French Culinary Terms

[liuzhou]

the term they used was French sounding, nothing as easy as basting unfortunately. Thanks for trying.

Well 'basting' isn't French. Perhaps they used 'arroser' which is French for 'to baste'.

[Dave Hatfield]

liuzhou is right 'arroser' is the word the French use. Here it is in use:

Assaisonner la viande de sel uniquement. Saisir la viande sur une poêle très chaude pendant une minute sur la première face. Retourner la viande et cuire à nouveau pendant une minute. Baisser le feu, ajouter un morceau de beurre et arroser pendant une bonne minute la viande avec la sauce. Laisser reposer 2 à 3 minutes hors du feu pour que les muscles de la viande se détendent. Ajouter le poivre et déguster.

This is from a lesson on how to fry meat.

[pastrygirl]

I want to say poele or poeler, because I know I've heard cooks call it something that sounds like pwa-lay, and poele is what google turns up as a cooking term, but the search results don't really support it (it means frying pan or to fry). This is also what you do to duck breast while it is rendering skin-side down - keep spooning hot duck fat over the flesh side to cook it at the same time. I guess that's kind of frying.

Unless you mean monte au buerre, but that is adding butter to sauces to emulsify and thicken just before serving.

[Twyst]

I want to say poele or poeler, because I know I've heard cooks call it something that sounds like pwa-lay, and poele is what google turns up as a cooking term, but the search results don't really support it (it means frying pan or to fry).

i was taught that poillet was simply roasting, but with a lid

[FrogPrincesse]

Poêler is cooking in a pan = to fry.

It seems that arroser is correct in the cooking context to designate the action of basting with butter or melted fat, although for general use it just means "to water".

[Twyst]

Poêler is cooking in a pan = to fry.

Did a little research on this, and in traditional french cooking, its roasting in a covered vessel and is sometimes called butter roasting. It is one of the 7 techniques of classical french cooking.

Somewhere along the line some people started using it to mean pan fry because of the literal translation, but that is not the traditional meaning of the word.

Le Poeler- A tough cut of meat that is cooked in a humid atmosphere (covered dish) to obtain a more tender end product. Can have aromatics added to help with the exchange of flavors.

http://cookingandcontemplation.blogspot.com/2010/09/le-cuissons.html

The French technique Le Poeler does not have an English translation. It is basically a special type of roast that is too tough to roast, but is too tender to braise. The demonstration that Chef Kang gave to our class was with a guinea hen. With this type of roast we had to sear it in a pan before placing it in the oven with a lid on top to continue to cook. This cooking method combines both the rotir and the braiser to create a tender and juicy meat while still keeping some of the flavor of roasting. When the meat is done in the oven we place a baste on the bird and return to the oven with no lid to create a crust that was taken away from the steam when cooking with the lid on.

http://thehungrydudes.com/classical-french-cooking-for-the-home-cook/

And in my notes from way back when I was in culinary school etc.

Edited August 14, 2013 by Twyst (log)

[FrogPrincesse]

Twyst,

Regarding "poêler", I am not sure what you mean by "traditional meaning of the word". I was just pointing out that the first definition for "poêler" in the French dictionary is to cook something in a frying pan. So this is what French people like me who did not go to culinary school will think of when you use that term. It’s also what I have seen in French restaurants to describe menu items that are cooked in a pan – “foie gras poêlé” is a typical example.

Regarding “cuisson poêler” from the Guide Culinaire, it seems to be very specific and corresponds to the technique you describe in your post. Because the term is confusing, I’ve seen some people prefer the terms “cuisson à l'étuvée” or “cuisson à l'étouffée”.

Ce qu’on se poêle….