The blog of cooking-ez.com
The painter, the restaurant owners and the opera singer
You might well have noticed that there are recipes involving names that have been so overused (often for any old thing) that they have almost become common nouns.
16K 20 4.4
Last modified on: September 25th 2012
The painter, the restaurant owners and the opera singer
Here are three examples that are commonly found on restaurant menus.
This comes from: the name of Vittore Carpaccio, a Venetian Renaissance painter, famous for the reds in his paintings, red like beef. Some even claim that his painting "The Triumph of Saint George" was the inspiration.
But it is often: anything sliced thinly, such as: scallop carpaccio, pineapple carpaccio, etc.
This comes from: the name of the Tatin sisters, who ran a restaurant in Lamotte-Beuvron, central France, and who invented the dessert in the early 20th century.
But it is often: anything with pastry on the top (or underneath) which looks vaguely like an upside-down tart, such as: tomato tatin, diced-chicken tatin, etc.
This comes from : the name of a famous Australian opera singer of the late 19th century, Nellie Melba, for whom the great chef Alain Escoffier invented this dessert.
But it is often: anything served with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream, such as: strawberry melba, pear melba, etc.
Of course, you can have fun combining anything you like. Let's see… “Strawberry Melba with a Carpaccio of pear Tatin” : put a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a dish, add a layer of thinly-sliced and caramelized pears, a disc of crisp sweetcrust pastry, a few strawberries and top with whipped cream.
But… ooh, I admit, that does sound rather good!
Carpaccio
This should be: a dish of raw beef, sliced very thin, seasoned and covered with a thin film of olive oil, often served arranged on a plate.
This comes from: the name of Vittore Carpaccio, a Venetian Renaissance painter, famous for the reds in his paintings, red like beef. Some even claim that his painting "The Triumph of Saint George" was the inspiration.
But it is often: anything sliced thinly, such as: scallop carpaccio, pineapple carpaccio, etc.
Tatin
This should be: a delicious caramelized apple tart cooked upside down (with the pastry on the top) and turned out before serving.
This comes from: the name of the Tatin sisters, who ran a restaurant in Lamotte-Beuvron, central France, and who invented the dessert in the early 20th century.
But it is often: anything with pastry on the top (or underneath) which looks vaguely like an upside-down tart, such as: tomato tatin, diced-chicken tatin, etc.
Melba
This should be: a peach Melba – a dish of vanilla ice cream, raspberry coulis, poached peach, praline marzipan and Chantilly cream.
This comes from : the name of a famous Australian opera singer of the late 19th century, Nellie Melba, for whom the great chef Alain Escoffier invented this dessert.
But it is often: anything served with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream, such as: strawberry melba, pear melba, etc.
And...?
Well, I've just mentioned the examples most commonly encountered in France and in French. But you will notice that they all involve a proper noun, someone's name.Of course, you can have fun combining anything you like. Let's see… “Strawberry Melba with a Carpaccio of pear Tatin” : put a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a dish, add a layer of thinly-sliced and caramelized pears, a disc of crisp sweetcrust pastry, a few strawberries and top with whipped cream.
But… ooh, I admit, that does sound rather good!
Lasts posts
It's spinning too fast!
When you need to grate or slice vegetables, you generally use an electric machine that does all the work: a food processor, a mixer with a "slicer" extension or similar. Are these machines really suitable? Generally speaking, yes of course, but there's one criterion that often poses a problem,...1,2005 November 12th 2023
When I was a kid, I didn't like...
Maybe you've already made this strange observation: when you were a kid, there were things you hated, but as an adult it's almost the opposite? For example, you used to hate spinach or chicory, but now you love it?1,2615 November 5th 2023
How easy is it to chop herbs?
Whenever you have fresh herbs - parsley, chervil, coriander, mint, etc. - to incorporate into a recipe, we tell you to chop them up. In this case, "chopping" means separating the leaves from the stems, keeping only the leaves, and chopping them more or less finely. It's not very complicated,...3,2675 September 12th 2023
The softness of sandwich bread
You're probably familiar with what's known in France as "pain de mie", a very white, molded and rather soft bread, widely used in cooking, particularly for croque-monsieur. Let's find out what it's all about.3,328 September 5th 2023
Cooking cauliflower
Dramatic observation: cauliflower when cooked has a bad reputation ("it doesn't smell good!" and the like), and yet it's an excellent vegetable, very Breton, that deserves to be treated well, to give the best of itself.3,5493.3 August 29th 2023
Other pages you may also like
How to break eggs properly?
It is a very common gesture in pastry, bakery and of course cooking: breaking eggs to incorporate them into a recipe. You have eggs (which professionals call "shell eggs" to differentiate them from liquid eggs in cartons or cans), and you must break them to incorporate the contents into your...8,3654.8 June 26th 2021
Divide and weigh dough into regular pieces
When you prepare dough for cupcakes in a pastry shop or bakery, at some point you're going to have to divide it, i.e. cut it into small pieces, which should all have the same weight. Sounds simple enough, but is it really that simple?4,4555 May 30th 2023
Butter doesn't make you fat, unless you eat too much of it.
Whenever I'm discussing cooking and recipes, there is one idea which comes up frequently, like this: "Oh no! But that's got butter in it" (I should add, for the sake of accuracy, that this is something I hear more frequently from women, who are almost all concerned with keeping their figure). ...37K4.5 March 26th 2012
Raising (or leavening) agents
When we want to make a dough or batter rise when baking, either in patisserie or bread-making, we need to use a raising agent or leavening agent, one of which is called leaven. In the context of baking, a raising agent is simply what "makes something rise". It is a substance which, when added to...50K4.8 June 16th 2021
Steam for baking bread
What does steam have to do with bread-making? This is not only a bakers' secret, it is something you might not think of at all: if you make bread and bake it like a cake, you will end up with bread, but pale and with a thick, hard crust – a long way from the golden-brown crusty loaf you had in...134K4.5 June 16th 2021
Follow this page
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.