A guide to modern cookery by A. Escoffier

amounts to a process of cooking. _The blanching of meats_ obtains mostly in the case of calf’s head and foot and the sweet-bread of veal, sheep’s and lambs’ trotters, and lamb’s sweet-bread. These meats are first set to soak in cold, running water until they have quite got rid of the blood with which they are naturally saturated. They are then placed on the fire in a saucepan containing enough cold water to abundantly cover them, and the water is gradually brought to the boil. For calf’s head or feet, boiling may last for fifteen or twenty minutes; veal sweet-bread must not boil for more than ten or twelve minutes; while lamb sweet-bread is withdrawn the moment the boil is reached. As soon as blanched, the meats are cooled in plenty of fresh water before undergoing their final treatment. _The blanching of cocks’ combs_ is exceptional in this, namely, that after the combs have been cleansed of blood—that is to say, soaked in cold water, they are placed on the fire in cold water, the temperature of which must be carefully kept below 113° F. When this degree is approached, take the saucepan off the fire and rub each comb with a cloth, dusted with table-salt, in order to remove the skins; then cool the combs with fresh water before cooking them. Many people use the blanching process with meats intended for “blanquette” or “fricassée.” I regard this procedure as quite erroneous, as also the preliminary soaking in cold water. If the meats or pieces of poultry intended for the above-mentioned preparations be of a good quality (and no others should be used), they need only be set to cook in cold water, or cold stock, and gradually brought to the boil, being stirred repeatedly the while. The scum formed should be carefully removed, and, in this way, perfectly white meats and stock, with all their savour, are obtained. As to meats or pieces of poultry of an inferior quality, no soaking and no blanching can make good their defects. Whichever way they are treated they remain dry, gray, and savourless. It is therefore simpler and better to use only the finest quality goods. An excellent proof of the futility of soaking and blanching meats intended for “fricassées” and “blanquettes” lies in the fact that these very meats, if of good quality, are always perfectly white when they are braised, poëled, or roasted, notwithstanding the fact that these three operations are less calculated to preserve their whiteness than the kind of treatment they are subjected to in the case of “blanquettes” and “fricassées.” Mere routine alone can account for this practice of soaking and blanching meats—a practice that is absolutely condemned by common sense. The term “blanching” is wrongly applied to the cooking of green vegetables, such as French beans, green peas, Brussels sprouts, spinach, &c. The cooking of these, which is effected by means of boiling salted water, ought really to be termed “à l’anglaise.” All the details of the procedure, however, will be given when I deal with the vegetables to which the latter apply. Lastly, under the name of “blanching,” there exists another operation which consists in partly cooking certain vegetables in plenty of water, in order to rid them of any bitter or pungent flavour they may possess. The time allowed for this blanching varies according to the age of the vegetables, but when the latter are young and in season, it amounts to little more than a mere scalding. Blanching is chiefly resorted to for lettuce, chicory, endives, celery, artichokes, cabbages, and the green vegetables; carrots, turnips, and small onions when they are out of season. In respect of vegetable-marrows, cucumbers, and chow-chow, blanching is often left to the definite cooking process, which should then come under the head of the “à l’anglaise” cooking. After the process of blanching, the vegetables I have just enumerated are always cooled—that is to say, steeped in cold water until they are barely lukewarm. They are then left to drain on a sieve, previous to undergoing the final cooking process to which they are best suited, this generally being braising. =6. Vegetables and Garnishes= _Various Preparations._ 274—THE TREATMENT OF DRY VEGETABLES It is wrong to soak dry vegetables. If they are of good quality, and the produce of the year, they need only be put into a saucepan with enough cold water to completely cover them, and with one oz. of salt per five quarts of water. Set to boil gently, skim, add the aromatic garnish, quartered carrots, onions, with or without garlic cloves, and a faggot, and set to cook gently with lid on. _Remarks._—If the vegetables used are old or inferior in quality, they might be put to soak in soft water; but this only long enough to swell them slightly, _i.e._, about one and one-half hours. A prolonged soaking of dry vegetables may give rise to incipient germination, and this, by impairing the principles of the vegetables, depreciates the value of the food, and may even cause some harm to the consumer. 