March, sans doute, is the month for eating fish. Everything favors fish in March: the strong seasonal titles wash the fish towards shore in greater abundance; the gentler winds following the winter storms permit fishermen to venture far from the land for bigger and better catches; the Lenten meat restrictions result in a greater emphasis on fish menus. Even those who do not observe fast days welcome a change to lighter, more delicate meatless meals.
Less meat does not mean that la bonne chair—good living—has been forgotten. Many a gourmet believes that la cuisine maigre, as meals without meat are called, is the best of the whole year. And this belief is well founded; think of the delicacies from the ocean—salmon, prime of the sea, or the sweetly succulent sole and turbot, and the more robust haddock and cod, the bases for so many wonderful dishes. There are endless numbers of salt-water fish that we can buy whole, or cut into filets or steaks, Think, too, of the excellent fresh-water fish: the smooth-skinned trout with its lender pink flesh, and the pike, delight of every chef whose repertoire includes fish mousse. Don't overlook the fine shellfish either, so plentiful in March, especially lobsters, shrimp and mussels. And now is the time to eat your fill of oysters, because only too soon they will be out of the market.
Along with fish, we associate eggs with springtime and Lenten dining, They, too, are plentiful; they, too, cost relatively little, and they will take on a hundred different forms to provide Appetizing meatless meals. The French favor eggs at all times of year and, as a French luncheon dish, I would say eggs exceed every other food in popularity. A gourmet luncheon for March must certainly include fish or eggs. If you prefer a simpler menu to the one above, it is easy to leave out either the souffle or the matelote.
When I traveled through France last spring, visiting homes and restaurants in many sections, I realized once more how much the French appreciate fish. As I look back on those days—motoring from Paris to the Burgundy wine trail, and on to my native Moulins and Vichy—it seems to me I had hardly a luncheon without fish or eggs. and every dinner included a fish course. One luncheon especially stands out in my memory and influenced my choice of this March menu. It was arranged for me at St. Pourçain-sur-Sioule by my brother Lucien, who had come from Paris and taken us to the Hotel Chêne Vert et France. The owner M. Petit, a retired chef like myself and also from mon pays, had prepared a special surprise: an authentic Bourbonnais meal with dishes cooked in the local manner, such as I had not tasted in many a year.
I wish you could visit St.-Pourçain-sur-Sioule. It is charming and quaint, a true example of rural France, with its centuries-old church and houses and the picturesque falls where the Sioule drops into the Allier River. You enter the hotel, a large and busy one, through a vine-clad entrance court which repeats the charm of the village. But the hotel dining room is its most impressive feature. The old, old pieces—tables, chairs, dressers, gleaming copper, ancient faience ware — would enhance any museum. but remain where they are to be enjoyed by the hotel's guests. It was, in fact, a room so utterly lovely with the spring sunshine streaming through the plant-tilled windows, that for a moment I Thought my friends might neglect the good food and wine which M. and Mine. Petit had waiting for us.
We sat first in the little café and drank an apéritif, a sparkling white wine called Grand Vin Mousseux, Méthode Chamenoise, Cristal Saint Pourçain, a wine almost like champagne and made the same way. With it we nibbled freshly cooked, piping hot potato chips, just faintly salted. Not a usual accompaniment to champagne, you may think, but then perhaps you have never tasted such crisp, delicate chips as these.
Luncheon started with a quiche Bourbonnaise, the cheese and ham tart for which I gave the recipe last September. Then came the pièce de résistance, a steaming terrine of mate-loWi a fish stew as sacred to (he inland Frenchman as is bouillabaisse to his cousins on the southern coast. It was cooked with fish from the Sioule and the vin rouge du pays, and served with tiny new potatoes, prepared the local way in a buttery sauce thick with parsley. We had a salad of dandelion greens, tender little ones with only the leaf tips turned green. In France, the country people gather these eagerly when the spring plowing uncovers them in the fields. With them came a dressing few of you have ever tasted: walnut oil mixed with wine vinegar. Walnuts grow abundantly in this district and provide all the oil for cooking. The oil has a rich and nutty flavor which, combined with red wine vinegar, makes a lovely vinaigrette sauce.
