No. 2795

Potatoes, Maitre d'Hotel

Pommes de Terre Maitre d'Hotel

Boil the potatoes the same as for plain boiled No. 2774; leave them to cool partly, then pare into cylindricals an inch in diameter, and these into three-sixteenths of an inch slices; place them in a saucepan having its bottom well buttered, season with salt and nutmeg, and moisten to three-quarters of their height with broth (No. 194a). Boil slowly until the liquid be reduced, then remove prepared by using raw potatoes pared to the same size and thickness as those for the above; set them in a buttered saucepan, moisten with veal blond (No. 423), season and cook on a brisk fire in such a way as to have the liquid almost dry by the time the potatoes are done; just when serving add a few small lumps of butter, lemon juice and chopped parsley.

← No. 2794 Potatoes, Lyonnese Potatoes & Sweet Potatoes No. 2796 Potatoes, Marshal →

For the Modern Kitchen

Two versions of the same dish sit in this entry: one starting from already-boiled potatoes, one from raw. The transcription drops a line where the first method ends and the second begins, so read "then remove" as the end of version one and pick up again at "prepared by using raw potatoes."

The hinge: butter goes in off the heatThe hinge: butter goes in last -- The liquid should be nearly dry when the potatoes are tender, and only then do the butter, lemon juice and parsley go in; Ranhofer's direction is "just when serving." The text does not say to lift the pan off the fire, but butter swirled into the last spoonfuls of stock coats the slices, while boiling it hard afterwards will split it and turn the dish greasy.
Cross-referencesNo. 2774 is plain boiled potatoes. No. 194a is a broth, and No. 423 a veal blond — pale veal stock, cooked without browning the bones. Any unsalted light stock stands in; avoid dark, heavily reduced demi-glace, which will muddy the colour.
Cutting the cylindersTrim each potato into a 1-inch cylinder — an apple corer of that diameter works, otherwise pare by hand — then slice a scant 5 mm (three-sixteenths of an inch) thick. Uniform rounds are the entire point: they cook at one rate and hold their shape in the pan.
Choose a waxy potatoRanhofer's method involves simmering slices in stock and then stirring butter through them. A floury russet collapses into mash; use a waxy variety so the rounds stay intact.
NutmegGrated fresh, and sparingly — a few passes over the whole pan. Nutmeg was a familiar seasoning for potatoes and cream sauces in this period, and the quantity intended here is a whisper, not a teaspoon.
Brisk fire, and what it meansThe raw-potato version wants a steady, fairly hard simmer so the stock reduces to a film at just the moment the slices go tender; the timing depends on the width of the pan and the potato, so judge by the slices rather than the clock. If they are done and liquid remains, lift them out and reduce it separately rather than overcooking them.
YieldNo quantity is given. Two pounds of potatoes, about a cup of stock, and 2 to 3 tablespoons of butter serves four to six as a side.

A Little History

Maître d'hôtel in nineteenth-century French cooking names not a dish but a treatment: butter, chopped parsley, lemon juice, salt and pepper, worked together and added at the last moment — the same trio that finishes grilled steak, boiled fish and these potatoes. Charles Ranhofer, chef at Delmonico's in New York for some thirty years, published The Epicurean in 1894 as a numbered and cross-referenced system rather than a book of standalone recipes, which is why this entry sends the reader off to three other numbers instead of listing stock or plain potatoes again. The habit of turning potatoes into precise cylinders and disks belongs to the same professional logic: a brigade could prepare identical shapes in quantity, and a plate of matching rounds signalled a kitchen with staff. The double method here — one for potatoes already boiled, one starting from raw — reads like a working note on using up the day's plain boiled potatoes when there was no time to begin again.