If you go to France in April, you do not go merely to capture the charm of the horse chestnuts in bloom on the Champs Elysée, pleasant as that is. You are there at Easter, and in France, that is la première fête in the Christian year, really more of a feast than Christmas which, in America, we generally consider the year's most festive occasion. Offices and stores close Thursday night, not to open again until the Tuesday after Easter. City people can return to the country churches of their childhood for the Easter mass and to well-laden tables of regional specialties when they break the six weeks' fast. Mais oui, Easter is certainly a fête and no mistake.
Every gourmet owes it to himself to spend at least one Easter somewhere in France. It doesn't matter where. Any place you go, even the tiniest villages, you will find an almost unbelievable profusion of Easter specialties, The windows of the pâtisseries are overflowing with exquisite pastries from tiny petits fours to huge gâteaux, chocolates and bonbons at the confiseries are works of art, and the gray dawn finds every boulanger shaping and baking the holiday beads and brioches, every charcutier chopping and grinding, cooking and garnishing the scores of different pates and hams. The French housewife makes her own good soup, prepares an elegant pièce de résistance, tosses the salad for the Sunday and Monday feasts. But highly skilled chefs and bakers and pastry cooks will supply her with every kind of hors-d'oeuvre and all the different breads, cakes and tarts she might want. It's the same wherever you go, from big cities to rural hamlets, from the Belgian border to the Mediterranean coast line.
Last Easter when I was back in France, it surprised me to see how little the shops and markets had changed, There is a certain intimacy about the marketing habits of the French that survives in the midst of many changing customs. The same arguing about the freshness and the ripeness, the soundness and tenderness of the produce whether it is the chef of a fine Parisian hotel buying quantities of foodstuffs in the great pavillions of Les Halles, or a house-wife filling her tidy basket at the stalls in a village marketplace. Like preparing food and eating it, marketing is important, it is serious business. And once again, like cooking and eating, the French love every minute of it.
It was at the Plaza-Athénée hotel in Paris where my young brother Lucien is chef de cuisine that a group of us had a special Easter dinner in the hotel's charming Marie Antoinette suite. Here my American friends saw for the first time a real Easter boron d'agneau with the special garnish of spring vegetables. And this one was certainly true to tradition, as beautiful as it was delicious. Placed on a very long, narrow silver platter, the glistening, golden roast was banked with water cress and overlapping sprays of parsley—bright red tomatoes sprinkled with truffle were ranged down its back. All around it the carefully prepared bouquets of colorful, garden-fresh vegetables nestled.
L'agneau pascal, that is the Easter lamb, is the young, milk-fed spring lamb that is very tender, very white. It is not unusual to roast the whole lamb because some of them are quite small. But more often what we call le baron is cooked. This is the rear part that includes the saddle and the two legs. The best lamb in France is from Pauillac near Bordeaux and if you see l'agneau de Pauillac on a menu you can be sure you will be served most excellent lamb.
Although I know that in some parts of the country ham is the favorite Easter meat, noticed last spring that in most places your French gourmets still want both lamb and ham on the holiday table. The ham recipe which I am giving you here is a specialty of the countryside around the Burgundy wine trail.
Following the menu from beginning to end. you'll see that every course sings a gastronomic song of spring. The sorrel in the soup, the brook trout so long imprisoned in icy waters but now leaping in rushing streams, asparagus making its first appearance of the year. And the strawberries. Don't forget them, la reine des entremets—queen of desserts—or so the French think.
The tiny fraises des bois with (heir sweet, woodsy tang are my favorite although I must say 1 was very much impressed a( seeing in a food shop near the Madeleine strawberries so large that only three could be packed in a basket. This particular dessert, a combination of strawberries and vanilla Bavarian cream, is a traditional one. In this country ice cream is so popular and so easy to make or buy that you might prefer it to the Bavarian cream.
