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Haricot, Normandy
Take two pounds of veal from the fillet, cut it into slices three-quarters of an inch in thickness, and divide these into neat pieces three inches long by two inches broad. Beat them flat with a cutlet bat, season them with pepper and salt, dip them in flour, and fry them to a light brown in a little butter, and with three or four slices of lean ham. Lift them into a saucepan, pour over them a pint of boiling gravy, and add a table-spoonful of scalded and chopped parsley. Let them simmer gently for three-quarters of an hour; draw the saucepan to the side, and put three pounds of new potatoes, or old ones cut in half, in the pan with them, and simmer again until the potatoes are sufficiently cooked. Serve as hot as possible, and send young green peas, French beans, or stewed carrots to table with them. Probable cost, 3s. Sufficient for three or four persons.
A one-pot veal stew of the plainest kind, and it works well provided you keep an eye on the liquid: a pint of gravy has to see three pounds of potatoes through to tenderness.
- "Haricot" means stew, not beansIn Victorian usage a haricot is a stew of meat cut into neat pieces with vegetables. The name is traditionally linked to an Old French verb meaning to cut up, though the derivation is not certain. There are no haricot beans in this dish and none should be added.
- The cut of veal"Veal from the fillet" is the leg, sold today as veal cutlet or leg steak. Boneless veal shoulder is cheaper and more forgiving over a long simmer; loin is too lean for 45 minutes of stewing.
- Cutlet batA heavy flat mallet for flattening meat. A meat mallet or the base of a small pan does the same job. Beat the slices to about a quarter inch so they cook evenly.
- Boiling gravyNot thickened sauce from a roast but hot brown stock, ideally veal. A good unsalted chicken or veal stock is the modern equivalent; use it boiling so the pan does not lose its heat.
- Scalded parsleyDipping the parsley in boiling water for a few seconds sets the colour and softens the raw edge. It is optional, and it helps the parsley hold its colour, though after a long simmer it will dull in any case.
- Watch the liquid when the potatoes go inThis is the hinge. A pint will not cover three pounds of potatoes, so use a wide pan, keep the lid on, and add more boiling stock as needed. Left dry, the potatoes catch and the veal at the bottom scorches.
- TimingThree-quarters of an hour brings the veal to tenderness; new potatoves need about 20 minutes more, halved old ones 25 to 30. Total cooking is a little over an hour.
- The hamThree or four slices of lean ham are seasoning, not a separate portion. Use a dry-cured gammon or prosciutto offcut, and go lightly with the salt in the initial seasoning to compensate.
- Yield and costThe original claims three or four servings, which is right if the peas or beans are served alongside as directed. The 3s. is a late-Victorian retail estimate and has no modern meaning.
Cassell's places this among a family of "haricots," all descended from the French haricot de mouton and all built on the same idea: meat cut small, browned, then simmered with a root vegetable in its own gravy. The name is often said to derive from the old verb haricoter, to cut into pieces, rather than from the bean that later borrowed the word, though the derivation is uncertain; in any case many nineteenth-century English haricots contain no beans at all and confuse modern readers. The Normandy label is doing light duty here, signalling butter, veal and new potatoes rather than any particular regional tradition. What the recipe really reflects is the convenience of a dish that cooks its meat and its potatoes in one pan on a single hob or range plate.