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Macedoine of Beef
The desired quantity of rump steak is cut into slices half an inch in thickness and formed into the shape of cutlets, three inches by two inches, flat; trim all to the same size and lard thickly on one side with fine lardoons of bacon fat. Lay out, larded side uppermost, in a flat pan and nearly cover with richly flavored stock; cover the pan with a lid and braise in an oven for an hour. Remove the lid, baste the slices with gravy and let them remain uncovered in the oven until the larding has taken color; they are then ready to dish. Use equal amounts of sliced carrots, turnips, cutting into fancy shapes; green peas, string beans, asparagus tops and small sprigs of cauliflowers; boil all in salted water until quite tender. Melt in a saucepan a lump of butter, add a little flour and stir in enough milk to make a sauce, adding pepper, salt and a little grated nutmeg. Put into this sauce all the vegetables, of which there should be sufficient quantity to make them adhere together, and toss them gently in it until quite hot. Pile in the middle of a dish and place the slices around them in a circle. Skin off all fat from the gravy, pour it around the dish but not over the slices, and serve.
A braise-and-garnish dish that rewards attention to two things: the larding, which is what gives the meat its surface, and the vegetables, which should be cut and cooked separately rather than boiled together in one pot.
- The hinge: lard on one side onlyThe strips of bacon fat are threaded into the upper face so that when the lid comes off they brown and crisp above the gravy line. A larding needle is the traditional tool; without one, cut narrow slits with a thin knife and push in chilled strips of fatback or unsmoked bacon fat with the back of a skewer. Chilled fat threads cleanly, warm fat tears.
- Oven temperatureOscar gives no temperature, only "braise in an oven." A modern equivalent would be a low oven, roughly 300-325F, covered for the hour, then uncovered at 375-400F for the last 10-15 minutes to color the larding. Higher heat under the lid will squeeze the slices tight and dry.
- What cut to buyBritish "rump steak" generally corresponds to American top sirloin, while American rump is closer to bottom round; Oscar, writing in New York, could have meant either. Both braise at half-inch thickness, though a sirloin cut may be tender before the hour is up and bottom round may want the full hour or a little more. Judge by fork resistance rather than the clock.
- Stock depth"Nearly cover" is meant literally, and it matters here: the larded top must sit above the liquid so it can brown. Use a pan just large enough to hold the slices in one layer, or the stock spreads thin and reduces to nothing.
- Macedoine means the cutA macedoine is a mixture of vegetables in small even dice or fancy shapes, not a particular set of vegetables. Oscar says to boil them all in salted water; cooking each kind separately and refreshing in cold water is a modern refinement that helps the peas and beans keep their color, with everything combined only in the sauce.
- The binding sauceThis is a plain bechamel used sparingly. Roughly 1 oz butter, 1 oz flour and a cup of milk will coat about a quart of cooked vegetables. It should cling, not pool; if it slackens, the pile will not hold its shape on the dish.
- Skimming and finishing the gravyLet the braising liquid settle a few minutes so the fat rises, then skim it as Oscar directs. It goes around the dish, not over the meat, so that the browned larding stays visible and dry.
- YieldTwo cutlet-shaped slices per person is a fair portion, so roughly 2 lb of steak and a quart of prepared vegetables serves four to five.
Oscar Tschirky ran the dining rooms of the Waldorf, and his 1896 book is essentially a record of what a large American hotel kitchen of the period cooked out of the French repertoire. A macedoine is simply a mixture of vegetables cut small, the name generally traced to Macedonia and its reputation as an empire of many peoples, and by the late nineteenth century it was standard garnish vocabulary in professional kitchens on both sides of the Atlantic. What dates this particular version is the labor assumed in it: larding a modest braising cut with hand-cut lardoons and turning carrots and turnips into fancy shapes, all for a dish built on rump steak rather than a prestige roast. That was the economy of the hotel kitchen, where cheap cuts and abundant skilled hands met at the service table.