No. 2712

Carrots Glazed or with Fine Herbs

Carottes Glacees ou aux Fines Herbes

Turn or cut out with a spoon (Fig. 91) some carrots, shaping them to resemble olives; blanch, then saute in butter with a little sugar; moisten with broth (No. 194a) and cook slowly until reduced to a glaze, and the moistening reduced the same, in the meanwhile having the carrots done; add a little root glaze (No. 403) and then dish up in a pyramid.

For Fine Herbs add to the carrots prepared as for the above some chopped parsley and finely cut-up chives.

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For the Modern Kitchen

A classic glazed carrot, written in Ranhofer's telegraphic house style with cross-references to stocks and glazes elsewhere in the book. Everything hinges on the liquid reducing to a syrup at exactly the moment the carrots turn tender.

Turning the carrots"Turn or cut out with a spoon" means either paring them by hand into small olive shapes with a paring knife, or cutting them with a vegetable scoop of the kind shown in the book's figure. Larger carrots are easier to shape; keep the trimmings for another use.
BlanchingThe recipe says only "blanch"; a couple of minutes in boiling water, then drained well, is enough. It is to take the raw edge off, not to cook them through.
The glazeSaute the blanched carrots in butter with a little sugar, then barely moisten with broth and cook slowly. The liquid should reduce to a shining film just as the carrots yield to a knife tip. If they soften early, lift them out and reduce the liquid separately, then return them to coat.
Broth, No. 194aOne of the book's cross-referenced stocks; a light unsalted meat or poultry stock is the sensible modern stand-in. Salted commercial broth will concentrate to something harsh as it reduces.
Root glaze, No. 403Another of the book's cross-references, a reduction used to finish the dish with gloss. A spoonful of reduced stock or a small knob of demi-glace gives a similar effect, and the dish is perfectly good without it.
Fine herbsAdd the parsley and chives off the heat, after the glaze has formed. Chopped herbs stirred in during reduction go grey and lose their point.
Serving"Dish up in a pyramid" means mound them in a warmed vegetable dish rather than spreading them flat. The recipe gives no quantities; it is a garnish-sized vegetable course.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer published The Epicurean in 1894 after decades as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and the book is organised as a professional reference rather than a domestic cookbook, which is why nearly every recipe points elsewhere for its stock or glaze. Carottes glacees belongs to the standard French repertoire of glazed root garnishes, where blanching, buttering and reducing in stock produces a vegetable that is both cooked and sauced in a single pan. The turned olive shape was less decoration than discipline: uniform pieces cook at the same rate and finish glazing together. The aux fines herbes variant is the same dish given a green finish at the last moment.