No. 1034

Lobster a la Hervey

Homard a la Hervey

Prepare a court bouillon (No. 38), and in it cook two lobsters each of two pounds; drain them for a few minutes; detach the tails from the bodies, and keep them warm in a little of their broth. Cut some peeled truffles into thin slices an eighth of an inch thick, and three-quarters to one inch in diameter; set them in a bain-marie with a little melted glaze (No. 402) and Madeira wine. Slice the lobsters' tails and claw meat, and fry the pieces in butter; moisten with a pint of cream, reduce and season highly, then thicken with egg-yolks, cream and butter. Dress and garnish the dish with round apple croquettes one inch in diameter, and cover the entire top with the prepared truffles.

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For the Modern Kitchen

A late-nineteenth-century Delmonico's lobster in a reduced cream sauce, finished with egg yolks and blanketed in truffle. The cooking is quick; nearly all the work is in the components the recipe only cross-references.

The hinge: the liaisonOnce the egg yolks, cream and butter go in, the sauce must not boil or it will curdle into scrambled egg in cream. Pull the pan off the heat, temper a little hot sauce into the yolks, return it, and hold it below a simmer until it coats a spoon.
Court bouillonRanhofer's No. 38 is one of the book's court bouillons: broadly water with wine or vinegar, aromatic vegetables and herbs, brought up before the shellfish goes in. Two-pound lobsters need roughly 12-15 minutes at a bare simmer; longer and the tail meat tightens and dries.
Glaze (No. 402)Meat glaze, or glace de viande: brown stock reduced to a syrup that sets firm when cold. A commercial demi-glace or a spoonful of reduced stock stands in. The recipe calls only for 'a little', for gloss and depth on the truffles.
Bain-marieHere the bain-marie is a holding device rather than a cooking method: the truffle slices are simply kept warm over hot water in their Madeira and glaze so they do not stew.
TrufflesThe recipe calls for peeled truffles sliced into coins an eighth of an inch thick and up to an inch across, enough to tile the top of the dish; in Ranhofer's kitchen most likely French black truffle, fresh or preserved. That is a substantial quantity by present prices; preserved truffle peelings or a smaller quantity of fresh, sliced thin, is the practical compromise. Truffle oil does not do the same job here, since the point is a covering layer.
"Apple croquettes"Ambiguous as printed, since French pommes covers apples and, in pommes de terre, potatoes. One-inch round croquettes fried as a garnish for a savoury lobster dish are most likely potato croquettes, though a sweet apple garnish cannot be ruled out from the text alone.
Season highlyShorthand for pushing the seasoning further than you would in a domestic sauce, because the cream and egg mute it; with lobster that would usually mean salt and cayenne. Taste after the reduction, not before.
YieldTwo two-pound lobsters with a pint of reduced cream sauce serves four as a main course, six as a first course. How far the cream goes down is left to judgement: reduce to a sauce that will coat before the liaison goes in.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) is Charles Ranhofer's record of his thirty-odd years as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and this dish belongs to the house habit of naming compositions after patrons, public men and passing occasions. Who Hervey was is not stated, and Ranhofer rarely explained his dedications; no documented person has been identified behind the name. What the recipe does show clearly is how a grand-restaurant lobster was built in the period: the shellfish poached in court bouillon, the meat sauced with cream tightened by an egg-yolk liaison rather than a flour roux, and the whole thing crowned with truffle, which in the 1890s functioned as the visible marker of expense on a plate much as caviar or gold leaf has since. The cross-references to numbered court bouillon and meat glaze are typical of the book, which was written for professional kitchens where those preparations stood ready every day.