No. 910

Cardinal Mousseline

Mousseline au Cardinal

Forcemeats for mousselines are prepared either with chicken, game, or fish, the same as explained in the Elementary Methods (No. 86). Butter some mousseline molds (No. 2, Fig. 138) with cold butter, and decorate with fanciful cuts of truffles; at the bottom of each mold place a thin slice of truffle, then dredge all over with very finely chopped lobster coral so as to cover the sides completely. Fill with salmon mousseline forcemeat, poach the same as described in the Elementary Methods (No. 152), and dress on to a dish containing a little consommé; serve a cardinal sauce (No. 442) separately.

← No. 909 Kulibiac Smolenska Hot Side Dishes No. 911 Ham Mousseline or Mousse a la Belmont, Costa →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer writes for a professional brigade and leans on cross-references, so the page reads as an assembly note rather than a full recipe. The essentials are a fine fish forcemeat lightened with cream, a decorated mold, and gentle poaching.

The hinge: poach gently, never boilA cream-bound mousseline sets at a low temperature, and water at a rolling boil will curdle the cream and make it weep. Ranhofer gives no temperatures, only a cross-reference to his own poaching method (No. 152). In a modern kitchen, set the molds in a bain-marie of barely trembling water, cover with buttered paper, and cook until just firm to the touch, roughly 18-25 minutes for individual molds.
What the numbered references meanNo. 86 is Ranhofer's basic mousseline forcemeat: raw fish or poultry pounded and sieved, seasoned, then worked over ice with egg white and heavy cream. A workable modern ratio is 1 lb skinless salmon, 1 egg white, 1 to 1 1/4 cups cold cream, salt and a little cayenne, all kept cold and passed through a sieve or fine drum.
Mousseline moldsSmall molds of the timbale or dariole type, holding a few fluid ounces; Ranhofer points to his own illustrated pattern (No. 2, Fig. 138) rather than giving a size. Buttered ramekins or metal dariole cups work; butter them cold and firm so the truffle and coral stick to the sides instead of sliding.
Lobster coralThe dark green roe of a female lobster, which turns brilliant scarlet on cooking. That color is the whole point of the dish. Raw coral must be cooked before it reddens: dry it in a low oven or press it through a sieve into butter and cook briefly, then chop very fine. It is seldom sold separately, and cooked lobsters do not always come with it.
TrufflesRanhofer means black winter truffle, sliced thin and cut with small fancy cutters. Preserved truffle peelings give the same graphic effect at a fraction of the cost; the decoration is visual, not a flavor contribution at this quantity.
Cardinal sauceNo. 442. In this vocabulary a cardinal sauce is generally a fish velouté or thin béchamel finished with lobster butter and a little cream, seasoned with cayenne, and often reddened further with coral. Serve it hot in a sauceboat, not poured over, so the truffle pattern stays visible.
The consommé on the dishA spoonful or two of clear fish or chicken consommé in the serving dish keeps the unmolded mousselines moist and prevents them sticking. It is not a soup course; use just enough to film the bottom.
YieldOne pound of fish forcemeat fills six to eight small molds, which is a side dish for six to eight in the Epicurean's scheme of a long menu, or a light first course for four.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer published The Epicurean in 1894 after decades as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and the book records the French haute cuisine of the American gilded-age restaurant more completely than almost any other source in English. Anything au cardinal in that vocabulary means shellfish red, generally traced to the scarlet of a cardinal's robes; in practice the color comes from lobster coral and lobster butter, and the classic partner is truffle black against it. The mousseline itself belongs to the cream-bound family of forcemeats formalized in nineteenth-century French kitchens, where a pounded raw protein loosened with cream and set by gentle poaching produced something far lighter than the old bread-bound quenelle. Dishes like this one sat in the hot side-dish position of a long service menu, small, decorated, and made in quantity by a staff with a fish cook and a saucier already at their stations.