ET voilà! Dinner for la féte de Pâques, a fine meal to be lingered over for at least two hours. A hearty meal it is but if you study the menu you will soon see how thoughtfully it has been balanced. A rich soup, but the trout that follows is covered only with the simple browned butter of a meunière sauce. And no sauce at all with the roast lamb, nothing but its own juice. The heartiness of this pièce de resistance is in turn offset by a light, simple salad. Then (here is the clean coldness of a champagne-flavored sherbet to clear the palate and refresh the taste buds so that the parsleyed ham and asparagus may be approached with real anticipation. In short, the only rich sauce in the whole meal is the hollandaise served with the asparagus.
Wine, naturellement, with this dinner, and for such a traditional meal I would recommend the conventional white with the fish and red with (he meat. A Chablis 1949 with the trout or, even better, a Pouilly-Fumé 1947. Then try a Château Cheval-Blanc 1934, 1937, or 1945, or else a Château Cos-d'Estournel 1937 or 1945 with the roast. It isn't necessary to serve wine with the neige au Cliequot, but if you want one I'd suggest a Château d'Yquem. Then a red wine again with the ham, either a Nuits Saint Georges 1937 or 1945 or a Morey Saint Denis, possibly Clos des Lambrays or Clos de la Roches 1945 or 1947. And of course there is really nothing to surpass a good champagne with dessert and a fine cognac after the coffee.
Potage Germiny (Cream of Sorrel Soup)
Clean enough fresh sorrel leaves to make about 2 cups. Shred the leaves and cook gently in 1 tablespoon butter until the sorrel is wilted and most of the moisture in the leaves is cooked away. This is called “melted sorrel” and 2 cups of leaves should yield 3 table-spoons, Combine 6 egg yolks with 1 ½ cups light cream, mixing very thoroughly with a whip.
Bring 6 cups chicken stock to a boil and add the broth slowly to the egg yolk-cream mixture, whipping briskly. Return the soup to the hear and cook slowly, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until it starts to thicken and coats the spoon lightly. Be cartful not to let it boil. Stir in 2 tablespoons butter and ½ cup heavy cream. Correct the seasoning with salt and add the melted sorrel. Serve with slices of French bread or roll, toasted under the broiler, and spread with a little soft butter.
Truite de Rivière Belle-Meunièrc (Brook Trout Belle-Meunière)
Clean 6 trout, each weighing from 1/3 to ½ pound; remove the fins and ends of tails but leave on the heads. Dip the fish in milk and (hen in seasoned flour. Hear about ½ inch of olive oil in a frying pan. add the (rout. and cook over moderate heat until they are golden brown on both sides, about 12 to 15 minutes in all, depending on the size of the fish. Remove the trout to a hot serving dish and sprinkle them with freshly ground pepper, a few drops of lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon each of finely chopped parsley and chives.
Pour the oil from the frying pan and put in the pan 6 tablespoons butter. Cook the butter until it is hazelnut in color and pour it over the fish. Place a slice of peeled lemon on top of each fish and serve with the butter still sizzling.
Baron d'Agneau de Lait Mireille (Roast Milk-fed Spring Limb with Artichokes and Potatoes)
The baron is the rear half of a young lamb and includes the two legs and two sides of the loin (or saddle). If split in half lengthwise it is called a demi-baron. The following recipe can also be followed for cooking the saddle or a leg, allowing less time for roasting.
Rub the lamb with salt, put it in a roasting pan, and spread with good fat, such as fresh pork or beef drippings. Add ½ cup water to the pan to keep the fat that drips into it from scorching and, as the water cooks away, replace it by the spoonful. At no time should there be enough water in the pan to Steam the meat and when the roast is done no water should be left in the pan. Roast the lamb in a moderately hot oven (400° F.), basting often with the fat in the pan. Don't basic with the water. After ½ hour, reduce the heat to 375° F. For a whole baron allow about 3 hours, for a demi-baron 2 to 2 ½ hours and for a leg 1 ½ to 1 ¾ hours. The time depends upon how well-done' you wish to have the meat.
Remove the meat to a hot serving platter and arrange artichokes stuffed with tomato purée and potatoes Sardalaisc alternately around it. Place water cress at either end of the platter.
