No. 2579

Salmon a la Avelane

Saumon a la Avelane

Prepare and cook a salmon the same as explained a la Destaing (No. 2580); when cold cover it with butter, then with several coats of jellied mayonnaise (No. 613). Decorate with fanciful cuts of jelly dipped in partly cold jelly, forming a medallion as shown in drawing. Coat over with a layer of jelly (No. 103) by means of a funnel having a handle and spring stopper (Fig. 759). Place the salmon on the socle and garnish both sides with halved eggs decorated with truffles; between these place small mounds of chopped jelly.

← No. 2578 Slice of Salmon with Jelly Garnishings for Cold Dishes No. 2580 Salmon a la Destaing →

For the Modern Kitchen

This is one page of a chain: the fish itself is cooked under No. 2580, the mayonnaise under No. 613, the aspic under No. 103. What is described here is essentially a decorating procedure, and the hinge is temperature control of the jelly.

The hinge: jelly at the right setEvery coat here depends on aspic that is syrupy and just beginning to thicken. Warmer and it runs off the fish; cooler and it sets in ropes and streaks. Chill the salmon thoroughly between coats and work quickly in a cool room.
Jellied mayonnaiseRanhofer's No. 613 is mayonnaise collée, mayonnaise slackened with melted aspic and applied while still fluid. It sets to an opaque ivory coating.
The butter coatSoftened, not melted, butter smeared over the cold fish to fill hollows and give a smooth ground for the mayonnaise. It is a filler, not a flavouring; a thin skim is enough or the coating slides.
The funnel with spring stopperFig. 759 is a hand-held aspic funnel that releases a controlled stream from below. A small ladle, a squeeze bottle, or a jug with a good lip will do the same work.
The socleA carved base of rice paste, tallow or wax used to raise a cold dish on the buffet. It is display furniture, not food, and a modern cook can substitute a chilled platter or a shallow bed of set aspic.
Halved eggs and trufflesHard-boiled eggs, halved lengthwise, with truffle cut into small shapes and fixed on with a brush of near-set jelly. Black olive skin or blanched leek green gives the same graphic effect at a fraction of the cost.
Chopped jellyFirmly set aspic turned onto parchment and chopped with a knife blade, then heaped in mounds. Chop it cold and at the last moment, or it weeps and slumps on the plate.
Yield and serviceService -- Assemble it the day of service, keep it refrigerated until the last possible moment, and do not leave a decorated fish standing out for the several hours a nineteenth-century buffet assumed.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) is Charles Ranhofer's record of thirty-odd years as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and this entry sits in a run of cold salmon presentations that differ mainly in their decoration -- Destaing supplies the cooking, Avelane the pattern. The name is generally traced to aveline, the hazelnut, and to the heraldic avellane cross, a four-armed figure with splayed nut-shaped ends; of the decoration itself Ranhofer says only that the cut jelly is laid on the fish forming a medallion as shown in his drawing. The whole method belongs to the high period of the cold buffet, when a salmon was poached, chilled, sealed under butter, masked in jellied mayonnaise and glazed with clarified aspic so that it could stand for hours on a sideboard looking lacquered. Refrigeration was ice-chest refrigeration, and a garde-manger's reputation rested on how clear his jelly ran.