Lobster or Spiny Lobster a la Ravigote

Boil a lobster in a plain court-bouillon (No. 38) and let it cool off under a weight with the tail stretched out. Remove the tail meats from underneath, leaving the shell attached to the body; pare the meats on the thickest end and cut them up into slightly bias slices so as to have them somewhat wider; season and place them flat on a tinned-copper tray; decorate the tops with lobster, eggs, tarragon leaves and chervil; cover the decorations with half-set jelly and keep in a cool place. Break the shells of the large claws so as to remove the meats and divide these in two lengthwise, then brush them over with half-set aspic jelly (No. 103). Cut in dice the meats of a small boiled lobster, put the pieces in a bowl with an equal quantity of cooked truffles, a few spoonfuls of cooked mushrooms and raw gherkins; season this salpicon and stir it on ice into some thick mayonnaise (No. 606), and with it cover ten to twelve small cooked equal-sized artichoke bottoms. Turn over the lobster body and fill the empty tail with thick jelly pushed through a pocket; dress at once in its natural state, the red side uppermost, on a long dish, moistening it with half-set jelly, laid on with a brush, to prevent the lobster from slipping off. On the top of the shell, from one end to the other, push two thick strings of butter previously softened in a cloth and an inch and a quarter apart; between these strings range a bed of chopped jelly, and on top of this dress the slices of lobster, one overlapping the other. On the right and left of the head lay the jelly covered claws and around the body have chopped jelly surrounded with the garnished artichoke bottoms, and around them a border of pretty jelly croutons (No. 2442). Serve at the same time a ravigote sauce (No. 623), having the creamy parts of the lobster added to it.