No. 866

Colombines of Foies-Gras

Colombines de Foies-Gras

Have a piece of cooked foies-gras cut into small dice, mix in with it half as much cooked chopped truffles. Reduce a little good brown sauce (No. 414), incorporating slowly into it a few spoonfuls of melted glaze (No. 402), and the truffle broth; when properly thickened add the salpicon, remove the saucepan at once from the fire, and let stand till cold. Prepare a rather consistent semolino preparation with broth, and after it is finished, reduce for two minutes to obtain a body, then withdraw and add butter, parmesan and two diluted egg-yolks. With this line some buttered tartlet molds, leaving a hollow space in the center; fill this up with a part of the foies-gras preparation, and cover with more of the semolino, then let the tartlets get quite cold; unmold, roll in grated parmesan, dip in beaten egg, then in bread-crumbs and fry nicely. When done, drain and dress on a napkin.

← No. 865 Colombines of Chicken Livers with Ham Hot Side Dishes No. 867 Cromesquis of Beef Palates →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer writes for a brigade that already has stockpots and sauce reductions going, so the recipe gives no quantities and assumes several other numbered preparations. Read it as an assembly method: a stiff semolina shell around a bound foie gras and truffle filling, breaded and fried.

The hinge: the semolina must be stiffThe lining has to hold its shape cold and survive frying, so cook the semolina in broth until it pulls away from the pan in a mass, not to a soft porridge. If it slumps when spread in the mold, it will split in the fryer and empty the filling into the fat.
SemolinoSemolina, the coarse durum wheat meal sold for gnocchi alla romana. Ranhofer gives no quantities; a stiff gnocchi-alla-romana paste runs somewhere around 1 part semolina to 3 or 4 parts broth by volume, cooked until very thick, then finished off the heat with butter, grated parmesan and two egg yolks. The recipe says only that the yolks are 'diluted' and does not say with what; slackening them with a spoonful of the hot mixture is one way to read it.
Glaze and brown sauceNo. 402 is glace de viande, stock reduced to a syrupy, near-solid meat essence; a spoonful of commercial demi-glace concentrate stands in. No. 414 is Ranhofer's espagnole. The filling wants to be a firm salpicon, barely moist, not a saucy one.
Truffle brothThe liquor from cooking or canning truffles. If you are using preserved truffles, the juice in the tin is exactly what is meant; fresh truffles give none, so use a little extra glaze.
Both fillings must be fully coldThe salpicon is chilled before it goes in, and the finished tartlets are chilled again before unmolding. Warm ones will not unmold cleanly and will burst in the fat.
FryingDeep fat at 350-375F, about two to three minutes, just to set the crumb and heat the center. The interior is already cooked; longer only melts the foie gras out.
Foie gras"Cooked foies-gras" means a terrine or torchon, firm enough to dice at about 1/4 inch. Chill it hard and cut with a warm blade. A mousse will not dice.
Yield and serviceRanhofer specifies neither mold size nor yield, only 'some buttered tartlet molds'; small tartlet molds of around 2 inches, allowing two per person as a hot hors d'oeuvre, is a reasonable modern reading. Ranhofer's napkin-lined platter can be a rack and a warm dish. Serve immediately, while the shell is crisp.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer published The Epicurean in 1894 after decades as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and the book's hot side dishes are essentially a catalogue of the small fried and molded items that filled the middle of a long service menu. Colombine in this sense is a French kitchen term for a croquette cased in a cooked cereal paste rather than simply breaded, most often semolina; the adjacent No. 865 uses the same shell around chicken livers and ham. The combination of foie gras, truffle and a glaze-fortified espagnole is pure haute cuisine of the period, when a spoonful of meat glaze could give a filling body without thinning its flavor. The technique also solved a practical problem: a rich, soft salpicon cannot be breaded directly, and the semolina case makes it possible to fry it at all.