Life Is Meals_ A Food Lover's Book of Days - James Salter [6]
CORDON BLEU
The term cordon bleu originally referred to the wide blue ribbon from which hung a cross designating the most prestigious Order of the Holy Spirit, the L’Ordre des Chevaliers du Saint Esprit, created by Henry III in 1578. The investiture banquets were as famous as the medal.
A century later, Mme de Maintenon broadened the meaning of the cordon bleu. She had been the governess of Louis XIV’s illegitimate children and later became his second wife, married in secret because of her low social standing. Always interested in education, she spent much time at Saint-Cyr, the school founded to educate the daughters of impoverished nobility and orphans of French soldiers. There, she established the Cordon Bleu of Cookery, and the blue ribbon of honor eventually came to mean excellence in any field, but especially in the kitchen.
On this day in 1896, Le Cordon Bleu held its first classes in the culinary arts at the Palais Royale in Paris. It has become the most famous culinary institute in the world. Taught by some of the great chefs of the day, the school has produced its own luminaries. One was Julia Child, who qualified for professional training after World War II, when Le Cordon Bleu was accepted as an accredited school under the G.I. Bill.
GIVING A DINNER PARTY (I)
You decide to give a dinner party. Someone is coming to town, or it seems a good idea to introduce someone to someone else, or you’re just in the mood to have an evening with friends. You may choose the next night or one a few days or weeks off.
As W.S. Gilbert said, “When planning a dinner party, what’s more important than what’s on the table is what’s on the chairs.” The first thing is to invite the main guests. The others are chosen as complements—a mix, if possible, of couples and singles, men and women, though we don’t try for a perfect balance. No more than seven, usually, including ourselves, since that’s the most our table will comfortably seat. In general, two at a table makes for the most intimate talk, though that’s not really a dinner party. Nor is three, though then the conversation is likely to be the most revealing. Four is congenial, and five the most interesting with its slight imbalance. Six is pleasant, but tends toward the conventional if it is three couples, especially if they’re already acquainted.
There can be larger parties, of course, with two tables or else a buffet with people eating from plates in their laps or on low coffee tables. But then it is impossible for everyone to join in one conversation, and—if the guests are interesting—people end up feeling that wherever they sat, they’ve missed something.
If you’ve invited people far in advance, you might call the day of the dinner to remind them of the time.
GIVING A DINNER PARTY (II)
MENU
To approach this on a fundamental level, a dinner is more of an occasion if you have two courses before dessert. The first course might obviously be a soup (hot or cold), salad, smoked salmon with toast, bruschetta, a sautéed vegetable (leeks, sweet red peppers) with a dressing, or for a major feed, a risotto or pasta.
The main course needs something at its side—a potato or rice dish if it is meat, fish, or chicken, and possibly another vegetable. When pasta is the main course, you might serve it solo and add something afterward—a green salad or a cheese platter if the pasta hasn’t included a lot of cheese.
Unless the meal is particularly heavy, chocolate or something rich can come as dessert, although a fruit tart or fruit in a liqueur is often our choice.
PREPARATIONS
Besides basic spirits—gin, vodka, beer, Scotch, bourbon—check the bar to make sure you have soda or seltzer, tonic, and olives/cocktail onions/lemon peel. Make