Tag: France

Tartelette au Citron

8 May 2025

Earlier we wrote about Tarte au Citron, or Lemon Pie. This is a recipe for a Tartelette au Citron, a small but very different pie. The filling is lemon curd, which you add to the pastry case just before serving. You can easily make both components a day ahead. The crunchy, slightly sweet pastry case and the soft, rich, tart filling go together very well. You could decorate the tartelette with meringue or chocolate sprinkles, but we prefer them as they are. Great with a strong cup of coffee.

What You Need
  • Pâte Sucrée
    • 50 grams of Unsalted Butter
    • 40 grams of Caster Sugar
    • 125 grams of All Purpose Flour
    • 1 gram of Salt
    • 1 Organic Egg
    • Water (optional)
  • Curd
    • 65 ml of Lemon Juice
    • 65 grams of Unsalted Butter
    • 80 grams of Fine Sugar
    • One Organic Egg
What You Do (Curd)
  1. Beat the egg
  2. Melt the butter
  3. Combine all ingredients.
  4. Cook Au Bain Marie until you have the right consistency.
  5. Or transfer to your microwave, put it on 50% or 70% power (depending on your microwave) and heat with intervals of 20-30 seconds. Mix between the intervals. This is a very precise way of heating the mixture and it gives you full control over the process. Towards the end of the process, you may want to reduce the power or shorten the intervals. The percentage and the duration of the intervals depend on your microwave and the bowl you use.
  6. Set aside and allow to cool.
  7. Transfer the curd to the refrigerator. It will keep for a few days.
What You Do (Pastry Case)
  1. Combine sugar, flour and salt.
  2. Dice butter, add to the mixture and combine. Use a hand mixer with kneading hooks.
  3. Beat the egg and add.
  4. Use your hands to make the dough. It should not be sticky, so it must be easy to make a ball. If too dry, add just a bit of water. If too wet, add some flour.
  5. When done, remove from the bowl and wrap in kitchen foil. Store in the refrigerator for at least two hours. It can be stored for a few days.
  6. Flour your work surface and roll out the pastry to a circle a larger than the top of the tartelette forms. We used 8 cm or 3 inch (quiche-) forms. The dough should be approximately 2 or 3 mm (0.1 inch) thick.
  7. Coat the forms with butter.
  8. Line the forms with the pastry. Press the pastry well into the sides and bottom. Use a knife to remove the excess dough.
  9. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
  10. Preheat the oven to 190 °C or 375 °F.
  11. Use a fork to prick small holes in the pastry.
  12. Line the forms with greaseproof paper or aluminum foil, add baking beans and bake blind for 10 minutes.
  13. Remove the paper and the baking beans.
  14. Reduce the oven temperature to 160 °C or 320 °F.
  15. Transfer back to the oven for 5 minutes or until golden
  16. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.
  17. When the pastry cases are completely cool, add the curd and serve
PS
  • Two other very tasty Tartelettes: one with Blueberries and the other with Raspberries
  • To be published: Tartelette with Pear
Tartelette au Citron ©cadwu
Tartelette au Citron ©cadwu

Paupiette

1 May 2025

When you visit a French butcher or supermarket, you are bound to find paupiettes. In general, it is a thin slice of meat, stuffed, rolled up and tied. Lots of possibilities: the outside could be veal, beef, pork, chicken, lamb or even fish. The inside could be meat, or a mixture of meat and vegetables, or a duxelles or well, you get the idea.
In the Provence you will find so called Alouettes sans Tête (meaning larks without a head). A thin slice of beef is stuffed with bacon, parsley and garlic. The alouettes are quickly fried until golden and then cooked in a sauce with onions, wine and various herbs.
In the Netherlands and Belgium a paupiette is called Blinde Vink (meaning blind finch). This is a thin slice of pork or veal, stuffed with minced (pork) meat.  

Preparing paupiettes is not obvious. Many recipes suggest cooking the paupiette in a sauce, but that’s not what we recommend. The paupiettes will be a bit dry and bland. Others suggest transferring the paupiettes to a hot oven, with an even more disappointing result. We think the best way is to quickly fry the paupiettes until golden and then transfer to the oven and braise with some liquid on low temperature.

