In May, Nature comes forth with her richest profusion of offerings. There are almost too many good things to choose from, too many delicacies that appear in this gay, blossoming month. liven a menu classique can't include them all. If we build our menu around the pièce de résistance, what shall it be? Delicate pigonneaux, spring's young royal squabs? Or would canetons, the sea-son's first ducklings, he mast succulent? Or perhaps we should forget the birds altogether and settle for a fine, Old-fashioned navarin d'agneau before the spring lamb grows up and out of its most tender days. Or we might decide on a very special pork or veal dish. These, you say, are not monumental decisions in this atomic age, but any gourmet thinks they are important when trying to put aside twentieth-century tensions with a few hours of joie de vivre.
There is truly a bounty of fine food stuffs reaching perfection this last month of spring. Fish of all kinds are both plentiful and good, and one of the best, shad and shad roe, chooses this season to make its rather brief annual appearance. Lobster, shrimp, crab, and clams all await you in the markets, too. And then there are les primeurs, as the French call spring vegetables. They are perfect in May. It is wise to eat your fill now of tiny green peas fresh from the vines and plump stalks of asparagus cut in the morning and eaten the same day: Their season will soon be over. And although such pedestrian vegetables as carrots. turnips and potatoes may nor be novel, none are ever quite so sweet, so tender, so delicate as the first harvest of May.
In Paris you must go to market on May Day. First get your boutonnière, or corsage, of muguets—lilies of the valley—traditional flower of les petites midinettes parisiennes, whom everyone honors on this day by wearing those fragrant white flowers. No matter how early you may start out the vendors will be there before you with their flowerladen baskets and street stands. No one would think of passing them by, of being abroad on the streets without a bouquet of muguets. It may seem strange to an American to see great burly meat handlers in Les Halles with delicate clusters of lilies of the valley on the lapels of their long cotton work coats. But no Frenchman thinks it unusual. And if you don't return home from market with a great bunch of muguets in your hand, the spirit of Paris has passed you by.
To market early, not later than six in the morning, if you would absorb the sights and smells of May's gastronomic offerings. See the huge baskets of sorrel and water cress, baskets at least four feet high and as wide across the top. Scores and scores of them line the streets leading to the covered pavilions, all filled to the brim with the largest, freshest greens you ever saw. How can Paris possibly consume so much of them? But it does, for this is May, this is when they are at their very best. Don't miss watching the escargots in the fish stalls, the enormous snails wriggling and pulling until they stretch themselves to such lengths that their curled shells appear very inadequate housing. Few housewives buy them. Cleaning, handling and cooking snails is a job best done by professional restaurateurs. But I would suggest that you return to this neighborhood in the evening to the famous Escargot Restaurant on the rue Montorgeuil and eat your way through a heaping pile of them, piping hot and rich with garlic butter sauce.
May's menu is a typical luncheon in the classic French tradition. Our of all the season's offerings I chose shad and sorrel, spring lamb, asparagus and strawberries. Of course, you may suppose lamb stew is hardly an elegant dish. Ah, but no connoisseur looks down his nose at a good navarin made with fine spring lamb. It is not always easy, you know, to find this type of dish well prepared unless you have a good cook at home. But if you know of a restaurant where stew is exceptionally good take my advice and get there early: The first stew served in a restaurant is always best.
There are some cookery hints that I want to pass along to you which will make (he difference between an ordinary stew and an extra-fine one. The ingredients, as I have already indicated, must be fresh, delicate, young. But the finest ingredients in the world can be spoiled by careless handling. The meat should be cooked slowly and. when it is necessary to stir, the pieces moved around gently. The ragged, untidy appearance of some stews comes from rapid cooking, overcooking and careless stirring. Use a heavy kettle because it is almost impossible to prevent a stew from sticking to a lightweight pan, even on very low heat. Too much flour should be avoided: Remember that the sauce gets thicker as it cooks down and also that the potatoes tend to thicken the sauce a little. And, finally, let the stew stand for about five minutes after it is done so that any fat not already skimmed off can rise to the surface and be removed before the dish is served.
Shad has always been considered one of the great fish delicacies. Its season is short and so we must make the most of it. It has one really difficult feature, the great number of bones—so many, in fact, that the fish dealer may charge for boning a shad. The recipe here is a typically French way of cooking this fish, a change from the conventional broiling. Sorrel, also in season in May, sets off the shad very well. In France, every garden has its row of sorrel waiting to be cut, and it can be found in all the markets there at this time of year.
