We must be meticulous then in approaching such a sanc-
tified cuisine, which is not taken lightly by anybody from the
most modest midinette who munches pomme frittes out of the
common frying pans around the ramparts, right up to those mas-
ter cooks who have won their cordon bleu. In an article of this
scope we cannot attempt to give the full cuisine, province by
province, and yet we must not overlook the great classic regional
dishes that have been celebrated for a century and a half by such
experts as Careme, Savarin, Beauvilliers, Ude, Francatelli, Ur-
bain-Dubois, GoufT e and Dumas, and could be had at the Cafe de
Paris, Fouchon's, La Perouse, Tour de Argent, Marguery's, Pru-
nier's, or at the old Au Pieds de Mouton, down by the market.
Our best guides to regional cooking are the gastronomic
278 THE EUROPEAN COOKBOOK
maps hung on walls, displayed in art galleries and preserved in
books. These give pictures of the actual foodstuffs and bottles
that distinguish each of the provinces, which number about the
forty-eight of our own States. From these charts we learn to dis-
tinguish the three divisions of cooking, royal, bourgeois and
peasant, exorbitant, medium-priced and cheap; or still in other
words, classical, family and plain folk-cooking. This last division
consists of "les plats regionaux," and since the two higher classes
spring from these local dishes, they are the most basically French.
In poring over the food maps we see that the province of
Burgundy is perhaps most representative of the whole country,
for here both food and wine are combined in a marvelous menu,
the bottle being used as lavishly in cooking as in Spain itself.
The rival Bordelais district produces as great wine, of course, and
its sauce Bordelaise (shallots cooked in claret with butter, nut-
meg, pepper and parsley) is more widely known than sauce
Bourguignonne, but Burgundy has two sauces to Bordelaise's
one, the second being sauce Dijonnaise (mustard of Dijon
whipped up with egg yolk and butter).
A selection of Burgundian dishes with their accompanying
Burgundy wines will suggest the rich possibilities of but one
province :
Dishes Wines
Oysters (now chiefly imported from Por-
tugal). Chablis
Hors d'ceuvres, served at lunch only, and con-
sisting of sausages, raw, smoked and cooked
in white wine. Spiced and jellied ham of
Persille. Pouilly
Soups : Mushroom with cream
La Poree (bacon and leeks)
FRENCH
279
Dishes
Burgundy Snails
(for lunch)
Fat and juicy, first boiled in white wine
with an herb bouquet, then filled with but-
ter made tasty by chopped parsley, shallots
and garlic. Then grilled and served tongue-
hot. A silver snail-holder and a tiny fork
with two tines comes handy in eating them.
Fish
The Pike of Dijon
(for dinner)
Pike fillets, larded and marinated in Bur-
gundy brandy (Marc) and white wine,
baked with mushrooms and smothered in
cream sauce.
Suckling Pig
(for lunch)
Stuffed with garlic, sage, parsley and its
own giblets. Baked and dashed with white
wine just before serving.
Burgundy Cock
(for dinner)
Sauteed with onions and bacon, brandy
burned over it, then stewed with mush-
rooms in Chambertin wine and herbs.
Each piece served up on a square of fried
toast.
Wines
Meursault
Montrachet la
Guiche (Bur-
gundy's greatest
white wine)
Romanee or
Chambertin
Clos-Vougeot or
Musigny
Mushrooms, stuffed and sauteed in Mersault. Maconnais
Page 116
Presented as published in 1936. 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 must be meticulous then in approaching such a sanctified cuisine, which is not taken lightly by anybody from the most modest midinette who munches pomme frittes out of the common frying pans around the ramparts, right up to those master cooks who have won their cordon bleu. In an article of this scope we cannot attempt to give the full cuisine, province by province, and yet we must not overlook the great classic regional dishes that have been celebrated for a century and a half by such experts as Careme, Savarin, Beauvilliers, Ude, Francatelli, Urbain-Dubois, Gouffé and Dumas, and could be had at the Cafe de Paris, Fouchon's, La Perouse, Tour de Argent, Marguery's, Prunier's, or at the old Au Pieds de Mouton, down by the market.
Our best guides to regional cooking are the gastronomic
maps hung on walls, displayed in art galleries and preserved in books. These give pictures of the actual foodstuffs and bottles that distinguish each of the provinces, which number about the forty-eight of our own States. From these charts we learn to distinguish the three divisions of cooking, royal, bourgeois and peasant, exorbitant, medium-priced and cheap; or still in other words, classical, family and plain folk-cooking. This last division consists of "les plats regionaux," and since the two higher classes spring from these local dishes, they are the most basically French.
In poring over the food maps we see that the province of Burgundy is perhaps most representative of the whole country, for here both food and wine are combined in a marvelous menu, the bottle being used as lavishly in cooking as in Spain itself. The rival Bordelais district produces as great wine, of course, and its sauce Bordelaise (shallots cooked in claret with butter, nutmeg, pepper and parsley) is more widely known than sauce Bourguignonne, but Burgundy has two sauces to Bordelaise's one, the second being sauce Dijonnaise (mustard of Dijon whipped up with egg yolk and butter).
A selection of Burgundian dishes with their accompanying Burgundy wines will suggest the rich possibilities of but one province :
Oysters (now chiefly imported from Portugal). Chablis
Hors d'œuvres, served at lunch only, and consisting of sausages, raw, smoked and cooked in white wine. Spiced and jellied ham of Persille. Pouilly
Soups : Mushroom with cream La Poree (bacon and leeks)
Dishes
Burgundy Snails (for lunch)
Fat and juicy, first boiled in white wine with an herb bouquet, then filled with butter made tasty by chopped parsley, shallots and garlic. Then grilled and served tongue-hot. A silver snail-holder and a tiny fork with two tines comes handy in eating them.
Fish
The Pike of Dijon (for dinner)
Pike fillets, larded and marinated in Burgundy brandy (Marc) and white wine, baked with mushrooms and smothered in cream sauce.
Suckling Pig (for lunch)
Stuffed with garlic, sage, parsley and its own giblets. Baked and dashed with white wine just before serving.
Burgundy Cock (for dinner)
Sauteed with onions and bacon, brandy burned over it, then stewed with mushrooms in Chambertin wine and herbs. Each piece served up on a square of fried toast.
Wines
Meursault
Montrachet la Guiche (Burgundy's greatest white wine)
Romanee or Chambertin
Clos-Vougeot or Musigny
Mushrooms, stuffed and sauteed in Mersault. Maconnais