We asked our favourite butcher to make paupiette de veau (sometimes called melon de veau). A thin layer of veal stuffed with a mixture of minced veal and pork meat, with a generous amount of chopped sage and a hint of salt. It is decorated with two leaves of sage.

Wine Pairing

We enjoyed the dish with a glass of Portuguese red wine, produced by Vidigal. The wine is made with aragonez, castelão and cabernet grapes. The wine has a nice red colour and aromas of fruit and herbs. Its taste is light, with some tannins and a touch of oak. In general, you’re looking for a smooth, easy to drink red wine with character.

What You Need
  • 2 Paupiettes de Veau
  • 1 small Carrot
  • 1 Celery stalk
  • 1 Leek
  • Veal Stock
  • Dried Oregano
  • Olive Oil
  • Butter
  • Black Pepper
What You Do
  1. Pre-heat your oven to 120 °C or 250 °F
  2. Thinly slice carrot, celery stalk and leek.
  3. Heat a heavy iron skillet, add butter and olive oil
  4. Quickly fry the paupiette, top and bottom only
  5. Transfer paupiettes to a plate
  6. Reduce heat
  7. Add carrot, leek and celery
  8. After a few minutes deglaze with veal stock
  9. Add oregano
  10. Transfer the paupiettes back to the skillet
  11. Transfer the skillet to the oven
  12. Leave until the internal temperature is 68 °C or 155 °F
  13. Remove the paupiettes from the skillet and allow to rest for 5 – 10 minutes (depending on the size). You could wrap them in aluminium foil
  14. Put the skillet back on the cooktop or hob
  15. Reduce the sauce, taste, adjust, add black pepper
  16. Serve on a hot plate with potato puree combined with wild garlic, watercress or rapini
Paupiette ©cadwu
Paupiette ©cadwu

Orange Parfait

26 April 2025

Today April 26th, we celebrate the birthday of the King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands. Well actually, his birthday is tomorrow, but you can’t have a party on a Sunday, can you?
The Dutch royal family is also known as ‘de Oranjes’, which is reflected in the use of the colour orange when referring to Dutch royalty. There is no real link between the royal family and the colour. The ‘orange’ in their name refers to the French city of Orange, a Principality one of his ancestors inherited in 1544.
Over the years we prepared Orange Sabayon, Queen’s Soup, Orange and Almond Cake, Bouchée à la Reine, Orange Flan, Canard à l’Orange and Baba au Mandarine Napoléon on this day.

Today we finally have nice weather in the Netherlands, so let’s prepare something very special: a parfait of orange. The recipe we followed was published by Jeroen Meus, a well-known Belgian chef. He was inspired by Bernard Pacaud, a French chef who owns restaurant l’Ambroisie in Paris, awarded with three Michelin Stars.

Perfect

A (French) parfait is an ice cream made without churning, so no need for an ice cream maker. In this case the mixture is poured into an empty orange and frozen.
One of the components of a parfait is the combination of egg yolks and sugar, beaten until ruban. This means that the mixture has become pale yellow and soft. It should resemble Greek yoghurt.
The beaten egg whites will add lightness, as they do in mousse au chocolate.
Then it’s a matter of richness (cream), flavour (coffee, orange, mango, passion fruit et cetera) and sugar.
Making a parfait requires a number of parallel actions, but with the right mise-en-place it’s not difficult (although, to be fair, our kitchen was a bit of a mess).

Orange Parfait

The orange parfait as prepared by Jeroen Meus is a combination of:

  • Whipped Cream
  • Cooked Cream flavoured with Orange Peel
  • Whipped Egg White 
  • Orange Juice
  • Mandarine Napoléon
  • Egg yolks and Sugar (beaten until ruban)
  • Gelatine
  • A salad of Oranges and Blood Grapefruit

Details can be found on the website of Jeroen Meus, including a helpful video (in Dutch).

