Remembrance of Things Paris

by Gourmet Magazine Editors

  Reduce 4 cups beef bouillon over high heat until it is thick and syrupy. Set this glaze aside.

  Remove the meat from the marinade and roast it in a buttered roasting pan in a very hot oven (450°F), basting it occasionally with ½ cup melted butter, to the rare stage. Allow about 12 minutes per pound. During the last 5 or 6 minutes of roasting, brush the meat with the prepared glaze three times. Turn off the oven heat and open the door for 3 minutes. Close the door and let the meat rest in the oven for 12 minutes. Arrange the fillet on a flameproof platter in a ring of duchess potatoes and ham and put the platter under the broiler long enough to brown the potatoes lightly. Garnish the platter with artichoke bottoms sprinkled with chopped herbs.

  To make the sauce, add the remaining glaze to the roasting pan with ½ cup Madeira and cook over moderate heat, stirring in all the brown bits. Strain the sauce and add 1 truffle, finely minced and heated for 5 minutes in ¼ cup Madeira. If the sauce is too salty, add a little more Madeira. Pour the sauce into a heated sauceboat and pass separately. Serves 6 to 8.

  DUCHESS POTATO AND HAM BORDER

  Cook 6 to 8 large potatoes, cut in pieces, in boiling salted water until they are very soft. Drain off the water, cover the pan, and shake it over low heat for 3 to 4 minutes to dry the potatoes well. Rice the potatoes, beat in 5 tablespoons butter and salt to taste, and set them aside to cool. Beat in 4 egg yolks, one at a time, to make the duchess potato mixture.

  Make ham balls as follows: Combine 1 cup ground cooked ham with 2 shallots, minced, 2 tablespoons finely chopped blanched almonds, 1 tablespoon each of minced parsley and mayonnaise, and a little salt, if necessary. Shape the mixture into 16 marble-sized balls and chill them well.

  Spread a strip of the duchess potatoes, large enough to enclose the fillet, on a flameproof platter. Press the ham balls at even intervals into the strip. Pack the remaining potato mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a large fluted tube and pipe large rosettes over the ham balls. Fill the areas between rosettes with potato swirls. Sprinkle the potatoes with melted butter and brown them under the broiler with the fillet, as above.

  SOUFFLÉ D’ASPERGES

  (Asparagus Soufflé)

  Snap the tough ends from 2½ pounds asparagus and steam the green spears in salted water until they are tender. Drain the asparagus and reserve the water. Force the asparagus through a sieve or purée it in a blender to make 1½ cups purée. Melt a generous ¼ cup butter in a heavy saucepan, stir in 6 tablespoons flour, and add gradually ¾ cup milk and ¼ cup of the reserved water. Cook the sauce over low heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens. Add the purée and cool the sauce slightly. Beat in 4 egg yolks, season with salt and pepper to taste, and fold in 6 stiffly beaten egg whites. Pour the mixture into a buttered soufflé dish, set the dish in a pan of water only slightly larger than the dish, and bake the soufflé in a moderately hot oven (375°F) for 45 minutes, or until it is puffed and brown. Arrange rolled-up prosciutto slices around a platter, allowing enough space in the center for the soufflé dish. Brown ¾ cup bread crumbs in 1 cup butter and add 1 teaspoon grated orange rind and salt to taste. Serve the soufflé at once and pass the brown butter sauce.

  POULARDE ROSE MARIE

  (Chicken Rose Marie)

  Truss 2 fat pullets as for roasting and parboil them in salted water for 10 minutes. Drain them, cover with fresh cold water, and add 2 onions, 2 carrots, and 2 celery stalks, all thinly sliced. Bring the water to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer the chickens, covered, for 35 to 45 minutes, or until they are tender. Transfer the cooled birds to a platter, remove the skin, and chill the birds.

  Skim the fat from the chicken stock and reduce it over high heat to 4 cups. Gradually stir in 2 lightly beaten egg whites, bring the stock to a rolling boil, and remove it from the heat. Let the stock stand for 10 minutes and strain it through a sieve lined with cheesecloth. Melt 3 tablespoons butter, stir in ¼ cup flour, and cook the roux until it is smooth. Add gradually the strained stock and cook the sauce, stirring constantly, for 10 minutes. Tint the sauce pink with paprika and add salt and pepper to taste. Soften 2 envelopes gelatin in ½ cup dry sherry and dissolve it in the hot sauce. Cool this chaud-froid sauce until it is on the point of setting but is still liquid. Trim the chickens and cover them with several coats of the sauce, applying two or three layers with a pastry brush and pouring on the final layer to achieve a smooth surface. Let each layer set before applying another. Decorate the top layer with truffle cutouts and tarragon leaves before it sets. Arrange the chickens on cold rice salad and garnish the platter with chopped aspic. For 6 to 8.

