Lobster a la Paul Bert

Take eight one-pound lobsters and plunge them into boiling water into which has been added a bunch of parsley, sliced onions, salt, pepper and vinegar; let them boil steadily twenty minutes, then remove; detach the bodies from the tails; take the meat out whole from the latter by breaking the inside of the shell only; then wash and dry the shells. Cut up the tail meat into transversal slices; put four ounces of butter into a sautoire, range the lobster escalops on top, and saute them, adding a small finely chopped up shallot, half as much shrimps as lobster, and half as much fresh, peeled walnuts as shrimps. (Should there be no fresh walnuts procurable, take dry ones and soak them for twelve hours in salt and water, then peel.) Drain off the butter and replace it by a reduced bechamel sauce (No. 409) thickened with egg-yolks, cream and fresh butter, with lemon juice and chopped parsley, being careful to have the sauce quite thick. Fill the lobster shells with this preparation, dress them crown-shaped on a bed of parsley, and arrange a bunch of parsley leaves on top.