Andouillette Topic

[jackal10]

Following on from Maragret Pilgrim's thread here is one to discuss Andouillette, the fabulous french offal sauasages.

Hot or Cold and sliced? Frites or Puree? Where? Where not? What does AAAA mean, and are there any Andoulette that are not?

My most recent experience, in early May was not good, at the Brasserie Lipp on Blvd St Germain in the 6th. It was late,and we had just got in. The Andouilette were fragrant, deeply meaty. However they poisoned me, and I spent the next three days, although surrounded by delicious things, feeling quesy, and not able to eat...

Edited June 22, 2004 by jackal10 (log)

[bleudauvergne]

Hot, crisp on the outside, with mustard sauce and frites.

[FaustianBargain]

What does AAAA mean, and are there any Andoulette that are not?

A.A.A.A.A is Association Amicale des Amateurs d'Andouillettes Authentiques(Friendly Association of Authentic Andouillettes Amateurs). Simon and Bertrand Duval from La Maison de l'Andouillette (The House of Andouillettes) use the A.A.A.A.A signature and their product is based on the traditional Troyes Andouillettes recipe.

[Bux]

Hot or Cold and sliced? Frites or Puree? Where? Where not?

Generally speaking andouille are large and eaten cold, sliced thin. I think they are all smoked, but I may be wrong on that count. Many cities in France are known for their andouille. The best looking and most expensive ones are rolled in concentric rings and look much like a tree trunk when sliced. Of course some just consider that a bit of esthetic affectation. Andouillettes are smaller, and eaten hot. They may be nicely formed like a professional sausage or they may be rather course misshapen objects. They may be pork or calf. Them may reek of the barnyard so much as to disturb your tablemates, or not have that much of an aroma. They may be simply grilled and served with a bit of mustard or they may have a rich cream sauce. Fries or mashed, your choice. I am probably more of an aficionado than a connoisseur as I've enjoyed all I've had, with the possible exception of the first one. I wasn't quite sure I was enjoying it until I realized I had almost finished it. After the first few bites, I thought I'd just have a few more tastes out of curiosity. In fact it had all the charm of road kill at first, but by the time I was finished, I learned that one taste was really not enough to form a meaningful opinion.

[GG Mora]

My first andouillette experience was in Sancerre, and I had no idea what I was about to eat, until it was too late. I was with a group, touring a few of the vineyards, and we were offered a choice of andouillette or something else (can't remember what). The andouillette was described simply as a sausage. There was a distinctly intestinal smell wafting from the kitchen, and my tablemate explained things just as my plate was set in front of me. But I'm adventurous enough, so I dug in. They were small and delicate looking, served with sautéed young potatoes and a tart, buttery sauce made with a reduction of the local white wine. The sauce was a perfect foil for the sausage – really, um, "cut the shit", if you will.

Another time I ordered andouillette at Brasserie Lipp (hoping for repeated deliciousness) and fared only slightly better than Jack. This sausage was big and ungainly and looked rather like the penis of a mid-sized farm animal. Its presentation was somewhat artless: smacked on a plate with some plainish potatoes on it, a large crock of mustard on the side. When I cut into the beast, the tightly coiled intestinal matter within sprang forward, sort of like one of those slinky-snake-in-a-can numbers, only without the delight. Clearly, the guts of this sausage were not handled as conscientiously as those in my Sancerre variant – the smell and flavor were strong, pungent and unpleasant. I managed to choke down half the andouillette, all of the potatoes, and copious amounts of beer as a chaser. I didn't get sick (my sympathies, Jack) but I certainly considered it.

As Bux describes so well, the andouillette experience varies wildly. If I could be assured of something like my Sancerre sausage every time, I'd go for it again and again. But there's always the danger of a Brasserie Lipp repeat.

Edited to add l'esprit de l'escaliers: guess ordering andouillette is always a crap shoot.

Edited July 4, 2004 by GG Mora (log)

[Louisa Chu]

A good place to try a variety - and I mean a HUGE variety of andouillette is at the December Saveurs Salon in Paris. There's another Saveurs Salon in the Spring but not nearly as much andouillette - or much at all comparatively for that matter. Lots of little vendors serving samples up - sliced cold but a few taking the time to fry them hot. The only trick is that you need to fight off the grandmothers with their carts. BUT the good thing is that then you know you've found some good andouillette - the grandmeres ALWAYS know. Plus you can engage them in heated discussions about the best way to prepare andouillette - talk about how they used to make them back in the day - and their secret source out in the country - French only of course. I found some great ones last year - nice snappy casings; dense, well-seasoned, and pleasantly fragrant filling. The grandmeres taught me to slice them a bit on the thick side and then fry them up nice and crispy in butter. The sides get good and golden with the inside still tender and chewy. I like mine that way. If I get them out I'll order the frites or puree - but at home I like them with just some butter sauteed apple or pears. And mustard - a coarse whole-grain or the crock of hand-pulled from the Maille shop at Madeleine. Doesn't really matter - what matters is the andouillette.