  COLD RICE SALAD

  In a flameproof casserole brown lightly ? cup minced onion in a generous ¼ cup butter. Add 2½ cups long-grain rice and 2 truffles, peeled and chopped, and stir the rice with a wooden spoon over moderate heat until the grains are glazed and slightly transparent. Slowly stir in with a fork 7 cups boiling chicken stock. Cover the casserole and bake the rice in a moderately hot oven (375°F) for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the rice is tender and the stock is absorbed. Stir in 2 tablespoons each of French dressing and heavy cream and 1 cup chopped mushrooms sautéed for 5 minutes in 3 tablespoons butter. Cool the rice, press it into an oiled shallow round pan, and chill it thoroughly. Unmold the rice onto a chilled platter and use as a base for arranging the chicken Rose Marie.

  This rice may also be served as a salad, with French dressing.

  SALADE DE CHAMPIGNONS ET CRESSON

  (Watercress and Mushroom Salad)

  Marinate 1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms for 1 hour in a mixture of ½ cup olive oil, ¼ cup wine vinegar beaten with 2 teaspoons heavy cream, ½ teaspoon each of salt and sugar, and ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. Combine the mushrooms and marinade with 1 onion and 1 peeled and cored tart apple, both thinly sliced, and the leaves from 2 bunches of watercress. Sprinkle the salad with 1 teaspoon each of chopped chervil and chives.

  COUPE RÊVE DE BÉBÉ

  (Baby’s Dream)

  Hull 1 quart strawberries and pick out 1½ cups large perfect fruit. Steep this fruit in a mixture of ?cup orange juice and 1 tablespoon orange-flavored liqueur sweetened with 1½ tablespoons confectioners’ sugar. Force the remaining berries through a sieve and add 1 tablespoon orange-flavored liqueur and confectioners’ sugar to taste. Chill a 2-quart glass bowl and half-fill it with 3 cups pineapple sherbet. Cover the sherbet with the strawberry purée and cover the purée with 2 cups raspberry sherbet, rounded in a dome shape. Cover the raspberry sherbet with the whole strawberries and their liquid. Decorate the edges of the bowl with ? cup heavy cream, whipped, sweetened with confectioners’ sugar and flavored with 2 teaspoons grated orange rind. Decorate with crystallized violets.

  GTEAU DE BAPTÊME

  (Baptismal Cake)

  Cream ½ cup butter, gradually add 3 cups sugar, and beat the mixture until it is creamy. Add 12 egg yolks, 2 at a time, beating after each addition. Sift 6 cups flour with 4 teaspoons baking powder and add this to the batter alternately with 2 cups milk. Line the bottom and sides of a buttered 10-inch springform pan with brown paper, allowing it to extend 2 inches above the rim of the pan, and butter the paper. Pour the batter into the pan, smooth the top with a knife, and put the pan on a baking sheet. Bake the cake in a moderately slow oven (325°F) for about 1 hour, or until it tests done. Cool the cake on a rack and set it aside until the following day.

  Cut the cake into 4 layers and sprinkle each layer with a little orange-flavored liqueur. Spread with orange butter cream and sandwich the layers together, smoothing and trimming the sides and edges. Glaze the sides with white fondant icing and transfer the cake to a platter. Pack pale yellow royal icing into a pastry bag fitted with a fluted tube and pipe rosettes around the base of the cake. Spread the top with pale yellow fondant icing and pipe a row of pearls of royal icing around the edge of the top where it meets the white icing. The infant’s name may be piped around the top in royal icing. An elaborate bouquet of pastel-colored flowers should be piped onto the to
p of the cake, but this can be done only by someone who has learned cake decorating. Fresh flowers may be laid around the cake.

  CONSOMMÉ CHRISTIANA

  Bring to a boil ½ cup water, ¼ cup butter, and a pinch of salt. Add ½ cup flour all at once and stir the dough briskly until it forms a ball and cleans the sides of the pan. Cool the dough slightly and beat in 2 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Shape the dough into tiny rounds with 2 spoons, or press small rounds through a pastry tube onto a buttered baking sheet. Bake the puffs in a very hot oven (450°F) for 5 minutes, reduce the heat to moderate (350°F), and bake them for 15 to 20 minutes, or until they are golden, dry, and crisp. Turn off the heat, open the oven door for 3 minutes, close the door, and let the tiny profiteroles dry in the oven for 30 minutes. Make a small incision in the side of each and fill it with a well-salted chestnut purée.

