ROASTS AND SALADS
In the first part of this work I explained the fundamental principles
governing the treatment of Roasts, and I now have to add only a few
words to what has already been said. Recipes may be consummate in
detail and in accuracy, and still they will be found wanting in the
matter of Roasts; for experience alone can tell the operator whether
the joint he is treating be old or young, fresh or stale; whether it
must be cooked quickly or slowly, and all the theories that I might
advance on this subject, though perhaps they might not be useless,
would at least prove impracticable nine times out of ten.
I shall not prescribe any limit of time for Roasts, except in very
special cases, and even so that limit will only be approximate.
Nothing can be made precise in the matter; long practice alone, away
from books, will teach it; for book-rules can only be understood when
the light of practical knowledge is focussed upon them.
1942—ACCOMPANIMENT OF ROASTS
It struck me as desirable that I should give in this chapter the
recipes of the various preparations which, in England, are served with
Roasts:—Yorkshire Pudding, Veal Stuffing, &c. Having treated of the
accompanying sauces to Roasts in Part I, I need only recall them here.
1943—YORKSHIRE PUDDING (For Beef Roasts)
Mix one-half lb. of sifted flour with six eggs and one quart of boiled
milk, adding the eggs one by one and the milk little by little. Season
with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Pour this preparation into a deep baking-pan, containing some very hot
dripping, and bake in the oven. If the joint be roasted on the spit,
put the Yorkshire pudding under it, on taking the former out of the
oven, and let it thus become saturated with the gravy and fat that fall
from the roast.
Cut into squares or lozenges, and set these round the Roast or serve
them separately.
1944—SAGE AND ONIONS STUFFING (For Turkeys, Ducks and Geese)
Bake four large onions in the oven with their skins on. This done, peel
them and finely chop them; fry them in butter with a pinch of dry green
chopped sage. Add bread-crumbs, soaked in milk and pressed, equal in
weight to the onions, and half the weight of chopped veal fat.
1945—VEAL STUFFING (For Veal and Pork)
This stuffing is made from equal quantities of chopped suet, sifted
bread-crumbs, and chopped parsley. Season with salt and pepper as for
an ordinary forcemeat, and be liberal with the nutmeg.
Cohere this forcemeat with three small eggs per two lbs. of the above
preparation.
1946—ROASTS OF BUTCHER’S MEAT
I must remind the reader of this principle, viz.: that however natural
it may seem in a dinner to serve a roasted joint as a Remove, a piece
of butcher’s meat must never stand as a Roast.
Roasts really only comprise _Fowl_ and _Feathered Game_, provided
the menu only announces one roast. If two are announced, the second
generally consists of some kind of crustacean, such as a _Lobster_,
a _Spiny Lobster_ or _Crayfish_, generally served in the form of a
_Mousse_; or of a preparation of foie gras, _i.e._: either a _Pâté_, a
_Terrine_, a _Mousse_ or a Parfait; sometimes, too, by a very good ham
or a derivative preparation thereof.
=Beef Roasts=
1947—ROAST RIBS OF BEEF
Clear the joint of the vertebræ and the yellow ligaments. Roast before
a moderately fierce fire, and place the joint if possible in an
uncovered braising-pan, the sides of which may protect the meat during
the cooking process.
1948—ROAST UPPER-FILLET
Break the projecting bones of the vertebræ, and sever the yellow
ligament at various points. For this joint the heat should be fiercer
than in the previous case, the limit of time being less.
1949—ROAST SIRLOIN
These enormous pieces are scarcely trimmed; the excess of flank alone
is suppressed; but the fillet must remain covered by a considerable
thickness of fat, which protects it while roasting.
Without this precautionary measure, the under-cut would be cooked long
before the upper-fillet, and would dry up.
The fire should be concentrated, regular and not too fierce for this
joint. The flat bones of the vertebræ must be broken at their base, but
not detached.
1950—FILLET OF BEEF
Fillet of beef intended for roasting should be carefully cleared of
its two sinewy envelopes. But, since this trimming tends to let it dry
while cooking, were the meat left as it stands, it is customary to
lard it with strips of fresh fat bacon, which protect it; or it may be
wrapped in slices of bacon. In certain circumstances, it is covered on
top and beneath with slices of beef fat, flattened to the thickness of
a rasher of bacon by means of a beater, and tied on with string.
Fillet of beef should be cooked with a somewhat fierce fire, and, in
England, it is usually kept underdone towards the centre.
