Five or six boys ranging in age from thirteen to sixteen would be a handful to cope with in most households. Almost like five or six bulls, instead of one, in the proverbial china shop. But not so in the establishment of Monsieur Calondre where I served my apprenticeship. His apprentis were selected with too much care, and since every second boy in France seemed to want to become a chef in those days before the turn of the century, there were plenty to pick and choose from. We had to come from good homes—no gamins for Monsieur Calondre. And from homes, too, where the daily food had been well sauced. He also had to be assured that we were diligent and could assume responsibility. Above all, we had to be hardworking. There would be no time for such nonsense as disciplining the unruly or even being bothered with the over-mischievous. Our parents paid a fee that covered a two year period of apprenticeship, and only when a boy's two years were up was there a place for a new boy.
The prospect of going away from home, of living in a big city (and Moulins with its 25,000 inhabitants seemed very big to my country eyes), the importance of starting my apprenticeship had all been very exciting. The reality was far from exciting. Over and over again I sliced and diced and cut vegetables into balls for garnishes, made the roux and stirred the sauces as they reduced, swung the heavy pestle that hung from the ceiling into the huge mortar to mash almonds to a paste or grind rice with shellfish for the bisques. Day after day I did all the jobs that the other apprentis had graduated from, until gradually the muscles in my arms strengthened and little by little a deft flexibility replaced the awkward tenseness in my fingers. All the time I was unconsciously acquiring a professional knowledge of food in various stages of preparation. At last, grace à Dieu, a new apprenti appeared to take over these tasks. Life became not necessarily easier, but certainly much more interesting.
Our way of living and working was an exacting one and physically tiring, but not unpleasant. We started work at six each morning except, of course, on feast days like Christmas and Easter, which required an earlier start, say five o'clock. We finished between six or seven, except on those same busy days when we worked until eight or nine, and then were finished only if the laboratoire—as the part of the establishment was called where we apprentis worked—had been cleaned to a hospital-like spotlessness. Monsieur l'Orsa, the manager, inspected everything—and almost with white gloves—holding the oldest apprenti responsible for the room's condition at the end of each day. We had no choice but to clean all over again whatever did not meet with his approval. He was strict, but we knew he was fair. And I must admit that learning while young to work neatly has made it easy for me to work that way ever since. We were well fed and well cared for, which was not the case in all establishments where boys were trained to be chefs. But Monsieur Calondre was very proud of his reputation on this score.
His apprentis ate at the table with his own family, where the best of food was served, and this included more than generous portions of meat, which was expensive, and a daily glass of vin du pays, which in that area was good, well-aged Burgundy, not just a vin ordinaire.
The cuisine we were taught was like the good Burgundian wine of the region, rich and flavorful. In the soup category, the thick and hearty ones—cream soups and bisques—as well as the rich flavorful consommés with their garnitures were favorites. Last month you learned to make the clear, strong consommés. Now, before going on to cream soups, I want to give you the traditional classic garnitures, or garnishings, for the consommés, Vegetables and cereals, like rice and barley, any of the pastas, and such specialties as tiny profiteroles and crepes, arc popular garnitures, and the consommé acquires its name from the garniture served in it. The garniture, however, is not cooked in the consommé; that would make the consommé cloudy. The ingredients are cooked separately and added at serving time. Many combinations arc possible and new combinations are always being put together to create a new soup.
Garniture Julienne
Cut vegetables into fine strips. For each cup vegetables melt about I tablespoon butter in a saucepan. Add the vegetables and 2 or 3 tablespoons consommé. Place a round piece of buttered or wax paper with a tiny hole in the center on the vegetables, cover the pan, and braise slowly until the vegetables are tender.
Garniture Brunoise
Cut vegetables into tiny dice and follow the cooking directions for garniture julienne,
Garniture de Tomates
Peel and Seed ripe tomatoes and Cut in small dice or julienne. Poach for a few minutes in a little consommé.
Pasta
For each quart of consommé cook about 3 tablespoons vermicelli, noodles or other pasta in salted water until tender and drain.
Garniture Chiffonnade
Parboil finely shredded sorrel or lettuce leaves in boiling salted water for 1 minute and drain.
Plunches
Shred some leaves of chervil, parsley or tarragon and add them to the soup just before serving.
Viveur
Prepare 2 quarts consommé an fumet de celeri and. after removing the celery, add ½ cup beet juice and ½ cup julienne of cooked celery.
