About four hundred thirty-five years after the discovery of America, the Viennese began to accept the fact by allowing a few well-chosen Americanisms to slip into their language. This process did not result in their using fewer French words; it only meant that some very recherche trilingual combinations came forth. Everyone might live according to Seinem Code d'Honneur, but the most popular way for a hostess to stay smartly abreast of the times, in three easy words, was to give Ein hunch Debout—preferably early in the season.
The French words were always pronounced properly, but the English ones were frequently unrecognizable. Lunch became anything from “Lontsch” or “Loonsh” to “Lünch,” complete with umlaut and a hard cb. No matter how serious the mispronunciation might be, Ein Lunch Debout was infinitely smarter than a Mittagesson Assis or a Stand-up Déjeuner. It was also in many respects the ideal way of entertaining; the hostess did not have to check silver and the table leaves against her guest list, nor did she have to stoop to the dreadful indignity of renting red velvet and gilded chairs. As long as she had enough floor space, if her dining room would allow thirty-six people to stand and move about gracefully, and if there was still sufficient room for the footmen to circulate with ease, she could give Ein Lunch Debout, This occasion had a further advantage: No guests could stand for as long a period as they could sir, and the lunch would break up promptly—which a Lunch Asm could not be depended upon doing.
Standing was absolutely compulsory—the invitation clearly stated Dabout. It was unheard of for a guest to capture an attractive lady and take her off to two comfortable chairs in a quiet corner of the Bibliotbèque. Such liberties with etiquette were Americanisms that Vienna simply did not accept; hence they could not possibly occur.
At a luncheon where the guests were seated, the menu usually bulged with innumerable side dishes and accompaniments. Depressing displays of cutler and glassware made the guests wonder whether they would he home before evening. The main course might suddenly involve the guest with an icy sherbet on his left, a cup of steaming bouillon beyond the sherbet (despite the fact that the meal had started with a soup three courses earlier), cucumber salad in front, a compote on his right, and a footman behind. Beyond the compote, his wine glasses were only just within his reach. In order to leave room on the table for all the side dishes, guests had to be seated so far apart that (they either had to raise their voice or lean alternately to the right and left, at a dangerous angle, in order to make conversation—in three languages, if possible.
Frau Baronin, a bome hostess, knew perfectly well that Ein Lunch Debout was the answer: four courses, no side dishes, no knives, no complication—standing room only. In fact, it became a leisurely moving about from group to group, a circulation of conversation. A guest could shine with a single new story repealed for the benefit of each new group and, at the end of the Lunch, there would not be a single guest who could go home and report to all of Vienna, within the hour, “She Stated me next to that unmöglicb Parvenu (impossible upstart).”
A fine line was also drawn between a Buffet Luncheon and Ein Lunch Debous. At the Buffet, the hostess had to arrange an impressive display of food and, if she did not provide formal seating, she had to accept the fact that her guests would search out their own. They had been known in a pinch to make do with her priceless spinet or to use her fragile étagère as a sort of shooting stick. The Lunch Debout stood in the cleared dining room, was served from the sideboard by the staff without previous ostentatious exposition, and the guests went home when their legs ached, a development that usually coincided with the coffee-drinking.
The thoughtful hostess always planned her Lunch Debout to follow one of the pleasant pastimes in which the Viennese indulged in the middle of the morning. It could follow a Philharmonic concert, the opening of an exhibition, a recital, or one of the delightful dancing classes (hat met at eleven each day. Here, too, the discovery of America made itself felt—although there was no question of public acceptance, habituées could arrange for private instruction in the Charleston from the more talented members of Austria's aristocracy. Of course,
any talents that might be discovered in this direction were doomed to go un-applauded; at best they could be whispered to a friend. Doing the Charleston, let alone doing it with a stranger, was the sort of thing no one would want Mother to hear about.
