Bœuf de Chalosse, Label Rouge, IGP. The Chalosse, Red Label, Beef Cattle.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
bryangnewman@gmail.com

The Bœuf de Chalosse.
Photograph courtesy of Association Bœuf de Chalosse

The origin of Chalosse.

The
ancient region of Chalosse is a hilly, green, and nestled near the Pyrenees and was part of
Gascony until 1790, the second year of the French Revolution. Then, it was incorporated into the newly
created department of Landes, now in the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. In food products, the name Chalosse lives on
through its local specialties, including:

·
Label Rouge (red label) and IGP-certified
Bœuf de Chalosse (beef)

·
IGP Vins des Coteaux de Chalosse (wines)

·
Jambon de Chalosse (cured ham)

·
IGP duck products from the area of
Chalosse
that are part of the south west’s center for foie gras, fattened
duck liver,

Historically,
Chalosse had been part of the larger territories held by the English crown (the
Duchy of Aquitaine/Guyenne) from the 12th to the 15th centuries; it returned to
France in 1453 with the end of the Hundred Years War (one of the interminable
English-French wars).

The IGP

Chalosse beef has been
raised in the region for hundreds of years and, since the early 1900s, has been
recognized for its exceptional quality. Today, it holds both a Pan-European IGP
(Indication Géographique Protégée) and the prestigious French Red Label (Label
Rouge).

In France, where beef
is rarely aged to ensure maximum tenderness, specific Chalosse cuts are an
exception and are aged for at least ten days:

·
Entrecôte (ribeye,
Chapter 2 ),

·
Filet (US tenderloin/ UK
fillet, Chapter 20),

·
Faux-filet, (UK sirloin/USA strip
steak, Chapter 3),

·
Rumsteck (rump steak, Chapters
5 and 19),

·
Côte de Bœuf (bone-in rib eye or rib roast, Chapter
12).

The Chalosse Beef logo

The
Chalosse cattle are not a particular breed; rather, they include beef breeds
from the Blonde d’Aquitaine, the Limousine, and the Bazas (Chapter
38) and, rather obviously, the progeny from these three strains. (This
emphasis on nurturing rather than strict breeding is also central to the
success of the Bœuf Fin Gras du Mézenc AOP. (See Chapter 34 ).

The Chalosse Beef
Photograph courtesy of France-Voyage.com

The Bœuf de Chalosse on French Menus:

Entrecôte de Bœuf de Chalosse à
la Bordelaise
– An entrecôte, ribeye steak (Chapter 2), from the Bœuf
de Chalosse prepared à la Bordelaise. (To order a steak, in
France, cooked the way you prefer it see Chapter 1).

À la Bordelaise indicates the use of Sauce
Bordelaise
– This sauce is made with Bordeaux red wine, veal stock, butter, shallots,
thyme, and bone marrow. The wine used in the preparation of this sauce is
key, and there is plenty of choice. Bordeaux is a port city that is close to
the center of France’s Atlantic coast and the cultural center of the nearly 60
wine appellations that make up the famous Bordeaux wine-growing region.

Ordering wine to accompany your
Entrecote Bordelaise
– When selecting a wine to accompany a dish with Sauce Bordelaise,
remember there are over 3,500 wine châteaux and wholesalers in Bordeaux. While
you may recognize a few famous names on the wine list, that alone does not
guarantee a good match, and the restaurant’s wine list may offer 20 more
options with excellent wines with names and years that you don’t know. At
this point, a sommelier, the wine steward,
should demonstrate their skills using your preferences and budget. The
sommelier can suggest a wine that pairs well with the dish and complements the
sauce without overpowering it.

If you prefer making your own choices, buy an
up-to-date pocket wine book before you travel or buy the guide as an eBook so
that you can browse the wine list with your phone.

Sauté d’Onglet de Bœuf de Chalosse
aux Petits Légumes et au Gingembre –
A lightly fried, US flank steak, a UK hanger
steak (chapter 17), from Chalosse beef, served with young vegetables and
flavored with ginger.

Ginger root holds 90% of the plant’s
ginger flavor, and when cooked, the aroma and the
sharpness and spiciness drop considerably, and that is the ginger taste that
most of us prefer. French chefs who want more of the kick and
flavor that comes from the fresh root will grind and dry their own powdered
ginger to use as required.

Boeuf de Chalosse Wellington
(For more about Beef Wellington see the post)
Photograph and recipe courtesy of Qualité
Landes

Paleron de Bœuf de Chalosse Braisé au
Vin de Tursan.– A Paleron
is a cut from the shoulder used for many of France’s finest stews. (See chapter
16). Here, the paleron is braised in a Tursan AOP wine, probably a red, from
the vineyards in the departments of Landes and Gers.