Orange Parfait ©cadwu
Orange Parfait ©cadwu

Herb Roasted Chicken

24 April 2025

The first time we had chicken prepared this way was in a lovely restaurant in Vence, France. The restaurant was called Auberge des Seigneurs and offered a wide range of beautiful dishes from the days of King François I, such as blue trout, tian, chicken and lamb cooked on a spit before an open fire in the dining room. Ah, Madame Rodi, those culinary evenings, the wines from the Domaine de Rimauresq, and your infinite hospitality, dear memories.
The chicken was a special treat. It was juicy, tasty and rich. The chicken was rubbed on the inside with a very intense paste. A wonderful idea because the powerful rub flavoured the whole chicken, not just the outside. The result was aromatic, flavourful and light.
Since we don’t have a spit with an open fire at home, we had to find another way of roasting our chicken to perfection. An oven dish? A chicken sitter?
We think the best way to roast your chicken is using a baking rack over a roasting pan filled with water. The rack will guarantee an evenly cooked and golden chicken, the water helps keeping the meat juicy and the skin crispy.
We served our chicken with slow cooked fennel. 

Wine Pairing

We enjoyed a glass of red wine made with cabernet sauvignon grapes from the Pays D’Oc In France, produced by Abbotts & Delaunay. The wine is ruby red, it has aromas of dark fruit and the taste is long and velvety. Its fruitiness combines beautifully with the aromatic chicken.
In general we suggest an intense, fruity, easy to drink red wine.

What You Need
  • For the Rub
    • 2 twigs of Rosemary
    • 5 twigs of Thyme
    • 3 leaves of Sage
    • Salt
    • Oil
  • Organic Chicken
  • Black Pepper
  • For the Fennel
    • 1 Fennel
    • Olive Oil
    • Pastis (optional)
What You Do
  1. Finely chop rosemary, thyme and sage
  2. Transfer to a mortar, add a teaspoon of salt and make into a paste. It must be very aromatic and salty
  3. Add some oil, just to make it a bit smoother
  4. Rub the inside of the chicken
  5. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine
  6. Transfer the chicken to the refrigerator and allow to rest for a few hours (at least two)
  7. Preheat your oven to 350 °F or 180 °C (with fan)
  8. Pat the chicken dry with kitchen paper
  9. Add a layer of water to the roasting pan
  10. Cook until golden and done. The internal temperature should be 165 °F or 75 °C. In general, a chicken needs 30 minutes per 500 grams
  11. Allow to rest for 5 – 10 minutes
  12. Serve on a warm plate with black pepper (and slow cooked fennel)
PS
  • Slice the fennel, add olive oil to a pan, add the fennel, put the lid on the pan and leave on low heat for an hour or so. Stir and check every 15 minutes. Add a splash of pastis to enhance the taste.
  • Normally we use the leftovers to make chicken stock. Due to the intensity of the rub this stock will be okay if you want to make Mediterranean flavoured soups, for instance one with zucchini. 
Herb Roasted Chicken ©cadwu
Herb Roasted Chicken with Fennel ©cadwu

Tarte Au Citron

17 April 2025

The key to a tasty lemon pie is the quality of the lemon. Sounds obvious but unfortunately not every lemon is tart, aromatic and a touch sweet. Best are lemons used for limoncello: Sorrento (or Femminello), Eureka, Amalfi or Lisbon lemons. In all cases the lemons must be fresh, vibrant yellow, firm, untreated and organic.
The lemons we used needed a small aromatic push, that’s why we added one mandarin to the filling.
This recipe is for a classic tarte au citron or lemon pie. You could also make it with lemon curd, which we will do in a few weeks. 