The big round marble cheese server appeared, as I knew it would, and by this time my four American guests were well versed in our Bourbonnais ritual: they needed no reminder to save some of the good St. Pourçain red wine in their glasses to drink with the cheese. For dessert we had a tarte aux pommes, also made the local way. The chef spreads the pastry with apple sauce in which sliced apples are attractively arranged and, at the end of the baking period, he brushes some apricot sauce over the top. Try this sometime, spreading softened butter over the pastry before putting in a rather thin layer of apple sauce. I know you will like it.
Two wines suffice for a luncheon of the kind suggested here. With the matelote, I would recommend a rather light wine, such as a Moselle Zollinger Schlossberg 1950 or an Alsace Traminer 1950, or perhaps a Rosé Anjou 1952. But with the cheese course I always prefer a red wine, something like a Beaune Clos de Cavaux 1949 or a Rhone red wine such as a Hermitage 1947.
Crêpes Surprise
In a bowl mix together 2/3 cup flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, and ¼ teaspoon salt. Beat 2 eggs and 2 yolks and stir them into the flour. Add gradually 1 ½ to 1 ¾ cups milk, stirring until the baiter is smooth. Add 2 tablespoons inched butter. Strain the batter through a fine sieve and let it stand for 1 ½ to 2 hours.
When ready to cook the crêpes, melt about 1 teaspoon butter in a very hot, small skillet. Pour in 1 to 1 ½ table-spoons of the batter in the pan, or enough to coat the pan with a very thin layer. When the crêpe is set and brown underneath, which takes about a minute, turn and brown it on the other side. Place the crêpes on a large flat pan or tray. Put 1 to 2 tablespoons of the following filling on each and roll them up. If desired, coat each crêpe with a little aspic jelly and garnish with an anchovy filet.
Filling
Combine ½ cup each of finely diced celery and apple, 10 to 12 anchovy filets, finely chopped, and 1 cup chopped hard-cooked egg. Stir in 1 ½ cups mayonnaise collée (see below), 1 tablespoon finely chopped mixed chives, chervil, and tarragon, and 1 teaspoon finely chopped parsley. Mix in 1 fresh tomato, peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped and correct the seasoning with salt.
Mayonnaise Collée
Soften 1 ½ tablespoons gelatin in 3 tablespoons cold water for five minutes, then stir it over hot water until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Combine the gelatin with 1 ½ cups mayonnaise.
Soufflé d'Epinards aux Ocufs Pochés (Spinach Soufflé with Poached Eggs)
Clean and cook about 1 pound of spinach. Drain the spinach, press out as much water as possible, then chop it finely and rub it through a fine sieve. There should be about 1 cup of thick spirach purée. In a saucepan melt 1 ½ tablespoons butter, add the purée of spinach, and season it with 1 ½ tea-spoons salt, a little pepper, and a little grated nutmeg. Cook the spinach over low heat, stirring, until most of the moisture remaining in the purée is cooked away.
In another pan melt 2 ½ table-spoons butter, stir in 3 tablespoons flour. and cook until the roux is golden. Add gradually 1 ½ cups hot milk and cook. Stirling constantly with a wire whip to keep the mixture smooth, for about 8 to 10 minutes. Stir the sauce gradually into 6 well-beaten egg yolks, and then add the spinach purée. Beat 6 egg whites until stiff and fold them carefully into the mixture.
Spread a layer of the mixture in the bottom of a well-buttered and floured soufflé mold and arrange 6 well-drained poached eggs (see below) on it. Cover the eggs with the remaining soufflé mixture, which should come just to the top of the mold, and bake in a moderately hot oven (400° F.) for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the soufflé is puffed and brown on top. Serve immediately, cutting through the soufflé so that a poached egg is in each serving.
