• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 2424 0

frying-pan. Pour in olive oil to come half-way up. Then cover with water. Turn the heat as high as possible so that the oil and the water come rapidly to a fast boil (it is the same method as that used for a bouillabaisse) and amalgamate. Let it continue boiling, spluttering and crackling (uncovered) for the whole cooking time, which is from 15 to 20 minutes, according to the size of the artichokes. Towards the end, you can see that the artichokes have turned golden brown and crisp and the outer leaves have spread out. Finally, the liquid will stop spluttering because all the water has evaporated leaving only the oil. Take out the artichokes, and arrange them, stalks in the air, on a hot dish, so that they look like beautiful little bronzed flowers, with the crisped petals spreading out. Sprinkle over a little of their cooking liquid and some salt. Allow two artichokes per person if they are small.

LES ASPERGES DE CAVAILLON

CAVAILLON ASPARAGUS

The following recipe was given on the wrapping paper of asparagus exported to England from Cavaillon in the Vaucluse. Apart from those of Lauris and Argenteuil, the Cavaillon asparagus are supposed to be the best in France.

‘Rake each asparagus with an office knife20 and throw them one after the other in a large earthenpan full of cold water: wash them carefully, fasten them in bunches of 10 or 12 asparagus, according to their size, put them in slightly salted boiling water, and maintain boiling during 10 to 12 minutes on a lively fire. The asparagus are cooked when they melt under the finger’s pressure. To avoid that the soft part of the asparagus will not break in cooking, it is preferable to put the asparagus upright with the heads out of the water; this part of the asparagus being more tender than the rest; the water which recovers them in boiling suffices to make them well done.’

Personally, I do not go out of my way to pay huge sums for asparagus, either in or out of season. When I stayed in the Cavaillon neighbourhood, we used to buy the local asparagus for a few francs a bundle, but with all the trouble they were to prepare and cook (they had to be arranged flat in a roasting tin on top of the Butagaz cooker, as there was no suitable saucepan included in the batterie de cuisine of that house), I thought the fresh young broad beans, the exquisite haricots verts and the beautiful violet-leaved artichokes more worth while. In any case, asparagus are always best served in a straightforward way, with melted butter or hollandaise sauce, and the Cavaillon recipe, peculiar though the English is, is perfectly sound, although 10 to 12 minutes is very much on the scanty side for any but freshly picked and rather thin green asparagus.

A small quantity of cooked asparagus tips, particularly the small thin ones which are often sold very cheaply, make a first-class garnish for eggs en cocotte with cream.

ASPERGES À LA MAYONNAISE

ASPARAGUS WITH MAYONNAISE

If you find yourself landed with those enormous fat white asparagus which, although rather expensive, have nothing like the flavour of the thin green ones, boil them (they may take as long as 30 minutes) and serve them cold with a mayonnaise flavoured with lemon juice rather than vinegar.

LES AUBERGINES

The English name of this vegetable, egg plant, is presumably due to the fact that there is a variety which produces white fruit almost exactly the shape and size of an egg. The other two main varieties are deep violet, one long like a fat sausage, the other round. There is also a violet and white striped variety, Zébrine, now being grown in France as well as in the Near and Far Eastern countries. Except for certain purées and salads, aubergines should not be peeled. The skin provides flavour as well as holding them together. Before cooking they are sliced, either lengthwise into thinnish long strips, or crosswise into rounds, or into small cubes. Put them in a colander, sprinkle with salt, press a plate down on top and leave them an hour or two so that excess moisture and the bitter juices drain off. Dry them