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in the arts, including Sarah Bernhardt and Verdi. His tournedos Rossini, hearts of beef garnished with foie gras and truffles, was in honor of the composer, but the most famous were peach Melba and Melba toast, named for Australian soprano Nellie Melba. He was sometimes even inspired by current events; he created chaud-froid Jeanette, a stuffed breast of chicken, served cold, in honor of a ship that had been trapped in polar ice for two years before it was crushed and sank. In its debut appearance, Escoffier’s recipe was displayed on top of a ship carved of ice.

In 1898, he left London for Paris to become the first chef of the Ritz Hotel, founded by himself and Cesar Ritz with money from Richard d’Oyly Carte, theater owner and producer of Gilbert and Sullivan’s operettas. Known by this time as the king of chefs and chef of kings, Escoffier was awarded the French Legion of Honor in 1920, a year before his retirement after sixty-two years in the kitchen. During his remaining fifteen years he wrote Ma cuisine and Le livre des Menus and collaborated on Le guide culinaire, the three books that essentially codified French cuisine and included thousands of recipes and menus.

FOIE GRAS

Although geese have had food crammed down their throats for centuries, since Roman and even ancient Egyptian times, foie gras, the liver of a force-fed goose or duck, is chiefly associated with France and is one of the glories of French cuisine. The Romans used figs to fatten the geese. The French use corn, and the process—you are better off not knowing the details—involves a funnel and is called gavage.

Foie gras makes its main appearance in the winter, and Christmas and New Year’s are traditionally the great times to enjoy it. The best quality has a buttery consistency and a marvelous rich, silky taste. It is pale, almost ivory in color, tending a bit toward pink. Despite its astronomic number of calories, good foie gras should not exude any fat. Duck liver tends to be slightly darker, with a more pronounced flavor.

In France, the finest foie gras is served cru, or raw. It cannot, however, be legally imported like this into the United States. Lightly and gently cooked, it is called mi-cuit or naturel or frais, and this state is probably preferable for a first experience.

Fresh mi-cuit can sometimes be found in the United States, but is more widely distributed in cans or jars. Canning deprives it of little in the way of taste, but careful reading of the label is important. Foie gras entire means an entire (or nearly) liver. En conserve requires no refrigeration and can be stored for years, even improving with age to a certain point, like good wine or sardines. It should be kept in a cool, dark place and turned occasionally. Cans labeled bloc are not as desirable, containing pieces of foie gras—usually only fifty percent of the contents—pressed together. Also to be avoided is foie gras truffé, not worth the extra expense, and the flavor of the truffle is minimal.

Foie gras should be served slightly chilled, in thin slices, and is perfect with nothing more elaborate than white country bread. If it is too cold, the flavor is diminished; too warm, and it loses its charm. A cold Sauternes is the ideal accompaniment. In slicing foie gras, use a thin blade dipped in warm water and wiped clean between slices.

IRMA ROMBAUER

Irma Louise Rombauer was born in St. Louis on this day in 1877, the second of two daughters in a solid, German immigrant family. Her father was a doctor. In 1930, to recover from the terrible blow of her husband’s suicide, she was urged to distract herself by assembling her ideas on cooking, based to a large extent on seventy-three mimeographed recipes she had gathered for her church group. Over the summer, at a small inn in Charlevoix, Michigan, she began to work on what would become the most famous American cookbook, Joy of Cooking. She had three thousand copies printed at her own expense in 1931. Clear, friendly, and precise, it contained five hundred tested recipes and reflected its author’s wise, understanding personality.