What You Need 
  • Pâte Sucrée
    • 50 grams of Unsalted Butter
    • 40 grams of Caster Sugar
    • 125 grams of All Purpose Flour
    • 1 gram of Salt
    • 1 Organic Egg
    • Water (optional)
  • Filling
    • 2 Organic Eggs
    • Juice and Zest of 2 Organic Lemons
    • Juice and Zest of 1 Organic Mandarin
    • 50 – 70 grams of Caster Sugar (depending on the flavour of the Lemons)
What You Do
  1. Recipe for a 16 cm or 6 inch form or baking tin
  2. Combine sugar, flour and salt.
  3. Dice butter, add to the mixture and combine. Use a hand mixer with kneading hooks.
  4. Beat the egg and add.
  5. Use your hands to make the dough. It should not be sticky, so it must be easy to make a ball. If too dry, add just a bit of water. If too wet, add some flour.
  6. When done, remove from the bowl and wrap in kitchen foil. Store in the refrigerator for at least two hours. It can be stored for a few days.
  7. Flour your work surface and roll out the pastry to a circle larger than the top of the form. The dough should be approximately 4 mm thick.
  8. Coat the form with butter.
  9. Line the form with the pastry. Press the pastry well into the sides and bottom. Use a knife to remove the excess dough.
  10. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
  11. Preheat the oven to 190 °C or 375 °F.
  12. Use a fork to prick small holes in the pastry.
  13. Line the pastry with greaseproof paper or aluminium foil, add baking beans and bake blind for 15 minutes.
  14. Remove the paper and the baking beans.
  15. Reduce the oven temperature to 160 °C or 320 °F.
  16. Transfer back to the oven for 5 minutes.
  17. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.
  18. Mix eggs, sugar and zest.
  19. Add the mixture to the pastry case.
  20. Bake for 20 – 30 minutes or until set.
  21. Transfer to a wire rack, allow to cool. Remove from the tin and allow to cool completely.
Tarte Au Citron ©cadwu
Tarte Au Citron ©cadwu

Omelette with Chard

10 April 2025

Chard (Bietola, Blette, Krautsteil, Snijbiet) was once a popular and cheap vegetable. Today it’s hard to find and when you find it, it can be ridiculously expensive. A pity because it’s a very tasty vegetable. Forgotten for all the wrong reasons.
Chard is the main ingredient of Tourte de Blette, also known as Tourta de Bléa. It comes in two varieties: one sweet, one savoury.
In this dish (also known as Trouchia) we combine the rich flavours of the omelette with a touch of bitterness of the chard. Simple and delicious.

Wine Pairing

The omelette has a rich and creamy texture. You can pair it with a wine that offers contrast (a sparkling wine with notes of citrus for instance) or with one that complements the omelette, for instance a lightly oaked chardonnay. We decided to enjoy a pleasant, fruity rosé from the Var region in France.

What You Need
  • 500 grams of Chard
  • Olive Oil
  • Parmesan Cheese
  • Black Pepper
  • 2 organic Eggs
What You Do
  1. Wash the chard
  2. Remove the stems (and use in another dish, perhaps a curry)
  3. Chop the leaves
  4. Add olive oil to a pan on medium heat
  5. Add the chopped chard and sauté for 5-10 minutes. Duration will depend on the leaves (small, young leaves will be ready in 5 minutes)
  6. Stir occasionally
  7. Let cool
  8. Beat the eggs
  9. Add grated Parmesan cheese and black pepper
  10. Add the chard to the egg mixture
  11. Add olive oil to a relatively small pan on medium heat
  12. Add the mixture and leave for 15 minutes or until baveuse
  13. The omelette can be eaten warm or cold
Variations
  • You could replace the Chard with Spinach or (better) with Water Spinach (also known as Kang Koen or Ong Choy).
  • Some recipes for Trouchia suggest adding chopped parsley and/or basil.
  • We tend to add a few chopped stems to the mixture because it gives the omelette a nice subtle crunch.
  • You don’t want a golden (or even worse: brown) omelette because then the omelette will taste like fried eggs, and it will be firm.
Omelette with Chard ©cadwu
Omelette with Chard ©cadwu

Simple Apple Pie

27 March 2025

There is so much fun and creativity in baking! Just think about the aromas in your kitchen when you bake an apple pie, the positive vibes when you transfer it to a plate, the joy when sharing and eating it.
Baking can also be challenging, just think about techniques as tempering chocolate, but this apple pie is really simple. No spectacular ingredients and no complex skills required. Serve it with a cup of tea or coffee or as a dessert, perhaps with vanilla ice cream.

