Tuesday, April 19, 2005

French foods quiz

For lack of any interesting eating this week, I'm doing another quiz. The last was on terms found on L.A. restaurant menus -- this is on foods found in a French cooking magazine that Kathy brought me back from Paris. I don't feel like looking them all up, so can anyone define these foods or terms, preferably without consulting a dictionary?
topinambours...apparently they're served with scallops
curcuma...a spoonful of it goes into a tagine
etoiles de badiane...is it star anise?
ras-el-hanout...for another tagine recipe
what fish do these correspond to? Cabillaud, colin, fletan, merlu?
mimolette...in a fruit salad
potimarron...mixed into a creme brulee

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

topinambours - Jerusalem artie

curcuma - turmeric

etoiles de badiane -you're right

ras-el-hanout = a fragrant Moroccan spice mix used in tagines and other dishes. Here is Paula Wolfort's version:

Ras al Hanout

Grind the following in blender until you obtain a fine mix, then sieve:

4 whole nutmegs
10 rosebuds
12 cinnamon sticks
12 blades mace
1 t aniseed
8 pieces turmeric
2 small pices orrisroot
2 dried cayennes
1/2 t lavender
1 T white peppercorns
2 pieces galingal
2 T whole ginger
6 cloves
24 allspice berries
20 white or green dcardamom pods
4 wile black cardamom pods

or easier

12 oz allspice berries
1 oz black peppercorns
1/2 oz galiingal
1/2 oz mace blades
1 1/2 while nutmegs
10 cardamom pods
1 1/2 oz dired gingerroot
1/2 oz stick cinnamon
1/4 oz tumeric
3 rosebuds
1 cloves

Les Poissons:
cabillaud = cod
merlu = hake
fletan = halibut
never heard of colin, sorry

mimolette = a hard orange cheese similar to a nice cheddar

potimarron = pumpkin

Instapi said...

I learned something! They say here that potimarron is a cousin of the pumpkin but tastes more like chesnut puree.

Anonymous said...

Hey there!

Love the blog --- but you should do a post/piece on Vietnamese sandwiches. They certainly enjoy a French influence as their fillings are tucked into a fresh French baguettes.

Anonymous said...

ras-el-hanout is a spice blend for morrocan food; I made some last night for cous-cous. It's even in Joy of Cooking, which has a version with:

cinnamon/mace/cardamom/nutmeg/
ginger/black pepper/turmeric/red pepper/allspice.

I've seen versions with as many as 15/20 ingredients.

Anonymous said...

I think colin = coley = Coalfish, Saithe, Pollachius virens.

A member of the cod family and not a distinguished member at that.

Kate Coe

Anonymous said...

I'm cheating (using the incredibly useful "A-Z of French Food" bought from an obscure book shop in NY)

Cabillaud = fresh cod
Colin = hake, pollack, coalfish, aka Merlu (below)
Fleton = halibut
Merlu = see colin

Potimarron is a small pumpkin or gourd with a chestnut (guess that's the marron bit!) taste...

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