Food. France. Now. -- 28 May 2003

[Fat Guy]

One step closer to the big test.

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[Bux]

Andouillettes are a Normandy specialty made by filling pig intestine with more pig intestines and tripe, or cow's stomach lining. Being Chinese and having grown up in Chicago eating my fair share of hot dogs I quite like andouillettes. Their musky flavor and chewy, crunchy, gelatinous texture are the qualities that horrify many. But I've never seen andouillettes that look like these. Dark, misshapen, dangerous -- quite embarrassingly more like something to be avoided on Parisian streets than eaten. But the grandmothers with their shopping carts line up and so do I. The overwrought vendors hand out mechanically. I grab one and retreat to the outskirts. I take a bite and a look that apparently registers my approval is noticed by one of the grandmothers who finds it a good entree to discuss the merits of various andouillette preparations. I take note and agree that I'd like them thickly sliced and grilled over an open fire best too.

Nothing makes me more homesick for France than a discussion of andouille, except perhaps one about andouillette. When Michel Guerard served thinly sliced andouille as part of his amuses bouches, I knew I was in good hands. I generally like to slice it thin, but my Breton son-in-law prefers his thickly sliced. Smoked andouille is a specialty of Brittany as well as Normandy and northern Burgundy. One of the best dishes I've had that incorporated andouille was a gratin of thinly sliced potatoes and andouille sausage served with roasted John Dory (St. Pierre) served by Chef Hellio at his one star restaurant in St. Brieuc on the north coast of Brittany. (He later opened La Voile d'Or-La Lagune alongside a lagoon in the resort town of Sables d'Or les Pins) I though it was an unusual preparation then and haven't run across it again, but it was wonderful, especially with the fish. That meal was eaten in 1997, but I clearly recall the potatoes more distinctly than many a dish at a three star restaurant I've had since.

The most distinctly malodorous irregularly shaped artisanal andouillette I've ever enjoyed was had last spring in Lyon at an inexpensive retro buchon in Lyon. There are times I almost forget one can still get French food in France, although I wonder how much of it the average Frenchman eats these days. I'm sorry Louisa, you do yourself an injustice. Your whole career just pales in interest beside the mention of guts in a casing.

[Louisa Chu]

Bux, my whole career will be mere vapour compared to the vast, deep ocean of real French food. And you and me and French chefs themselves would trade a lifetime of three-star meals for la cuisine des grand-meres. And sure the average French person eats it less than they used to but more often than you'd think - that's why those salon stalls were so overrun. And what Lyon bouchon?

[Jon Tseng]

Remember a wonderful pig gut at Cafe des Federations in Lyon. This was back in 1997. Remember it tasted tripey, but meltingly tender.

Something you hardly ever see in the UK. The only one I've had is chitterlings at St John with chicory and mustard. Very different sauteed, crispy, salty (almost hammy rather than tripey). A great pairing with cold, bitter chicory and the bite of english mustard.

cheerio

J

[baruch]

what is the difference bet andouille & andouillettes???

[Fat Guy]

The latter are smaller.

[Peter B Wolf]

To quote Bux: "Nothing makes me more homesick for France than a discussion of andouille, except perhaps one about andouillette. ......."

My question, how can we sell 'Andouille' here in the States, especially 'Cajun' and a name like 'Prudhomme' (and/or other manufacturers) when there is not a single piece of 'intestine' in it?

[hollywood]

To quote Bux:  "Nothing makes me more homesick for France than a discussion of andouille, except perhaps one about andouillette. ......."

My question, how can we sell 'Andouille' here in the States, especially 'Cajun' and a name like 'Prudhomme' (and/or other manufacturers) when there is not a single piece of 'intestine' in it?

When we say andouille, don't we mean short for andouille ham?

[Bux]

And what Lyon bouchon?

Le Bistrot de Lyon. I believe it was one of several bouchons or bistrots started by Jean-Paul Lacombe, chef of the two star Leon de Lyon, although I am also under the impression that he no longer has an interest in it. I'm reluctant to recommend it highly on a general basis. Mrs. B., who usually has a better sense of where and when to order what, had the misfortune to order too haute a first course--smoked salmon on a blini--and while the thick slab of salmon was fine, the blini was thick and dense. However, her main course--a gratin of tripe--with lots of onions and maybe some tomato sauce, was moist under a coat of bread crumbs. Simple pots de creme in three flavors was a perfect bistro dessert. Le Bistrot de Lyon was not listed in last year's Michelin and I don't see it in this year's GaultMillau. I am not so much recommending that particular place as indicating it's the sort of dish one finds commonly done well in Lyon.

