Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1 Page 6

  Slicing Long Objects Like Carrots

  To slice long objects like carrots, cut a thin strip off one side so the carrot will lie flat on the board. Then cut crosswise slices as for the potatoes in the preceding paragraph.

  Julienne (a)

  To cut vegetables such as carrots or potatoes into julienne matchsticks, remove a thin strip off one side of the carrot and lay the carrot on the board. Then cut it into lengthwise slices ⅛ inch thick.

  Julienne (b)

  Two at a time, cut the slices into strips ⅛ inch across, and the strips into whatever lengths you wish.

  Dicing Solid Vegetables

  Proceed as for the julienne, but cut the strips, a handful at a time, crosswise into dice.

  Dicing Onions and Shallots (a)

  Once mastered, this method of dicing onions or shallots goes like lightning. Cut the onion in half through the root. Lay one half cut-side down, its root-end to your left. Cut vertical slices from one side to the other, coming just to the root but leaving the slices attached to it, thus the onion will not fall apart.

  Dicing Onions and Shallots (b)

  Then make horizontal slices from bottom to top, still leaving them attached to the root of the onion.

  Dicing Onions and Shallots (c)

  Finally, make downward cuts and the onion falls into dice.

  Mushrooms

  Various methods for cutting mushrooms are illustrated on this page.

  WINES

  I · Cooking with Wine

  FOOD, like the people who eat it, can be stimulated by wine or spirits. And, as with people, it can also be spoiled. The quality in a white or red wine, vermouth, Madeira, or brandy which heightens the character of cooking is not the alcohol content, which is usually evaporated, but the flavor. Therefore any wine or spirit used in cooking must be a good one. If it is excessively fruity, sour, or unsavory in any way, these tastes will only be emphasized by the cooking, which ordinarily reduces volume and concentrates flavor. If you have not a good wine to use, it is far better to omit it, for a poor one can spoil a simple dish and utterly debase a noble one.

  WHITE WINE

  White wine for cooking should be strong and dry, but never sour or fruity. A most satisfactory choice is white Mâcon, made from the Pinot Blanc or the Chardonnay grape. It has all the right qualities and, in France, is not expensive. As the right white wine is not as reasonable to acquire in America, we have found that a good, dry, white vermouth is an excellent substitute, and much better than the wrong kind of white wine.

  RED WINE

  A good, young, full-bodied red wine is the type you should use for cooking. In France you would pick a Mâcon, one of the lesser Burgundies, one of the more full-bodied regional Bordeaux such as St.-Émilion, or a good local wine having these qualities.

  FORTIFIED WINES, SPIRITS, AND LIQUEURS

  Fortified wines, spirits, and liqueurs are used principally for final flavorings, As they must be of excellent quality they are always expensive; but usually only a small quantity is called for, so your supply should last quite a while. Here, particularly, if you do not want to spend the money for a good bottle, omit the ingredient or pick another recipe.

  RUM and LIQUEURS are called for in desserts. Dark Jamaican rum is the best type to use here, to get a full rum flavor. Among liqueurs, orange is most frequently specified; good imported brands as touchstones for flavor are Cointreau, Grand Marnier, and curaçao.

  MADEIRA and PORT are often the final flavor-fillip for sauces, as in a brown Madeira sauce for ham, or chicken in port wine. These wines should be the genuine imported article of a medium-dry type, but can be the more moderately priced examples from a good firm.

  SHERRY and MARSALA are rare in French cooking. If used in place of port or Madeira they tend to give an un-French flavor to most French recipes.

  BRANDY is the most ubiquitous spirit in French cooking from desserts to sauces, consommés, aspics, and flambées. Because there are dreadful concoctions bottled under the label of brandy, we have specified cognac whenever brandy is required in a recipe, as a reminder that you use a good brand. You do not have to buy Three-star or V.S.O.P, but whatever you use should compare favorably in taste with a good cognac.

