* We remember having partaken of one which was brought from Bordeaux,
and which contained a small boned ham of delicious flavour, surmounted by
boned partridges, above which were placed fine larks likewise boned ; all the
interstices were filled with super-excellent forcemeat, and the whole, being a
solid mass of nourishing viands, would have formed an admirable traveller’s
larder in itself.
+ For the mode.G-f doing this, see observations, page 253, and Chapter XXXIV.
A ham must be boiled or stewed tender, and. freed from the skin and blackened
parts before it is laid in; poultry and game boned; and all meat highly
seasoned.
CHAP. XVIII.]
PASTRY,
357
comprehend that this sort of pie (with the exception of the cover, for
which a portion must at first be taken off) is made from one solid
lump of paste, which, after having been shaped into a cone, as
Monsieur Ude directs, or into a high round, or oval form, is hollowed
by pressing down the centre with the knuckles, and continuing to
knead the inside equally round with the one hand, while the other
is pressed close to the outside. It is desirable that the mode of
iloing this should be once seen by the learner, if possible, as mere
verbal instructions are scarcely sufficient to enable the quite-inex-
perienced cook to comprehend at once the exact form and appear-
ance which should be given to the paste, and some degree of ex-
pertness is aftvays necessary to mould a pie of this kind icell with the
fingers only. The first attempts should be made with very small
pies, which are less difficult to manage.
A VOL-AU- VENT, (EKTR&S.)
This dish can be suc-
cessfully made only with the
finest and lightest puff- paste
(see feuilletage , page 345),
as its height, which ought
to be from four to five
inches, depends entirely on
its rising in the oven. Eoll
it to something more than an
inch in thickness, and cut it
to the shape and size of the inside of the dish in which it is to be
served, or stamp it out with a fluted tin of proper dimensions ; then
mark the cover evenly about an inch from the edge all round, and
ornament it and the border also, wTith a knife, as fancy may direct ;
brush yolk of egg quickly over them, and put the vol-au-vcnt
immediately into a brisk oven, that it may rise well, and be finely
coloured, but do not allow it to be scorched. In from twenty to
thirty minutes, should it appear baked through, as well as sufficiently
browned, draw it out, and with the point of a knife detach the
cover carefully where it has been marked, and scoop out all the
soft unbaked crumb from the inside of the vol-au-vent ; then turn
it gently on to a sheet of clean paper, to drain the butter from it.
At the instant of serving, fill it with a rich fricassee of lobster, or of
sweetbreads, or with turbot a la creme , or with the white part of
cold roast veal cut in thin collops not larger than a shilling, and
heated in good white sauce with oysters (see minced veal and oysters,
page 251), or with any other of the preparations which we shall
indicate in their proper places, and send it immediately to table.
The vol-au-vent , as the reader will perceive, is but the case, oi
pr ist, in which various kinds of delicate ragouts are served in an
elegant form. As these are most frequently composed of fish, or of
858
MODERN COOKERY.
[CHAP. XYI13,
Page 322
Presented as published in 1884. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
* We remember having partaken of one which was brought from Bordeaux, and which contained a small boned ham of delicious flavour, surmounted by boned partridges, above which were placed fine larks likewise boned ; all the interstices were filled with super-excellent forcemeat, and the whole, being a solid mass of nourishing viands, would have formed an admirable traveller’s larder in itself.
+ For the mode.G-f doing this, see observations, page 253, and Chapter XXXIV. A ham must be boiled or stewed tender, and. freed from the skin and blackened parts before it is laid in; poultry and game boned; and all meat highly seasoned.
comprehend that this sort of pie (with the exception of the cover, for which a portion must at first be taken off) is made from one solid lump of paste, which, after having been shaped into a cone, as Monsieur Ude directs, or into a high round, or oval form, is hollowed by pressing down the centre with the knuckles, and continuing to knead the inside equally round with the one hand, while the other is pressed close to the outside. It is desirable that the mode of iloing this should be once seen by the learner, if possible, as mere verbal instructions are scarcely sufficient to enable the quite-inexperienced cook to comprehend at once the exact form and appearance which should be given to the paste, and some degree of expertness is aftvays necessary to mould a pie of this kind icell with the fingers only. The first attempts should be made with very small pies, which are less difficult to manage.
A VOL-AU- VENT, (EKTR&S.)
This dish can be successfully made only with the finest and lightest puff- paste (see feuilletage , page 345), as its height, which ought to be from four to five inches, depends entirely on its rising in the oven. Eoll it to something more than an inch in thickness, and cut it to the shape and size of the inside of the dish in which it is to be served, or stamp it out with a fluted tin of proper dimensions ; then mark the cover evenly about an inch from the edge all round, and ornament it and the border also, wTith a knife, as fancy may direct ; brush yolk of egg quickly over them, and put the vol-au-vcnt immediately into a brisk oven, that it may rise well, and be finely coloured, but do not allow it to be scorched. In from twenty to thirty minutes, should it appear baked through, as well as sufficiently browned, draw it out, and with the point of a knife detach the cover carefully where it has been marked, and scoop out all the soft unbaked crumb from the inside of the vol-au-vent ; then turn it gently on to a sheet of clean paper, to drain the butter from it. At the instant of serving, fill it with a rich fricassee of lobster, or of sweetbreads, or with turbot a la creme , or with the white part of cold roast veal cut in thin collops not larger than a shilling, and heated in good white sauce with oysters (see minced veal and oysters, page 251), or with any other of the preparations which we shall indicate in their proper places, and send it immediately to table. The vol-au-vent , as the reader will perceive, is but the case, oi pr ist, in which various kinds of delicate ragouts are served in an elegant form. As these are most frequently composed of fish, or of
[illustration: Chapter XVIII]