No. 1986

Pullet, Egyptian Style-Broiled

Poularde Grillee a l'Egyptienne

First braise the pullet and when cold cut it up and place it in a vessel with salt, pepper, oil and lemon juice, drain, then immerse in bread-crumbs, saturate with oil and broil over a slow fire. When very hot and of a fine color dress on a layer of rice oriental style (No. 2978). Serve with a separate espagnole sauce (No. 414) into which has been added prepared red pepper (No. 168).

← No. 1985 Pullet, English Style Capon & Pullet No. 1987 Pullet in Surprise →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer writes for a brigade that already has stock, espagnole and cooked rice on hand, so the entry reads as a finishing method rather than a full recipe. The whole dish hinges on the fact that the bird is fully cooked before it ever reaches the grill.

What a pullet isA young hen under about a year old, roughly 3 to 4 lb dressed. A standard supermarket broiler-fryer of that weight is the closest equivalent; a capon (a castrated cock, 6 to 9 lb) is too large for this treatment.
Braise first, grill secondThe bird is braised, cooled, jointed, marinated, crumbed and only then broiled. The grilling is for colour, crust and heat, not for cooking through, which is why the fire is deliberately slow. Rushing it over high heat burns the crumbs before the pieces are hot in the centre.
"Slow fire"Moderate coals, or a broiler set well below its maximum with the rack lowered several inches. The book gives no timing; go by colour and by the pieces being hot through, turning once.
The marinadeSalt, pepper, oil and lemon juice is a brief seasoning bath, not a tenderiser; the recipe sets no time, and a short soak is all already-cooked meat needs. "Drain" appears to mean letting the pieces shed the marinade so the crumbs adhere rather than slide.
Crumbs and oilRanhofer's crumbs are most likely dry, fine white breadcrumbs rather than coarse fresh ones. "Saturate with oil" means brush or drizzle the crumbed pieces generously; without fat the coating scorches in patches instead of browning evenly.
The cross-referencesNo. 2978 is the book's rice cooked oriental style; No. 414 is espagnole, a brown sauce built on stock and roux; No. 168 is Ranhofer's prepared red pepper. A good demi-glace with cayenne stirred in to taste gets you close.
Seasoning the sauceAdd the cayenne off the heat and taste as you go. The strength of the book's own No. 168 is hard to judge without making it, so treat the amount as at your discretion.
YieldThe recipe gives no yield; one jointed pullet will serve about four as a main course, with the rice as the base and the sauce served separately, as the entry specifies.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer, chef at Delmonico's in New York, published The Epicurean in 1894 as a complete working reference of some 3,500 numbered preparations, which is why entries like this one lean on cross-references rather than repeating themselves. The "Egyptian style" label belongs to a late nineteenth-century French habit of naming garnishes after places, and in the classical repertoire it generally signals rice with tomato, onion or sweet pepper rather than anything traceable to Egyptian cooking; here it is the oriental-style rice bed and the red pepper in the sauce that earn the name. The underlying technique is older and thoroughly practical: braise a bird, cool it, then crumb and grill the joints, the same logic that lies behind dishes labelled a la diable.