Frau Baronin always timed her first Lunch Debout to follow the opening performance of the Spanish Riding School in the Imperial Palace. She liked her guests to come fresh and inspired from one of the few events that still reflected the glory of the monarchy. The Viennese no longer had in their midst an emperor to love and cherish, but they still had the magnificent silvery white stallions of the royal stud that had carried every Hapsburg through peace and battle from the sixteenth-century reign of Ferdinand 1 to Franz Josef. Nothing was too good for the matchless Lippizaner that originally came from Spain and were named for Lippiza, the small town near Trieste where they were bred and trained. After they had gradually changed from coal-black foals to snow-white horses, the most splendid were chosen to make their home with their king in Vienna. There, in the six-storied splendor of the white-and-gold riding school, no less beautiful than the grand ballroom, they performed the intricate jumps and pirouettes of the haute école. Although the Lippizaner went to London and New York to perform their high Spanish school of riding, it was only amid their own beautiful surroundings in Vienna, to the strains of Vienna's finest orchestra, that they rose to the Levade and the final jump of the Me/air. The luncheon guests always sat in what had been the royal box at the end of the magnificent columned sweep of the Reitschule, the famous Riding School. Their hearts thrilled to see each perfect Capriole and the flawless rhythm of the Quadrille performed in ballet precision by horses and riders. They were proud of the superb animals and the long history of the royal stud that had produced Florian, the Emperor's horse.
Frau Baronin could hardly resist the temptation to make her Lunch Debout all white and gold and chocolate brown. but she always withstood such Gesebmacklosigkeiten (manifestations of poor taste), although she served the while and brown Arenberg pears on her gold luster plates. The menu had to be planned so that everything could be eaten with the right hand while the left held the plate and the serviette. Wineglasses were passed between courses and marked a sort of intermission during which the groups shifted about, After a cup of hot soup came a wonderfully attractive fish course, served from a large flat platter over which a twisted trellis of puff pastry was laid. The trellis was baked separately and the kitchen staff held their breath until the fragile pastry was safely in place. A cold white wine made its appearance while plates were removed and the meat course was served. The arrangement of the platters had to be particularly beautiful since they passed so intimately among the guests. Frau Baronin either had to select a ragout of meat for her one-handed guests, or the meat had to be so tender that it could be cut with a fork. She did not even consider the former; Who could eat a ragout after watching the haute école? She selected noisettes of whitest veal, surrounded by filled mushrooms and garnished with almonds and lemons. A glass of Champagne was followed by the dessert, and that was followed by a cup of Turkish coffee—one guest was leaning against the wall by now.
With the coffee came a noticeable changing from foot to foot; it was not surprising that almost all (he guests left immediately. They headed for home and a comfortable chair or the nearest Kaffeebaus. Debout was all very well, but they would all have their five o'clock tea sitting down.
Spaniscbe Suppe (Spanish Soup)
Wash and cut into 1-inch lengths the bottoms of enough leeks to make 4 cups (about 4 bunches). In a kettle combine 1 cup olive oil and the juice of 1 lemon, heat the liquid over a medium flame until the oil bubbles, and add the leeks and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer the mixture slowly for ½ hour, stirring occasionally. Add 2 cups each of lettuce and spinach, both shredded. 1 cup carrots, sliced. 3 stalks of celery with tops, and 1 potato, peeled. sliced, and boiled. Stir until the vegetables are coated with oil. Add 5 cups water, and simmer the vegetables until they ate soft, about 15 minutes. Remove the celery stalks and purée the vegetables, with their broth, in a blender or a sieve. Add 1 cup cream, adjust the seasoning, and stir in 3 tablespoons each of finely chopped parsley and mint. Garnish each serving with 1 teaspoon salted whipped cream and freshly chopped mint. Serves 12.
