Champagne, France

Roan Ma

Feb. 09

5th hour

Champagne, France

The region of Champagne lies at a crossroads of northern Europe – the river valleys leading south to the Mediterranean and north to Paris, the English Channel and Western Germany. Thus, it has been the setting of many important events in the history of France. Since it is a convenient access point, it had been the path of many invaders for hundreds of years, including Attila the Hun. On a brighter note, crossroads also become busy centers for trade. During the Middle Ages, the famous Fairs of Champagne began. The main trade at this fair was cloth, but wine markets also benefited. Champagne now compromises the departments of Ardennes, Marne, Aube, and Haute-Marne and parts of Aisne, Seine-et-Marne, Yonne, and Meuse.

History

The Notre-Dame-en-Vaux church in Châlons-en-Champagne, France.

The region’s cooler climate enables potatoes, cabbages, beets, watercress, endive, and leeks to be grown. Flamiche is a dish of leeks cooked with cream and eggs in a pastry crust. Endive flamande is made by wrapping endive in ham and serving them with white sauce.

flamiche

Food

Charbonnade de boeuf is a classic dish where beef is slowly braised in onions and beer. The beef can also be tenderized in red wine vinegar, and the longer it is marinated, the more flavor it will absorb. This dish can take two days to prepare.

                                  

Carbonnade de boeuf

•6 slices bacon •salt and pepper •3 lb lean boneless beef chuck or rump, cut into 2" pieces •5 T margarine •5 T flour •4 large onions, coarsely chopped •1 1/2 cups beef stock •2 (10 oz) cans beer •1 1/2 tsp sugar •1 T vinegar •1 large bay leaf •3 large cloves garlic •4-5 sprigs parsley finely chopped

In heavy dutch oven, fry bacon until crisp and set aside. Pour off almost all the fat, leaving just enough to have a thin film on the bottom. Salt and pepper meat lightly. Heat fat until smoking hot, and brown meat, a few pieces at a time. If needed, add a little bacon fat. When all the meat is browned, remove and add margarine to the pot. Stir in flour after the margarine melts and lightly brown. Add onions and saute until soft and lightly browned. Add beef stock and beer. Stir constantly over low heat until well blended and mixture begins to boil. Add sugar, vinegar, bay, and garlic. Simmer for 2-3 minutes, then taste for salt and pepper. Stir in the parsley. Return the meat to the pan. There should be enough sauce to cover but if you're a little short, add a little more beer. Stir, cover and place in oven at 325* for 1 1/2 hrs. Should be fork tender when done. Serve over noodles.

Serves 6-8 hearty appetites

A stew called chaudrée displays the region's fish. The word “chowder” is derived from chaudrée, and chaudrée is derived from the Latin word calderia (caldron). Early French immigrants to Canada brought this dish over to North America. Now, we commonly eat chower, the “descendant” of chaudrée.

Serves 4 2 pounds/900 grams mixed fish fillets, without skin

1/2 cup/110 grams/4 ounces butter

4 onions (about 1 1/2 pounds/675 grams total), peeled and quartered 5 garlic cloves, chopped

2 whole cloves 2 cups/500 milliliters/16 fluid ounces dry white wine

3 cups/750 milliliters/1 1/4 pints water, more if needed 1 small bunch of parsley (about 1 ounce/ 30 grams)

1 large bouquet garni Salt and pepper

Baked croûtes made with 1 baguette, sliced 1 lemon

  Large flameproof casserole or soup pot

Wash and dry the fish and cut it in 2-inch/5-centimeter chunks. Melt half the butter in the casserole and spread the quartered onions and garlic in the bottom, pressing the cloves into one of the onion pieces. Lay the fish on top, putting firmer fish in first, with more delicate

ones on top. Pour in the white wine and add enough water to just cover the fish. Pull parsley stems from the sprigs, setting the sprigs aside. Tie the parsley stems with the bouquet garni, add it to the chowder with salt and pepper and bring to a boil over medium heat,

skimming often. Lower the heat and simmer for 4 to 6 minutes or until the fish are just tender. Transfer the fish with a draining spoon to a tray and set it aside. Increase the heat and boil the broth until well flavored and reduced by about half, 25 to 30 minutes. Meanwhile make the croûtes and keep them warm. Chop the reserved parsley sprigs, cut the lemon in half

lengthwise, and divide one half into 4 wedges.When the broth is ready, discard the bouquet garni and the cloves, leaving the quartered onions. Add the juice from the remaining half lemon, taste, and adjust seasoning. Return the fish to the pot and warm it briefly. Dice the remaining butter and put it in 4 warm soup bowls. Spoon in the chowder, sprinkle with the chopped parsley, and perch a wedge of lemon on the edge. Serve very hot, with the

croûtes passed separately.Excerpted from THE COUNTRY COOKING OF FRANCE

by Anne Willan, Chronicle Books, 2007.

Chaudrée

The gaufre is a well known simple pastry. It is a waffle eaten with sugar and fresh cream. Biscuits de Reims are sweet and delicious paper-thin macaroons.

Shown here are gaufres with cream and strawberries. They do indeed look quite similar to our everyday waffles.

The first people to plant vineyards in this area of northeast France were the Romans, during the 5th century, possibly earlier. Champagne was originally prepared for royalty only. Now, Champagne is the major producer of the alcoholic beverage. There are the nine actual and theoretical varieties of champagne: Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Arbanne, Petit Meslier, Pinot gris(in Champagne named Fromenteau), Pinot de juillet and Pinot rosé. In Champagne, there are more than 100 wine houses, and there is 19000 smaller vine-growing producers. The companies manage more than 32,000 hectares of vineyards in Champagne. Pictured on the following slide is a vineyard in Champagne.

Champagne

Champagne grapes have to be picked quite late in the year. During fermentation, yeast is used to convert the sugar of the grape juice into alcohol. Hundreds of years ago, Monks developed a method of making Champagne wine by using a second fermentation process which took place in the bottle during the following spring. During the second fermentation, carbon-dioxide bubbles are created. The carbon-dioxide bubbles are what gives the champagne its sparkle.

The bubbles of Pinot rosé

The sweetness level of the Champagne depends on the aging as well as the amount of sugar added after the second fermentation. According to Wikipedia,

•Brut Natural or Brut Zéro (less than 3 grams of sugar per liter)

•Extra Brut (less than 6 grams of sugar per liter)

•Brut (less than 15 grams of sugar per liter)

•Extra Sec or Extra Dry (12 to 20 grams of sugar per liter)

•Sec (17 to 35 grams of sugar per liter)

•Demi-Sec (33 to 50 grams of sugar per liter)

•Doux (more than 50 grams of sugar per liter)

Champagne with fromage (cheese).

Sources

All pictures were taken from Google images

www.britannica.comwww.bbc.co.uk/foodhttp://chowhound.chow.com/topics/383882www.foodreference.com http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Provinces/Champagne