouble. A substitute is the white part of the scallion.


* Beurre Manie

Recipe By : Fernande Garvin

1 tablespoon Butter
1 tablespoon Flour

To make beurre manie: work together 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon flour until well blended. Add to the sauce, and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute, or until sauce is thickened.
Beurre manie may be prepared in advance in larger quantity, and wrapped in wax paper or placed in a plastic box. It will keep at least two weeks in refrigerator. Recipe Source:
THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING by Fernande Garvin
1958

Suggested Wine: A chilled dry white wine: Bordeaux Graves; etc.

Bouillabaisse

Recipe By : Fernande Garvin

1 pound Red snapper
1 pound Cod tail
1 pound Bass (striped or sea bass)
2 Lobster tails -- (fresh or frozen)
3/4 pound Shrimp -- deveined
1 1/2 pounds Mussels - cleaned -- but still in shells
1 pound Eels
1 1/2 pounds White-meated fish fillets
1/2 cup Olive oil
3 tablespoons Chopped onion
3 tablespoons Tomato paste
2 Garlic cloves -- crushed
1 Bay leaf
1 pinch Thyme
1 pinch Dried fennel seed
1 pinch Saffron
1 piece Dried orange rind
1 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Freshly ground pepper
15 slices French bread, dried in oven -- (not toasted)
2 tablespoons Chopped parsley

Cut fish and lobster into pieces 1 1/2-inch thick. Reserve fish fillets. In kettle or large, heavy saucepan, combine oil, onions, tomato paste, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, fennel, saffron, orange rind, shellfish, and fish (without fillets), salt, pepper, and 6 cups of boiling water. Bring to boil and continue boiling, over brisk flame, for 10 minutes. Add fish fillets and continue boiling for 5 minutes longer. Remove all fish and shellfish to heated serving dish and keep warm.
Arrange slices of bread in bottom of soup tureen. Pour cooking liquid over bread. Sprinkle both dishes with parsley. Serve hot. Serve both dishes together.
For eating: Serve from both dishes into the same soup plate.

Comments: Contrary to "La Marseillaise" (which did not originate in Marseille but in Strasbourg), "la bouillabaisse" is a native of Marseille and the favorite child of the whole Cote d'Azur. It was, and has remained, a fisherman's meal, and can never be as perfect as a family or restaurant dish -- but even so, it is delectable enough to have won the recognition of gourmets everywhere.
Try it sometime at the beach and you will get the full flavor of this marvelous dish. The best I have ever eaten was during a summer vacation I spent with relatives on the Cote d'Azur, at a small cottage near Toulon. One time, during the night, or very early in the morning, at any rate, long before I woke up, the men had left for fishing. Late in the morning, the women got busy making the fire on the beach, slicing the bread, preparing the herbs, etc.
Then the men came back, bringing the fish. The women became more frantically busy, cleaning the fish, cutting some into pieces, putting aside some others, and in no time at all, the bouillabaisse was quickly boiling in the large copper caldron.
When we ate it, it was so delicious that I have never forgotten it, and have never tasted any other I found quite as good. Or perhaps it was the sea, and sun, and all the fragrances of summer in a lovely region?
Bouillabaisse is made in France with Mediterranean fish, which is, of course, not to be found in the United States. The recipe lists the equivalent American fish. Even in France there is no set list of fish -- variety of flavors and textures is more important than any definite kind.
If some of the fish listed is not available, replace it by some similar variety.

Commentary Source:
THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING by Fernande Garvin
1958

This next one is the only recipe I have tried and it is delicious!!

Chicken With Wine - {Coq Au Vin}

3 pounds Broiler chicken -- quartered
2 tablespoons Oil
1 tablespoon Chopped onion
1 tablespoon Flour
1/2 cup Red wine
1/2 cup Clear chicken broth
1 Garlic clove -- crushed
1 Bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon Thyme
12 small White onions
1 cup Sliced mushrooms
4 slices French bread -- fried in butter

In a large, heavy skillet, cook chicken and chopped onion in heated oil until slightly browned. Stir in flour and cook until well browned. Add wine, chicken broth, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, white onions, and mushrooms. Bring to boil. Cover. Simmer for 45 minutes, or until meat is tender. Garnish with slices of fried bread.
Serve with boiled potatoes.

Recipe Source:
THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING by Fernande Garvin
1958Suggested Wine: A full-bodied red wine: Cotes du Rhone; Cabernet; etc.