N.B.—Large roast joints of beef are always accompanied by Yorkshire
pudding, grated Horse-radish or Horse-radish sauce (No. 119 or 138).
1951—RÔTIS DE VEAU (Veal Roasts)
In my opinion, the spit does not suit veal, whatever be the quality of
the latter. _Poëling_ (No. 250) is preferable and suits it better.
The quality of meat can but be enhanced under the treatment I suggest,
more particularly as the _poëling_-liquor constitutes a much richer
gravy than that which generally accompanies veal roasted on the spit.
In English cookery roast veal is always accompanied by boiled ham or
breast of bacon. _Veal Stuffing_ (No. 1945) poached in steam in a
special mould, and cut into slices, is sent at the same time.
Roast joints of veal are generally _the Loin_, the best end, the
_Neck_ or the _Fillet_.
Sometimes, too, but more rarely, _the Cushion_ is roasted.
1952—MUTTON AND LAMB ROASTS
Mutton and Lamb are the best possible meats to roast, and, as far as
they are concerned, the culinary treatment might be limited to roasting.
True, good results are obtained from poaching mutton and _poëling_
home-lamb; but it is advisable only to have recourse to these methods
when a menu requires varying.
The Mutton joints roasted are _the Leg_, _the Double or Pair of
Hind-legs_, _the Baron_ or (_Hindquarters_), _the Saddle_ and _the
Neck_.
The Shoulder also makes an excellent roast, but it may only appear on
more or less unimportant menus.
Roast joints of mutton and lamb are always accompanied by Mint Sauce
(No. 136).
1953—PORK ROASTS
Pork roasts may only appear on very ordinary menus, and really belong
to domestic cookery. The pork joints for roasting are _the Legs_, _the
Fillets_, and _the Neck_.
The joints selected should be those derived from very young animals,
and the rind should be left upon them, and cut deeply in criss-cross
lines, so as to form a lozenge pattern.
Pork should always be roasted before a fierce fire, and it is
accompanied by its gravy and Sage and Onions (No. 1944) or Apple
sauce (No. 112). Sometimes Apple sauce is replaced by Cranberry sauce
(No. 115); while Roberts sauce Escoffier is also admirably suited to
these roasts.
1954—VENISON ROASTS
I have already pointed out that Roebuck is not very much eaten in
England, and that this excellent ground game must be used without
having been _marinaded_. Every piece of roebuck must be trimmed and
cleared of tendons, larded with larding bacon, or, at least, carefully
wrapped in the latter; and roasted before a fierce fire and kept
underdone towards the centre.
The joints of roebuck most commonly roasted are _the Legs_ and _the
Saddle_.
_The fallow Deer_ and _the Stag_ supply the greater part of the Venison
consumed in England; and when these animals are of good quality their
flesh is covered by a thick coat of white fat, which is very highly
esteemed by connoisseurs. Only the neck and the haunch are roasted, and
the latter consists of one leg with half of the saddle attached.
This venison is never _marinaded_, but it should be kept for as long as
possible in a dry and well-aired place, that the meat may be gamy.
Before hanging the joint, dredge it well with a mixture of flour and
pepper, that it may keep dry and free from the flies.
When about to prepare this Venison, scrape off the coating of flour;
wrap it in an envelope of firm suet dough. Cover the whole with oiled
paper, tied on with string; and place the joint before a regular, red
fire, concentrated and fierce.
When the joint is thought to be cooked, peel off its envelope; season
it with salt; sprinkle it with a few pinches of flour, and plenty of
melted butter, and brown it as quickly as possible.
Large joints of Venison allow of the following adjuncts:—_Poivrade
sauce_ and its derivatives, such as _Venison sauce_ and _Grand-Veneur
sauce_; also _the Cumberland_ and _Oxford_ sauces of English cookery.
Generally a sauceboat of red-currant jelly is sent with these joints,
unless the accompanying sauce already contains some of it.
=Fowl Roasts=
1955—PULLETS
Large birds, when roasted, should always be salted inside, trussed
and covered with slices of bacon. They should be cooked before a
concentrated and moderately fierce fire. About ten minutes before
unhooking them, remove their covering of bacon, that their breasts may
colour.
A bird is known to be cooked when the juice which issues from it, if it
be held over a plate, is white. Having ascertained that it is cooked,
set it on a very hot dish and serve it instantly.
In England it is customary to surround the fowl with grilled sausages
or slices of bacon, and to send a sauceboat of bread sauce (No. 113) at
the same time as the gravy.
