Every day during the summer, at 6:56 am and 8:43 am, Marion Sauveur gives you an idea of a recipe to cheer up your taste buds. Tuesday, she is interested in the history of Paris ham, an essential element for her croque monsieur recipe.
Marion Sauveur, all summer long, we travel throughout France to discover or rediscover local products. And today we're staying in Paris.
Yes ! And this is a product that you are necessarily aware of which I am talking about this morning: Paris ham. A ham that was originally made in Paris, like Bayonne ham in Bayonne or Parma ham in Parma. It was the place of production that gave the name to the product. The ham is made with the hind legs of the pork (with the front legs we make the pork shoulder). It would have been invented by the Gauls. At the time, they used pork, but also wild boar and even bear, meat which was often smoked and dried. It was a dish reserved for the tables of the Roman emperors.
The term “Paris ham” appeared for the first time in 1793. And the Parisian pastry chef Jules Goueffé (19th century) speaks of it as "ordinary ham", these are his words. He explains that it is salted, cooked in water, boned, put in terrine "rind below", before being cooled in press. And it was from the 20th century that Paris ham became a product of everyday consumption. Today there is only one craftsman who makes ham in Paris. And we find this ham under the name of “Prince of Paris”.
What recipe do you offer us with this Paris ham?
A Croque-monsieur. It's not original, but with the right ingredients, it's so good!
Ingredients
50 g butter
50 g wheat flour
50 cl milk
8 slices of bread
4 slices of ham
125 g Comté or Cantal or Tomme cheese
Salt
Pepper
1 pinch of grated nutmeg
We start by making a béchamel. It is this creamy and delicious sauce that will bring the sweetness to the croque-monsieur. We melt butter, add flour, and when the mixture is homogeneous, cook for two to three minutes over medium heat. And we pour the milk, little by little, without stopping to stir with a whisk. The béchamel will take on texture. We stop cooking, we dirty, we pepper, without forgetting to add a little grated nutmeg. And let it cool.
Meanwhile, the cheese is grated. We take good cheese: from the county, the cantal or the tomme.
We spread the béchamel bread. Add the grated cheese. And on half of the slices: ham.
Cover the ham with a slice of bread, on the béchamel-cheese side. We press it well, we spread the rest of béchamel on each croque-monsieur. Direction the hot oven (190 degrees), a dozen minutes. They must be nicely browned.
And if you don't want to cook, but put your feet under the table. Where do you eat a good croque-monsieur in Paris?
Chez Carré pain de mie, in the 4th arrondissement. This specialist in sandwich breads offers gourmet croque-monsieur with the famous "Prince de Paris" ham, from Comté 15 months, and very tasty béchamel cream! It is served with homemade fries or a salad. We finish with a french toast. And we don't forget to bring our sandwich bread home. It is very soft, and with: we make a homemade croque-monsieur.
The recipe for square bread
Ingredients
Prince of Paris ham
15 month County
Homemade béchamel cream
2 slices of sandwich bread
Production
Make a béchamel cream with Echiré butter, flour and milk.
Toast square brown bread without coloring.
Put butter on one side of the bread, cover with béchamel. Place the ham and the Comté.
Make the sandwich by placing the other slice on top. Coat again with béchamel and Comté cheese.
Put in the oven at 180 ℃ until it is very hot and well colored.