If scallops have been purchased in their shells, wash well,
and lay at door of open hot oven until they open. Remove at
once and take out meats (i.e., the white muscle, discarding in-
testines, etc.) . Clean six of the shells thoroughly. Mince scallops,
mix with onion, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper. Add sufficient
wine to moisten. Arrange mixture in the six shells, sprinkle
with crumbs, and then with butter, and brown in moderate oven
(350°F.). If scallops have been bought in bulk, bake mixture
in scallop dishes or in small scalloped egg dishes. In France
scallops go by the name of Coquilles Saint-Jacques and are in-
variably purchased in their shells, so one may be sure they are
fresh, since they are still alive. The shells are prized and kept
by the frugal cook for baking or serving other dainty sea-food
dishes.
Sea-faring Brittany sits back picturesquely from her bleak
granite coast in orchards of apples and pears. So most of her
cooking is done with cider and perry (pear juice). Muscadet,
called for in the recipe above, is her one good wine, all others
going by the name "savage" or "foolish" wines. This is a great
sea-food coast, its dishes winking with winkles, oysters, scallops,
cockles, crawfish, lobsters, crabs, mussels, eels, and sardines. The
sardines shipped from Nantes are noted not only for the delicacy
of the fat meat but for careful preparation before canning. The
finest qualities are not only boned but skinned, although some
sardine-sharks who relish the skin object to this. As with eaters
of mouldy Camembert-rinds the devotees of sardines, skins and
all, maintain that the sweetest and fattest part lies closest to the
skin, so it should never be discarded.
Because of the profusion of fruit-blossoms every Brittany
farmer keeps a bee and regards this busy little worker with affec-
tion, almost as though it were a member of the family, much
as an Irishman is closely attached to his pig or a Bavarian to
3io THE EUROPEAN COOKBOOK
his cow, with which, indeed, both nationalities share their own
houses.
Burgundy SNAILS BURGUNDY STYLE
(Escargots de Bourgogne)
These are the snails imported into the United States and
sold at luxury food shops. They have been kept several days
on rock salt, stewed in aromatic white wine, and then stuffed
with a butter paste flavored with shallots and chopped parsley✪ Snails Burgundy Style (Escargots de Bourgogne).
Sealed with this paste, they keep nicely, and are shipped all over
France as well as to foreign countries. They are ready for the
grill and all that is necessary is to place them under the flame,
butter side up, and make thoroughly hot. Do not let them cook
in their butter, or they will toughen. Each portion should be
accompanied by a scissorlike clamp of silver with which to hold
them while they are taken out with a snail pick. But they may
be held with the corner of a napkin and extracted with a tooth-
pick, if the special snail gear is not available.
True lovers of snails, after eating the meat, sip the warm
butter sauce from the shell, the same as oyster and clam eaters
invariably drain the last drop of juice from the shell.
SEA URCHINS
{Our sins)
Page 131 · 2 recipe records on this page
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
If scallops have been purchased in their shells, wash well, and lay at door of open hot oven until they open. Remove at once and take out meats (i.e., the white muscle, discarding intestines, etc.) . Clean six of the shells thoroughly. Mince scallops, mix with onion, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper. Add sufficient wine to moisten. Arrange mixture in the six shells, sprinkle with crumbs, and then with butter, and brown in moderate oven (350°F.). If scallops have been bought in bulk, bake mixture in scallop dishes or in small scalloped egg dishes. In France scallops go by the name of Coquilles Saint-Jacques and are invariably purchased in their shells, so one may be sure they are fresh, since they are still alive. The shells are prized and kept by the frugal cook for baking or serving other dainty sea-food dishes.
Sea-faring Brittany sits back picturesquely from her bleak granite coast in orchards of apples and pears. So most of her cooking is done with cider and perry (pear juice). Muscadet, called for in the recipe above, is her one good wine, all others going by the name "savage" or "foolish" wines. This is a great sea-food coast, its dishes winking with winkles, oysters, scallops, cockles, crawfish, lobsters, crabs, mussels, eels, and sardines. The sardines shipped from Nantes are noted not only for the delicacy of the fat meat but for careful preparation before canning. The finest qualities are not only boned but skinned, although some sardine-sharks who relish the skin object to this. As with eaters of mouldy Camembert-rinds the devotees of sardines, skins and all, maintain that the sweetest and fattest part lies closest to the skin, so it should never be discarded.
Because of the profusion of fruit-blossoms every Brittany farmer keeps a bee and regards this busy little worker with affection, almost as though it were a member of the family, much as an Irishman is closely attached to his pig or a Bavarian to
his cow, with which, indeed, both nationalities share their own houses.
Burgundy SNAILS BURGUNDY STYLE
(Escargots de Bourgogne)
These are the snails imported into the United States and sold at luxury food shops. They have been kept several days on rock salt, stewed in aromatic white wine, and then stuffed with a butter paste flavored with shallots and chopped parsley. Sealed with this paste, they keep nicely, and are shipped all over France as well as to foreign countries. They are ready for the grill and all that is necessary is to place them under the flame, butter side up, and make thoroughly hot. Do not let them cook in their butter, or they will toughen. Each portion should be accompanied by a scissorlike clamp of silver with which to hold them while they are taken out with a snail pick. But they may be held with the corner of a napkin and extracted with a toothpick, if the special snail gear is not available.
True lovers of snails, after eating the meat, sip the warm butter sauce from the shell, the same as oyster and clam eaters invariably drain the last drop of juice from the shell.
SEA URCHINS {Our sins)
Records on this page
Snails Burgundy Style (Escargots de Bourgogne)Bordelaise Sauce (White)