1956—TRUFFLED PULLET
Empty the pullet intended for truffling, by means of a little hole on
the side of the belly, and remember to keep the skin of the neck whole.
This done, remove the collar bone at the summit of the breast, and
detach the skin from the whole of the breast.
For a fine pullet, there will be needed one and one-half lbs. of
truffles.
After having well brushed and washed the truffles, carefully peel them;
select one of the largest; cut it into slices, and put these aside.
Now quarter the other, letting each piece weigh about three oz.
Pound the truffle peel with two lbs. of very fresh pork fat, and rub
the whole through a sieve. Take about one-half lb. of this fat; melt
it, together with a bay-leaf; and, when it is quite liquid, add the
quartered truffles to it (seasoned with salt and pepper), and simmer
the whole for about ten minutes.
This done, take it off the fire; leave to cool almost entirely under
cover, and mix with what remains of the truffled fat.
Stuff the pullet with this preparation, and slip between the bird’s
skin and the flesh of its breast some thin slices of bacon. Upon the
slices of bacon place the reserved slice of truffle; carefully sew up
all the openings in the pullet with very thin string; wrap it in one or
two sheets of buttered paper; put it on the spit, and stand it before a
concentrated fire which should be kept at an even heat throughout the
process of roasting.
About one-quarter of an hour before serving, remove the paper and the
slices of bacon, that the breast may colour. Set on a hot dish, and
send the gravy, which should be kept rather fat, separately.
The time allowed for roasting a fine fowl is somewhere between one and
one-quarter to one and one-half hours.
1957—CHICKEN A LA REINE AND SPRING CHICKENS
The directions given for the pullet also apply to other kinds of fowl,
provided the difference in size be taken into account.
1958—SPRING CHICKENS A LA RUSSE
Truss the chicken and soak its breast for five minutes in boiling
water, that the flesh and the skin may be stiff.
Lard it with thin strips of bacon and anchovy fillets; fill it with
smooth, truffled sausage-meat, and roast it on the spit.
At the last moment, when the bird is cooked, baste it by means of a
special paper horn, with burning melted bacon fat, which should frizzle
the fowl’s skin as it falls upon it.
Serve a Rémoulade sauce separately.
1959—ROAST CHICKS
These birds should, if possible, be cooked “_à la casserole_.”
1960—ROAST YOUNG TURKEYS
Before trussing the young turkey, clear its legs of all tendons; an
operation effected by means of two incisions made on the inside of the
legs, above and below the last joint. Seize the tendons one by one;
fasten them to a braiding needle, and gently turn the latter, thus
rolling the tendons round it.
Young turkey is covered with slices of bacon and roasted like the
Pullet.
It may be stuffed with Sage and Onions (No. 1944), or it may be
accompanied by Veal Stuffing (No. 1945), poached in steam in a special
mould, and cut into slices set around the bird.
It is often accompanied, also, by boiled or grilled bacon, or grilled
sausages. _A Bread sauce_ or _a Cranberry sauce_ may be served in
addition to the gravy.
1961—TRUFFLED YOUNG TURKEY
Proceed as for truffled pullet, after taking the difference of size
into account in order to increase the quantity of truffles and fat, as
also the time limit.
1962—ROAST GOSLING
The Gosling, in order to be roasted, should just have reached its full
growth. In England the bird is stuffed with Sage and Onions (No. 1944),
and it is always accompanied by Apple Sauce (No. 112).
This roast must not stand waiting, and ought to be served very hot.
1963—CANETON RÔTI (Roast Duckling)
Aylesbury duckling, which is equal to the Nantes variety, is generally
stuffed with Sage and Onions before being roasted.
Its most usual adjunct is Apple Sauce, which is sometimes replaced by
melted, red-currant jelly or a Cranberry Sauce.
1964—CANETON ROUENNAIS
See the various recipes dealing with this bird (Nos. 1761 and 1762).
1965—PINTADE (Guinea Fowl)
This bird is only roasted when quite young, and it is treated like the
pheasant, with which it has some points in common.
1966—YOUNG PIGEONS (Squabs)
Select them fresh from the nest and very plump. They must be roasted
before a very fierce fire and only just done. Their skin must be kept
crisp.
=Ground-Game Roasts=
1967—HARE
The piece supplied by the hare for roasting is the “Râble” (the back),
which constitutes that part of the animal reaching from the root of the
neck to the tail, the latter being included.
The “Râble” should be cleared of all tendons, and delicately larded
with bacon.
