No wonder no one in the butcher’s knew the answer as to why a leg of venison was une gigue but a leg of lamb was un gigot when I asked them! 🙂 The even more intriguing question is why does gigue only apply to roe deer venison (chevreuil) and not red deer venison (cerf or biche), where a leg is referred to as un cuissot. The best answer we could come up with in the butcher’s was that hunters are a sort of breed apart and have adopted lots of very specific words not used in every day language.
Btw, I first heard the word gigue when watching an episode of Les Carnets de Julie about game. She kept referring to the joint of venison being cooked in one part of the programme as une gigue. At first I thought she was using some trendy abreviation, but then I realised it must be specific to venison. As far as I recall there was no explanation in the programme, she obviously just assumed that foodies watching the programme would know the word.
I highly recommend Les Carnets de Julie for intermediate French speakers like myself. It’s a great programme for practicing listening comprehension, especially if you are interested in French traditional food and drink. I’ve learnt a lot over the years from Julie. All the episodes are on YouTube if you want to watch them.
Rosemary Kneipp
December 30th, 2016 at 5:42 pm
Now I’ll have to add a paragraph about cuissot which is like our haunch.
I checked out Les Carnets de Julie on YouTube and it does seem good for intermediate French speakers – except when she interviews the locals with their strong accents and patois words!
Lesley
December 30th, 2016 at 4:47 pm
Sorry if it were here that I mentioned the ‘gigot of lamb’ being offered at our local resto as ‘souris d’agneau’. The smaller end I suppose.
Rosemary Kneipp
December 30th, 2016 at 5:44 pm
Now the “souris d’agneau” is not the leg as such, but the knuckle joint. It’s something I particularly like and is very easy to cook in the oven. It’s also more suitable for smaller numbers than a leg of lamb. You don’t always see them in the butcher’s but if you ask for them to set aside a couple, they always will.
I can’t remember it being used in Canadian French, but there are different nuances in the language from the continental French.
Yes, I imagine there are lots of differences, though some 18th century expressions and words remain, I am told.
No wonder no one in the butcher’s knew the answer as to why a leg of venison was une gigue but a leg of lamb was un gigot when I asked them! 🙂 The even more intriguing question is why does gigue only apply to roe deer venison (chevreuil) and not red deer venison (cerf or biche), where a leg is referred to as un cuissot. The best answer we could come up with in the butcher’s was that hunters are a sort of breed apart and have adopted lots of very specific words not used in every day language.
Btw, I first heard the word gigue when watching an episode of Les Carnets de Julie about game. She kept referring to the joint of venison being cooked in one part of the programme as une gigue. At first I thought she was using some trendy abreviation, but then I realised it must be specific to venison. As far as I recall there was no explanation in the programme, she obviously just assumed that foodies watching the programme would know the word.
I highly recommend Les Carnets de Julie for intermediate French speakers like myself. It’s a great programme for practicing listening comprehension, especially if you are interested in French traditional food and drink. I’ve learnt a lot over the years from Julie. All the episodes are on YouTube if you want to watch them.
Now I’ll have to add a paragraph about cuissot which is like our haunch.
I checked out Les Carnets de Julie on YouTube and it does seem good for intermediate French speakers – except when she interviews the locals with their strong accents and patois words!
Sorry if it were here that I mentioned the ‘gigot of lamb’ being offered at our local resto as ‘souris d’agneau’. The smaller end I suppose.
Now the “souris d’agneau” is not the leg as such, but the knuckle joint. It’s something I particularly like and is very easy to cook in the oven. It’s also more suitable for smaller numbers than a leg of lamb. You don’t always see them in the butcher’s but if you ask for them to set aside a couple, they always will.