  Simmer 6 cups beef consommé with a generous cup of pitted and drained sweet cherries for 5 minutes. Serve each cup of consommé garnished with some of the cherries and with a few chestnut profiteroles, added at the last minute.

  POULET EN COCOTTE BONNE FEMME

  (Chicken in the Pot Bonne Femme)

  Season two 3-pound broiling chickens with salt and pepper and brown the birds on all sides in ½ cup butter in a large earthenware casserole. Add ½ cup chicken consommé and ¼ cup dry white wine and lay the chickens on their sides. Roast the birds in a moderate oven (350°F), basting and turning them frequently, for about 1 hour, or until they are tender. Add more wine and consommé if necessary. Turn the birds breasts up for the last 20 minutes.

  Cook 2 cups potatoes, cut into ½-inch cubes, in ? cup butter until they are tender, shaking the pan frequently. Sprinkle the potatoes with 2 tablespoons minced parsley and add salt and pepper to taste. Skim the fat from the broth in the casserole and add the potatoes, 3 tablespoons finely diced pimiento, 3 thick slices of bacon, cut into dice and sautéed until crisp, and 1½ cups button mushrooms, sautéed in the potato butter for 5 minutes. Garnish with watercress and serve the chicken from the casserole.

  SALADE D’ÉPINARDS

  (Spinach Salad)

  Wash and pat dry 1 pound spinach, remove all the large stems, and tear the leaves into pieces. Wash and pat dry 1 bunch of watercress and remove all the stems. Chill the leaves until they are crisp and mix them together in a large bowl.

  Combine 1 garlic clove, crushed, ½ teaspoon each of salt and grated lemon rind, ¼ teaspoon each of paprika and pepper, and 2 tablespoons tarragon vinegar. Add gradually ½ cup olive oil, beating constantly, and beat in 2 tablespoons sour cream. Pour the dressing over the greens, toss them well, and crumble 6 slices cooked crisp bacon over the salad.

  MOUSSE AUX FRAISES

  (Strawberry Mousse)

  Force 1 quart hulled strawberries through a sieve, or purée them in a blender, and add the juice of ½ lemon and ½ cup confectioners’ sugar. Whip 1½ cups heavy cream until it is stiff and fold in 2 egg whites stiffly beaten with ½ cup confectioners’ sugar. Add the strawberry purée and a few drops of grenadine. Pour the mixture into an oiled mold, stretch wax paper or plastic wrap over the top, and adjust the lid. Pack the mold in a mixture of 6 parts chopped ice to 1 part rock salt, and freeze the mousse, without stirring, for 4 hours. Or set the mold in the home freezer for 4 hours. Unmold to serve.

  POTAGE PIERRE-LE-GRAND

  (Peter the Great Soup)

  In a large saucepan cook 2 cups diced celery, 1 cup sliced carrots, 2 sprigs each of thyme and parsley, and ½ bay leaf in boiling salted water to cover for 35 minutes. In another pan stir 3 tablespoons flour into 2 tablespoons melted butter and add gradually 2 cups scalded milk. Cook the sauce for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir it into the vegetables and simmer the soup for 15 minutes. Force the soup through a sieve or purée it in a blender. Fold 2 beaten egg yolks into 1 cup heavy cream, lightly whipped, add this mixture to the soup, and season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper to taste. Serve with toasted croutons and a garnish of tiny balls of Roquefort rolled in minced parsley.

  FILET DE SOLE CASANOVA

  (Fillet of Sole Casanova)

  Arrange 8 fillets of sole in a buttered pan and sprinkle them with salt, white pepper, and 2 tablespoons melted butter. Add ? cup dry white wine and bake the fillets in a moderately hot oven (375°F) for about 15 minutes, basting them every 5 minutes. Poach 16 small oysters in their own liquor until the edges curl. Simmer 1 cup tiny bay scallops in salted water to cover for 5 minutes. Arrange the fillets on a flameproof platter, cover them with the oysters and scallops, well drained, and keep them warm. Add the oyster liquor and scallop water to the pan in which the sole was cooked. Reduce the stock over high heat by two thirds and cool and reserve it.

  Melt 1½ tablespoons butter in a heavy saucepan, stir in 3 tablespoons flour, and cook the roux, stirring, over low heat for 3 minutes. Scald 1½ cups milk with 2 thin onion slices and 1 sprig of parsley. Strain the milk into the roux, stirring with a whisk, and cook the sauce, stirring, until it thickens. Reduce the heat and cook the sauce, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons heavy cream and nutmeg, salt, and white pepper to taste. Cool the sauce slightly, beat in 3 egg yolks, and stir it into the reserved fish stock. Reheat the sauce over low heat but do not let it boil. Pour it over the sole and put the platter under a very hot broiler to glaze the sauce. Surround the fillets with triangles of white bread browned in saffron butter and lightly salted.