Roast before a fierce fire for twenty minutes, and have it only just
done. The usual adjunct to this piece is Poivrade Sauce. In Northern
countries, the adjunct is most commonly some slightly-sugared, stewed
apples, or red currant jelly.
In Germany, the pan in which the Râble is roasted is swilled with sour
cream, and this cream constitutes the accompaniment. Sometimes a few
drops of lemon juice or a tablespoon of melted meat glaze is added.
1968—YOUNG RABBIT
The various recipes for Hare also apply to the young wild rabbit.
=Feathered-Game Roasts=
1969—FAISAN RÔTI
Everything I said in the preceding chapter concerning the
classification of feathered game applies in this instance.
All birds intended for roasting should be young, plump, and fat. They
should also be high in the case of pheasants, partridges, and the
various kinds of woodcock and snipe.
A pheasant for roasting should always be covered with slices of bacon.
An excellent practice which greatly improves the bird is that of
stuffing it with a piece of fresh pork fat, pounded with peelings of
fresh truffles, if possible.
Instead of well-pounded fresh pork fat, an equal weight of fresh butter
may be used.
This fatty substance impregnates the meat when it melts, and keeps
the bird from becoming dry while cooking. The method also applies to
partridge. Roast pheasant is generally accompanied by two trimmed
half-lemons and a dish of potato chips. The gravy, which should be fat,
is served in a sauceboat, and bread sauce or some bread-crumbs fried in
butter are sent at the same time.
1970—FAISAN RÔTI A LA PERIGOURDINE
Stuff the pheasant with two oz. of pounded fresh pork fat, two oz. of
foie-gras trimmings, and a similar quantity of raw-truffle parings,
the whole pounded together and combined with one-half lb. of raw
truffles, cut into large dice.
After having covered the pheasant with slices of bacon, roast it in
accordance with the directions given under Truffled Pullet. It is
better, however, to cook and serve it in a _cocotte_.
1971—FAISAN A LA GUNZBOURG
Bone two fine snipes; empty them of their intestines; fry these in
butter, and crush them on a plate. Chop up the meat of the snipes,
combining half its weight of cream with it, and as much butter; season
with salt and pepper, and add the crushed intestines and four oz. of
truffles cut into large dice.
Stuff a fine pheasant with this preparation; roast it “_en casserole_,”
or rather in a _cocotte_.
At the last moment sprinkle with a little _fumet_, prepared from the
snipes’ carcasses.
1972—PARTRIDGES
The above recipes, dealing with pheasants, may be applied to partridges.
1973—QUAILS
Select them white, very fat, and with the fat firm.
Wrap them in a buttered vine-leaf and a thin slice of bacon, and roast
them before a fierce fire for ten or twelve minutes.
Dish on small bread-crumb _croûtons_, fried in butter with half-lemons.
Serve their gravy, which, of course, should be very short, separately.
1974—ROAST ORTOLANS
Wrap each in a vine-leaf; set them on a tray, moistened with salted
water, and cause them to set in a fierce oven for four or five minutes.
The small amount of water lying on the bottom of the utensil produces
an evaporation which prevents the ortolans’ fat from melting;
consequently there is no need of slices of bacon, butter, or gravy.
Each ortolan may be served in a half-lemon, shaped like a basket.
N.B.—The ortolan is sufficient in itself, and it ought only to be eaten
roasted. The products sometimes served as adjuncts to it, such as
truffles and foie gras, are deleterious, if anything, to its quality,
for they modify the delicacy of its flavour, and this modification is
more particularly noticeable the more highly flavoured the adjunctive
products may be.
With its accompaniments it becomes a sumptuous dish, for the simple
reason that it is expensive; but it does not follow that the true
connoisseur will like it; it must be plainly roasted to suit him.
1975—ORTOLANS AUX QUESTCHES
Cut two large questches into halves, and allow one half for each
ortolan. Garnish the inside of each with a piece of butter the size of
a hazel-nut; set them on a tray, and put them in the oven. When they
are almost cooked, on each half of the questches place a moistened
ortolan, wrapped in a vine-leaf, and bake them in a very hot oven for
four minutes.
Salt them when taking them out of the oven, and sprinkle them, by means
of a brush, with verjuice.
Serve them as they stand, but the questches are not eaten; they only
serve as a support for the ortolan.
1976—ORTOLANS AU SUC D’ANANAS
Heat some fresh butter in a flat, earthenware _cocotte_, and allow
one-quarter oz. of it to each ortolan. Roll the previously salted
ortolans in this butter, and put them in a very hot oven for three
minutes.