[Bux]

My first andouillette was in a one star restaurant in Joigny at a time when Côtes St. Jacques had no stars at all. I am reluctant to make any anatomical references to race horses in a paragraph that speaks of first experiences. Let's just say I knew only that it was a sausage and a local specialty and that there was nothing small and delicate about the object set before me. I was young adventurous and fairly commited to learning all there was to know about French food, but I was unprepared for a plate of food that smelled more like a stall in need of cleaning than, ... well, a plate of food. I was proud of spotting that local food on the menu and of selecting a local wine--a vin gris de quelque chose from someplace near Chablis I have never heard of or seen since, but it was excellent with the tripe--but I suspected that a little research might be worse than no research at all and something more familiar such as a few snails or frogs' legs might have been a better ides.

I'm sure I've written about the experience before on eGullet, but I can't find the post, so bear with me if you've heard it before. To make what seemed like a very long meal, a short account, I will say that a combination of embarrassment and curiosity led me to attack this thing, albeit it with trepidation rather than gusto. Throughout most of the course, I felt I was one bite away from stopping with Mrs. B's less than encouraging "You don't really have to finish it," ringing in my ears, yet each time I put that one last bite in my mouth, I found some reason to have another. Admittedly, some of those reasons, especially early in the course, had more to do with machismo than than anything else, but somewhere close to the finish, I was hooked on the whole thing and I became a convert. I believe I said something to the effect that it wasn't as big as it looked, when I finished. I'm not sure today if I prefer the more delicate sausages, or the coarsest packing of guts replete with all the aroma that separates the men from the boys.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

....each time I put that one last bite in my mouth, I found some reason to have another....but somewhere close to the finish, I was hooked on the whole thing and I became a convert.

We have just returned from 10 days in L'Yonne during which time I ordered Andouillette five times. I kept trying to order something else, but in the last event something made me choose it. I was sorry only once: in a pretentious canal-side terrase restaurant where the chef tableside pimped his tub of summer truffles and early cepes, and where I should have known better, I was served 5 slices of andouillette, set on a bed of creamed leeks, encased in (rather soggy) puff-pastry. The other four times were excellent, from straightforeward grilled to Chablisienne seeded mustard-chablis-cream sauce. Frites or potato cakes accompanied most.

I don't know why andouillette is one food that I almost fantasize about away from France. Perhaps it is because while I live in a food lovers' paradise, I can't buy fresh andouillette here at home. So, to my husband's chagrin, I order it day after day after day whenever I find it on the menu. "You can dress her up, but you can't take her anywhere."

[Adam Balic]

Love them, have had them mostly in the east, Lyon and Beaune for instance. Mustard cream sauce, with some sauted potatoes and salad. Could eat tem everyday.

Andouille I have had exactly once, bought in Le Samaritan (sp?), smuggled in the UK an eaten in Edinburgh.

[Bux]

Margaret, you've set me thinking about why I'm looking forward to my next trip to France. Obviously there are many reasons, but andouillette is at the top of the list in the food category and food, or course, is the top category. It is also all that my French born, American resident chef son-in-law seems to care about eating in France, although he's mentioned oysters as well. I'm not sure if the oysters in France are any better than we get in NY these days. As for andouillette, there's no comparison as there's noting to compare. Andouillette is the last French food. Neither snails nor frog's legs seem so distinctly French as we've acquired a greater knowledge of Asian foods, and they're both ingredients that have to be imported into France.

Andouille, the other last French food is is yet another thing or perhaps a range of things more diverse than andouillettes. They're an unusual form of charcuterie, usually, but not always, eaten cold. My sense is that they're found in a narrower area than andouillette. I'm going to say they are more common to Brittany, Normandy and Burgundy, but I've had the thinnest possible slices served as an amuse at Michel Guérard's restaurant in the southwest. In Brittany, I've had coarsely mashed potatoes (pommes de terre écrassées) with veal stock and warm andouille slices as an accompaniment to fish. It was one of those, "why doesn't every one serve potatoes like this" moments. Several towns or regions in France are associated with different kinds of andouille. A cross section through three different types will reveal either a sausage like bunch of chopped bits, a swirly pattern of intestines or concentric rings much like the cross section of a tree. That last of those is the product of carefully enveloping layer upon layer of intestines and quite elegant.