Royale
Combine lightly 2 eggs, 2 egg yolks, and 1 cup chicken stock or milk which has been heated with a little chervil. Strain into a buttered straight-sided mold and set the mold in a shallow pan containing a little hot water. Bake in a moderate oven (350° F.) until the custard is set. Cool, remove from the mold, and cut into dice or small slices.
Egg Files
Break up, but do not whip, 2 eggs and stir in ½ teaspoon flour. Bring 1 quart consommé to a boil and strain the egg mixture into the consommé through a fine sieve, stirring the consommé vigorously. This is called consommé Windsor.
Garniture Célestine
Combine 2 tablespoons Hour, 1 egg, ½ cup milk or chicken stock, and ½ teaspoon chopped parsley or chervil. Pour the batter by the spoonfuls on a buttered skillet to make small thin pancakes. Brown them lightly on both sides, then cut them into fine julienne or squares and add to but consommé at the moment of serving.
Croutons
Cut crusty French rolls lengthwise and remove the soft crumbs. Cut the crusts into 1-inch pieces and put in a warm oven to dry out. They may be spread with melted butter before being put in the oven. Serve in croûte an pot (see January, 1955).
Sliced: Slice crusty French rolls from 1/8 to ¼ inch thick, brush the slices with butter, and toast in the oven. Serve with petite marmite (see February, 1955) and potage santé (see page 32).
Parmesan: Slice crusty French rolls ¼ inch thick. Sprinkle the slices with grated Parmesan cheese and melted butler and brown in the oven, either in the soup itself or separately. Serve in onion soup and pepperpot.
Diced: Cut bread ¼ inch thick, discard the crusts, and cut the bread into ¼-inch cubes. Sautés in butter until golden or sprinkle with melted butler and brown in the oven. Serve in cream soups and bisques.
Diablotins
Slice small French rolls ½ inch thick and spread the slices with 1 egg yolk mixed to a paste with 1 teaspoon sweet butter, 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese, and a dash of cayenne pepper. Toast the slices under the broiler flame or in a hot oven until golden. Serve in consommé or pass separately.
Diablatins Garbure
Cut carrot, turnip, celery, leek and a little cabbage into small pieces and braise the vegetables in butter with a little consommé When soft, rub the vegetables through a fine sieve to make a puree and add an equal quantity of puree of peas. Slice crusty French rolls ½ inch thick and spread the slices with the puree, mounding it up in the center. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and a little butter and brown under the broiler flame. Pass with consommé.
Petites Profiteroles
Drop pâte à cboux (sec page 48) in tiny mounds the size of a pea on a cooky sheet and bake until browned. Or bake slightly larger chotix, slit them and fill with chicken puree. Serve in the soup or pass separately.
Garniture Infante
Add petites profiteroles sniffed with chicken purée and diced royale to hot consommé just before serving.
The cream soups—or as the French say, les crèmes offer about as versatile a group of dishes as one can find in the whole gamut of culinary achievements. There are few vegetables that don't lend themselves to this kind of cookery and in many cases the flavors of several are Combined. Furthermore, the several flavors are often combined in different proportions. The liquid in these soups is either chicken stock or water in combination with milk or cream or both. Then, as these soups must have a characteristic body, or thickness, it is customary to add something starchy unless the ingredient that provides the flavor also acts as the thickener For example, in leek and potato soup, potato thickens the mixture; in Saint-Germain, peas do it. On the other hand, tomatoes, water cress, carrots and shellfish have no thickening quality of their own, so soups made with them are thickened with flour (either wheat, rice or barley) or with whole-grain rice or potato since these become soft enough during cooking to be put through a sieve.
Usually the materials that give the flavor, the tomatoes, peas and so on, are added with the stock or water and cooked with it and the seasonings. But 1 have found that if some vegetables, spinach for instance, are cooked separately for a short time and added to the base just before it is strained, the finished soup has a much better flavor. Finally. there is the liaison, or binder, which seems to pull together the whole mixture and give it a texture that is indescribably smooth and rich. This is usually a mixture of egg yolks and cream.
The following four recipes are for these traditional basic crèmes.
Cream of Chicken Base
Either 2 quarts chicken stock with some added chicken bones or 2 quarts water with a small fowl may be used. In a large saucepan melt 4 tablespoons butter and add ½ cup flour (either wheat, rice or barley). Mix well and cook slowly until this roux starts to turn golden. Add gradually either 2 quarts hot chicken stock or 2 quarts hot water, mix well with a wire whip, and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is smooth and thickened. Add chicken bones (or a small fowl if water was used) and, if available, add a veal knuckle parboiled in salted water and then drained. Add the white parts of A leeks (or 2 onions), 2 stalks of celery, and 2 teaspoons salt, and cook slowly for 2 hours. Skim well, remove bones (or Fowl), leeks, onions and celery. Strain the soup through a fine sieve, return it to the pan, and bring back to a boil. When the thickening is rice flour (or whole rice) this is called cream of rice;when barley flour is used it is called cream of barley.
