Gastronomy in the Gers

Explanation of French gastronomical terms

Amuse	Abbreviation of the name 'amuse bouche' or 'amuse geule'. Little snacks as foretaste or apéritif befre the dinner is served
Andouille(ttes)	Sausages of pork meat and intestines.
Aumônière	Purse or pouch that in old times was used for giving alms. Currently the name for dishes served packed like pouches (e.g. in paper).
Ballotine	Hot or cold "rolled" dish, with main ingredient white meat, fowl or fish and sometimes jelly.
Boudin	Boudin blanc is a white sausage, that traditionally belongs to Christmas. Its content is minced fowl, rabbit, pork or veal. Boudin rouge is blood sausage, it can be bought as small sauages or in big slices.
Bouquet garni	Little bouquet of a mix of herbs, used for seasoning soups and sauces. A classical bouquet garni contains laurel, parsley, celery and thyme.
Brandade	Dish from the Provence and the Languedoc made with mashed, soaked stockfish with olive oil and milk. Depending on the region there may be garlic added in the dish.
Brunoise	Tiny cubes of vegetables with a diameter of between one and two millimeter. This is done by first taking slices of the vegetable, then strips, then cubes.
Canapés	Little snacks on bread or toast.
Cèpes	Edible mushrooms, of the boletus species.
Confit	Fowl, e.g. duck, turkey, geese, or pork, prepared in its own fat. Traditionally kept in earthware pots. Currently also for sale in glas preserving-jars.
Consommé	Clear soup, served as the start of a meal. Can be decorated with small puffs, fresh herbs, croûtons, marrow, etc.
Coulis	Filtered, flavoured purée of fruit, vegetables like tomatoes or shell fish.
Court-bouillon	Clear soup, flavoured with wine or vinegar. Mostly used to poach white meat, fowl, fish and shell fish.
Croquembouche	Piramide shaped tower of filled puffs, covered with caramel.
Croûtons	Cubes of white bread which are grilled, baked in butter, dried in the oven or fried. The croûtons are used to decorate soups, salads and spinach.
Crudités	Uncooked vegetables, in small pieces or cut in slices, served with cold suaces.
Farce	Delicate stuffing of meat, game or fowl, seasoned with special herbs.
Feuilleté	Puff-paste
Foie gras	Fattened goos liver. Foie gras de canard is fattened duck liver.
Ganache	Creamy stuffing for desserts, made from crème fraîche and chocolate or couverture.
Goujon	Sliced fish, coverec in flour before it is baked or fried.
Hors d'oeuvre	Varied starter, can be served hot or cold.
Matelote	Dish of fish stewed in red or white wine.
Medaillon	Round or oval piece of meat, fowl or game.
Mirepoix	Aromatic basis of finely chopped vegetables, used while preparing stewed dishes. Consists of little cubes of carot, onioin, celery, ham or bacon,thyme and laurel.
Morue	Morue is very popular in the South of France. To prepare it cod is cleaned and salted. The salted fish can be kept approx. six months. Before use this fish has to be soaked in clean water (refreshed regularly) for 24 hours.
Mousse	Airy, creamy dish. Can be savoury or sweet, contains puréed ingredients like vegetables, fowl, liver, fruit or choloate with cream and egg whites.
Napperen	The regular covering of a dish with a suace, coulis or cream.
Olijfolie	Especially the South of France has a long history of olive oil production. It is maintained that the quality of a stew dish depends on the quality of the olive oil.
Oregano	Oregano is known in France as 'marjolaine' it is mainly used in mixes of herbs.
Pastis	Beverage based on aniseed, mainly used before a meal. The beverage itself is clear, but when water is added it looks very milky. Sometimes added to fish dishes.
Pâtisson	Small kind of pumpkin, which looks a bit like a flying saucer. In France, he pâtisson is sometimes called 'artichoke of Jerusalem'.
Poaching	Method of preparing ingredients in a liquid of 70 or 80 degrees Celsius.
Quenelles	Oval shaped little balls, taken from mousse or farce.
Quiche	Savoury cake, with a stuffing made from eggs with e.g. cheese, bacon and / or leek.
Rillettes	Pork, chicken, rabbit or goose meat, boiled into a smooth mass with fat. IS stored, covered with fat, in earth ware pots.
Rôtisserie	Restaurant that prepares meat and fish on a large spit. The rôtisserie is very popular in France. Every restaurant that has a high self-esteem has a large spit turning with fowl or meat. Large spits can also be found in the market places. Brillat Savarin once said: "One becomes cook, but is born as rôtisseur ". By which he indicated the difficulty of preparing meat this way.
Sabayon	Smooth cream, made with egg yolks, wine and sugar.
Salamander	A type of grill used in the professional kitchen. Has a very intense heat.
Salmis	Fowl ragout.
Soubise	Name of dishes of which onions are the main ingredient. E.g. a sauce or mash to go with egg, meat, game ot fowl courses.
Suprème	Elegantly prepared fillet of white fowl meat. In straight translation 'the best, the prettiest'.
Thermidor	Name of a classical dish with lobster.
Truffels	The season for truffles is from end of November till February. The most important region in France is the Périgord, where the beautiful, ink black truffles are found. There's still a lot of romantic notions about finding trffles, because only dogs and pigs are able to trace the blck delicacy. The cultivation of truffles is still very experimental, with no success yet.
Vinaigrette	Dressing for salads, made with oil and vinegar or lemon juice. One can add sucre, mustard, salt and pepper and eventually also fresh herbs.


	Conditions of use