Pouched Eggs
Put 1 quart water and 2 tablespoons vinegar in a shallow pan and bring the water to a boil. Break an egg into a saucer, sprinkle the yolk with a little salt, then slide the egg gently into the simmering water. Poach the egg over low heat for 3 to 5 minutes, basting carefully with a large spoon. Eggs can be poached an hour or more before they arc used and kept warm without changing their texture if they are removed immediately from the hot water and placed in lukewarm water.
Matelote à la Bourbonanise
Select 2 or 3 kinds of fresh-water fish, such as perch and carp, and 1 eel, having about 3 to 4 pounds of fish in all. Clean the fish thoroughly and cut it into 1-inch slices. Prepare 12 to 15 small white onions, ½ pound mushrooms, and ½ pound shrimp for garnishing (see below ). Put the fish and eel in a deep sauce-pan and cover with red wine. Add 1 onion, sliced, 3 sprigs of parsley, 1 stalk of celery, 1 small bay leaf, 2 cloves of garlic, and a little thyme. Add the stems and peelings of the mushrooms and 1 tea-spoon salt. Bring the liquid to a boil, add 2 to 3 tablespoons warm cognac, and ignite. When the flame burns out, cover the pan and simmer the stew 15 to 18 minutes.
Remove the fish to a serving dish, strain the liquid into another pan. and stir in bit by bit manié butter made by combining to a smooth paste 3 table-spoons butter and 2 ½ tablespoons flour. Bring the liquid again to a boil, stirring constantly, and cook, stirring, until it is smooth and about as thick as cream. Correct the seasoning with salt and a little freshly ground pepper.
To serve, place the onions and mushrooms on the fish and pour the sauce over all. Garnish with the cooked shrimp and slices of French bread sautéed in butter.
Onions for Garnish
Peel small white onions and put them in a saucepan with just enough water to cover. For each cup of onions add ¼ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sugar, and 1 tablespoon butter. Cook the onions over moderate hear until the water is cooked away, then continue to cook in the butter that remains in the pan until the onions take on a nice golden color, shaking the pan so they will color evenly all over.
Mushrooms for Garnish
Remove the stems and peel the mushrooms. If the mushrooms are large, cut them in quarters, but if small, leave them whole. Put the mushrooms in a saucepan with enough water to half cover, add a little salt and a few drops of lemon juice, and cook for 5 minutes. Cover the saucepan and leave the mushrooms in the liquid until ready to use.
Shrimp for Garnish
Peel the shrimp and remove the black vein along the backs. In a saucepan put a few celery tops, 1 slice of onion, 2 sprigs of parsley, 1 clove, 5 peppercorns, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 ½ quarts of water. Bring the water to a boil and cook until it is reduced to about I quart. Add the shrimp and poach them in the simmering water for 5 minutes. Drain.
Matelote Mariniére
Select 6 large or 12 medium file, of sole, 2 dozen mussels, and 1 eel. Skin the eel, clean it well, and cut it into ¾-inch pieces. Season the eel with salt and pepper and put it in a saucepan with 12 to 15 small white onions, 1 stalk of celery, 3 sprigs of parsley, ½ bay leaf, a little thyme and a clove of garlic. Add the stems and peelings from ½ pound of mushrooms and enough white wine and water in equal pans to cover the ingredients. Bring the liquid to a boil and simmer for 18 to 20 minutes.
Cook the mushroom caps as for garnish (see above). Fold each filet in half, making a small incision in the fold so it will lie flat. Scrub the mussels thoroughly.
In another pan melt 2 tablespoons butter and add 1 tablespoon chopped shallot or onion. Season the filets with salt and pepper, place them in the pan, and add enough of the liquid in which the eels were cooked to cover them. Bring the liquid to a boil, cover, and cook for 5 minutes. Add the mussels and cook for 6 minutes longer or until the mussels open and the fish filets are cooked. Remove the mussels, take them from their shells and keep them warm.