For an English lnaguage board based in the US, I may need to emphasize that there's little to connect a French andouille with a Cajun sausage by the same name, except that they are both likely to be smoked.

[raisab]

I had Andouillette in Troyes for the first time in June. It was the specialty at a little resto that got great reviews. My hub ordered it, not I. I tasted it, how bad could it be? OMG, I still remember the taste to this day. I serve my dog better tasting food than that! I am usually very open to trying new things, but this goes beyond gross. It has to be the worst tasting anything I have ever tried! YUCK YUCK YUCK

[John Talbott]

After 8 people posted raves, raisab finally rose up to represent the great silent majority of us who either don't "get it" or hate andouillette, no matter how many A's it/they has/have. Bravo raisab! I keep trying to like it/them; I keep tasting trusted French friends' portions at the restaurants they take me to that serve the "real thing;" and every once in a while I order it/them in Troyes, Lyon or Paris to be sure I'm not missing something great. Count me among those who don't get it.

Now, does someone want to take on tripes, French crabs or Mediterranean lobster?

[Bux]

I rarely write about andouille or andouillette to proselytize. Occasionally I write to share my thoughts with others of the same persuasion, but more often to warn Americans to be sure they know what they're ordering. Too often they see "andouille" and think it's some hot sausage with which they have some familiarity.

I'm sure I've written about my first encouter with andouillette, perhaps more than once, here. I won't bore everyone again with a tale of repulsion, fear of embarrassment, curiosity, obsession and a dozen other feelings I should rationally want to hide or forget for one reason or another. It may only have been the sheer size of the thing that insured it became a part of my cosmology by the time I finished it. I was nevertheless hooked. Having been sickened by one's first tast of booze doesn't stop people from becoming alcoholics. I recall my wife being quite bored and getting rather impatient while sitting at the table with an empty plate during the time it took me to finish that object and I must admit, I may have spent more time thinking about whether I wanted the next bite than I did eating.

I have over the years encountered a few other anglophone fans and may have been responsible myself for introducing a couple of them to the taste, but on the whole, I've met more people who are delighted to leave them to me and this includes some very serious francophiles.

[raisab]

Thank you Mr. Talbott! I imagune andouillette was originally a form of peasant food, getting the most out of your pig....But with all the wonderful food experiences in France, this is one I will not be trying again in my lifetime.

I have never tried Mediterranean lobster but I did have a wonderful Breton Blue Lobster? at Marc Meaneau's L'Esperance in June. It was the most delicious lobster I have ever tasted. After inquiring about it to the waiter, he brought out a live one to the table so I could closely inspect him! Now that is worth trying again!

Edited August 16, 2004 by raisab (log)

[Bux]

getting the most out of your pig

Now there's a reason to visit France, not to mention Italy and Spain.

[raisab]

Yes, we Spaniards believe in getting the most out of our pigs also, but mostly iin the form of Chorizo, thank you.

You have made me laugh Bux!

[Bux]

I've recently learned that andouille as well as andouillette makes an excellent hot main course.

. . . . The andouilles I've had, have all been smoked and the artisanal andouilles have tended to have been heavily smoked as was the one we had recently. This one was also generously seasoned with black pepper. It was the first time I've had andouille served warm as a main course. As it was precooked, it needed only to be poached in water to bring it to serving temperature. It was garnished simply with potatoes boiled in the water flavored by the andouille. Tripe may not be to everyone's taste, but I found this to be one of the most succulent dishes I've enjoyed, . . . .

[Kate Hill]

getting the most out of your pig

Now there's a reason to visit France, not to mention Italy and Spain.

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Twenty years ago while driving around Burgundy looking for a barge to buy, I stayed in a typical small hotel/cafe in a canal side village. The plat du jour was andouillettes. The smell filled the dining room and the dozen old geezers tucking in turned to stare at me. I tried once, twice... and then called the waiter over and ordered something else. I had eaten snake, scarab bugs and rat in Africa. I am not a wimp.

Years later driving the Julia Hoyt into a small village in Gascony, I met my kitchen godmother Vetou Pompele and her husband Claude. On hearing my andouillette experience, Claude went to his chest freezer, pulled out a packet of homemade andouillettes and asked Vetou to prepare them. Delicious! Delicate! Oh, I get it!