  II · Wine and Food

  THE WONDERFUL THING about French wines is that they go so well with food. And there is always that enjoyable problem of just which of the many possible choices you should use for a particular occasion. If you are a neophyte wine drinker, the point to keep in mind in learning about which wine to serve with which dish is that the wine should complement the food and the food should accentuate and blend with the qualities of the wine. A robust wine overpowers the taste of a delicate dish, while a highly spiced dish will kill the flavor of a light wine. A dry wine tastes sour if drunk with a sweet dessert, and a red wine often takes on a fishy taste if served with fish. Great combinations of wine and food are unforgettable: kidneys and one of the great red Burgundies, where each rings reminiscent changes on the characteristics of the other; sole in one of the rich white wine sauces and a fine white Burgundy; soufflé à la liqueur and a Château d’ Yquem. And then there are the more simple pleasures of a stout red wine and a strong cheese, white wine and oysters, red wine and a beef stew, chilled rosé and a platter of cold meats. Knowledge of wines is a lifetime hobby, and the only way to learn is to start in drinking and enjoying them, comparing types, vintages, and good marriages of certain wines with certain foods.

  Wine suggestions go with all the master recipes for main courses. Here is a list of generally accepted concordances to reverse the process. As this is a book on French cooking, we have concentrated on French wines.

  SWEET WHITE WINES (not champagnes)

  The best known of these are probably the Sauternes, the greatest of which is Château d’ Yquem. They may range from noble and full bodied to relatively light, depending on the vineyard and vintage.

  Sweet white wines are too often neglected. Those of good quality can be magnificent with dessert mousses, creams, soufflés, and cakes. And a fine Sauternes is delicious with foie gras or a pâté of chicken livers. In the old days sweet wines were drunk with oysters.

  LIGHT, DRY, WHITE WINES

  Typical examples are Alsatian Riesling, Muscadet, Sancerre, and usually Pouilly-Fumé, Pouilly-Fuissé, and Chablis. Local wines, vins du pays, often fall into this category.

  Serve with oysters, cold shellfish, boiled shellfish, broiled fish, cold meats, egg dishes, and entrées.

  FULL-BODIED DRY, WHITE WINES

  White Burgundy, Côtes du Rhône, and the dry Graves are examples.

  Serve with fish, poultry, and veal in cream sauces. White Burgundy can also be drunk with foie gras, and it is not unheard of to serve a Meursault with Roquefort cheese.

  ROSÉS

  Rosés can be served with anything, but are usually reserved for cold dishes, pâtés, eggs, and pork.

  LIGHT-BODIED RED WINES

  These are typically Bordeaux from the Médoc or Graves districts. Many of the regional wines and local vins du pays can also be included here.

  Serve Bordeaux with roast chicken, turkey, veal, or lamb; also with filet of beef, ham, liver, quail, pheasant, foie gras, and soft fermented cheese like camembert. Regional wines and vins du pays go especially well with informal dishes such as beef or lamb stew, daubes, bouillabaisse, hamburgers, steals, and pâtés.

  FULL-BODIED RED WINES

  All of the great Burgundies and Rhônes fall into this category; the full bodied Bordeaux from St. Émilion may be included also.

  Serve with duck, goose, kidneys, well-hung game, meats marinated in red wine, and authoritative cheeses such as Roquefort. They are called for wherever strong-flavored foods must meet strong-flavored wines.

  CHAMPAGNE

  Brut

  Serve as an apéritif, or at the end of an evening. Or it may accompany the whole meal.

  Dry, Sec

  Serve as an apéritif, or with crustaceans, or foie gras,
or with nuts and dried fruits.

  Sweet, Doux, Demi-sec

  Sweet champagne is another neglected wine, yet is the only kind to serve with desserts and pastries.