Our dessert for this May luncheon à la française is known to Americans as snow eggs. At home, when I was a boy, we considered this dessert a great treat, much as American children think of ice cream. It was served at holiday meals and I still remember vividly the huge bowls of it that both my mother and grandmother made for these occasions. This airy dessert was also very popular at the old New York Ritz. We put it on our menu during the hotel's early years and so many people asked for it that we never took it off again. We used to vary our oeufs à la neige by putting different fruits in season into the custard and then we often topped the meringues with shredded chocolate and candied violets.
I think two wines are sufficient for this luncheon, a white wine with the fish and a red one with the meat, saving a little of the latter in your glass to drink with your cheese. You might like to try a Chablis for the white wine, a 1947, 1949 or 1950, or a Meursault of those same years, or perhaps a Traminer or Riesling 1950. For the red either a Médoc such as Château Léoville-Barton 1943 or 1947 or Mouton-Rothschild 1947; another happy choice would be a St. Julien 1945 or 1947 or a Mâcon 1945, 1947 or 1949.
Pâté Maison
Cut ½ pound each of lean veal and fresh pork into thin slices. Put the slices in a bowl and cover them with a marinade made by mixing together ½ cup dry white wine, 2 tablespoons brandy, 1 teaspoon salt, a pinch of poultry seasoning, and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add 1 onion, sliced, 2 small cloves of garlic, and 3 sprigs of parsley. Cover and let the sliced meat marinate in the refrigerator overnight, or for 12 hours.
In another bowl mix the same amount of the marinade used for the pork and veal and add to it 1 ½ pounds of fat meat, pork and veal, using more pork than veal, which has been run through the fine blade of a meat grinder. Put the same amount of onion, garlic and parsley on top of it and let the ground meat marinate in the refrigerator overnight. or for 12 hours.
Prepare a dough as follows: To 4 cups flour, sifted with 1 teaspoon salt. Add 1 cup each of butter and vegetable shortening and cut it in with a pastry blender or two knives. Stir in 1 egg, beaten, and about ½ cup cold water, or enough to make a firm dough. Chill the dough in the refrigerator overnight, or for 12 hours.
When ready to make the pâté, roll out the dough 1/8 to ¼ inch thick into a rectangle large enough to fit into the bottom and sides of an oblong pâté mold or bread pan, leaving an edge about ¾ inch wide around the top of the pan. Fit the dough into the pan. Discard the onion, garlic, and parsley from both bowls of meat and mix the marinade with the meat in each bowl. Spread ½ the ground meat mixture in the bottom of the lined pan, put the pieces of marinated meat on top, and cover with the remaining ground meat mixture. Large julienne of cooked ham, goose liver and truffles may also be added to the meat in the center layer. Cover the pâté With a thin layer of dough, fitting it carefully over the top of the pâté, Moisten the edge of the lower dough and seal top and edge of dough wall, pinching or crimping it attractively. Cover the top with a second thin layer of dough, make a hole in the center about as big as a dime, and insert a roll of white paper in the hole for the Steam to escape. The pâté may be decorated with flowers and leaves cut from puff paste. Bake in a moderately hot oven (400° F.) for 15 to 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 375° F. and bake for about 1 ½ to 1 ¾ hours, or until the liquid boils up in the paper chimney set in the hole on top. This pâté may be served hot, medium hot or cold. If it is to be served cold, pour into the hole in the top 1 cup good liquid aspic to which 2 tablespoons Madeira have been added.
Alose à Poseille (Shad with Sorrel)
Have your fish dealer remove the scales, clean, and bone a 2 ½ to 3-pound shad. Cut the fish into 6 pieces. Wash 1 pound of sorrel, drain thoroughly, and cut it into julienne. Season the fish with salt and pepper and roll the pieces in flour. Put enough olive oil or clarified butter in a pan to cover the bottom generously and heat until very hot. Sauté the fish in the hot oil for 5 to 6 minutes on each side, or until the pieces are brown on both sides. Butter an earthenware casserole and spread half the sorrel in the bottom, place the slices of fish on it, and cover with the remaining sorrel. Dot with 3 table-spoons butter, broken into small pieces, and add 1 cup dry white wine. Close the casserole and seal the edges of the cover with a roll of dough made by mixing together flour and water. Bring the liquid to a boil and cook in a moderate oven (575° F.) for 1 ¼ to 1 ½ hours. Serve directly from the earthenware casserole.