Hummer unter Blätterteig (Lobster in Puff Paste)
Wash four 2-pound lobsters, plunge them into a large kettle of boiling water to which 2 onions, ½ cup vinegar, a few sprigs of parsley, and salt to taste have been added, and boil them for 20 minutes. Remove the lobsters from the kettle and strain the broth. Detach the lobster tails and cut the tail meat into even crosswise slices. Crack the claws and remove the claw meat without breaking it. Remove the meat from the body shells, discard the shells, and reserve any coral or tomalley. Keep the meat warm in a little of the strained broth.
In the top of a double boiler melt ½ cup butter, Stir in 1 Cup flour, and cook the toux slowly for a few minutes but do not let it take on color. Gradually add 4 cups of the strained lobster broth, stirring constantly until the sauce reaches a boil, and cook the sauce over gently boiling water for 1 hour. Strain the sauce, and add the coral and the tomalley, 1 cup cooked artichoke bottoms. quartered, ½ cup Sherry, and salt, pepper, and lemon juice to taste. Add the tail meat. If the sauce is too thick, add ½ cup hot cream.
Arrange the lobster meat from the body shells on a large flat serving platter and cover it with a trellis of the following herbed puff pastry: Follow the directions for puff paste (June, 1958), making 3 turns and sprinkling the dough with 1 tablespoon mixed, parsley, dill, and tarragon, all finely minced, each time it is rolled out. After chilling the dough for the last time, toll it out ¼ inch thick, cut it into ¼-inch strips, using a limed pastry wheel, and twist each pair of strips together to make long double strands.
Measure the platter on which the lobster will be served. On a wet cooky Sheet, lay twisted strips of puff paste to approximate an outside border for the lobster platter. Lay diagonal strips across the outside Strips from top bottom and from side to side to make a lattice-work of paste. Press down well at all edges and joints and bake the puff paste in a very hot oven (450° F.) for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to moderate (350° F.) and continue baking the puff paste until it is brown. Cool the puff paste, loosen it carefully from the cooky sheet, and slide it onto the lobster platter. Place the claw meat in the openings of the trellis, and decorate the other openings with parsley. Serves 12.
Kalbsbraten Tberesia (Noisettes of Veal with Pill6)
Select 2 or 3 noisettes of veal, or 2 boned veal loins. If loins are used, roll and shape them into 2 cylinders and tie them with rows of string, knotting each string separately so that the meat may be cut into small round slices. Cover the bottom of a roasting pan with slices of larding pork and cover these with a layer of carrots and onions, both sliced. Lay the veal on the vegetables and add a sprig of parsley. Place the veal in a hot oven (425° F.), add 2 cups stock, and toast the meat until it is brown. Add 3 cups more stock and 1 cup light white wine, and cover the meat with buttered paper. Reduce the heat to moderately slow (325° F.) and continue roasting it. basting it Frequently until it is done, about 2 hours in all. Remove the meat from the roasting pan. boil the stock until it is reduced by half, and strain it. Keep it warm to serve as a sauce.
Untie the meat and carefully cut it crosswise in even ½-inch slices. Lay a slice of hot leber parfait between each 2 slices of veal, reconstructing the loin shape, and lay an overlapping line of very thin lemon slices along the ridges of the roasts. Dust the meat very generously with 1 cup roasted slivered almonds and ½ bunch of parsley, fried in butter, return it to the oven for 5 minutes, and serve it immediately with the hot stock in a separate sauceboat. Serves 12,
Leber Parfait (Calf's Liver pâté)
Wash 2 pounds sliced calf's liver and 4 chicken livers and wipe them dry. Sauté 1 chopped onion in 2 tablespoons melted butter, add the livers and 2 ounces Sherry, and cook the mixture, covered, for 10 minutes. Drain the livers, reserving the pan juices, and put them through the finest blade of the food chopper with 2 slices of crisp bacon. Mix in the reserved pan juices, 1 tablespoon soft butter. 2 slices of bread, soaked in milk and pressed dry, 2 eggs, and salt, pepper, and grated lemon rind to taste. Press the mixture into a long narrow buttered mold of approximately the same diameter as the veal slices. Cover the mold and steam the pâté in a kettle of boiling water for ¾ hour. Cool it slightly before slicing.
