No. 2876

Egg Molded a la Parisian, Also Called Talleyrand, Polignac, Polish Soyer

Œufs Moules a la Parisienne, Dits Talleyrand, Polignac, Soyer

Eggs a la Parisienne are molded in mousseline molds (No. 1, Fig. 138), or else in oval ones of the same size. Cut two truffles into small dice; butter eight molds, strew the insides with the truffles and into each one break a whole fresh egg, salt and baste the top with a little butter; lay the molds in a sautoir with hot water reaching to half their height, and poach in a moderate oven for eight to ten minutes; when done to perfection turn out the eggs on a dish, covering the bottom of it with a little poivrade sauce (No. 522). Instead of buttering the molds they may be wetted in the inside with melted meat glaze (No. 402) and bestrewn with chopped parsley, truffles, mushrooms or cooked red beef tongue, or else a mixture of all these.

← No. 2875 Egg Molded a l'Echiquier—in Cases Eggs & Omelets No. 2877 Eggs Molded with Foies-Gras—in Cases →

For the Modern Kitchen Do not make this as written.

This is a baked-egg dish disguised as a cold entremets: eggs set in individual molds in a water bath, then turned out onto sauce. The whole thing hinges on pulling them before the yolks firm.

The moldsA "mousseline mold" here is a small straight-sided or oval timbale; Ranhofer refers to his own plate (Fig. 138) but gives no capacity. A metal dariole mold, a small ramekin, or a muffin tin cup all work. It must be just big enough to hold one egg with a little room at the top.
Moderate ovenConventionally somewhere around 325 to 350F; the book gives no figure. The water bath buffers the heat, so a hotter oven mostly succeeds in overcooking the outside of the egg before the center sets.
Sautoir and bain-marieA sautoir is a shallow straight-sided pan; any roasting pan or skillet that will hold the molds works. Use hot, not boiling, water to halfway up the molds, and check the level does not drop away during baking.
The timing is the whole recipeRanhofer's eight to ten minutes should leave the white just set and the yolk still soft, which is what makes the dish. Start checking at seven: the white should be opaque and barely trembling. A couple of minutes more will overset the egg and make it harder to unmold cleanly.
UnmoldingButter the molds heavily, right to the rim, and let them stand thirty seconds out of the water before turning out. Run a thin knife around the edge if needed and invert onto the sauced plate rather than lifting the egg.
Poivrade sauceNo. 522 is a peppery brown sauce; in its classical form it is a mirepoix and trimmings deglazed with vinegar, moistened with espagnole, reduced and strained, and finished with crushed peppercorns. Any good reduced brown sauce sharpened with a little vinegar and coarse pepper gives a similar effect against the soft egg.
Meat glazeNo. 402 is glace de viande: brown stock reduced until it sets to a syrup. Commercial demi-glace concentrate or a homemade reduction both work for painting the molds; it is there to make the garnish stick and to season the outside of the egg.
Truffles and substitutesFresh black truffle is a luxury purchase, and truffle oil is not a substitute here because the pieces are structural as well as flavoring. Finely diced sauteed mushroom, or the tongue-parsley-mushroom mixture Ranhofer offers in his last sentence, does the job honestly.
YieldEight molds, one egg each. Ranhofer would count that as eight portions in a long menu; as a modern first course, two per person serves four.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer ran the kitchens at Delmonico's in New York and published The Epicurean in 1894 as a full record of that house's repertoire, which is why the book carries hundreds of egg preparations distinguished by little more than a garnish and a sauce. Oeufs moules " eggs set in buttered molds in a water bath rather than poached in water " were a standard of nineteenth-century French service precisely because they came out uniform and could be turned out on a dish at speed. The string of alternative names is characteristic of the period: dishes were attached to statesmen and patrons (Talleyrand, the Polignac family) or to famous cooks (Alexis Soyer, chef of the Reform Club in London), and the same preparation often traveled under whichever name a menu writer preferred. Ranhofer lists them together rather than pretending they were distinct dishes, which is a small piece of honesty worth noting in a book otherwise devoted to grandeur.