No. 1671

Lamb Cutlets a la Catalane

Cotelettes d'Agneau a la Catalane

Cut off twelve lamb cutlets; pare them with the bones quite short, beat them flat, salt over and roll in oil, range them on a broiler all one way, and broil the chops on a brisk fire on one side only. Reduce one pint of bechamel (No. 409) adding to it a few spoonfuls of mushroom broth, and when nicely thickened stir in some prepared red pepper (No. 168), four spoonfuls of cooked mushrooms, the same quantity of cooked lean ham, both well chopped separately, and let this preparation become cold. Cover the cooked sides with a layer of the preparation, having it dome-shaped on top; bestrew with grated parmesan, then lay them on a buttered sautoir and pour butter over; set this for one instant on top of the range, then finish cooking the cutlets in a hot oven and have the preparation well browned; remove them at once to garnish the handles with frills (No. 10) and dress with a half-glaze (No. 413) and tomato sauce (No. 549) containing shredded sweet peppers.

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For the Modern Kitchen

A Ranhofer construction that only works if the coating is stiff and cold before it goes on the meat. Everything else is timing.

The hinge: chill the coating hardThe reduced bechamel must be genuinely cold and firm, near the texture of stiff pastry cream, or the dome will slump off the cutlet in the oven. Spread it on a tray, film the surface, and refrigerate at least two hours; a very thick reduction plus refrigeration is what holds the shape.
Broil one side onlyThis is deliberate, not an omission. The raw side sits against the buttered pan and finishes in the oven while the coated side browns, so the lamb ends up medium rather than grey. Give the presentation side about two minutes over high heat, no more.
"A hot oven"The recipe gives no figure; something in the region of 425-475F suits the purpose, which is to glaze the parmesan crust quickly, in a few minutes, before the lamb overcooks. A salamander or the top position under a broiler does the same job.
Bechamel No. 409A flour-and-butter white sauce on milk, in the nineteenth-century manner that commonly took veal stock and aromatics; check No. 409 for Ranhofer's own version. An ordinary bechamel made a shade thicker than usual works; the pint is reduced with the mushroom broth until, as the recipe puts it, it is "nicely thickened" -- thick enough to hold a dome when cold. No target volume is given.
Mushroom broth and "cooked mushrooms"The broth is most likely the liquor from cooking fresh button mushrooms rather than a stock made from dried ones, though the recipe does not say. Save the liquid from a pan of sauteed or blanched mushrooms and chop the mushrooms themselves for the four spoonfuls.
"Prepared red pepper" (No. 168)A cross-reference to Ranhofer's own red-pepper preparation, which appears to be there for colour and mild heat rather than fire; look up No. 168 for what it actually involves. In its place, a teaspoon of sweet paprika bloomed in butter with a pinch of cayenne gives the effect. This is not a chilli-hot dish.
SautoirA straight-sided shallow saute pan. Any heavy ovenproof skillet or a rimmed sheet pan will do, buttered well so the uncooked underside browns as it heats.
Half-glaze and tomato sauceDemi-glace and a plain tomato sauce, served side by side or lightly marbled on the plate rather than poured over the crust. Shred the sweet peppers fine and warm them in the tomato sauce so they stay bright.
Frills, and yieldThe paper cutlet frills (No. 10) are pure Victorian service and entirely optional. Twelve trimmed rib chops serve four as a main course, six as part of a longer menu.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer published The Epicurean in 1894 after decades as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and the lamb chapter is a catalogue of the same cut dressed a dozen ways for a restaurant that changed its card daily. "A la catalane" in nineteenth-century French kitchen usage generally signals Catalonia by way of its sweet red peppers and tomato, though what the label actually meant varied from chef to chef; here it amounts to paprika, sweet peppers and tomato sauce grafted onto a thoroughly Parisian technique. That technique -- masking a part-cooked cutlet with a stiff cold sauce, breading or cheesing it and finishing it in fierce heat -- is the same family as cotelettes a la Maintenon and the several Villeroi preparations, and it is often said to suit a kitchen that part-cooks chops in a slack hour and finishes them to order. The paper frill on the bone, listed in the book as its own numbered item, tells you the plate was meant to be looked at before it was eaten.