Tursan is a relatively small appellation
with a long history of winemaking for reds, whites and rosés. As
winemaking techniques have improved, their wines are gaining popularity.

Pièce de Bœuf de Chalosse à
la Plancha, Pommes Grenaille au Poêlon –
One of the unique and tasty French cuts from the rump (See chapters 5 and 19),
prepared on the plancha
and served with small new potatoes prepared in a particular frying pan called a
poêlon.

The Plancha or Planxa
is part of many southern French and French Basque recipes and provides unique
tastes that cannot be obtained with traditional frying or grilling. (In French
restaurant tradition, the pots and pans used in preparing various dishes are
often noted in the menu listing, implying authenticity and artisanal
preparation.) The plancha is an iron sheet, almost one and a half
centimeters (0.6”) thick, that provides a very even method of cooking that uses
very little oil, which results in a taste of its own. The invention of the plancha
is claimed as their own by the French, the Spanish, and the Basques.

Pommes Grenaille
– Grenailles may be translated in your French-English dictionary as pebbles;
however, you will be served small, early, new potatoes.

Poêlons –
Heavier and deeper than standard frying pans and used for slow cooking and
braising.

Filet de Bœuf de Chalosse en
Croûte aux Herbes – Fillet of beef, a cut from the tenderloin
(chapter 20), from the Chalosse beef (en croute aux herbes
indicates the beef is cooked within a covering of herbs).

En Croûte:
initially, only indicated dishes that had been cooked, or finished cooking
inside pastry or in a hollowed-out loaf of bread. Today’s creative chefs
have moved on and apart from pastry and bread dishes, en croûte may be
prepared with coverings from vegetables, herbs or fruits. Dishes en croûte
may also include toasted dishes that are sometimes called a croustade.
The word croûte, on its own, is the French word for toasted and or a
crust.

Filet de Bœuf de Chalosse
aux Échalotes Confites
A cut from the fillet, the
tenderloin (chapter 20) from Chalosse beef served with a shallot confit
(jam).
The word confit means to cook
very well, cure or preserve. Following on confit also links to the word confiture
(jams or jellies) and in this case the shallot confit will be close to a jam.
Photograph and recipe courtesy of Elle à Table.

The Chalosse Beef with the Label Rouge

To earn the
prestigious Label Rouge designation, the nurturing of cattle is strictly
regulated. Calves must be reared by their mothers until weaned, and the use of
antibiotics or growth hormones is strictly prohibited. For the first two
years, the animals graze freely from spring through Autumn, and during the
winter, when they are in barns, they are fed the grasses and herbs from the
same area where they grazed in summer, mostly wild grasses. In the third year,
in the six or twelve months before going to market, they have corn (USA maize)
added to their diet.

While the commercial
center of Chalosse is the spa town of Dax (the home of the Dacquoise or Le Biscuit Dacquoise
), the seat of the Beef Association of Chalosse is located in the small village
of Lourquen, about 24 km (15 miles) away. Most farmers only send about 40
animals to the market each year, so there is a very limited supply. Fewer
than 80 artisanal butchers sell the beef throughout France; consequently,
finding this very special beef on a restaurant’s menu will be a special
occasion, and you should not pass on the opportunity.

The Trophée Bœuf de Chalosse

If you are
in the area of Landes on the last Saturday in July, do not miss out on the Trophée Bœuf de Chalosse; this is a
two-day fete in the small town of Montfort-en-Chalosse, which is a ten-minute
drive from the village of Lourquen. The main events are on Saturday,
including a gourmet dinner that attracts meat lovers.

On Saturday,
the town festival begins at 8 a.m., and by 9 a.m., the flea market and local
market are open, and visitors can watch the parade of cattle, decorated with
flowers and entertainment by folk groups, bandas, and pony rides for children. Also in the morning, the competition of
fattened oxen, cows, and heifers will take place, and for lunch, local butchers
will prepare dishes based on the IGP Label Rouge Chalosse beef.

Bulls on show at the Trophée Bœuf de Chalosse.
Photograph courtesy of MODEF.

Landes is about much more than just beef.

Situated on France’s Atlantic coast, Landes boasts
over 100 km (66 miles) of uninterrupted sandy beaches. Its long shoreline is a
rich source of fresh fish, oysters,
and mussels. For exceptional oysters, head to Lac d’Hossegor
(the Hossegor Marine Lake), and if you’re curious about how oysters are sold by
weight in France, check out the post Huitres.
Oysters. Huitres II: How Fresh Oysters in France are Sold by Weight.
The nearby town of Hossegor is a European hotspot that draws surfers
from across the continent. Just a ten-minute drive away is Capbreton,
home to a working fishing port, a paradise for seafood lovers, with beautiful
sandy beaches. Further north lies Seignosse, renowned for its wild,
dune-backed beaches popular with surfers, as well as its nearby water park and
golf course.

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