Navarin d'Agneau aux Primeurs à la Parisienne (Spring Lamb Stew with Vegetables in Season)
Cut 2 ½ pounds of breast of lamb (or neck or shoulder or shoulder chops) into 12 pieces, 2 for each serving, Sea-son the meat with 1 teaspoon salt and a little pepper and sauté it in 2 table-spoons hot beef or pork drippings until well browned on all sides. Do not crowd the meat in the pan or it will steam instead of brown; brown a few pieces at atime if the bottom of the pan is too small to spread all the pieces over it. Drain the fat from the pan, turn the heat very low, and to the meat add 1 clove of garlic, crushed, and 1 teaspoon chopped shallot or onion. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons flour over the meat and cook gently, moving the meat around until the flour takes on a golden color. Add 2 cups water, ½ cup canned tomatoes and 2 fresh tomatoes, chopped, and bring the liquid to a boil, moving the meat around carefully with a wooden spoon or spatula to combine the flour and liquid. Add a faggot made by tying together I stalk of celery, 4 sprigs of parsley, 1 bay leaf, and a little thyme, and cook slowly for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
While the meat is cooking, cut enough carrots into large dice or olive shapes to measure 1 ½ cups and enough white turnips to measure 1 cup. Parboil the vegetables for a few minutes, drain, and sauté them in butter with a little sugar sprinkled on top. Prepare 12 to 15 small white onions and sauté them in butter with a little sugar until they arc golden brown. Peel 12 to 15 new potatoes.
Remove the meat to a plate and strain the cooking liquid into another pan. Wash the pan in which the meat was cooked and return the meat to it. Skim all the fat from the surface of the liquid. Place the vegetables on top of the meat with the potatoes on top of all and add the strained, skimmed liquid. Bring the liquid again to a boil and simmer the stew for ½ hour. Add 1 cup each of fresh peas and green beans, cut in 1-inch pieces. Cover the pan with a circle of wax paper with a tiny hole in the center to vent the steam, cover the pan, and continue to simmer the stew for 25 to 30 minutes longer. Turn the stew into a serving dish and sprinkle with finely chopped parsley or chopped chives.
Salade d'Asperges (Asparagus Salad)
Use only the tender part of the asparagus and allow 36 stalks for 6 servings. Clean the stalks well, flushing the water through the tips to dislodge any sand in them. Cook the asparagus in boiling salted water until just done, removing it to cold water to chill quickly, and drain by placing it on a napkin that will absorb the water. Hard-cook 2 eggs, chill, and peel them. Chop the eggs and mix them with 1 tablespoon chopped parsley. For each serving, arrange 6 stalks of asparagus on a bed of lettuce, sprinkle with the mixed egg and parsley. and finally with 1 teaspoon French dressing,
Oeufs à la Neige aux Fraises (Snow Eggs with Strawberries)
Separate 5 eggs and beat the whites until stiff, adding as they start 10 stiffen ½ cup sugar a little at a time. Scald 2 cups milk to which piece of split vanilla bean has been added- Take the pan (torn the heat and drop spoonfuls of the beaten egg whites on top of the milk, shaping them wiih the spoon to look like eggs. Cook the meringues over low heat for 2 minutes, turn, and cook them on the other side for 2 minutes longer. Remove the “eggs” with a skimmer to a napkin or paper towel to drain. Add 1 cup cream to the milk and bring it back to the boil. Beat the 5 egg yolks in a bowl with 1 cup sugar until the mixture is smooth until creamy and stir in 1 tablespoon flour. Pour the hot milk slowly over the egg yolk mixture, stirring constantly, and cook, continuing to stir, until the boiling point is almost reached and the mixture is thickened. lie careful not to let it boil. Strain the custard through a line sieve and chill.
Meanwhile wash 2 cups fresh strawberries, dry them thoroughly, and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar and a little lemon juice. Put the berries in a serving dish, pour the custard over them, and arrange the “eggs” on top. Sprinkle with grated chocolate. Or put the custard and meringues in individual serving dishes and serve the strawberries separately.
Petits Palmiers (Little Palm Leaves)
Roll out puff paste (see October, 1953) 1/8 inch thick into a rectangle 10 to 15 inches long and 4 ¼ inches wide. Sprinkle the dough with granulated sugar. Fold over each of the two long sides 1 inch so that they meet in the center, making the strip half as wide. Sprinkle with sugar. Fold over again lengthwise so that the outside edges again meet in the center and the strip is now 4 layers thick and 1 inch wide. Cut the strip crosswise into ½-inch slices or, if smaller palm leaves art desired, into ¼ inch slices. Arrange the slices cutside down on a buttered baking sheet and open the end of each just a little, about 1/8 inch on each side, to make a V. Bake the puff paste leaves in a hot oven (450° F.) for about 10 minutes on each side. As they bake they will flatten, spread, and caramelize. Turn the palmiers when brown and continue baking until brown on both sides.
Little cocktail palmiers may be made in a similar way. The dough is sprinkled with grated cheese instead of granulated sugar.