No. 2213

Border of Risot of Lobsters or Spiny Lobsters

Bordure de Risot de Homards ou de Langoustes

Boil two good lobsters or spiny lobsters in a white wine court-bouillon (No. 419), drain, and five to six minutes later detach the tails from the body and keep them warm in a few spoonfuls of their liquor. Cook four or five uniform-sized peeled truffles in Madeira wine, cut them up in broad slices of an inch thickness and keep them warm in a saucepan with their own broth that has been strained and mixed with a little melted meat glaze (No. 402). With half a pound of good Piedmontese rice prepare a risot (No. 739) cooked with plain fish broth (No. 195) and a small spoonful of prepared red pepper (No. 168); as soon as done finish with fine butter and fresh parmesan; mold it in a buttered border mold, as shown in the cut, and keep it slightly warm. Split two lobster bodies, take out all the creamy parts, press through a sieve and lay it aside. Chop half of the shells, fry them in oil for a few moments and sprinkle with a pinch of prepared red pepper (No. 168), then moisten with two or three gills of good court-bouillon and white wine (No. 419); cook slowly for ten to twelve minutes, strain the liquid, free it of fat and reduce to a half-glaze; thicken with a gill and a half of good tomato sauce (No. 549), and reduce it once more for a few moments, then remove from the fire and finish with two spoonfuls of the creamy parts from the bodies, add some butter, stir vigorously and lastly put in two or three spoonfuls of the reduced truffle broth. Suppress the tail shells hastily, pare the meats, trim off the thin ends and cut all the pieces in not too thick slices; lay them in a sautoir and cover with a few spoonfuls of the sauce buttered at the very last moment. Unmold the border on a hot dish and in the center place the slices of lobster and the truffles in a pyramidical form; pour part of the sauce over, serving what remains in a separate sauce-boat.

← No. 2212 Border of Risot Valenciennes Miscellaneous Entrées No. 2214 Boudins of Chicken a l'Ecarlate →

For the Modern Kitchen

A Delmonico-era composed entrée: a ring of risotto unmolded on a platter with sliced lobster and truffle heaped in the middle and a lobster-coral sauce poured over. The work is in the sequencing, since three components must land hot at the same moment.

The hinge: butter the sauce off the heatThe creamy parts of the body (tomalley and coral) and the final butter go in after the pan leaves the fire. Boil the sauce once the coral is in and it will curdle into grains instead of thickening to a gloss.
GillsA gill is half a cup. Two to three gills of court-bouillon is 1 to 1 1/2 cups; a gill and a half of tomato sauce is 3/4 cup.
"Prepared red pepper"Ranhofer's No. 168 is a prepared red-pepper seasoning of the cayenne type rather than a modern paprika or a chili paste; a pinch of cayenne serves much the same purpose in both the risotto and the shell stock.
Meat glazeNo. 402 is glace de viande: brown stock reduced to a syrup that sets firm when cold. A teaspoon of commercial demi-glace concentrate or reduced veal stock substitutes directly.
Piedmontese riceRead this as a short-grain risotto rice: carnaroli, arborio or vialone nano. Half a pound is about 1 1/4 cups, enough for a border serving six to eight as an entrée in the period sense, four as a main course now.
The border moldA ring or savarin mold, well buttered. The risotto must be finished stiff with butter and parmesan and packed in while hot, then rested a few minutes before unmolding, or the ring collapses on the platter.
TomalleyPublic health agencies now advise against eating lobster tomalley, since it concentrates contaminants and marine biotoxins from the animal's diet. The sauce is built on it; anyone avoiding tomalley should thicken with the tomato sauce and butter alone and accept a lighter result.
TrufflesFour or five whole peeled truffles cooked in Madeira is a 19th-century luxury at 19th-century prices. Substituting one truffle, sliced, with the Madeira reduction carried through keeps the perfume; canned or oiled products will not.
Lobster timingThe tails come out of the court-bouillon and are held in a little of their liquor, not left to sit in hot broth. Slice and coat them at the last minute, since reheated lobster meat tightens quickly.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer published The Epicurean in 1894 after some three decades as chef of Delmonico's in New York, and the book is arranged as a working reference: nearly every recipe cross-refers to a numbered stock, sauce or garnish elsewhere in the volume, which is why this one is unusable without No. 419, No. 739, No. 195, No. 168, No. 402 and No. 549 at hand. The bordure — a ring of rice, forcemeat or potato unmolded to frame a garnish — was a standard device of the period for turning a plain sauté into a formal platter dish, and the risotto version reflects the Piedmontese and Milanese cooking that had made its way into the French repertoire. The alternative of spiny lobster (langouste) rather than clawed lobster is a French habit carried over intact; the langouste has no claws, so the recipe leans on the body's creamy parts for both thickening and color.