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It is not an uncommon experience to look at a restaurant menu, have a general idea what an item is but not recognize all of the ingredients or methods used in the description of that item. We’re going to look at some Chicago restaurant menus and discuss both common and uncommon terms that will help you become a more knowledgeable consumer at the table.
Today, we’ll start with a common ingredient and see where the menus lead us. The ingredient? Duck confit.
Duck confit, a form of charcuterie, is usually made with the leg of the duck. Confit refers to the method of preparation, roughly: salted, then slow cooked (and preserved) in its own fat. The result is a crisp, rich tasting duck leg. Following are two restaurant menu items that include duck confit:
Marche: Salade Duck Confit with Lentil Vinagrette, Petit Salad, Mustard Sauce.
Old Town Brasserie: Roasted Duck Breast with crispy duck leg confit, thyme-infused beluga lentils, applewood smoked bacon, savoy cabbage, sauce rouennaise.
Beluga lentils are black lentils that resemble black beluga caviar when cooked. Savoy cabbage is a large head of crinkled leaf cabbage. You may want to sit down while we explain the Sauce Rouennaise. This is basically a blood sauce, made by taking a partially roasted duck, removing, blending and seasoning the liver. Then you remove the legs and breast of the duck and put the rest of the carcass into a big press and…squeeze it out. Blood, juices, organs and all. Add this liquid to the liver, reduce it, and possibly add some liquor, then serve over the duck breast. Would you like to see pictures of this process?
Tune in to Qe’est-ce que c’est? where we’ll continue to explore more adventures into Chicago restaurant menus.
Marche is located at 833 W Randolph.
Old Town Brasserie is located at 1209 N Wells.
Photo by avlxyz
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Q'EST-ce que c'est, s'il vous plaît.
Hi Ms. Stolpman. The West Town Tavern also has Duck Confit on their menu. That place is so damn good it makes me want to punch babies!
Ok, well, that was a little extreme. I guess I had too much coffee.
This is an aside, but at the West Town Tavern they have these ridiculously good Kobe Beef Burgers for $14 on Tuesdays. They taste like butter.
oh no laura! it's actually qu'est-ce que c'est
PS - regardless, i think this series is a fabulous idea.
Next up: Chevre.
Um, I hate to turn this post into a discussion of French grammar. But I never did get the courage up to ask my French host "parents" when I was studying there, is it "qu'est-ce que c'est"?? Is it less formal to say "q'est..."
Can anyone show me the light?
PS. Thanks for the duck confit explanation. Thanks also for making me sure I never want to eat anything that can be described as "blood sauce."
oh man. laura is totally right. i misspelled it, too. that's what i get. i swear i wasn't being an asshole, i like the idea, too. even if my keyboard/typing skills make me look even more retarded than not.
anyway, today's french lesson is all about conjunctions used to ensure that the flow of words maintains a consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel pattern. hence, throwing out the extra E.
anyway, everyone's a foodie-top-chef fan these days. it's good to have some enlightenment.
someone should explain ceviche. i only just recently learned about it after hearing the word a million times and acting like i could gloss over it.
i meant AMY... anyway, today is obviously not my day.
Holy shit, how did I miss the blood sauce stuff! That link was crazy!
I thought I knew food, but seriously, what the hell? This is new to me. It's like reduced duck...juice. Duck juice! Mixed with rotten grape juice (the champagne). And liver.
You officially blew my mind.
Also Michael cracks me up today, haha. Ceviche is actually pretty cool stuff -- it's acid-cooked seafood!
Man I love making ceviche. And thanks for the positive feedback on this series. Ms. Stolpman's gonna have some more things in store for you coming right up.
Great idea. Foodie-menus are a big pet peeve of mine! I have to ask 28 questions every time Lula changes their specials...
Hey, I always hear about "Souvee" (sp?). I know what it is, and I totally want an immersion cooker, but I have no idea how the process is spelled.
Can anyone enlighten me? (Looking at Chuck...)
Wow.
I'm laughing - who knew this would spark such good discussion? I'm glad you liked the entry!
Plumbum82 - Ah, I think you're talking about sous-vide. It's a french term (which I think I'm spelling correctly, finally!) in which you you vacuum-pack a food, usually meat - and then put it in a water bath to slowly rise to the right temperature. It keeps all the moisture in the food and if you put some spices in, really flavors it.
-L.
The Meteorologist - the punching babies thing cracked me up. I'll have to try West Town Tavern! Sounds very good. I love hamburgers, too. Sounds like someplace I need to try. And dead on about the duck juice. Glad to blow your mind. heh.
Amy - thanks! :)
Spav - making a note of chevre.
Groggy - Seriously, right? (About the blood sauce.) Those pictures convinced me. But I'll be in France in about 7 weeks and who knows...maybe I'll work up the courage to go there.
Michael - I never take it personally to be corrected on my spelling because 1) I suck at spelling and 2) I'd like it to be correct. :) I'll cover ceviche!
Bbonen - Amen. I like to know what I'm going to eat. Especially if it turns out to be blood sauce.
-L.
Plumbum: we can completely enlighten you on sous vide. Just be patient, we want to build the anticipation.
I like this series. I actually never knew what duck confit was before it. It's one of those dishes you here people throwing around but are too embarrassed to ask what the heck it is.
I found the side discussion on the particularities of French grammar completely useless, however.
Hi, Matty - Glad you like it and thank you for saying so. Let me know if there is anything you want me to touch on. I'm learning as I go, too!
-L.
What's fun is reading some of the menus in Chinatown.
I was just there last night and the menu had an item called "Grounded Pork".
(naughty, naughty pork!!)
Meteorologist:
"Duck juice! Mixed with rotten grape juice (the champagne). And liver.
You officially blew my mind."
You might like Eastern French cooking (Alsatian, Burgundian) a little more. There is still the wine ("rotten grape juice", as you call it), but the dining experience doesn't tend to be as ... visceral.