Cordon Bleu

[David Naylor]

I am having a debate with somebody at the moment regarding the term cordon bleu, not the cooking school but the filling of meat with ham and cheese.

I am being told that the term in the US, and nowhere else, means 'stuffed with ham and cheese'

I am not aware the term is US related only, am i right in thinking that the term is used elsewhere to mean 'stuffed with ham and cheese'??

Regards

David

[Waterzoy]

I am having a debate with somebody at the moment regarding the term cordon bleu, not the cooking school but the filling of meat with ham and cheese.

I am being told that the term in the US, and nowhere else, means 'stuffed with ham and cheese'

I am not aware the term is US related only, am i right in thinking that the term is used elsewhere to mean 'stuffed with ham and cheese'??

Regards

David

←

I certainly recognise the term 'cordon bleu' as being associated with a ham and cheese filling. I'm sure I recall that Marks and Spencer, which sells a lot of ready-made meals in the UK, used to have (and may still) a meal called 'chicken cordon bleu' so the term has spread further than the US. I don't know where the term originated though, or if the French use it, although I would be surprised if they did.

edited to say....sorry, I didn't spot you'd posted this in the UK forum too and my reply might have been more appropriate there. Looks like I remembered correctly about M & S selling this though.

Edited December 21, 2006 by Rachellindsay (log)

[Forest]

This is one of those questions that you think you know and then when someone asks, you start wondering (now that I think about it, I don't remember seeing cordon bleu things in restaurants, so hmmmm) But, yes, I think the term cordon bleu is used to refer to ham & cheese things in France. I see chicken cordon blues in the freezer section at the grocery store here. And, doing a quick google search for recipes with "cordon bleu" in the title in French comes up with various recipes for things filled with cheese and ham. So, I'd say yes...but hopefully someone else will come along and confirm.

Edited December 21, 2006 by Forest (log)

[David Naylor]

what this guy is saying is that ONLY in the USA does the term cordon bleu mean stuffed with ham and cheese. I am quite sure it has the same meaning across europe. Veal cordon bleu etc

regards

david

[Ptipois]

In France there's "escalope cordon-bleu", or the abbreviated version "cordon-bleu" and it's just that — a thin veal (or turkey) steak folded over ham and cheese, then breaded and fried. It's been here for ages, a frequent occurrence at school lunches, office cantines, streetcorner bistrots. You may also buy it at the supermarket.

[John Talbott]

In France there's "escalope cordon-bleu", or the abbreviated version "cordon-bleu" and it's just that — a thin veal (or turkey) steak folded over ham and cheese, then breaded and fried. It's been here for ages, a frequent occurrence at school lunches, office cantines, streetcorner bistrots. You may also buy it at the supermarket.

←

There is a recipe for an "escalope cordon-bleu" by Inaki Aizpitarte of Transversal + Chateaubriand and ex-La Famille in a book called "Cantines : Recettes cultes corrigées par les chefs" published this year by Perrin and Agnès Viénot, authored by Sebastien Demorand and Emmanuel Rubin and Sophie Brissaud.

The recipe can be found here.

By the bye, the book features other cantine food favorites executed by famous folk - eg David Zuddas (skate with spinach), Pierre Gagnaire (celery remoulade), Pierre-Olivier Petit (a Petit Poisson pané à la brioche, tagliatelles de salsifis à la Granny Smith), Thierry Marx (Bob's chicken) and Pierre Hermé (a tranche napolitaine), etc.

Edited twice by John Talbott for clarification and accuracy (publisher).

Edited December 22, 2006 by John Talbott (log)