What You Need

The quantities depend on the size of your baking tin.

  • (tart) Apples
  • Cinnamon
  • Butter
  • Sugar
  • Puff Pastry
What You Do
  1. Place butter in a pan and melt
  2. Peel, core and chop apples.
  3. Add apples, cinnamon and sugar to the pan
  4. Cook for 20 – 30 minutes, stirring from time to time
  5. The compote should not be runny, perhaps you need to reduce
  6. Allow for the compote to cool (room temperature is fine)
  7. Preheat oven to 200 °C or 390 °F
  8. Line a baking tin with puff pastry.
  9. Use a fork to poke holes in the pastry
  10. Peel, core and slice apples
  11. Add compote to the baking tin, covering the bottom
  12. Add the sliced apples 
  13. Bake until golden
PS

Best is to use apples such as gala, granny smith, jonagold or braeburn. It may take a bit longer to make a compote with these apples, but they remain nice and firm when baking the pie.
Don’t use vanilla as ingredient of the compote. We feel it deteriorates the flavour of the apple. Cinnamon and sugar will be perfect.
If buying readymade (frozen) puff pastry, make sure it’s made with flour, butter, water and salt only.

Apple Pie ©cadwu
Apple Pie ©cadwu

Tartiflette, history and recipe

20 March 2025

Perhaps we were thinking about Tartelette when we assumed Tartiflette was something sweet and small. But then we saw a cheese with ‘Fromage pour Tartiflette’ on its wrapping. We bought the cheese, looked for recipes and made Tartiflette. Two things for sure, it’s not sweet and not small.

In 1705 French chef François Massialot wrote Le Cuisinier Roïal et Bourgeois. According to wikipedia and others one of the recipes in this book is for Péla, a dish from the Savoie area. It’s a fairly simple dish with cheese, potatoes, bacon and onions. The dish is named after the pan in which it was prepared.
In the 1980’s too much of the local Savoie cheese Reblochon was produced and clever marketing people of the Syndicat Interprofessionnel du Reblochon created the Tartiflette, a Péla with Reblochon.

Obviously, we wanted to verify the story, so we looked for the recipe for Péla by François Massialot in the 1705 edition of Le Cuisinier Roïal et Bourgeois. No Péla. Well, people make mistakes,
Perhaps it was included in the first edition, published in 1691?
No, it wasn’t.
Maybe he added the recipe later?
We checked the index of the renewed 1728 edition: no Péla.

Did François Massialot write about Péla? Probably not.

Péla was (as is Tartiflette) a simple dish which makes it an unlikely candidate for royalty and bourgeois. Furthermore in those days potatoes had a bad reputation, they were seen as ‘coarse, insipid and the cause of flatulence’ (according to Barbara Ketcham Wheaton, in Savoring the Past). Not something you would happily serve to your king (and survive).

Back to the Tartiflette. It’s a tasty combination of bacon, onions, potatoes and reblochon, probably a modernized and commercialised version of an existing dish from the Savoie area, but nevertheless delicious.

Wine Pairing

An aromatic, white wine with clear acidity will go very well with the dish. It will add freshness to the combination. We decided to enjoy a red wine, one with supple tannins, medium bodied. Our choice was a glass of Château Margilliere Bastide, a wine from the Var region in France, made with grapes such as syrah, cabernet franc and grenache. A well-balanced red wine, with notes of cherries, gentle acidity and a touch of spiciness. Great with all ingredients of the tartiflette.

