No. 2090

Partridges—Minced

Emince de Perdreaux

Remove the best parts from two breasts of roasted partridges, pare and suppress the skin and bones; cut the meat up into small, thin slices and range them in a small sautoir. Reduce a few spoonfuls of half-glaze sauce (No. 413) with a little tomato sauce (No. 549) and a little Madeira, adding a bunch of parsley garnished with aromatic herbs; when of a good succulence, strain it over the meats and heat them up without boiling. At the last moment dress the slices on a small, long dish and cover with the sauce; surround with a row of large, stuffed Spanish olives heated in a little of the sauce, but they should not boil.

Minced Pheasant Woodcock or Duckling may be prepared exactly the same. The olive garnishing can be replaced by a row of small slices of red beef tongue, or else stuffed and baked artichoke bottoms, each one cut in two.

← No. 2089 Partridges a la Veron—Breasts or Fillets Partridge, Pheasant & Grouse No. 2091 Partridge Minced with Rice →

For the Modern Kitchen

A reheated-leftovers dish dressed as a restaurant course: the whole point is a good sauce and meat that never sees a boil. Ranhofer assumes you already have roast partridge and a pot of demi-glace on hand.

The hinge: no boilingThe sliced breast is already cooked; the sauce only warms it through. Bring the sauce to temperature first, then pour it over the meat off direct heat, or hold the pan barely below a simmer. A boil squeezes the fibers and turns delicate game breast to string.
Half-glazeRanhofer's No. 413 is demi-glace — brown sauce and stock reduced together to a glossy, lightly bodied sauce. A good commercial demi-glace or a hard-reduced brown game or veal stock stands in. "A few spoonfuls" is only enough to coat the slices; the recipe gives no measure.
SautoirA straight-sided shallow pan, not a sloped skillet. Any wide sauté pan works; you want the slices in one layer so they warm evenly.
Bunch of parsley garnished with aromatic herbsA bouquet garni — parsley stems tied with thyme and bay. It steeps in the reducing sauce and is removed when you strain, which is why the recipe says strain rather than skim.
"Of a good succulence"Reduce until the sauce coats a spoon and holds a line drawn with a finger. Tomato sauce and Madeira both thin the demi-glace, so further reduction is needed after they go in.
The partridgeTwo roasted breasts is a small amount of meat — this serves two as a course, at most. Grey partridge and chukar are sold frozen by game dealers; a roasted pheasant or duck breast, as Ranhofer allows, is easier to find and behaves the same way.
Stuffed Spanish olivesPitted green olives stuffed by hand; anchovy and sweet pepper were among the fillings used in this period, and the modern pimiento-stuffed jar olive is a reasonable stand-in. Warm them in a spoonful of the sauce, again without boiling, as the recipe directs.
Beef tongueThe alternate garnish is cooked, pressed red tongue, sliced thin — a deli or good butcher item rather than something to prepare for a garnish alone.

A Little History

This is No. 2090 in Charles Ranhofer's The Epicurean (1894), the vast compendium he assembled from more than thirty years as chef at Delmonico's in New York. An émincé is simply meat cut in thin slices and reheated in sauce, a technique often associated with the frugal side of the classical kitchen, though the recipe itself says nothing about how the birds were cooked before or when the dish was served. The chain of cross-references — half-glaze at No. 413, tomato sauce at No. 549 — is how the book works throughout, assuming a brigade with mother sauces already standing on the stove. The suggestion that pheasant, woodcock or duckling may be handled "exactly the same" reflects a period when American restaurant menus carried a far wider range of game birds than they now do; woodcock in particular has since largely left commercial cookery.