Florida’s Tropical French Food by Ruth Paget
Florida’s tropical French food comes in two forms either as Creole or Cajun dishes as part of cultural influence from New Orleans or as French food that uses seafood and fish in place of beef and chicken in dishes. Sauces are often piquant with the addition of Vitamin C rich tropical fruits to go with grilled or seared fish and seafood.
The 400 recipes from The Special Taste of Florida by G. Dean Foster come from elite resorts and restaurants and record the food of Floridians, who love glamorous well-coiffed hairdos, tailored linen suits, deluxe Italian cars, and Fort Knox condominiums. People who liked watching the television series Miami Vice will find much to love in this cookbook.
The following recipes from The Special Taste of Florida illustrate the French connection with the state:
-rouille sauce used in bouillabaisse made with egg yolks, garlic, roasted red pepper, lemon juice, Tabasco sauce, and bread crumbs. Mixed in a blender and stirred into the famous Marseilles soup transplanted to the Americas
-country ham tapenade spread for roasted or grilled vegetables. This traditional black olive spread has chopped Virginia ham or prosciutto added to it for a flavor and big protein boost for the tropics
-roasted red pepper coulis for grilled fish like swordfish made with roasted and peeled red peppers, olive oil, and white wine
-Kiss Yo Mama Soup made with corn, poblano chiles, onion, butter, sour cream, goat cheese, Louisian crawfish tails, and chives. Moms who make this are loved for peeling crawfish tails and chopping them up.
-shrimp and crab phyllo pies with béchamel sauce
-pistachio crusted tuna with tropical fruit beurre blanc. The tropical fruit beurre blanc is made with mango, kiwi fruit, pineapple, key lime juice, shallots, white wine, and butter.
-Florida pompano with orange mango beurre blanc. The orange mango beurre blance is made with shallots, white wine, fish stock, orange juice, and mango purée
-broiled snapper with mango melon sauce – the sauce is made with cantaloupe, mangoes, chile peppers, onions, brown sugar, butter, orange juice concentrate, and heavy cream
-shrimp and salmon cakes made with fruit salsa. The fruit salsa has mango, papaya, rice vinegar, honey, and lemon
-grilled grouper with mango beurre blanc. The mango beurre blanc is made with mangoes, Chablis, cream, shallots, and butter.
-pork Boursin with Boursin sauce made with heavy cream, bouillon, roux, and Boursin cheese -caramelized pineapple soufflé
-seared sea scallops with citrus vinaigrette. The citrus vinaigrette is made with walnut oil, orange juice and zest, lime juice, lemon juice, and grapefruit juice.
Chefs interested in being part of Florida’s tropical French food culture will enjoy making the recipes in The Special Taste of Florida by G. Dean Foster.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