[Bux]

The latter are smaller.

Kind of like kitchens and kitchenettes, or bachelors and bachelorettes.

[baruch]

merci beaucoup!

[Bux]

To quote Bux:  "Nothing makes me more homesick for France than a discussion of andouille, except perhaps one about andouillette. ......."

My question, how can we sell 'Andouille' here in the States, especially 'Cajun' and a name like 'Prudhomme' (and/or other manufacturers) when there is not a single piece of 'intestine' in it?

When we say andouille, don't we mean short for andouille ham?

Whaddya mean "we?" I'm not ever sure about what you mean by andouille ham, but here in the France forum, as opposed to the Southest USA forum, when we speak of andouille, we speak of a sausage that is made from chitterlings and stomach. The larger andouille are almost always sold cooked. They are generally sliced and served cold, but may be grilled or used in recipes. They are generally packed tight and slice smoothly. The fanicer ones show concentric circles like a tree trunk when sliced. The smaller andouilles are also usually sold cooked (poached and cooled) but are more loosely and coarsely packed and grilled before being served hot.

The relationship between a Cajun andouille and a French andouille begins and ends at the use of the same name. It would be as if English colonists came over to American and decided to call chickens ducks. You'd have two countries using the name "duck," but for different fowls, or worse. If you ordered roast duck and got roast chicken, you might be disappointed. I've heard of Americans who ordered andouille and were freaked out by what they got.

[hollywood]

Wanna buy a duck?

[Louisa Chu]

It would be as if English colonists came over to American and decided to call chickens ducks.

That was the funniest thing I've read in a long time!

Yeah! Who you calling "we" sucka?!

Bux rules!

[hollywood]

It would be as if English colonists came over to American and decided to call chickens ducks.

Not so different, I suppose, from calling potatoes pommes or pineapples ananas.

[Bux]

It would be as if English colonists came over to American and decided to call chickens ducks.

Not so different, I suppose, from calling potatoes pommes or pineapples ananas.

?

I'm confused. You're using two words that mean the same thing in two different languages. How is that like a French speaking person coming over and using andouille to mean something else? The english came over and called the potatoes "potatoes," and the pineapples, "pineapples." Well not exactly, I believe both of those where found in the new world and brought back to Europe where they were given different names in different languages.

[hollywood]

Those damned English. I was just kidding around. Pommes can be apples or potatoes, right? Ananas sounds more like bananas to my ears.

[MatthewB]

I was just kidding around.

You say that after the fact.

[hollywood]

I was just kidding around.

You say that after the fact.

Didn't want to tip my hand.

[Louisa Chu]

Pommes can be apples or potatoes, right?

Correctly, apples are pommes while potatoes are pommes de terre. But you're right that in the kitchen you can just say pommes for either - and hopefully you're understood within context!

[Bux]

So we're talking about earth apples and pine apples?

[speedracer]

Hi,

Could you pls briefly explain how you prepared the asparagus w/ lemon zest? I've been preparing mine in a somewhat boring way. What is zest btw?

Its been great reading your articles; I've just discovered the abundance of epicurial journalism on the web, this site and your stuff included and its been some stimulating reading.

Cheers/thanks,

Speedracer

My Weblog sorta, kinda...

[Pan]

Welcome, Speedracer, or should I say "Go Speedracer, Go Speedracer, Go Speedracer, Go!"

(Speedracer was my older brother's favorite cartoon back in '69, and four-year-old Michael [that's me] used to watch it, too.)

[Pan]

Great writing as usual, Louisa. If anything, this was a particularly exciting episode to me.

That Saveurs Salon sounds like loads of fun! Where is it held?

Also, why on earth do the members of the jury at Cordon Bleu dislike marinades?

[bushey]

So we're talking about earth apples and pine apples? 

And aren't tomatoes called love apples?