What You Need
  • 250 grams of firm, yellow, waxy Potatoes (Annabel, Charlotte, Ratte, Amandine)
  • 150 grams of diced (lightly smoked) Bacon
  • one large Onion
  • one Reblochon (or a piece of Morbier)
  • Olive Oil
  • Black Pepper
  • Nutmeg
What You Do
  1. Peel and slice the onion.
  2. Peel and dice the potatoes, same size as the diced bacon.
  3. On medium heat, fry bacon and onions for a few minutes.
  4. Add the diced potatoes.
  5. Preheat the oven to 200 °C or 390 °F.
  6. After 5 minutes the potatoes should be softer, but not yet ready. Duration depends on the type of potato.
  7. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and allow to cool somewhat.
  8. Halve the cheese.
  9. Coarsely chop one halve and add to the mixture. Combine. Add black pepper and nutmeg.
  10. Transfer the mixture to an oven dish.
  11. Halve the remaining cheese and put these two pieces on top of the mixture, skin side up.
  12. Leave in the oven for 20 minutes or until golden.
PS

François Massialot is well known for the introduction of Crème Brûlée.
True?
Yes! See page 219 of the 1693 edition.

dish for tartiflette
Dish for Tartiflette
Reblochon ©cadwu
Reblochon ©cadwu
Tartiflette - ready for the oven ©cadwu
Tartiflette – ready for the oven ©cadwu
Tartiflette ©cadwu
Tartiflette ©cadwu

Tourtes de Blettes Sucrée

20 February 2025

A sweet pie with vegetables, Parmesan cheese and black pepper? It does sound a bit odd but actually the pie is very tasty and the savoury ingredients support the sweet character of the pie.
The pie is made with Blette, also known as Swiss Chard, Leaf Beet, Silver Beet, Spinach Beet, Bietola (Italy), Bléa (France), Acelga (Spain), Krautsteil (Germany, Switzerland) and Snijbiet (the Netherlands). Once a popular vegetable, it can be hard to find or expensive. When preparing a savoury Tourte de Blettes we used Water Spinach (also known as Kang Koen or Ong Choy) which is a very popular vegetable in Asia. The leaves have lots of structure and the (hollow) stems are tasty and crunchy. 

As you would expect with a classic pie like this, recipes vary, Very often the tourte is made with sweet shortcrust pastry (butter, eggs, sugar and sometimes orange blossom water). The filling contains chard, Parmesan cheese, sugar, eau de vie, raisins, eggs, apples and pine nuts. We’re not keen on using pine nuts, so we didn’t add these to our filling. We thought it would be nice to add the orange blossom aroma to the filling, not to the pastry.

What You Need (Pastry)
  • 50 grams of White Caster Sugar
  • 100 grams of soft Unsalted Butter
  • ½ Egg (beaten)
  • 1 gram of Salt
  • 150 grams of All Purpose Flour
  • Cold Water (if the pastry is dry)
What You Do

Adding egg to the dough makes its flavour richer and easier to handle when lining the baking tin. Start by combining the sugar and the butter. Use a hand mixer with kneading hooks. When mixed, add halve of the beaten egg. Combine salt and flour. Pass through a sieve and add to the mixture. Use the kneading hooks to mix. When done, remove from the bowl and wrap in foil. Store in the refrigerator for at least two hours. The dough freezes well, so it’s a great idea to make a bit extra.

What You Need (Filling)
  • 500 grams of Chard
  • Handful of Raisins
  • 25 grams of Parmesan Cheese
  • 50 grams of Sugar
  • 1 or 2 teaspoons of Orange Blossom Water
  • Black Pepper
  • 1 Egg
  • Olive Oil
  • ½ Sour Apple (Bramley, Goudrenet)
What You Do
  1. Wash the chard, remove and discard the stems.
  2. Coarsely slice the leaves.
  3. Whisk the egg.
  4. Soak the raisins for 15 minutes in water (or rum). Pat dry.
  5. Peel and slice the apple into small cubes.
  6. Combine chard, raisins, grated cheese, sugar, orange blossom water, black pepper and a splash of olive oil. Be generous with the black pepper and the cheese. Mix.
  7. Add the beaten egg and mix.
  8. Divide the pastry in two.
  9. Line a baking tin with the pastry, prick holes in the pastry using a fork (docking).
  10. Add the filling, sprinkle with apple cubes, top with the remaining pastry and close.
  11. Prick holes in the pastry. Or apply the method of Cornish pasty, as we did.
  12. Bake in the oven at 180 °C or 355 °F for 30 minutes.
  13. Allow to rest on an oven rack.
  14. Best to be enjoyed the next day, so you must be a little patient.
  15. Dust with icing sugar.
PS

We must admit we took a short cut by using readymade Pâte Brisée. This is shortcrust pastry, without sugar. Perhaps it’s a good idea to reduce the amount of sugar in the pastry or skip it all together!

