Life Is Meals_ A Food Lover's Book of Days - James Salter [124]
The opinion was not universal. Diderot said, “Mme de Pompadour is dead. So what remains of this woman who cost us so much in men and money, left us without honor and without energy, and who overthrew the whole political system of Europe?”
COULIBIAC
2000. Coulibiac is the world’s greatest dish, Craig Claiborne wrote, nothing to even compare to it. A marvelous kind of pâté-pie made of salmon, mushrooms, onions, rice, hard-boiled eggs, and the dried spinal marrow of a sturgeon—vésiga or vyaziga, said to add a distinctive quality of taste and texture, though not essential—it arrives baked in a golden crust.
Coulibiac, coulibiaca, or koulibiaca originated in the 19th century and had been served to the Czar by the great French chef Edouard Nignon, who during his long career was also head chef to the Austrian emperor and President Woodrow Wilson. The preparation was complicated, but Claiborne was absolutely unequivocal—neither goose nor turkey nor game nor anything else could compare: “Blessed be the holiday table graced with coulibiac.”
We decided to make it from his recipe for New Year’s Eve.
The next night, we were three couples in evening clothes. We drank champagne, talked, and ate some hors d’oeuvres. There was no appetizer. Claiborne had said he was not convinced there was anything except caviar that could precede coulibiac.
We’d worked on the dish for two days. It came to the table in a lightly browned crust that was inscribed with the year just ahead, 2001, embossed on it in dough, and the final half cup of melted butter poured in through a hole that had been made for the steam.
It was an impressive sight. The coulibiac was large enough for a dozen people, as it turned out, and fragrant. A delicious aroma filled the room as inch-thick slices were cut. We had omitted the vésiga or vyaziga, mainly because we couldn’t find any. It was not noticed. The coulibiac was extremely rich, and even after second helpings, there was enough left over for two more meals.
There’s a passage in the second volume of Gogol’s masterpiece, Dead Souls, where Chichikov, the questionable hero, meets a landowner named Petukh while fishing. Petukh is a grand gourmand whose entire life is focused on eating, and after a huge dinner at his house, Chichikov hears his host giving instructions to a servant about the next day’s delights.
“ ‘Make a four-cornered fish pie,’ Petukh says …. ‘In one corner put the cheeks and dried spine of a sturgeon, in another some buckwheat, little mushrooms, onions, some soft roe and, yes, some brains and something else as well, you know, something nice …. And see that the crust is well-browned on one side and a little less done on the other ….’ Petukh smacked his lips as he spoke ….”
We needed no help in recognizing what he was describing.
GREAT MEALS
Sometimes you forget. A few years back, from the menu that we made:
NEW YEAR’S EVE—1986
SCOTTISH SMOKED SALMON
PÂTÉ DE CAMPAGNE (VEAL AND PORK)
PÂTÉ MAISON (CHICKEN LIVER)
RISOTTO CON FUNGHI
HEARTS OF ARTICHOKE, SPINACH, ENDIVE, AND ROMAINE SALAD
CAMPARI AND ORANGE ICES
SWEETS AND LIQUEURS
WINE: DUHART MILON ROTHSCHILD 1976
The dinner took a day and a half to prepare, but it was for New Year’s Eve, and two really good, though amateur, cooks were going to attend, so it was more than worth it. We started eating late and toasted in the new year. There was snow on the ground, and the night was brilliant and dark. Duhart Milon Rothschild is a fourth growth, but it drank like a first. An evening beyond price.
Abraham, Chapter 03.1, 03.2
Adams, John, Chapter 09.1
adders, Chapter 07.1
Aga, Soliman, Chapter 03.1
Agamemnon, Chapter 11.1
Aganippe, Chapter 03.1
Agrippina II, Empress, Chapter 08.1
Air Force, U.S., Chapter 01.1, Chapter 05.1
A’isha, Chapter 06.1
Á la Duchesse Anne (Saint-Malo), Chapter 10.1
Albert, Prince, Chapter 06.1
Albignac, Chevalier d’, Chapter 05.1
ales, Chapter 07.1
Alexander I, Czar, Chapter 02.1, Chapter 06.1, 06.2
Alexander II, Czar, Chapter 12.1
Alexander the Great, Chapter