275—BRAISED VEGETABLES Vegetables to be braised must be first blanched, cooled, pared, and strung. Garnish the bottom of a saucepan with blanched pork-rind, sliced carrots and onions, and a faggot, and cover the sides of the utensil with thin slices of bacon. Lay the vegetables upon the prepared litter, and leave them to sweat in the oven for about ten minutes with lid on. The object of this oven-sweating is to expel the water. Now moisten enough to cover with white stock, and set to cook gently. This done, drain, remove string, and cut to the shape required. Lay them in a sautépan, and, if they are to be served soon, cover them with their reduced stock from which the grease has been removed. If they are prepared in advance, simply put them aside in suitable basins, cover them with their cooking-liquor, which should be strained over them, boiling, and without its grease removed, and cover with buttered paper. =Adjuncts to Braised Vegetables= According to the case, the adjunct is either the braising-liquor, reduced and with all grease removed, or the same completed by means of an addition of meat-glaze. Occasionally, it may be the braising-liquor slightly thickened with half-glaze and finished with butter and the juice of a lemon. 276—LEASON OF GREEN VEGETABLES WITH BUTTER First thoroughly drain the vegetables and toss them over the fire for a few minutes, in order to completely rid them of their moisture. Season according to the kind of vegetable; add the butter away from the fire, and slightly toss, rolling the saucepan meanwhile on the stove with the view of effecting the leason by means of the mixing of the butter with the treated vegetables. 277—LEASON OF VEGETABLES WITH CREAM Vegetables to be treated in this way must be kept somewhat firm. After having thoroughly drained them, put them into a saucepan with enough boiling fresh cream to well moisten without covering them. Finish their cooking process in the cream, stirring occasionally the while. When the cream is almost entirely reduced, finish, away from the fire, with a little butter. The leason may be slightly stiffened, if necessary, by means of a few tablespoonfuls of cream sauce. 278—VEGETABLE CREAMS AND PURÉES Purées of dry and farinaceous vegetables may be obtained by rubbing the latter through a sieve. Put the purée into a sautépan, and dry it over a brisk fire, adding one and one-half oz. of butter per pint of purée; then add milk or cream in small quantities at a time, until the purée has reached the required degree of consistence. For purées of aqueous vegetables, such as French beans, cauliflowers, celery, &c., a quarter of their volume of mashed potatoes should be added to them in order to effect their leason. In the case of vegetable creams, substitute for the thickening of mashed potatoes an equivalent quantity of succulent and stiff Béchamel sauce. 279—GARNISHES In cookery, although garnishes only play a minor part, they are, nevertheless, very important, for, besides being the principal accompaniments to dishes, they are very often the adornment thereof, while it frequently happens that their harmonious arrangement considerably helps to throw the beauty of a fine joint or bird into relief. A garnish may consist of one or more products. Be this as it may, its name, as a rule, distinctly denotes, in a word, what it is and how it is made. In any case, it should always bear some relation to the piece it accompanies, either in the constituents of its preparation or with regard to the size of the piece constituting the dish. I merely add that, since the constituents of garnishes are strictly denoted by the name the latter bear, any addition of products foreign to their nature would be a grave mistake. Likewise, the omission of any constituent is to be avoided, as the garnish would thereby be out of keeping with its specified character. Only in very exceptional circumstances should any change of this kind be allowed to take place. The constituents of garnishes are supplied by vegetables, farinaceous products, quenelles of all kinds, cocks’ combs and kidneys, truffles and mushrooms, plain or stuffed olives, molluscs (mussels or oysters), shell-fish (crayfish, shrimps, lobster, &c.), butcher’s supplies, such as lamb’s sweet-bread, calf’s brains, and calf’s spine-marrow. As a rule, garnishes are independent of the dish itself—that is to say, they are prepared entirely apart. At other times they are mixed with it, playing the double part of garnish and condimentary principle, as in the case of Matelotes, Compotes, Civets, &c. Vegetables for garnishing are fashioned and treated in accordance with the use and shape implied by the name of the dish, which should always be the operator’s guide in this respect. The farinaceous ones, the molluscs and shell-fish, undergo the customary preparation. I have already described (Chapter X.) the preparation of quenelles and forcemeats for garnishing. Other recipes which have the same purpose will be treated in their respective order.