When taking them out of the oven, sprinkle them with a few
tablespoonfuls of very cold pine-apple juice. Cover the _cocotte_, and
serve immediately.
The _cocotte_ should be just large enough to hold the ortolans.
1977—ROAST WOODCOCK
It should be just sufficiently high. Remove its gizzard; truss it,
piercing the legs with the beak, after having drawn the eyes; cover it
with slices of bacon, and cook it before a good fire for from fifteen
to eighteen minutes. Dish on a cushion of fried bread, and serve the
swilling-liquor separately, which in this case should be brandy and a
few drops of good game gravy.
1978—SNIPES AND BECOTS
For the preparation, proceed as for the woodcock.
Cause to set before a fierce fire, and cook for nine minutes.
1979—GRIVES ET MERLES DE CORSE (Thrushes and Corsican Blackbirds)
Truss them, and wrap them in slices of bacon. Insert a juniper berry
into the thrushes. Roast before a moderately fierce fire for ten or
twelve minutes, and dish on small cushions of fried bread.
Serve a very short gravy separately.
1980—MAUVIETTES (Larks)
Wrap them in very thin slices of bacon, and impale them on a skewer,
or discard the slices of bacon, and merely impale them on a skewer,
separating them by _blanched_ squares of breast of bacon.
Roast for ten minutes before a fierce fire.
Dish on small fried _croûtons_, with quarters of lemon and bunches of
watercress all round.
1981—CANARDS SAUVAGES (Wild Duck)
SARCELLES (Teal)
PILETS (Widgeons and Pintails)
These birds are not covered with slices of bacon, and are roasted
before a fierce fire.
_Wild duck_ must be kept underdone, and, in view of this, twenty
minutes suffice for the roasting. Dish with lemons and bunches of
watercress all round.
_Wild duck, roasted English-fashion._—Treat it as above; send an apple
sauce to the table with it.
_Wild duck à la Bigarrade._—This is roasted in a similar manner.
Surround it with sections of orange, skinned raw, and serve a clear
Bigarrade sauce separately.
The _teal_, which is a small, wild duck, is roasted before a fierce
fire for from ten to twelve minutes, and is surrounded with lemons and
watercress.
_Widgeons_ and _pintails_ are treated like the teal, but they are
allowed three or four minutes more in the roasting.
1982—PLUVIERS DORÉS (Golden Plover)
VANNEAUX (Lapwings)
CHEVALIERS DIVERS (Various Sandpipers)
These birds are not covered with slices of bacon; they must be roasted
before a very fierce fire, and kept somewhat underdone. They must be
served as soon as ready, as waiting is prejudicial to them.
They admit of no accompaniment or garnish, except a very short gravy.
1983—GROUSES, COQS DE BRUYÈRE (Black Game)
GELINOTTES (Hazel-hens)
These birds must be very fresh when roasted, and should be kept
moderately underdone.
They allow of the same adjuncts as pheasant, _i.e._, bread sauce,
bread-crumbs, potato chips, and gravy; and their breasts alone are
served as a rule. Grouse and hazel-hens, when they are young, make
incomparably fine roasts.
SALADS
Salads are of two kinds: simple, or compound. Simple, or raw salads
always accompany hot roasts; compound salads, which generally consist
of cooked vegetables, accompany cold roasts.
1984—THE SEASONING OF SALADS
1. _Oil seasoning_ may be applied to all salads, and is made up of
three parts of oil to one part of vinegar, with salt and pepper.
2. _Cream seasoning_ is particularly well suited to salads of
early-season lettuce and cos lettuce, and is made up of three parts of
very fresh and not very thick cream to one part of vinegar.
3. _Egg seasoning_ is prepared from crushed hard-boiled yolks of egg,
mixed in the salad-bowl with oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. The whites
of egg, cut into thin strips, are added to the salad. This seasoning
may also be a light mayonnaise sauce.
4. _Bacon seasoning_ is used especially for dandelion, red-cabbage,
and corn salads. In this case the oil is replaced by the grease of
the bacon dice, which are melted and frizzled in the omelet-pan. This
grease is poured, while hot, with the bacon dice, over the salad, which
should be in a hot salad-bowl and already seasoned with salt, pepper,
and the vinegar which has served in swilling the omelet-pan.
5. _Mustard with cream seasoning_ is used particularly with beetroot
salads, with salads of celeriac, and with green salads wherein beetroot
plays a major part. It is made up of a small tablespoonful of mustard,
mixed with one-third pint of fresh and somewhat thin cream, the juice
of a fair-sized lemon, salt, and pepper.