Spargelkobl Roulade (Broccoli Roll)
In a saucepan melt ½ cup butter, add 1 small onion, chopped, and stir it over low heal until the onion is transparent. Add ¾ cup Hour and stir until the flour is golden. Remove the saucepan from the heat and add 1 cup warm milk, stirring until the mixture is smooth. Return the pan to the stove and simmer the sauce, stirring constantly. until it thickens. Cool the sauce for 5 minutes and beat in 4 egg yolks. Add 1 ½ cups pureed cooked broccoli and Salt and pepper to taste. Fold in 4 stiffly beaten egg whites and ½ cup grated Parmesan.
Butter a cookie sheet well, add ½ cup bread crumbs, and shake the pan so that the Crumbs adhere evenly. Pour the broccoli mixture into the pan and spread it to a ½-inch depth.
Bake the broccoli roll in a moderate oven (350° F.) for 12 minutes, or until it starts to shrink from the sides of the pan. Spread it with the following light ham filling: Mix 1 pound cooked ham, finely ground, with 3 egg yolks, 1 cup heavy sour cream, ¼ cup chopped pistachio nuts, and salt to taste. If the mixture is too thick to spread, add more sour cream. Roll it up immediately, return the broccoli roll to a slow oven (300° P.) for 5 minutes, and slice it. Serves 12.
Champignons mit Erbsen (Mushrooms Stuffed with Peat)
Boil 2 cups green peas in salted water until they are very soft, drain them well. and puree them in a blender or a sieve. Season the purée with salt and pepper to taste and a pinch of sugar.
Remove the stems from 24 large uniform mushrooms, reserving the caps. chop the stems, and saute them with 1 tablespoon chopped shallots in 2 tablespoons butter until they are golden. Add them to the pea purée, correct the seasoning, and add 2 tablespoons Madeira. Faint the mushroom caps with melted butter and fill them with the pea puree, heaping it in high mounds. Dust the filling generously with grated Parmesan, pour a little melted butter over each mushroom cap, and bake them on a buttered baking sheet in a moderately hot oven (375° F.) until they are brown. Serves 12.
Arenberg Barnen (Pairs on Buttercake)
In the top of a double boiler, over gently boiling water, beat 8 eggs and 1 cup sugar with a whisk until they triple in volume. Remove the eggs from the heat and continue boating until they arc cold. Slowly add 2 cups sifted flour, folding it in gently with a spoon. Melt ½ cup butter, let it cool, and pour it gradually into the batter. Pour the batter into 12 well-buttered round molds, but do not fill the molds to the top. (Or. bake the cake in a large sheet and cut out rounds.) Bake the cakes in a moderate oven (350° F.) until they test done, about 30 to 50 minutes, depending on their size. Remove from the molds.
Place 1 whole pear, slewed, on each cake round, pour over mousseline sauce, and chill them. Decorate the pears with a piped spiral of chocolate butter cream (August, 1958), and pour apricot sauce around the base. Serves 12.
Mousseline Sauce Beat together 4 egg yolks with ½ cup sugar and l/2 egg white until the mixture is smooth, add ½ cup flour, and beat the mixture smooth again. Bring to a boil 1 ½ cups milk, add 1 teaspoon vanilla, and gradually pour the milk into the egg mixture, stirring constantly. Transfer the mixture to a saucepan and allow it to boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Cool and chill the sauce. Fold in 1 cup heavy cream, whipped with 1 cup sifted powdered sugar, and beat the sauce gently until it is smooth.
Marillen Sauce (Apricot Sauce)
In a double boiler melt 1 cup apricot jam, add 2 cups apricot puree, and sugar to taste, if desired. Add 1 cup finely slivered blanched almonds and cook the sauce in the top of a double boiler, over gently boiling water, for 1 hour. At serving time, add 2 jiggers apricot brandy, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, and ¼ teaspoon almond extract.