Potage Saint-Germain
Cover 2 cups split peas with water and soak them for about 1 hour. Drain, discard the water, and put the peas in a large saucepan with 4 cups fresh water and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring the water to a boil, skim, and cook slowly, covered. Meanwhile, in another saucepan melt 1 tablespoon butler, add ½ cup finely chopped salt pork, and cook for a few minutes. Add 1 medium onion, chopped, and cook until the onion is soft and just starting to turn golden. Add 1 medium carrot and the green part of 2 leeks, both chopped, 1 cup chopped spinach or green lettuce, a small piece of bay leaf, and a pinch of thyme. Cook for a few minutes longer and then add the peas. Cook for about 1 hour, or until the peas are very soft. Rub the soup through a fine sieve and add 1 cup water or stock. Bring the soup back to a boil, correct the seasoning with salt, and add 1 teaspoon sugar and 1 or 2 tablespoons butter. For a richer soup, add ½ cup heavy cream. If fresh peas are available cook 1 cup (or use both pods and peas of very tiny ones) in water until very soft, rub through a sieve, and add the purée to the pea soup.
Posage Parmentier
Clean 4 leeks well, remove the coarse green tops and chop the white parts finely. (If leeks are not available, substitute 2 onions for the 4 leeks.) Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large sauce-pan, add the finely chopped leeks and 1 onion, also finely chopped, and cook slowly, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until the vegetables are soft but not browned. Meanwhile, peel and dice 4 large potatoes and add them to the leeks and onion with 4 cups water and I teaspoon salt. Bring the water to a boil and cook slowly for 30 to 35 minutes or until the potatoes are very soft. Rub the soup through a fine sieve and return it to the saucepan. Bring the soup back to the boil and add 3 cups hot milk and 1 tablespoon butter. Correct the seasoning with salt. Serve with diced croutons (sec page 28). For a richer soup, mix 2 egg yolks with 1 cup heavy cream and a little of the hot soup and stir the mixture into the hot soup. Bring almost to a boil, but do not let it boil, stirring occasionally.
Cream of Tomato Soup
Either 2 quarts chicken stock with some added chicken bones or 2 quarts water with a small fowl may be used. Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan and add 2 medium carrots and 2 medium onions, both chopped Cook until they start to turn golden. Add ¾ cup flour (either wheat, rice or barley), mix well, and cook for a few minutes. Add gradually either 2 quarts hot chicken stock or 2 quarts hot water, mix well, and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is smooth and thickened. Add chicken bones (or a fowl if water was used) and, if available, a veal knuckle parboiled in boiling salted water and drained. Add 3 leeks, 2 stalks of celery, 6 large tomatoes, 4 cups Italian tomato puree, 1 clove of garlic, 8 while peppercorns. ½ tablespoon salt, and 1 tablespoon sugar. Cook slowly for 2 hours, skimming when needed. Remove the bones or and and puss the soup through a fine sieve. When ready to serve, add 1 cup cream and 1 tablespoon sweet butter. If the soup is too thick, add milk to give it the desired consistency.
By combining these four basic cream soups with other flavorful ingredients, mes apprentis, you will be able to make innumerable variations. Add a spinach puree to the cream of chicken base, for example, es voilà! - crème fhrentine.
Crème Florentine (Cream of Spinach)
Cook I pound of washed spinach in a lit tic boiling salted water, drain, and rub through a fine sieve. Combine the puree with 1 ½ to 2 quarts cream of chicken base, bring the soup to a boil. and cook for a few minutes. Stir in 2 egg yolks mixed with 1 cup cream and a little of the hot soup and cook, stirring, for about 3 minutes, being careful that the soup does not boil or it will curdle. Add 1 cup cream, correct the seasoning with salt, and strain through a fine sieve.
Crème Favorite (Cream of Green Bean)
Add 1 ½ cups green beans, cut in small pieces, to 1 ½ quarts cream of chicken base and cook until the beans arc soft. Rub through a sieve and finish with egg yolks and cream as in crème florentine.