N.B.—I should like to point out that mayonnaise sauce must only be
used in very small quantities in the seasoning of salads. It is
indigestible, and many constitutions cannot suffer it, especially at
night at the end of a dinner.
Raw onion should likewise only be used in salads with great moderation,
in view of the fact that so many do not like it. In any case, it should
be finely _ciseled_, washed in fresh water, and pressed in the corner
of a towel.
1985—SIMPLE SALADS
They comprise, in the first place, those salads known under the name of
green salads. Such are lettuce, cos lettuce, chicory, endive, batavia,
celery, corn-salad, dandelion, purslain, dittander, rampion, salsify
leaves, white dandelion, &c.
1986—SALADS DE BETTERAVE (Beetroot Salad)
Beetroot is really the accompaniment of compound and simple salads, and
it is always best to cook it in the oven. If it be prepared specially
as a salad, cut it into a _julienne_ or into thin roundels; flavour it
with onions, first baked in cinders and then finely chopped, and season
it with mustard sauce or with oil, according to fancy. Always add some
chopped herbs.
1987—CELERY SALAD
For salads, only the fibreless, white celery is used—commonly known as
English celery. Cut it into pieces, and _cisel_ these into very thin
strips without altogether separating the latter at their base. Place in
cold water for a few hours, that the strips may curl; drain and season
with a mustard sauce with cream.
1988—CELERIAC SALAD
Cut the celeriac into a fine _julienne_ or _paysanne_.
Season, according to fancy, with a mustard sauce with cream, or a clear
mayonnaise sauce containing plenty of mustard.
1989—CAULIFLOWER SALAD
Divide the cooked and somewhat firm cauliflowers into small bunches,
cleared of all stalk. Season with oil and vinegar, and flavour with
chopped chervil.
1990—RED-CABBAGE SALAD
Suppress the midribs of the leaves; cut the leaves into a _julienne_,
and season them with oil and vinegar six hours in advance. The
_julienne_ of cabbages may be parboiled for a few minutes to modify
the rawness of the vegetable; it should then be cooled and seasoned as
above.
1991—CUCUMBER SALAD
Peel and thinly slice them; sprinkle the slices with table-salt, and
let them stand for two hours. Dry, and season them with oil, vinegar,
and chopped chervil.
1992—HARICOT BEANS AND LENTIL SALADS, ETC.
Thoroughly drain the vegetable, whatever be its kind; season with
oil and vinegar, and add some chopped parsley. Serve separately some
thinly-_ciseled_, washed, and pressed onion.
1993—POTATO SALAD
Cut some long, fair-sized potatoes, cooked in salted water and
lukewarm, to the shape of corks, and divide up the latter into thin
roundels.
Season with oil and vinegar, and add some chopped herbs.
1994—POTATO SALAD A LA PARISIENNE
Select potatoes which do not crumble, such as the vitelottes or new
kidney potatoes. Cook them in salted water; cut them to the shape of
corks, and slice them (while still lukewarm) into thin roundels. Put
them into a salad-bowl, and sprinkle them with two-thirds pint of white
wine per two lbs. of potatoes. Then season with oil and vinegar, add
some chopped chervil and parsley, and stir with care lest the roundels
break.
1995—TOMATO SALAD
Select some medium-sized and rather firm tomatoes, and scald them. Then
skin them; cut them in two crosswise; press them to clear them of juice
and seeds; cut them into thin strips; season them with oil and vinegar,
and add some chopped tarragon.
1996—COMPOUND SALADS
Unless they leave the kitchen to be served immediately, compound salads
are dished without their constituents being mixed. As the latter are
generally of various colours, they are seasoned and dished in distinct
heaps of contrasted shades.
The dishing of compound salads is finished by means of borders
consisting of pieces of very red beetroot, gherkins, truffles, roundels
of potatoes, and radishes. The method of arranging these vegetables
constitutes the decoration, and the latter, being subject to no rules,
is merely a matter of taste.
I do not advise the moulding of compound salads, for the increased
sightliness resulting therefrom is small compared with the loss in the
taste of the preparation. The simplest form of dishing is the best, and
fancifulness should not be indulged in, beyond the arrangement of the
vegetables in a pyramid, surrounded by a decorated border of jelly.
1997—SALADE ALLEMANDE
Take equal quantities of potatoes and apples, gherkins, and
herring-fillets, all cut into dice and arranged in heaps. Season with
hard-boiled egg sauce, and decorate with very red beetroot.
