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Salad. Mrs. Duval
Cut in nice julienne strips two sound, medium-sized truffles, three canned artichoke bottoms, a very sound, firm, cored and peeled apple, the heart of a stalk of very fresh, well-cleaned, thoroughly drained crisp white celery cut in half-inch pieces, a good-sized, sound, boiled, minced, cold potato, six heaping tablespoons cooked, thoroughly drained, cold, fresh asparagus tips (or canned if no fresh at hand). Place all these articles in a vessel and gently shuffle them. Drop over gradually a good tablespoon olive oil, light tablespoon strained lemon juice, then sprinkle over three saltspoons salt, two saltspoons paprika and a half teaspoon freshly chopped parsley. Gently and carefully mix all well together, transfer to a salad bowl, arrange four light tablespoons mayonnaise over centre, send to table and gently mix for a moment before eating.
A composed vegetable salad in the French service style, dressed lightly and then finished with mayonnaise at the table. The measurements are turn-of-the-century kitchen shorthand and need translating before you start.
- SaltspoonsA saltspoon is a quarter teaspoon. Three saltspoons of salt is about 3/4 teaspoon and two of paprika about 1/2 teaspoon; season, taste, and adjust.
- Light vs. heapingThe recipe uses both a "heaping" spoon and a "light" one, conventionally a well-mounded spoon against a barely filled one. Six heaping tablespoons of asparagus tips comes to somewhere between a half and two-thirds of a cup; four light tablespoons of mayonnaise is nearer three.
- The dressing ratioThe oil and lemon juice are close in volume, though a "good" tablespoon of oil against a "light" tablespoon of juice tips the balance toward the oil; it is still far sharper than modern practice, and roughly two tablespoons total barely coats this volume. The mayonnaise is doing most of the work, so keep the dressing light as written rather than scaling it up.
- TrufflesTwo medium truffles (the recipe does not say fresh or preserved) is an extravagance now well out of proportion to the rest of the bowl. Preserved truffle in brine, a teaspoon of truffle peelings, or simply omitting them all give a workable salad; sautéed cremini in julienne is a reasonable stand-in for colour and texture, not flavour.
- Artichoke bottomsCanned artichoke bottoms (the fleshy base, not the marinated hearts sold in jars) are still available in Mediterranean groceries. Rinse and pat dry, or the packing liquid will thin the mayonnaise.
- Everything must be cold and dryThe repeated insistence on "thoroughly drained" and "cold" is the hinge of the dish. Warm potato or wet asparagus will thin and slacken the mayonnaise; chill and blot every component before cutting.
- The appleCut it last and toss it in a little of the measured lemon juice immediately, or the julienne will brown before the salad reaches the table. A firm tart variety holds its shape.
- Shuffle, do not stir"Gently shuffle" means lifting and folding with the hands or two forks. Julienned apple and minced potato break down quickly under a spoon, and the mayonnaise is meant to stay in a distinct mound in the centre until it is mixed in at the table.
- YieldEnough for four as a first course or side.
Alexander Filippini spent decades at Delmonico's in New York, and this salad shows the house habit of naming a composed dish rather than drawing on a traditional regional recipe — a "salade Duval" is simply this particular arrangement, though the origin of the name is unknown. The construction is textbook late-nineteenth-century restaurant salad work: cooked vegetables cut to a uniform julienne, dressed with a whisper of oil and lemon so they season without going limp, then crowned with mayonnaise for the waiter or the diner to fold through at the last moment. Truffles and canned artichoke bottoms sitting beside a boiled potato and an apple mark it as a luxury dish assembled from the pantry rather than the market, which is exactly what a large hotel kitchen of the period could do at any hour. The instruction to "send to table" and mix there is a reminder that these recipes were written for staff working within a formal service, not for someone eating in the kitchen.