Styles of Cooking & Food Presentation - a Quiz

It's all very well when a restaurant menu states that a dish is served, say, a la bonne femme. But if they don't give an explanation and you're not sure, then your choice is to ignore it, risk it, or ask the staff.

Here's a multiple-choice quiz with ten food prep/presentation descriptions. Answers at the end, should there be any you don't know! And the pictures aren't necessarily clues. The terms are, of course, often applied to meat dishes, but are relevant to vegetables or meat substitutes. 'Nicoise' didn't make it, as it includes anchovies or sometimes tuna.

by Richard North via Flickr.com

 1  Since it's already mentioned, a la bonne femme:
       (a) produced by a female chef
       (b) rustic food served simply
       (c) with asparagus.

 2  Lyonnaise
       (a) prepared or garnished with onions
       (b) with a clear sauce of white wine and parsley
       (c) with a dark sauce containing chervil. 

 3  En Papillote
       (a) snipped to resemble a butterfly
       (b) sealed in foil or parchment and oven-cooked
       (c) encased in breadcrumbs and shallow fried.

by Sebastian Mary
via Flickr.com

4  a la Grecque
       (a) garnished with feta cheese then grilled
       (b) with olives and sundried tomatoes
       (c) vegetables cooked with herbs, olive oil, lemon juice.

5  Chasseur (or cacciatore) 
       (a) cooked in a casserole with capers
       (b) sealed in puff pastry and decorated with relevant pastry shapes
       (c) in a sauce of mushrooms, onions and white wine.

 6 Al Forno
       (a) baked or roasted in an oven
       (b) containing minced meat or meat substitute
       (c) in a rich cheese sauce topped with breadcrumbs.

7  Chevaler (or chevalier)
       (a) with each main ingredient served separately
       (b) served on toast

by Paul Esson
via Flickr.com

       (c) ingredients arranged in an overlapping pattern.    

 8  Meuniere (French: farmer's wife)       
       (a) with a sauce of shallots, tarragon and red wine

       (b) ingredients floured then fried in butter

       (c) deep fried in oil and served with a lemon sauce.

 9  Brunoise
       (a) diced and braised in butter
       (b) with a sauce made from browned/burnt flour, stock and garlic
       (c) in a thick sauce, served in a savoury pancake.

10 Provencale
       (a) a rich stew with crusty bread to mop up juices
       (b) with olive oil, tomatoes and garlic
       (c) a clear sauce, strong on rosemary, thyme and chervil.

Here are the answers:
1 (b)     2 (a)     3 (b)     4 (c)     5 (c)     6 (a)     7 (c)     8 (b)     9 (a)     10 (b)   

If you feel like it, do let me know how you got on by commenting below.

PS  Antonin Careme, in the early 1900s, declared that there are five basic sauces, and that all sauces are based on one of them. They are: Hollandaise - oil/fat and egg yolks, veloute - a thick, blond sauce of flour, stock and butter, bechamel - white sauce of flour, butter and milk, Espagnole - stock with herbs and tomatoes, and vinaigrette usually oil and vinegar. By the way, sorry no accents used with the French vocab - can't get them. Au revoir!

Asparagus - Ten Facts to Digest with it

Asparagus is rather a catch-it-if-you-can sort of vegetable. Commercially UK-grown asparagus is usually around from late April until maybe early June, though with the odd weather pattern in 2012 it's been late making an appearance and crops may be lower than normal. (Meanwhile, thin shoots of tenderstem broccoli make not a bad substitute.)

by Liz West

While we wait for it, here are ten facts which may not be widely known about these succulent spears.


  1  At its most vigorous, and in optimum conditions, spears can grow up to 25cm in 24
          hours.
  2  It's high in folic acid (thought beneficial for the growing foetus), has potassium,
          thiamin, and vitamins A, B6 and C, and contains about 20 calories per 100g.
  3  It is considered to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant nutrients, too.
  4  The Michigan Asparagus Advisory Board tells us that the larger the diameter, the 
          better the quality and tenderness. This is contrary to 'popular opinion'.
  5  The Roman emperor Augustus was especially fond of asparagus, and kept ships 
          especially for sailing to fetch it for his own consumption.
  6  It's a member of the lily family.
  7  Planting is with 'crowns' which are best placed about 30cm deep in sandy soil. 
          Sometimes a little salt may be added to the soil. Usually the crop is not harvested 
          in the first three years, to allow a solid root system to develop.
  8  If left to flower and fruit, the plant's red berries are poisonous to humans.
  9  French king Louis XIV was so keen on asparagus that he had greenhouses made
          especially to grow it.
10  Perhaps most interestingly, from about 15 minutes after you've eaten asparagus, 
          your urine is likely to smell of it. May be due to a combination of sulphur and 
          hydrogen. It seems, though, that only about one person in four has the 'nose' to 
          pick that up!