1998—SALADE AMÉRICAINE
Peel and press some tomatoes, and cut them into thin slices; cut some
potatoes into thin roundels, and prepare a short _julienne_ of celery.
Decorate with roundels of hard-boiled eggs and thin onion rings.
Season with oil and vinegar.
1999—SALADE ANDALOUSE
Peel and quarter some small tomatoes; cut some mild capsicums
_julienne_-fashion; cook some rice plainly in salted water, keeping
each grain separate; add a little crushed garlic and chopped onion and
parsley.
Season with oil and vinegar.
2000—SALADE BELLE-FERMIÈRE
This salad consists of curled celery and equal quantities of
plain-boiled potatoes, beetroot, and capsicum—all these vegetables
cut _julienne_-fashion, the celery measuring one-third, and the other
ingredients two-thirds of the whole.
Season with mustard sauce with cream.
2001—SALADE CRESSONNIÈRE
This consists of potatoes à la Parisienne (No. 2017) and watercress
leaves, in equal quantities. Sprinkle with parsley, chervil, and
hard-boiled egg, mixed.
2002—SALADE ISABELLE
Thinly slice equal quantities of raw mushrooms, celery, cooked
potatoes, and artichoke-bottoms. Dish in distinct heaps.
Season with oil and vinegar, and add some chopped chervil.
2003—SALADE DANICHEFF
Take equal quantities of sliced and _blanched_ celeriac, thin roundels
of potatoes, slices of artichoke-bottoms, strips of raw mushrooms, and
green asparagus-heads, and arrange them in heaps.
Deck with crayfishes’ tails, hard-boiled eggs, and truffles. Season
with mayonnaise sauce.
2004—SALADE DEMI-DEUIL
Take equal quantities of a _julienne_ of potatoes and a _julienne_
of very black truffles. Decorate with rings of truffle girding small
roundels of potato, and rings of potato girding small roundels of
truffle. Alternate the two forms of rings.
Season with a mustard sauce with cream.
2005—SALADE D’ESTRÉES
Take equal quantities of curled celery and a moderately small
_julienne_ of raw truffles. Season, when about to dish up, with a
mayonnaise sauce with mustard, slightly flavoured with cayenne.
2006—SALADE A LA FLAMANDE
This consists of a coarse _julienne_ of endives, a similar _julienne_
of potatoes, an onion baked in its skin, cooled, peeled, and chopped,
and some fillets of herring cut into dice, the quantities being in the
proportion of one-half of the whole for the endives, one-quarter of the
whole for the potatoes, and the remaining quarter for the onion and
fillets of herring.
Season with oil and vinegar, and add some chopped parsley and chervil.
2007—SALADE FRANCILLON
Take some potato salad “à la Parisienne” (No. 2017), previously
_marinaded_ in Chablis wine, some mussels (cleared of their beards,
and poached with celery), and slices of very black truffle, the three
constituents being in the proportion of one-half, one-quarter, and
one-quarter respectively.
Set the potato salad on the bottom of the salad bowl, and lay thereon,
by way of decoration, the mussels and the truffles in alternate layers.
2008—SALADE ITALIENNE
Take equal quantities of carrots, turnips, potatoes, tomatoes, and
French beans—all cut into regular dice; also peas, small stoned olives,
capers, anchovy fillets in small dice, and herbs for the seasoning.
Use hard-boiled eggs for the decoration.
Season with mayonnaise sauce.
2009—JOCKEY-CLUB SALAD
Take equal quantities of asparagus-heads and a _julienne_ of raw
truffles; the two should be seasoned separately some time in advance.
Cohere, when about to dish, with a very little highly-seasoned
mayonnaise sauce.
2010—SALADE LACMÉ
Take equal quantities of red capsicums and tomato sauce; plain-boiled
rice, kept very white, and with each grain distinct; and _ciseled_,
washed, and pressed onion.
Season with oil and vinegar, and flavour with curry.
2011—SALADE DE LEGUMES
Take equal quantities of carrots and turnips, raised by means of a
grooved spoon-cutter; potato dice; French beans cut lozenge-form; peas;
small flageolets, and asparagus-heads; arrange them in distinct heaps,
and set a fine bunch of cauliflower in the middle.
Season with oil and vinegar, and add some chopped parsley and chervil.
N.B.—For vegetable salad, use freshly-cooked and uncooled vegetables as
much as possible.
2012—SALADE LORETTE
Take equal quantities of corn salad, and a _julienne_ of beetroot and
celery. Season with oil and vinegar.
