Garnishing of Artichoke Bottoms, Imperial

A cold garnish from Ranhofer's service repertoire: artichoke bottoms filled with a diced salad bound in mayonnaise stiffened with aspic. The whole thing stands or falls on the jellied mayonnaise being at the right stage when you use it.

• The hinge: jellied mayonnaiseNo. 613 is ordinary mayonnaise into which melted, cool but still liquid aspic jelly is whisked. Use it the moment it begins to thicken at the edge of the bowl -- too warm and it slides off the dome, too cool and it sets in lumps and will not coat smoothly.
• Artichoke bottomsFresh bottoms are trimmed of all leaves and choke, rubbed with lemon and simmered in a blanc (water, a little flour, lemon juice, salt) to keep them pale. Jarred or frozen bottoms are an honest shortcut; drain and dry them thoroughly or the filling will weep. Look for deep ones, as the recipe says -- shallow wide ones will not hold the pyramid.
• TrufflesRanhofer's kitchen would have had both fresh truffles in season and preserved ones from tins, cooked in wine or stock, and truffle was used here with a freedom no modern budget allows. A few teaspoons of chopped black truffle or truffle peelings will carry the flavour; blanched black olive or a fine brunoise of cooked mushroom stands in for the colour without pretending to be truffle.
• The diceQuarter-inch is the working measure and everything should match it. Celery root wants a short blanch in acidulated water until barely tender; asparagus tips a minute or two, then straight into ice water so they stay green.
• Marinate, then drainThe hour in oil, vinegar, salt and mustard is seasoning, not dressing. Draining it off matters -- residual dressing will thin the jellied mayonnaise and can keep it from setting firmly.
• Raw eggThe mayonnaise is uncooked and the finished garnish is served cold. Use pasteurized eggs if serving anyone elderly, pregnant or immunocompromised, and keep the assembled pieces refrigerated until they go to the table.
• "Keep on ice"A refrigerator does the work of Ranhofer's ice box. The ten minutes at the end is to set the coating firm, not to chill the salad, so a cold shelf is enough; the freezer will dull the aspic.
• YieldThe original gives none, as it is a garnish rather than a course. Reckon one bottom per person alongside a cold galantine or salmon, or two or three each if serving them as a first course on their own.