  III · The Storage and Serving of Wine

  Except for champagne, which has sugar added to it to produce the bubbles, great French wines are the unadulterated, fermented juice from the pressings of one type of grape originating in one vineyard during one harvest season. Lesser wines, which can be very good, may also be unadulterated. On the other hand, they may be fortified with sugar during a lean year to build up their alcoholic strength, or they may be blended with wines from other vineyards or localities to give them more body or uniformity of taste. The quality of a wine is due to the variety of grape it is made from, the locality in which it is grown, and the climate during the wine-growing year. In exceptional years such as 1929 and 1947, even lesser wines can be great, and the great ones become priceless. Vintage charts, which you can pick up from your wine merchant, evaluate the various wines by region for each year.

  Fine wine is a living liquid containing no preservatives. Its life comprises youth, maturity, old age, and death. When not treated with reasonable respect it will sicken and die. If it is left standing upright for a length of time, the cork will dry out, air will enter the bottle, and the wine will spoil. Shaking and joggling are damaging to it, as are extreme fluctuations of heat and cold. If it is to be laid down to grow into maturity, it should rest on its side in a dark, well-ventilated place at a temperature of around 50 degrees Fahrenheit. If it is to be kept only for a year or two, it can be laid in any dark and quiet corner as long as the temperature remains fairly constant and is neither below 50 degrees nor over 65.

  Even the most modest wine will improve if allowed to rest for several days before it is drunk. This allows the wine to reconstitute itself after its journey from shop to home. Great wines, particularly the red ones, benefit from a rest of at least two to three weeks.

  TEMPERATURE AT WHICH WINE SHOULD BE SERVED

  Red wines, unless they are very young and light, are generally served at a normal room temperature of around 65 degrees Fahrenheit. At lower temperatures they do not show off their full qualities. At least four hours in the dining room are required to bring them slowly up from the temperature of a 50-degree cellar. Never warm a wine artificially; an old wine can be ruined if the bottle is heated. It is better to pour it out too cold, and let it warm in the glass.

  White wines, champagnes, and rosés are served chilled. As a rule, the sweeter the wine, the colder it should be. A Sauternes or sweet champagne will take four to five hours in the refrigerator. For other white wines, two to three hours are sufficient; if they are too cold, they lose much of their taste.

  UNCORKING

  White wines, rosés, and many red wines, particularly young reds, are uncorked just before serving, but there is no set rule; this applies especially to the Bordeaux reds and other cabernets. Many authorities recommend that these be uncorked and poured at once, then one waits upon them in the glass, tasting them as they develop. Some fine old reds fade within a few minutes of opening, while other wines are utterly wasted if drunk before they have had time to bloom forth in the glass. If you know your particular bottles from previous tastings, you can, of course, judge the pouring and drinking of them accordingly. Therein lies the science of the experienced wine connoisseur—the more you drink (and think upon it), the more you’ll know.

  WINE BASKETS, DECANTERS, AND GLASSES

  Old red wines that throw a deposit in the bottom of the bottle must be handled so as not to disturb the deposit and circulate it through the wine. Either pour the wine into a decanter leaving the deposit behind, or serve it from a wine basket where it will remain in a prone position. When serving from a basket, pour very smoothly so the wine does not slop back into the bottle and agitate the sediment.

  Young red wines, white wines, rosés, and champagnes throw no deposit, so the use of a wine basket is silly. The bottle is stood upright after the wine is poured.

  The bigger the wine, the bigger the glass. A small glass gives no room for the bouquet to develop, nor for the drinker to swirl. A good all-purpose glass is tulip-shaped and holds ¾ to 1 cup. It should be filled to just below the halfway mark.

  CHAPTER ONE

  SOUP

  Potages et Soupes

  AN EXCELLENT LUNCH or light supper need be no more than a good soup, a salad, cheese and fruit. And combined according to your own taste, a good homemade soup in these days of the can opener is almost a unique and always a satisfying experience. Most soups are uncomplicated to make, and the major portion of them can be prepared several hours before serving. Here is a varied handful of good recipes.

  A NOTE ON BLENDERS, PROCESSORS, AND PRESSURE COOKERS

  Although we are enthusiastic supporters of blenders and food processors, we almost invariably prefer a vegetable mill when soups are to be puréed. Blenders and processors chop up and serve forth tough woody vegetable bits, while a vegetable mill holds them back to give you a fiber-free brew.