2013—SALADE MIGNON
Take equal quantities of shelled shrimps’ tails, artichoke-bottoms, cut
into dice, and very thin slices of black truffle arranged to form a
border. Season with highly-seasoned mayonnaise sauce with cream.
2014—SALADE MONTE-CRISTO
Take equal quantities of lobster-meat, cooked truffles, and potatoes
and hard-boiled eggs in dice, and arrange them in distinct heaps.
In their midst place the very white heart of a lettuce. Season with
mayonnaise sauce with mustard, and add some chopped tarragon.
2015—SALADE NIÇOISE
Take equal quantities of French beans, potato dice, and quartered
tomatoes. Decorate with capers, small, stoned olives, and anchovy
fillets.
Season with oil and vinegar.
2016—SALADE OPÉRA
Take equal quantities of white chicken meat, very red tongue,
celery-sticks cut _julienne_-fashion, and a _julienne_ of truffles.
Arrange these constituents in very regular heaps, and in the middle
of them set a heap of asparagus-heads. Decorate with a border
consisting of roundels of cocks’ kidneys and roundels of gherkins, laid
alternately.
Season with very thin mayonnaise sauce.
2017—SALADE PARISIENNE
_Clothe_ a Charlotte-mould with very clear jelly, and garnish its
bottom and sides with thin collops of spiny-lobster’s tail decked with
truffles. Fill the mould with a vegetable salad (No. 2011) combined
with a quarter of its volume of lobster or spiny-lobster remains, cut
into dice, and cohered by means of a cleared mayonnaise.
Leave to set in the cool, and, when about to serve, turn out on a
napkin.
2018—SALADE MASCOTTE
Take some green asparagus-heads, some hard-boiled lapwings’ eggs, some
sliced cocks’ kidneys, some slices of truffle, and some crayfishes’
tails.
Decorate according to fancy, making use of the ingredients of the salad
for the purpose.
Season with mustard sauce with cream.
2019—SALADE RACHEL
Take equal quantities of sticks of celery, raw artichoke-bottoms,
truffles, potatoes, and asparagus-heads, all, except the latter, being
cut _julienne_-fashion.
Slightly cohere the salad with mayonnaise sauce.
2020—SALADE RÉGENCE
Take equal quantities of sliced cocks’ kidneys, shavings of raw
truffles, asparagus-heads, and celery cut lengthwise into extremely
thin strips.
Season strongly with oil and lemon juice.
2021—SALADE RUSSE
Take equal quantities of carrots, potatoes, French beans, peas,
truffles, capers, gherkins, sliced and cooked mushrooms, lobster meat,
and lean ham—all cut _julienne_-fashion, and add some anchovy fillets.
Cohere the whole with mayonnaise sauce; dish, and decorate with some of
the ingredients of the salad, together with beetroot and caviare.
2022—SALADE SICILIENNE
Take equal quantities of celeriac, russet apples, tomatoes, and
artichoke-bottoms—all four cut into dice.
Season with oil and lemon juice.
2023—SALADE TREDERN
Take twenty-four crayfishes’ tails, cooked as for bisque, and cut
lengthwise; twenty-four oysters (cleared of their beards), poached in
lemon juice; and three tablespoonfuls of asparagus-heads. The three
constituents should have barely cooled. Complete with fine shavings of
raw truffles.
Season with condimented mayonnaise sauce, combined with a purée made
from the crayfishes’ carcasses, pounded with two tablespoonfuls of
fresh cream.
2024—SALADE DE TRUFFES
Cut some raw, peeled truffles into very thin shavings.
Season with a sauce consisting of hard-boiled egg-yolks, seasoned with
salt and freshly-ground pepper, and finished with oil and lemon juice.
2025—SALADE DE TRUFFES BLANCHES
Cut some raw, white, Piedmont truffles into thin shavings.
Season with a sauce consisting of hard-boiled egg-yolks seasoned with
salt and pepper, and finished with mustard, oil, and vinegar.
2026—SALADE VICTORIA
Take equal quantities of spiny-lobster trimmings, asparagus-heads,
truffles, and cucumbers—all cut into dice.
Season with a mayonnaise sauce, combined with the spiny-lobster’s
creamy parts and a purée of coral.
2027—SALADE WALDORF
Take equal quantities of russet apples and celeriac, both cut into
dice, and halved and peeled walnuts, soaked in fresh water for
one-quarter hour, and well drained.
Season with clear mayonnaise sauce.