When I was a child, there would always be one morning in every year when we opened the window shutters to find the air had taken on a certain almost imperceptible softness, a kind of gentle hint that spring was approaching. A morning when the smoke seemed to curl more slowly from the chimneys, dispersing more lazily into the blue instead of being whipped by the wind into leaden skies. A morning when our mother didn't bother about the baked potato for each pocket to keep our hands warm and to be munched as we trudged along the snowy roads to school. Now my older brother, the student in our family, would begin Hiking time off from his books to put his trout-fishing gear into readiness. Mais another spring was about due and country youngsters knew the signs.
And then the day would come when every kitchen doorway we passed on the way home from school sent out drifts of that special odor that told us that Mardi Gras beiguets were sizzling inside. Many a hot crispy pet de nonue sprinkled with sugar or beignet souffle with vanilla or apricot sauce made for the evening's festivities would pass our willing lips before bedtime. These and fender crétpes rolled up with all kinds of fillings were, in fact, favorite foods during the weeks before Good Friday arrived.
Religion and food, traditional companions in mon pays, found themselves more closely entwined in the Lenten season than at any other time of the year. In France the rich and hearty eating of fall and midwinter gives way to simpler fare when the somber forty days and forty nights begin on Ash Wednesday. Even those who are not religiously inclined recognize the benefits of less expansive meals and follow Lenten food customs.
So instead of a classic dinner menu, I'm giving you for February a menu for luncheon, one that I might have planned for you at the old Ritz had you been a guest from France longing for something that reminded you of home. This is a classic French luncheon menu for February, a meal of four courses which can easily be trimmed to three by leaving out either the soup or the entree. And you will still have an admirable little meal. The foods here are simple. The light sauces far from rich, but elegance can be curtailed without being missed when a menu provides the sophistication of such vigorous foods and flavors as bouillabaisse, poulet Bordelaise, onions, artichokes, and such a traditional favorite for dessert as a beignet souffle or a crâpe Bourbonnaise.
Bouillabaisse requires no real skill and very little time in the actual cooking but it isn't too practical a dish to make for a few people: It requires so much fish that you have to make a large Amount Getting the fish and other ingredients ready for the kettle is what takes the time. You need a large knife with a heavy blade, a heavy board on which to work, and a good stiff if brush for scrubbing the clams and mussels. Once you have everything ready for the pot, you can serve up your bouillabaisse in about half an hour.
Poulet saute Bordelaisev is a dish which attracted many to the Ritz dining room. I first made it for Mr. Keller, our president and a gourmet of international reputation. He liked it so well that he often had it served for special business luncheons or when he entertained small groups of connoisseurs. You'll find chat any poulet saute can be put together quite quickly and makes a good selection for a meal which may be delayed for late arrivals.
Both beignets and créepes are easy to make. The beignets are fun to cook because as you watch them. they turn over in the fat of their own accord and announce that the underside is sufficiently cooked. Today the frying of them has been greatly simplified by the automatic fryers that can keep the fat at just the right temperature and also can cook them away from the range which may be needed for other dishes in a meal.
In making crépes, be careful not to bear them too much because overworking the baiter results in toughness. At home we had crâpes at this time of year with sugar or marmalade or molasses. But at my grandmother's we had them with Applesauce made of apples picked from her own trees and sliced and dried by grand'mere. Crepes can be a main dish, too, when stuffed and rolled up with fillings of creamed chicken. spinach or anything suitable. At the old Ritz, we had a fine chef entremetier who was a master hand at crepes and he never missed fixing crâpes with spinach for Mr. Keller and me on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. We both had the same European habits and liked to observe the traditions.
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