Culinary jottings

In my last chapter I dwelt upon the invaluable culinary process known as braising, and tried to point out the special adaptability of that method of cookery to the treatment of the small and often indifferently fed meat of this country. I did not however allude to a simpler yet scarcely less noteworthy kind of braise by which is produced that very excellent dish called bœuf à la mode : There is perhaps no name in the French vocabulary de cuisine more frequently " taken in vain" by English cooks, as well as by poor Ramasamy, than this. As a rule they apply the term to a joint of cold roast beef when warmed up en recliauffe, and sent to table smothered with a thick sance browned with burnt onion, and surrounded by sodden vegetables ! Now, bœuf à la mode is very far from being a rechauffe. On the contrary, it is a carefully selected piece of fresh meat scientifically stewed with vegetables. Its rich, self-made gravy is not thickened, and its garnish should be composed of vegetables separately trimmed and cooked for that purpose. No better recipe can possibly be found than that given by Gouffe quoted by Sir Henry Thompson as follows : — " Take about 4 lbs. (2 hilos) of thick beefsteak cut square. Take nearly f lb. (3 hectos) of raw fat bacon, cut off the rind, which should be put aside to blanche, and then cut the bacon in strips for larding, about one-third of an inch thick, and sprinkle them with pepper. Lard the meat, and tie it up as for the pot-au-feu. Place the piece of meat in a stew-pan with rather less than a pint of white wine, a wine-glass of brandy, a pint of stock, a pint of water, two calves' feet already boned and blanched, and the rind of the bacon also blanched. Put it on the fire adding a little less than one ounce of salt (30 grammes). Make it boil, and skim it as for pot-au-feu ; next, having skimmed it, add fully one pound (500 grammes) of carrots, one onion, three cloves, one faggot of herbs, and two pinches of pepper. Place the stew-pan on the corner of the stove, cover it, and allow it to simmer veiy gently for four hours and a half. Tiy the meat with a skewer to ascertain when it is sufficiently cooked, then put it on a dish with the carrots and the calves' feet, and keep them covered up hot until serving." " Next, strain the gravy through a fine tammy ; remove carefully every atom of grease, and reduce it over the fire about a quarter. Lastly, untie the beef, place it on the dish for serving, add the calves' feet each having been cut into eight pieces, the carrots cut into pieces the size of corks, and ten glazed onions. Arrange the calves' feet, the cari'ots, and onions round the beef, pour the sauce over the meat keeping the surplus for the next day. Taste it in order to ascertain if sufficiently seasoned. Beef a la mode should be very relishing : sometimes a clove of garlic is added. I do not mention this as a necessary item, but as one which must be decided by the lady of the house."