Pour off all the fat from the roasting pan and add 1 cup water or stock. Cook on top of the stove, stirring with a spoon to scrape in ail the crusty brownness that clings to the bottom and sides of the pan. Cook until the liquid is reduced to about ½ cup and serve separately with the lamb.
Fonds d'Artichauts Garnis de Tomate Fondue (Artichoke Bottoms Stuffed with Tomato Purée)
Cut the stems from 12 small artichokes and rub the cut surface with lemon to prevent it darkening. With a very sharp knife, trim off the leaves so that only ¼ to ½ inch of leaf is left around each artichoke. Cook au au blanc, that is in white stock made by bringing to a boil 1 quart water. 1 table-spoon flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and the juice of 1 lemon or 2 tablespoons vinegar. Put the artichokes in the boiling white stock and cook for 45 to 50 minutes. Remove the artichokes from the stock and turn them upside down to drain. When thoroughly drained remove the prickly choke in the center of each.
Peel 6 medium-sized tomatoes, cut them in half crosswise and carefully squeeze out the water and seeds, then chop the flesh coarsely. Cook the tomatoes in 1 tablespoon butter until most of the moisture is cooked away. Add 1 teaspoon sugar. Fill the artichoke botloins with the tomato purée and sprinkle with julienne of truffles.
Pommes de Terre Sardalaise (Potatoes Sardalaise)
Peel small potatoes and cut them in slices about 1/8 inch thick. They should be the size and thickness of a silver dollar. Parboil the slices in boiling I water to cover for about 5 minutes and drain well. For each cup of potatoes heat 2 tablespoons good fat in a shallow pan until it is quite hot. Add the potatoes and cook until they are golden brown on both sides. Drain off all the fat from the pan, add 1 tablespoon butter for each cup of potatoes and shake the pan until the butter is melted and all the pieces are coated with it. Season to taste and sprinkle with parsley.
Salade de Laitue à l'Estragon (Lettuce Salad with Tarragon)
Clean and wash lettuce leaves and dry them on a towel to remove all the water, but handle carefully because spring lettuce is very tender. In a salad bowl mix 2 tablespoons vinegar, ½ teaspoon salt, a little freshly ground pepper, ½ teaspoon dry mustard, and 6 to 8 tablespoons olive or salad oil. Chop a small handful of tarragon leaves and about half as much chervil. Add the lettuce, tarragon and chervil to the dressing and toss all together until the leaves are coated.
Neige au Clicquot (Champagne Sherbet)
Mix together 1 ¼ cups sugar and 1 cup water, and boil for 4 to 5 minutes. Cool the syrup and stir in 1 ½ cups sparkling champagne and the juice of 1 lemon. Freeze like a water ice using 3 parts ice to 1 part salt. When the sherbet is almost frozen, fold in a meringue made by whipping 2 egg whites until stiff and stirring in 2 tablespoons fine granulated sugar. When ready to serve, fill sherbet glasses about ¾ full and pour about 2 tablespoons champagne on top of each.
Jambon Persillé en Gelée (Parsleyed Ham in Aspic)
Put a fresh ham, weighing from 10 to 12 pounds, in the following pickling liquor; Combine 5 quarts water, 5 pounds coarse salt, ½ pound brown sugar, ¼ pound, saltpeter, 15 peppercorns, 15 juniper berries, 1 bay leaf and a few sprigs of thyme. Bring to a boil and cook for twenty minutes. Cool. Add the hum when the liquor has become very cold and let it remain in the liquor in a cool place 7 to 8 days in winter or 6 days in summer. Remove the ham from the liquor and discard the liquor unless it is needed to cure another ham. Giver the ham well with cold water and leave it overnight.
The next day put the ham in a large kettle, cover well with fresh water, and add 2 pig's knuckles or a piece of pork shoulder and a few pork or veal bones. Parboil the ham for about 1 hour. Taste the water and. if it is salty, discard it and cover the ham with fresh water. Add 2 onions, each studded with a clove. 1 clove of garlic, 1 carrot, sliced, 2 leeks, and a faggot made by tying together 2 stalks of celery. 6 sprigs of parsley. I bay leaf, and a little thyme. Bring the water to a boil, simmer the ham for 4 hours, then leave it in the water until it is cool enough to handle.