Crème Foressière (Cream of Musbroom)
Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a saucepan, add 1 onion, chopped, and cook until the onion starts to rum golden. Add ½ pound of finely chopped mushrooms and cook until most of the moisture is cooked away. Add 1 ½ to 2 quarts cream of chicken base and continue to cook for 1 hour. Rub the soup through a fine sieve and finish with egg yolks and cream as in créme florentine. If ½ cup finely diced cooked chicken is added to the soup just before serving, the soup is called crème Béatrice.
Crème de Volaille Cream of Chicken Soup
Mix 2 egg yolks with 1 cup cream and a little cream of chicken base, stir into the remaining chicken base and bring the soup almost to a boil. Correct the seasoning with salt and add 1 more cup cream and chicken stock to give the desired consistency.
Crème Du Barry (Cream of Cauliflower)
Divide a small cauliflower into pieces, parboil for a few minutes in salted water, and drain. Add the cauliflower to 1 ½ quarts cream of chicken base, cook until the cauliflower is soft, and rub through a sieve. Bring the soup back to a boil and add stock or milk to give the desired consistency. Finish with egg yolks and cream as in crème florentine.
Crème Boston (Cream of Celery)
Clean and cut up enough celery stalks or roots or make I ½ cups. Parboil the celery in salted water for a few minutes, drain, and add it to 1 ½ quarts cream of chicken base. Cook until the celery is soft and rub through a fine sieve. Finish the soup with egg yolks and cream as in crème florentine,
Crème Marie Stuart
Cut 1 cup mixed vegetables (carrots. turnips, celery and leeks) into fine dice and cook the vegetables in 1 tablespoon butter with ½ cup chicken stock until tender. Cook enough whole barley to make I cup. Add the vegetables and barley to 1 ½ quarts cream of chicken base which has been thickened with ½ cup barley flour.
Crème Américaine
Cook 2 tablespoons whole tapioca in 2 cups chicken stock until clear and add it to 1 quart cream of tomato.
Crème Napolitaine
Add cooked spaghetti, cut in pieces about 1 inch long, to cream of tomato.
Crème Portugaise
Add cooked rice to cream of tomato.
Crème Rose Marie
Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a small saucepan, add ½ cup shredded sorrel, and cook until most of the moisture is cooked away. Combine with 1 quart cream of tomato.
Crème Cressonière (Cream of Water Cress)
Clean and trim 2 bunches of water cress and cook it for a few minutes in boiling salted water. Drain the cress well and rub it through a fine sieve. Combine with 2 quarts potage Parmentier and bring to a boil Stir in 1 cup heavy cream.
Potage Santé
Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a small saucepan, add ½ cup shredded sorrel, and cook until most of the moisture has cooked away. Combine with 1 ½ quarts potage Parmentier. Stir in I egg yolk mixed with ½ cup cream and a little of the hot soup and bring the soup almost to a boil, but do not let it boil, stirring constantly.
Crème Saint-Hubert (Cream of Game)
In a saucepan melt 2 tablespoons butter, add the bones from a game bird (partridge, pheasant, guinea hen), and cook until the bones are a rich brown color. Add 3 ounces dry sherry or Madeira, 2 quarts cream of chicken or cream of barley base, and cook slowly for 1 ½ hours. Remove the game bones, add 1 cup cream, and correct the seasoning with salt. Strain the soup through a line sieve and add ½ cup cooked game cut into fine julienne or dice.
Crème Jubilé
Cut vegetables (carrots, celery, turnips and leeks) into 1-inch long bâtonnets (square-ended pieces) and cook the bâtonnets in 1 tablespoon butter with ½ cup chicken stock until tender. Add the vegetables to 1 ½ quarts potage Saint Germain. If the vegetables are cut into fine julienne the soup is called crème julienme.
Crème Chantilly
Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a small saucepan, add ½ cup shredded sorrel, and cook until most of the moisture has cooked away. Combine with 1 ½ quarts potage Saint-Germain and add ½ cup cooked rice.
Potage Mongole
Combine equal quantities of potage Saint-Germain and cream of tomato. Serve with vegetables cut in julienne and cooked in butter and stock as in crème julienne.
Crème Crécy (Cream of Carrot)
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan, add 4 or 5 carrots and 1 onion, all chopped, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 tablespoon butter. Cook slowly for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add ½ cup rice and 1 quart chicken stock and cook slowly for about 45 minutes, or until the carrots are done. Strain through a fine sieve and add 2 cups stock. Bring to a boil and add 1 cup rich milk and 1 tablespoon butter.