No. 2716

Cauliflower a la Villeroi, Fried and Sauted with Fine Herbs

Choux-fleurs a la Villeroi, Frits et Sautes aux Fines Herbes

A la Villeroi.—This is to be cooked and drained the same as for white sauce (No. 2719), then covered with well-reduced allemande sauce (No. 407) into which mingle chopped-up fresh mushrooms and chopped parsley; when thoroughly cold immerse in beaten eggs, then in breadcrumbs, smooth the breading and fry it a golden color; drain, salt and dress on a folded napkin, laying a bunch of fried parsley on top.

Fried.—Have the cauliflowers cooked and well drained, then dip each piece in beaten eggs, roll in bread-crumbs and fry to a fine color.

Sauted with Fine Herbs.—After the cauliflowers are boiled and drained the same as for the above, divide in flowerets and saute in butter, seasoning with salt, pepper and chopped parsley.

← No. 2715 Stuffed Cauliflower a la Bechamel—Baked Cabbages & Greens No. 2717 Cauliflowers with Cheese—Baked →

For the Modern Kitchen

Three treatments of one boiled cauliflower, running from the most laborious to the simplest. The Villeroi version is the only one with a real technique to it, and it lives or dies on the chilling step.

The hinge: chill until firmThe sauce coating must be thoroughly cold and set before breading, or it will slump off in the fat. Spread the coated pieces on a tray and refrigerate at least two hours; an hour in the freezer works too. Breadcrumbs go on only once the surface is solid to the touch.
Allemande sauceNo. 407 is an allemande, i.e. a velouté (blond roux) finished with an egg-yolk liaison; classical versions also take cream and lemon. "Well-reduced" here must mean reduced well past pouring consistency, thick enough to hold its shape on the cauliflower. A thick béchamel, taken off the heat and enriched with a yolk, gives much the same result.
Cook the cauliflower short of softThe pieces are boiled and drained as for No. 2719, the white-sauce method. For breading and frying, stop while the stems still have some resistance — the pieces have to survive two coatings and a fry without collapsing.
Dry it properlyCauliflower holds a surprising amount of water in its florets. Drain head down on a rack or towel and let the steam escape for ten minutes before saucing or dipping, or the breading will steam loose from the inside.
Frying temperatureThe instruction is simply to fry to a golden colour; deep fat is implied by the breading. 350–375°F is right; below that the crumbs absorb fat, above it they colour before the interior warms through. The pieces are already cooked, so you are only setting the crust — two to three minutes.
Fried parsleyWhole flat-leaf sprigs, absolutely dry, dropped into the hot fat for a few seconds until they stop sputtering and turn brilliant green. Wet parsley will spit violently. The folded napkin on the platter is a period device for absorbing oil; paper serves the same purpose less handsomely.
The sautéThe simplest version wants the cauliflower broken into florets with a cut face to brown. Use enough butter to coat, keep the pan hot, and add the parsley at the end so it stays green rather than scorching in the butter.
YieldOne large head serves four as a side dish. For the Villeroi, count on losing a few pieces to breakage — buy a second head if the presentation matters.

A Little History

Anything à la Villeroi in classical French cooking means the same procedure: a cooked item is masked in a very thick reduced sauce, chilled solid, then breaded and deep-fried, so that the sauce becomes a molten interior inside a crisp shell. The name is generally traced to the Villeroy family, whose marshal-duke of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century is the figure usually credited, though the attribution is traditional rather than documented, and the technique was applied to sweetbreads, chicken and lamb. Charles Ranhofer, chef at Delmonico's in New York, published The Epicurean in 1894 as a working reference for professional kitchens, which is why this entry reads as a chain of cross-references rather than a self-contained recipe — the sauce, the boiling method and the garnish all live elsewhere in the book. Grouping three preparations under one number is also characteristic: the fried and sautéed versions are there to show a cook what else to do with the same drained cauliflower once the pot is off the fire.