Over the years when I am in doubt of a recipe or preparation, I call on my expert, Vetou, to pave the way.

Just now I am preparing a presentation on 'getting the most out of your pig' for the next IACP conference in Seattle. Judy Witts from Florence and Fergus Henderson of London join me to discuss artisan charcuterie in "Saints perserve us!", a pig's tale of three cultures. Will andouillette inspire such passionate responses, for and against, or does bacon win the day as the universal pig favorite?

[Bux]

. . . . Will andouillette inspire such passionate responses, for and against, or does bacon win the day as the universal pig favorite?

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Bet on bacon. My son-in-law and I were raving about the andouille pictured above, to a Breton sommelier turned retail wine merchant. Instead of the pangs of jealousy we expected, we were rewarded with a wrinkled nose and an expression to go with it. Our Breton wine dealer said it was evident we hadn't grown up down wind of an andouille producer and that he would never eat the stuff. It reminded me of the time Mrs. B and I were in San Sebastian enjoying an excellent morcilla (boudin noir). An American nearby asked her Spanish friend what we were eating. The Spaniard replied "Blood sausage. Who knows what's in that. I won't eat it."

[Bordelaise]

My French husband waxes lyrical about Andouillette, and whilst I am not squeamish about offal per se, it is the smell that turns my stomach. He lives in hope that one day I can appreciate this bastion of French cuisine.....It just smells so, erm, pooey. Shudder.

[Ptipois]

It does smell a bit pooey but if it remains desirable in spite of its smell, well it has to be good, hasn't it?

A nice andouillette by M. Duval, roasted very crisp, served with good french fries, is heavenly food.

[petite tête de chou]

There's quite a few comments concerning the smell. Exactly why does it smell "pooey?"

[bleudauvergne]

It is sausage made from the chopped entrails. Whether or not a person loves it or not, I think, really depends on the first experience. My first andouillette experience was very positive, in fact, I did not think it tasted "poohey" at all! Knowing what it is and making the decision to order it is the first step in establishing a good relationship with Andouillette. The next step is to appreciate the texture, the flavors, especially with the mustard... It is a special dish that you either love or you hate.

Bux's photo of the Andouille, which is a sausage made from the same thing but they are not chopped up, brings back memories of when we toured Britanny. I noticed that like a lot of foods in this country, the local products taste better when they are delivered directly from where they are made. I have no doubt that Bux's andouille comes straight from Brittany - and that it was a real pleasure to eat. In fact, here in Lyon I can't find andouille anywhere as good as the kind I had sliced in my crepes in Brittany. Maybe I'm just not looking hard enough, I'm not sure.

Andouillette is a local product here in Lyon and we serve it at home from time to time. The quality varies significantly from butcher to butcher. Once you find one that pleases you, don't forget where you bought it! Sometimes people make a gratin of Andouilette here in Lyon, but I personally think it's simply perfect just plain fried up and served with frites and plenty of mustard or a mustard sauce. When I make a mustard sauce for andouillette (the sauce is optional, really), I always make it with very good mustard and a stock base instead of cream or milk. I think creamy mustard sauces make the meal seem heavy.

There is also the famous Andouilette de Troyes, which has enough of a good reputation for restauanteurs to note it's provenance on the menu when they have it. Maybe someone who has had some experience with it can tell us more about it. I have only had it once, when we were driving through the Bourgogne countryside.

[Bux]

. . . .creamy mustard sauces make the meal seem heavy. 

. . .

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Then again, it could be the andouillette that makes the meal seem heavy.

I'm reminded of that TV commercial where the woman, self conscious about the appearance of her hips, asks her boyfriend (husband?) if the jeans make her hips seem big. He's not very reassuring when he replies "It's not the jeans . . ."

You also reminded me that in addition to andouille I've had served warm in a gratin of potatoes as a garnish to a fish, I've had them in a crepe, or more precisely a gallette in the Breton terminology. Crepes are made from a wheat batter, gallettes have buckwheat flour in the batter. Only Bretons have served them warm to me. Even cold, I don't think they are that widely found. The three cities most famous for andouille seem to be Troyes, Vire and Guéméné. Oddly enough, I've found a reference to andouille from the Val d'Ajol in Lorraine that seems to contain a considerable percentage of ground pork as well as chittlins. I wonder if this is the missing link (no pun intended) to Cajun andouille. There's more aboput both andouille and andouillette than I can digest at one sitting (pun intended) here, especially as the information is all in French. The latter site is well worth a look to anyone reading this far into an andouillette thread.