Slice of Tourte de Blettes Sucrée ©cadwu
Tourte de Blettes Sucrée ©cadwu

Scallop Gratin

13 February 2025

Scallops (or Coquilles Saint-Jacques) are a seasonal product. In France they are available from October 1st until May 15th. In Nantucket the season runs from November 1st through March. Perhaps your fishmonger sells scallops all year round. Most likely they were frozen which massively impacts the flavour and texture. Scallops must be fresh. If possible, buy them in their shell (opening them is not difficult, cleaning them can be a bit messy, this video explains more) or ask your fishmonger to do so.

Recently John Rieber and Dorothy’s New Vintage Kitchen published great recipes with Nantucket Bay Scallops. We bought French scallops from the Normandy region and prepared three dishes, one following Dorothy’s recipe, one classic gratin and one modern gratin.

Earlier we wrote about Vacherin Fribourgeois. This cheese originates from the region around the Swiss city Fribourg. It’s a semi-hard, creamy cheese made with raw cow milk. It matures for some ten weeks in a damp cellar. Its taste is aromatic, floral, full-bodied and lasting, with a touch of sweetness, bitterness and umami. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to get hold of. It can be replaced by a combination of Gruyere and Appenzeller. Emmentaler is not an option because when you melt it, it gets stringy.

Wine Pairing

We enjoyed a glass of white Macon with our Gratin de Coquilles Saint-Jacques. In general you’re looking for a fresh, round white wine, with notes of citrus and pepper, minerality and a touch sweetness.

What You Need (Modern Gratin)
  • Scallops
  • Leek
  • Vacherin Fribourgeois
  • Olive Oil
  • Black Pepper
What You Do

This is our preferred version. The dish is an interesting combination of sweetness, richness, aromas and textures. It’s fun to serve in a shell, but it makes for challenging eating. Better to serve in ramekin, which also allows you to serve three scallops per person!

  1. Thinly slice the white of a leek and leave it for 30+ minutes in a pan with olive oil on very low heat.
  2. Taste the leek, it should have just a little bite and it should still have the distinct flavour and aroma of leek.
  3. Add some black pepper.
  4. Preheat the oven to 220 °C or 430 °F.
  5. Heat a small non-stick pan and quickly colour the scallops.
  6. Add some of the leek mixture to the shell.
  7. Place the scallops on top.
  8. Add grated cheese.
  9. Transfer to the oven and serve when the cheese has melted, probably after three minutes.
What You Need (Classic Gratin)
  • Scallops
  • Shallot
  • Double Cream
  • Breadcrumbs
  • Butter
  • White Wine
  • All Purpose Flour
  • Black Pepper
What You Do

The idea is to make a sauce, combine the sauce with the scallops, top with breadcrumbs and grill until golden. Alternative ingredients include fish fumet, parsley, cheese and mushrooms. If you coarsely chop the scallops, then the scallops are more evenly spread in the sauce. 

  1. Fry the scallops quickly in a hot pan with olive oil, just to give them extra flavour and colour.
  2. Set the scallops aside, reduce heat, add finely chopped shallot to the pan and glaze.
  3. Add some butter and flour to the pan; make a roux.
  4. Add white wine, let reduce a bit, add cream.
  5. If the sauce is too thick then add some liquid.
  6. Add some black pepper.
  7. Place the scallop(s) in a shell, add sauce and top with breadcrumbs.
  8. Grill for three minutes or until golden.
PS

Yes, we serve our scallops with roe. Why discard it? The roe is flavourful and brings another texture to the combination.
Other very tasty recipes: scallops with cauliflower or with potatoes and truffle.

Scallop Gratin Modern ©cadwu
Scallop Gratin Classic © cadwu
Scallops with Oyster Mushrooms ©cadwu