Remove ham from the kettle and save the cooking liquor. Take off the skin from the top of the ham in one piece and save it to cover the ham later. Trim off the surplus fat from the top of the ham and discard it. Trim off any remaining skin and any of the lean meat at the edges that have darkened in cooking. Combine all these trimmings with the skin of (he pig's knuckles or pork shoulder and run them through a meat chopper. Measure this mixture and add to it an equal quantity of finely chopped parsley, 1 clove of garlic, minced, 1 teaspoon chopped shallot or onion, a little freshly ground black pepper, a little grated nutmeg, and 1 ½ tablespoons good wine vinegar. Mix thoroughly.
Carefully remove the bones from the cooked ham so that the meat comes off them in a few very large pieces. Strain the reserved cooking liquor, taste it and, if it is too salty, add a little unsalted white stock; if not seasoned enough, add salt. This liquid must have enough gelatin in it to become firm when cold. The pig's knuckles usually supply enough bur if there is any doubt that it will gel add 1 tablespoon gelatin dissolved in 3 tablespoons cold water for every pint of liquor, and bring to a boil to dissolve the gelatin. Cool.
To make the ham mold, use a hamshaped mold designed for this purpose, but if one is not available a large oval mold is equally satisfactory. Spread over the bottom of the mold about ½ inch of the ground stuffing, which should be green from the parsley. On this arrange pieces of the ham, and continue to put in additional layers until all is used and the top has a smooth layer of stuffing. Pour over this enough of the stock to fill in around the edges and over the top, and place the reserved skin of the ham over the top. Place on top of the mold something quite heavy (a stack of plates or a platter with a weight on it) and put the ham in the refrigerator until it is thoroughly chilled and the liquor is congealed. To serve, unmold and cut slices to arrange around the ham on the platter. Garnish with chopped aspic jelly. The slices of ham should have attractive pink sections of ham interspersed with the bright green stuffing.
Asperges Vertes en Branche (Green Asparagus)
Wash asparagus thoroughly, letting the water from the faucet flush through the tops. Cut off the tough ends and tie the asparagus with soft twine into bundles of 6 to 12 stalks each. Cook the asparagus gently in boiling salted water to cover for about 15 to 20 minutes. The exact time depends upon the freshness of the asparagus and the thickness of the stalks. When done, the point of a small knife will slip into the tip easily. Remove each bundle carefully from the pan, being careful not to break the tips: drain, and then place on a hot dry napkin or towel placed on a plate or tray and leave until all the surplus water has been absorbed by the cloth.
Turban de Fraises Printanier (Spring Strawberry Ring)
Bear 5 egg yolks and 1/3 cup sugar with a whip or wooden spoon until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Scald 1 cup milk with a piece of split vanilla bean and add the milk gradually to the egg yolks, mixing thoroughly. Cook the mixture slowly, stirring constantly until it almost reaches the boiling point. but be careful that it docs not boil. Remove the vanilla bean and stir in ½ tablespoon gelatin, softened in 2 tablespoons cold water. Cool, stirring from time to time to prevent a crust from forming on the surface. Fold in ¾ cup heavy cream, whipped, and pour into a ring mold, rinsed in cold water. Chill until set.
To serve, loosen the edges and invert the cream on a serving dish. If it doesn't slip out easily place a cloth wrung out in hot water on the outside of the mold.
Wash and drain 2 cups strawberries and put them in a bowl with the juice of 1 lemon and 2 tablespoons sugar. Also prepare 1 cup apricot sauce (see March, 1954) and add 2 tablespoons kirsch. Put a few strawberries around the outside of the unmolded cream, fill the center with the remaining berries, and spread apricot sauce over them. Decorate around the ring with whipped cream and crystallized violets.