No. 2279

Escalops of Fat Livers a la Villeneuve

Escalopes de Foies-Gras a la Villeneuve

From a good fresh and firm raw fat goose liver cut seven or eight escalops one and a quarter inches in diameter by three-sixteenths of an inch thick; pare them into ovals or rounds, season and range on a sautoir; surround with fine slices of raw truffles, cut the same diameter, season and saute them, pour over the whole some good half-glaze (No. 400) and Madeira. Boil up the liquid, then push the dish into a slack oven, basting them with their liquid. Twelve to fifteen minutes will suffice to poach the liver in this stock. At the last moment, dress the escalops on a dish in a close circle, and dress the slices of truffles around, one overlapping the other; thicken the stock with a little good sauce, pour it over the liver and truffles, and serve immediately.

← No. 2278 Escalops of Chicken, Financiere Miscellaneous Entrées No. 2280 Escalops of Fat Livers a la Rulli →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer assumes a professional larder: a raw goose liver, fresh truffles, and a stockpot of demi-glace already reduced. The technique itself is simple, and the whole thing is a matter of not overcooking the liver.

The hinge: keep the oven low"a slack oven" in period usage means a cool one, on the order of 275-325F, though Ranhofer gives no figure. Foie gras begins to render and collapse into fat at a fairly low internal temperature, so the point of the low oven and the constant basting is to poach the escalops in warm liquid, not to roast them. If the stock breaks into a boil in the oven the slices will shrink and leave a pool of grease.
SautoirA straight-sided shallow pan, wide enough to hold the escalops in a single layer without crowding. Any lidless flameproof saute pan that will go into the oven works.
Escalops, in modern termsSlices about 3 cm across and 5 mm thick, cut from a chilled raw lobe with a knife dipped in hot water. Grade A duck liver is what is available now and behaves much the same; goose is rarer and generally richer in fat.
Half-glazeNo. 400 is Ranhofer's demi-glace: brown veal stock reduced with espagnole until it coats a spoon. A good reduced veal stock stands in. Use only a few tablespoons per serving plus a splash of Madeira; the liquid should come partway up the escalops, not submerge them.
TrufflesFresh black winter truffle sliced to the same diameter as the liver is the intent. Preserved truffle slices in their own juice are the practical substitute; add them with the demi-glace rather than sauteing them, since they are already cooked.
"Thicken the stock with a little good sauce"The pan liquid is strained and tightened at the end, either with another spoonful of demi-glace or with a knob of cold butter swirled in off the heat. Do not use flour or cornstarch here; the sauce should stay glossy and pourable.
TimingTwelve to fifteen minutes is for slices cut to the stated thickness and started cold. Thicker slices are not better here. Check one at ten minutes: it should be pink-grey through the center and still hold its shape.
YieldSeven or eight escalops serve three or four as a first course. Serve on warmed plates and immediately, as Ranhofer says; the dish is unpleasant cold or reheated.

A Little History

This comes from Charles Ranhofer's The Epicurean (1894), the enormous record of his three decades as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and it sits in a run of numbered escalop dishes that shows how the kitchen worked: the same cut and method were dressed a dozen ways and given a dozen names. "A la Villeneuve" is one of the hundreds of such garnish-names in the book, honoring a patron, a place, or a colleague; Ranhofer records the name without explaining it. Foie gras itself was an imported luxury, said to have arrived in America largely tinned or as terrines from Strasbourg and the southwest of France, so a recipe beginning "from a good fresh and firm raw fat goose liver" marks this as a dish for a house with its own supply lines. The pairing with truffle and a Madeira-scented demi-glace is the standard grammar of the period's grande cuisine, and the same combination underlies everything from tournedos Rossini to the garnish called financiere in the recipe immediately preceding this one.