Starting to get ready for making mincemeat and Christmas Puddings and our supply of shredded beef suet from the UK has gone horribly wrong. We have never seen it here in France but can’t believe it isn’t available. Can anyone confirm if you can get shredded Beef Suet here in France and if so does it go by any specific name?
Disclaimer: My culinary knowledge doesn’t stretch to actual experience as to how well it does as a substitute but a bit of research suggests it might be close enough; I think suet in the UK includes some flour though for longevity/ease of handling (eg Atora is 85% fat 15% flour).
La panne, which is the fat that surrounds beef kidneys, is a substitute. Blanc de boeuf is any old beef fat, so might not be right. Or you could perhaps freeze and grate a block of saindoux (found in most supermarkets) which is pork suet rather than beef.
Thanks Paul. I know Blanc de Bouef is a bit like lard. I might experiment with mixing that with flour to see if we can approximate beef suet. Atora would be our chosen one so I will go with their percentages.
“Blanc de Boeuf” is/was the brand in France, although mainly only found in the North, and in Belgium. I’ve seen it occasionally in supermarkets in other areas.
Our local butcher/traiteur … offers local meat… and kidneys are on sale “clean” eg without the fat… but if asked and given enough notice … he will carefully guard the fat for a customer…
but, I do live in a very curious part of France… and this service might not be available elsewhere…
I would also add… he only accepts 2 customers at one time… and masks must be worn !
No-one argues about masks with him, since his meat products are so delicious…
Plenty of graisse de rognon at local butchers in our part of Burgundy (if you ask in advance), they usually give it away if you are regular customers. All beef, veal etc is sourced locally.
Hi there. Go to your local butcher and ask for lamb kidney fat (it’s the white stuff that surrounds the kidney) They will look at you very strangely as they usually throw it away. They may not even charge you for it. When you get it home strip off any dark bits and keep just the white fat. Put this through a mincer or robochef or chop by hand to the size you want. Voila! Suet!
I always use butter instead of beef suet, the thought of beef fat in my mince pies doesn’t fill me with glee, I use all butter in my pastry too. Everyone loves them, lol, even the non butter likers
Thanks everyone for all your comments and suggestions. Plenty to follow up on and a large number of mince pies should be available for taste testing if I am lucky.
Suet = gras de rognon de boeuf
My specialist butcher in U.K. used to give it away, free. However the French, as far as I can tell, consider it a waste product and look at you very strangely if you ask for it. However, someone will doubtless supply if you persevere.
Bonne chance !
Steve