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Cream of Veal
Cut the most tender part of a fillet of veal into small pieces, place them in a mortar with an equal quantity of bread that has been soaked in boiling milk, and pound together. Stir into the above mixture the yolk of one egg, the whites of two, and enough cream to bring it to a stiff batter; season with salt and pepper to taste. Butter a plain mould, ornament the insides with slices of truffles, and pour in the above mixture. Stand the mould in a saucepan with boiling water to three-fourths its height, and allow it to steam for an hour. At the end of that time turn the cream out of the mould onto a hot dish, pour some perigueux sauce round, and serve.
This is a veal mousseline, or forcemeat cream, set in a mould over water. The technique is unchanged, but the equipment and the timing want translating.
- The hinge: the water must never boilDespite the instruction to stand the mould in boiling water, the water should be held at a bare simmer, around 180F, for the whole cooking. A rolling boil drives the egg proteins to contract and the cream weeps out, leaving a grainy, watery mousse. Add hot water as it evaporates and cover the pan loosely.
- Mortar to food processorA processor does in under a minute what pounding in a mortar took many minutes to achieve. Keep everything cold, pulse rather than run continuously, and pass the puree through a fine sieve afterward for a smoother texture.
- Proportions, since none are givenThe recipe fixes only the eggs (one yolk, two whites), which suggests a modest batch: something on the order of 8 oz trimmed veal to an equal quantity of bread, plus cream enough to make a stiff batter. Note that 'equal quantity of bread that has been soaked' may mean the bread weighed before or after soaking; squeeze the bread hard after soaking or the mixture will be slack. Season to taste, about 1 teaspoon salt per pound of total mixture.
- Doneness, not just timeAn hour suits a single quart mould. In individual ramekins, 25 to 35 minutes is enough. Judge by an instant-read thermometer at the centre: 160 to 165F, firm to a light press, no liquid pooling when the mould is tipped.
- TrufflesFresh black truffle in the quantity implied here is a luxury few will match. Preserved truffle slices or truffle peelings work for the decoration; thin slices of cooked black mushroom give the visual pattern without pretending to the flavour.
- Perigueux sauceA demi-glace finished with Madeira and chopped truffle. If you are not making demi-glace, a reduced veal or brown chicken stock thickened lightly and fortified with Madeira is the honest substitute.
- UnmouldingButter the mould generously and line the base with a disc of parchment before laying in the truffle slices. Rest the cooked mould five minutes, run a thin knife round the edge, then invert onto a warmed dish.
- YieldA quart mould made to these proportions serves six to eight as a first course, or four as a light main dish with the sauce and a vegetable.
This belongs to the family of French forcemeat preparations that classical kitchens called mousselines or cremes: lean white meat, fish, or poultry pounded with a bread panada, bound with egg and cream, and poached gently in a mould. Escoffier's generation codified them, and they suited grand hotel cooking because they could be made ahead, turned out cleanly, and dressed up with truffle and a brown sauce. Sauce Perigueux takes its name from Perigueux, in the Perigord region of the Dordogne, long associated with the French black truffle trade, and a sauce so labelled conventionally contains chopped truffle. Oscar Tschirky's book of 1896 carries the Waldorf's name, though how closely its recipes reflect what the hotel's kitchen cooked day to day is not something the text itself establishes.