Arrange the fish filets in a deep serving dish with the pieces of eel. Remove the onions from the cooking liquor and place them on the fish alternately with the mushroom caps, and keep warm. Combine the cooking liquids from the eel, the fish filets, and the mushrooms and strain. In another pan melt 3 tablespoons butter, add 2 tablespoons flour, and cook until the roux is golden. Stir in gradually the strained cooking liquors (there should be about 2 to 2 ½ cups) and cook, stirring with a wire whip, until slightly thickened. Cook 10 to 15 minutes longer.. Mix 2 egg yolks with ½ cup heavy cream and stir them into the sauce. Bring the sauce almost to the boil and strain it through a fine sieve. Mix a little sauce with the mussels, put them on the fish and vegetables, then pour the remaining sauce over all. Garnish the matelote with cooked shrimps alternating with small lozenge-shaped pieces of bread sautéed in butter. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and chives.
Pommes de Terre Nouvelles Persillées (Parsley Potatoes)
Peel enough small potatoes to make about 2 cups. Put the potatoes in a saucepan with ½ teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon butter, and 1 teaspoon parsley, and enough water or while chicken stock to half cover them. Cover the saucepan with a round of buttered paper with a tiny hole in the center to vent the Steam, and cover the pan. Bring the liquid to a boil and cook the potatoes in a moderately hot oven (375° F.) or over moderate heat on top of the stove for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are done. If the water has not cooked away to about ¼ cup, reduce it quickly to this amount over a brisk flame. Add 1 tablespoon each of butter and chopped parsley and continue to cook until the butter is melted, rolling the potatoes in the butter and liquid in the pan. Serve the potatoes with the butter sauce.
Salade de Pissenlit (Dandelion Salad)
The dandelion greens used for salad should be very young. If a field is being plowed when the dandelions are sprouting, these are the best to pick because they have white hearts and tips of delicate green. They are tender to eat and delicate in flavor. Clean the greens well and cut them in small pieces, Just before serving toss them with French dressing made by mixing together 1 tablespoon vinegar, a little salt and freshly ground pepper, a little mustard (either dry or prepared) and 3 tablespoons olive oil.
Salade de Pissenlit Ménagère (Dandelion Salad Country Style)
Clean about 1 pound dandelion greens and cut them into small pieces. Melt 2 tablespoons pork fat in a saucepan, add ½ cup very small dice of fat salt pork or bacon and saute until the pork is golden brown. Dry the greens thoroughly, sprinkle them with the pork dice and the fat in which they were cooked and add 1 tablespoon vinegar a little salt and freshly ground pepper and 1 tablespoon chopped fines herbes (parsley, chives, tarragon and chervil). Toss all together well.
Croûtes aux Fruits Flambés
Cut stale brioches or sweet buns or coffee cake into thin slices. Place the slices in a baking pan, sprinkle them with a little sugar, and bake in a hot oven (400° F.) until golden brown.
Prepare a macédoine of fruit, using pears, apples, peaches, oranges, cherries, pineapples, strawberries or any desired combination. Combining fruits of different colors makes the dish more attractive. Have the large fruits cut into uniform pieces. Make a light sugar syrup by combining 1 ½ cups water and ½ cup sugar and boiling for 5 minutes. Add about 1 quart of mixed fruit and cook for just a minute or two—not long enough for the fruit to become soft. Add enough apricot sauce (see below) to give the juice a saucelike consistency and flavor the sauce with rum or kitsch.
Arrange the slices of browned brioche in a ring on a serving dish and fill the center with the hot fruit mixture. Pour hot rum over the top, ignite, and serve flaming.
Apricot Sauce
Wash ½ pound of apricots and then soak them for several hours in 2 cups water. Bring the water to a boil and simmer the apricots until they arc soft. Rub fruit and juice through a fine sieve, and add sugar to the purée. Cook the puree over a low flame, stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved. If the sauce seems too thick, stir in a little hot water.