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Galantine of Fowl
Cut the head off near the body and the feet below the first joint of a good-sized, tender fowl. Singe, split down back without separating, carefully remove all bones without cutting skin, spread bird on a table, cut away thin slices of breast and legs and place them where there is no meat on, so as to have it of equal thickness. Season interior with half teaspoon salt, one saltspoon cayenne and saltspoon grated nutmeg. Finely chop three-quarters of a pound of lean raw veal, the same quantity fresh fat pork, place these two articles in a cold mortar and pound to a smooth pulp. Remove and place in a cold earthen tureen, and keep on ice. Cut four ounces larding pork in half-inch-square pieces, plunge in boiling water two minutes, take up, place on a plate and let cool off. Cut four ounces red, cooked beef tongue in same shape as the lard, cut also three truffles in same way. Remove skins from an ounce of pistachios, then add these four articles to the bowl with the force, season with half teaspoon salt, saltspoon cayenne, saltspoon grated nutmeg, saltspoon of grated, mixed allspice and mix well with the spatula. Place in a small saucepan three chopped shallots, one branch parsley, one branch chervil, four tarragon leaves, one and a half gills sherry and two tablespoons truffle liquor. Cover pan and let reduce to a third of the quantity. Remove, let cool off, then strain it through a cheesecloth into the bowl, add two tablespoons rum, thoroughly stir until well amalgamated, then fill fowl with the force. Roll fowl in oblong shape, sew it up, wrap it in a strong cloth, tightly tie both ends and in the centre. Place into a long saucepan with all the bones from the fowl, two calf's feet, a tablespoon salt and a half teaspoon white pepper. Cover it with plenty cold water, place lid on and let slowly boil one hour and forty-five minutes, being careful to skim off fat once in a while. Remove from pan, lay on a dish, let stand ten minutes, unwrap, wash cloth in cold water and wrap fowl again in same cloth. Place it between two boards, lay a weight of three pounds on top and let stand until thoroughly cold, then unwrap, take off the string, and the galantine is ready to use. Always keep the galantine enveloped in a cloth and always keep in the ice box.
A classic boned-and-stuffed cold fowl, pressed into a loaf and served in slices. The work is all in the butchery and the seasoning; the poaching is undemanding.
- The hinge: even thicknessOnce the bird is boned and opened flat, the shaved slices of breast and thigh must genuinely fill the bare patches of skin. If the meat layer is thick in places and absent in others, the galantine slices ragged and the forcemeat bulges through when you roll it.
- Saltspoon and gillA saltspoon is a quarter teaspoon. A gill is half a cup, so one and a half gills of sherry is three-quarters of a cup, reduced to about a quarter cup before straining.
- Fowl'Fowl' in books of this era often means a mature bird, though this recipe asks specifically for a tender one. A 4-5 lb roasting chicken stands in; a younger bird may be done somewhat before the stated hour and three-quarters.
- Larding pork and fat porkLarding pork is firm back fat cut into lardons; fresh fat pork for the forcemeat is unsalted, uncured fatback. Unsmoked salt pork, rinsed well, is the usual substitute. Fat is what keeps the veal farce from setting up dry and crumbly.
- Truffle liquorThe canning liquid from preserved truffles. If you are using fresh or frozen truffle, replace it with a couple of tablespoons of good chicken stock; do not substitute truffle oil, which turns acrid when reduced.
- Pounding the farceA cold mortar and a chilled bowl matter because warm pork fat smears rather than emulsifying. A food processor does the same job in seconds provided the meat and fat go in near-frozen and you stop before the bowl warms.
- Calf's feetThey are there for gelatine, not flavour, and give you a poaching liquid that sets firm. Ask a butcher, or substitute split pig's trotters. Strain and chill the liquid and you have aspic for glazing the finished galantine.
- Doneness and cooling"Slowly boil" should be read as a bare simmer at around 180F; a rolling boil splits the skin and squeezes the forcemeat. Check the centre reaches 165F. Then cool it promptly under its weight in the refrigerator rather than at room temperature.
- Yield and servingA galantine from a bird this size will give roughly ten or a dozen first-course slices. Cut it cold with a long thin knife; the recipe says only to keep it wrapped and on ice, so eat it within a few days.
Galantine belongs to the elaborate cold buffet of French professional cookery, where a boned bird stuffed with its own meat and a veal-and-pork farce could be built, poached, pressed and glazed a day ahead and then carved into ornamental slices. The name is generally traced to Old French galatine and Medieval Latin galatina; the link to galine, hen, is the folk-traditional explanation, and it has also been connected to galant. The truffles, pistachios and dice of scarlet tongue are not incidental garnish but pattern: each slice was meant to show a mosaic, and pistachios were valued as much for their green as for their taste. Its appearance in a general household book reflects how thoroughly restaurant technique had filtered into ambitious middle-class entertaining, where a cold pressed galantine on the sideboard did the work that a cooked-to-order dish could not.