  A pressure cooker can save time, but the vegetables for a long-simmered soup should have only 5 minutes under 15 pounds pressure; more gives them a pressure-cooker taste. Then the pressure should be released and the soup simmered for 15 to 20 minutes so it will develop its full flavor.

  POTAGE PARMENTIER

  [Leek or Onion and Potato Soup]

  Leek and potato soup smells good, tastes good, and is simplicity itself to make. It is also versatile as a soup base; add water cress and you have a water-cress soup, or stir in cream and chill it for a vichyssoise. To change the formula a bit, add carrots, string beans, cauliflower, broccoli, or anything else you think would go with it, and vary the proportions as you wish.

  For about 2 quarts serving 6 to 8 people

  A 3- to 4-quart saucepan or pressure cooker

  3 to 4 cups or 1 lb. peeled potatoes, sliced or diced

  3 cups or 1 lb. thinly sliced leeks including the tender green; or yellow onions

  2 quarts of water

  1 Tb salt

  Either simmer the vegetables, water, and salt together, partially covered, for 40 to 50 minutes until the vegetables are tender; or cook under 15 pounds pressure for 5 minutes, release pressure, and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.

  Mash the vegetables in the soup with a fork, or pass the soup through a food mill. Correct seasoning. (*) Set aside uncovered until just before serving, then reheat to the simmer.

  4 to 6 Tb whipping cream or 2 to 3 Tb softened butter

  2 to 3 Tb minced parsley or chives

  Off heat and just before serving, stir in the cream or butter by spoonfuls. Pour into a tureen or soup cups and decorate with the herbs.

  VARIATIONS

  Potage au Cresson

  [Water-cress Soup]

  This simple version of water-cress soup is very good. See also the more elaborate recipe.

  For 6 to 8 people

  Ingredients for the leek and potato soup, omitting cream or butter enrichment until later

  ¼ lb. or about 1 packed cup of water-cress leaves and tender stems

  Follow the preceding master recipe, but before puréeing the soup, stir in the water cress and simmer for 5 minutes. Then purée in a food mill and correct seasoning.

  4 to 6 Tb whipping cream or 2 to 3 Tb softened butter

  Optional: a small handful of water-cress leaves boiled ½ minute in water, rinsed in cold water, and drained

  Off heat and just before serving, stir in the cream or butter by spoonfuls. Decorate with the optional water-cress leaves.

  Cold Water-cress Soup

  Use the following vichyssoise recipe, adding water cress to simmer for 5 minutes before puréeing the soup.

  Vichyssoise

  [Cold Leek and Potato Soup]

  This is an American invention based on the leek and potato soup in the preceding master recipe.

  For 6 to 8 people

  3 cups peeled, slic
ed potatoes

  3 cups sliced white of leek

  1½ quarts of white stock, chicken stock, or canned chicken broth

  Salt to taste

  Simmer the vegetables in stock or broth instead of water as described in the master recipe. Purée the soup either in the electric blender, or through a food mill and then through a fine sieve.

  ½ to 1 cup whipping cream

  Salt and white pepper

  Stir in the cream. Season to taste, oversalting very slightly as salt loses savor in a cold dish. Chill.

  Chilled soup cups

  2 to 3 Tb minced chives

  Serve in chilled soup cups and decorate with minced chives.

  OTHER VARIATIONS on Leek and Potato Soup

  Using the master recipe for leek and potato soup a cup or two of one or a combination of the following vegetables may be added as indicated. Proportions are not important here, and you can use your imagination to the full. Many of the delicious soups you eat in French homes and little restaurants are made just this way, with a leek-and-potato base to which leftover vegetables or sauces and a few fresh items are added. You can also experiment on your own combinations for cold soups, by stirring a cup or more of heavy cream into the cooked soup, chilling it, then sprinkling on fresh herbs just before serving. You may find you have invented a marvelous concoction, which you can keep as a secret of the house.