French Provincial Cooking - Elizabeth David [88]
Since those days I have learnt that this is a speciality of Poitou, but why this should be so I do not quite know, unless it is a legacy from the Spaniards. In fact, rice salad is not a common dish in France, although one does sometimes come across it in the south, where it is liable to contain shell fish or olives and sweet peppers as well as tomatoes. Whatever its origin it has always seemed to me a first-class salad.
FONDS D’ARTICHAUTS EN SALADE
SALAD OF ARTICHOKE HEARTS AND LETTUCE
I have already told the story of la Mère Fillioux and the dishes which made her restaurant famous in Lyon and all over the world. One of these dishes consisted of fonds d’artichauts with foie gras, and is also served as one of the specialities at la Mère Brazier’s in Lyon. (Madame Brazier was once the cook at la Mère Fillioux’.) So when I saw a dish of artichoke hearts listed on the menu at la Mère Brazier’s I supposed that it would be the renowned foie gras affair. Coming towards the end of an already copious menu consisting of saucisson en brioche, sole meunière and poularde demi-deuil I was wondering how on earth I could manage an artichoke heart topped with a slice of foie gras, a combination which, famous though it may be, does not seem to me an altogether happy one. But when the dish came it proved to be a perfectly simple and straightforward salad, exactly what was needed to refresh the palate after the meal we had had. In fact it was one of the most delicious salads I have ever eaten, and one of the best possible ways of appreciating the subtle, elusive flavour of the globe artichoke.
One fine large artichoke must be allowed for each person. The artichokes are prepared as explained on page 138-9, but it is easier to leave the chokes and scoop them out after cooking, in boiling, salted and slightly acidulated water for 25 to 40 minutes; while still warm season them with a dressing of olive oil, salt, and a little lemon juice or very good tarragon vinegar. The artichokes thus prepared are placed on top of a salad of lettuce hearts, mixed at the last moment with the same dressing and arranged on a flat dish rather than in a salad bowl.
SALADE CAUCHOISE
SALAD OF POTATOES, CELERY AND HAM
Cook about 1 lb. of waxy potatoes in their skins, keeping them firm. Cut a large celery heart into julienne strips, and keep them in cold water until they are needed. Peel the potatoes while they are still warm, cut also into strips, and mix them in a bowl with the drained celery. Season plentifully with salt, freshly ground pepper, and not more than 2 tablespoons of very good white wine vinegar. Shortly before serving whip about 6 oz. of very fresh cream, adding gradually the juice of half a lemon; if the cream thickens too quickly add a few drops of milk. Season with salt and pepper and fold the cream lightly into the salad. Over the top sprinkle about 4 oz. of cooked ham cut in little strips and mixed with a little chopped parsley. This salad was at one time a speciality of the Hôtel de la Couronne in Rouen (cauchoise means that it is called after the district of Caux in Normandy), and a truffle or two would be chopped with the ham to enrich the dish. It is a salad to serve after something light, such as an omelette or a grilled sole, but if the cream is omitted and the mixture dressed with oil instead, it makes a good hors-d’œuvre.
Les Potages
Soups
‘The making of a good soup is quite an art, and many otherwise clever cooks do not possess the tour de main necessary to its successful preparation. Either they over-complicate the composition of the dish, or they attach only minor importance to