No. 1831

Chicken with Tarragon Gravy or Sauce—Broiled

Poulet Grille au Jus a l'Estragon ou a la Sauce a l'Estragon

Draw a young pound and a half chicken, cut off the legs at the first joint, cut a slit in the chicken near the pope's nose and pass the stump bone through the slit; split the chicken in two lengthwise, pare each part, beat down to flatten, season and roll in melted butter, then in white bread-crumbs and broil on both sides turning over when the meats are found to be done. Dress the two half chickens on a hot dish garnish the leg bones with frills (No. 10), and serve with some good tarragon gravy or else with tarragon sauce (No. 548).

← No. 1830 Chicken with Bacon, Maitre-d'Hotel—Broiled Chicken No. 1832 Chicken Cocotte →

For the Modern Kitchen

A spatchcocked poussin, crumbed and grilled, from the Delmonico's kitchen. Two things decide whether it works: the size of the bird and how far it sits from the heat.

The birdA pound and a half dressed is a poussin or spring chicken, not a supermarket broiler of 3.5–4 lb. Use two poussins or two Cornish game hens; a modern bird that size will burn its crumbs long before the thigh is cooked.
"Draw" and the pope's noseDrawing is removing the innards, already done on anything you will buy. The pope's nose is the fatty tail; the trick of slitting the skin beside it and pushing the drumstick stump through simply pins the leg in place so the flattened half holds its shape on the grid.
Splitting and flatteningCut down either side of the backbone, then through the breastbone to halve the bird lengthwise. "Beat down to flatten" means pressing with the flat of a heavy knife or a cutlet bat until the halves are of even thickness — the whole point, since uneven halves cook unevenly under direct heat.
Broiling, as meant hereRanhofer means a gridiron over live coals, turning as needed. Under a modern overhead broiler, set the rack so the meat sits 6–7 inches from the element, or grill over medium coals; closer than that and the buttered crumbs blacken. Reckon on 20–25 minutes total for a poussin half, skin side to the heat first.
Doneness"When the meats are found to be done" is a judgement by eye and touch. Take the thigh to 165°F; the breast of so small a bird will arrive at about the same moment if the halves were properly flattened.
The crumbsWhite bread-crumbs here are fresh, not the dry sandy kind. Dry crumbs scorch under a broiler; fresh soft crumbs, well coated in melted butter, brown rather than burn.
Frills and cross-referencesNo. 10 is the paper cutlet frill slipped over the trimmed leg bone — decorative only, and easily skipped. No. 548 is Ranhofer's tarragon sauce. Failing that, the "good tarragon gravy" is pan juices or reduced chicken stock mounted with butter and steeped with fresh tarragon off the heat, so the anise note stays bright.
YieldOne bird, split, serves two as written — a light course by the standards of an 1894 menu, a full plate by ours.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer ran the kitchen at Delmonico's in New York for over thirty years, and The Epicurean (1894) is essentially that restaurant's working repertoire set down in print, French titles first. Tarragon — estragon — appears throughout the book paired with poultry, eggs and cold meats. Grilled spring chicken of this kind belonged to the lighter part of a long service, and the run of numbered recipes around it (bacon and maître d'hôtel butter at 1830, cocotte at 1832) shows how a single small bird was varied endlessly to fill out a card. The paper frill on the leg bone, catalogued as its own numbered item at No. 10, is a reminder that in a restaurant of this period the presentation was standardised down to its smallest component.