  NOIX DE VEAU PRINCE ORLOV

  (Veal Prince Orlov)

  Season a boneless “nut” of veal with salt and pepper and let it stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. (The “nut” is the tender piece of meat that lies along the inner side of the calf’s hind leg. If it is unavailable use a boned rolled leg of veal.) Rub the meat generously with butter and lay it in a casserole on a bed of 2 onions and 2 carrots, all thinly sliced. Braise the meat in a moderate oven (350°F) until it is lightly browned. Add ½ cup melted butter and cook the meat, basting it frequently with the pan juices, for 40 to 50 minutes, or until it is very tender. Transfer the meat to a flameproof platter, reserving the vegetables.

  Cook 2 large onions, cut in pieces, in a little boiling salted water until they are soft. Drain the onions and force them through a sieve or purée them in a blender. In a large saucepan sauté 1 shallot, chopped, in 3 tablespoons butter until it is transparent. Add ? pound mushrooms, finely chopped, and cook for 5 minutes. Combine the onion purée, the chopped mushrooms, and 2 cups Mornay sauce. Season the sauce with salt and white pepper.

  Slice the cooked veal, dip each slice in the sauce, and reshape the roast. Spread the roast with more of the sauce and keep it warm.

  Force the reserved vegetables through a sieve and return them to the casserole. Add ½ cup Madeira and stir the sauce over low heat. Thicken the sauce with 1 teaspoon flour kneaded with 1 teaspoon butter, season with salt and pepper to taste, and strain into a sauceboat.

  Sprinkle the veal with ½ cup grated Gruyère, brown the topping under the broiler, and sprinkle with 1 truffle, peeled and finely chopped.

  BOMBE DON JUAN

  Line a bombe mold rinsed in cold water with a 1-inch layer of peach ice cream, adjust the lid, and store it in the freezer. Prepare a pâte-à-bombe: Boil together ½ cup each of water and sugar until a candy thermometer registers 217°F. Cool the syrup. Beat 4 egg yolks in the top of a double boiler until they are light. Set the pan over simmering water and add the sugar syrup in a thin stream, beating constantly. Cook the pâte-à-bombe, stirring slowly, for about 12 minutes, or until it is thick and has doubled in volume. Set the pan in a large pan of ice and beat the pâte-à-bombe until it is cold. It will be smooth, pale, and thick. Fold in 1½ cups heavy cream, whipped, ½ cup praline powder, and 2 tablespoons kirsch. Pour this mixture into the hollow center of the bombe mold, cover the cream with wax paper or plastic wrap, and adjust the lid. Freeze the bombe for 6 hours in a home freezer or in a mixture of 3 parts chopped ice to 1 part rock salt. Unmold the bombe and circle the ba
se with candied cherries.

  October 1962

  HIGH AND DRY

  Joseph Wechsberg

  We paid a sentimental visit to our friend Raymond Cordier, who retired a couple of years ago as first barman on the S.S. France. The day before, the France had been taken over by its crew in a desperate attempt to create public sentiment that might save the beautiful ship. She was obstructing the harbor in Le Havre. But the fate of the France had been decided, and we knew it. Raymond, one of my all-time favorite barmen, could make a special drink for every conceivable symptom of mal de mer and mal au coeur. Great barmen are kindhearted, wise men, and Raymond had spent many nights at the Riviera Bar, listening to confessions of his customers. He could have written a fascinating book, but, unlike many characters of our show-off age who can’t wait to tell all, Raymond keeps his secrets; he is a gentleman.

  He has been lucky. No man likes to stop working at fifty-five, the obligatory retirement age of the French Line’s seagoing personnel, and his pension is rather small. One of his loyal customers at the Riviera Bar was James Rothschild. A few months after Raymond left the France, he was approached and offered the job of directeur of Le Café Français, the top restaurant of the Rothschild-controlled Hotel P.L.M. Saint-Jacques.

  We found Raymond, wise and warm and dignified as ever, at his new empire, a successful evocation of the Belle Époque, with marble tables and old-style chairs, red plush banquettes and lace curtains, palm trees and old lamps. Everything looked a little too new for 1900, but Raymond’s pride, an old up-right player piano (PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH),conveyed an authentic impression, and so did the lovely old posters of the Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée railroad (also a Rothschild enterprise), offering Wagons-Lits with “lits-salons et cabinets de toilette,” “Menton à 17½ heures de Paris et 11 minutes de Monte Carlo,” “L’Hiver à Nice,” “Allevard-les-Bains, Billets à Prix Réduits.”Those were the days—and nights.