The Perfect Meal (32 page)

Remove the figs to a warm serving dish and splash balsamic vinegar in the pan to clear the pan’s juices. The vinegar will mix with the butter and spices to make a delicious sauce. Pour over the figs. This is excellent as a side dish with roast or grilled duck or pork.

Parfait Swann (Serves 4)

This dessert requires a deep glass for each person. Parfait glasses are preferred; otherwise, use large wineglasses.

I
NGREDIENTS

1 lemon

1 tablespoon sugar

8-ounce tub Mascarpone cheese

8-ounce tub crème fraîche or sour cream

8-ounce tub thick full-cream “Greek” yogurt

4–6 plain but crumbly cookies—no chocolate chips, raisins, etc.

3 cups fresh raspberries, blueberries, or other small berries in season (In a pinch, use strawberries, but these should be small, or cut into small pieces.)

M
ETHOD

Grate the zest from the lemon and squeeze and save the juice.

Mix lemon juice, lemon zest, and sugar with Mascarpone, yogurt, and crème fraîche or sour cream. Add extra sugar if desired. The mixture should be stiff, not runny. Set aside.

Roughly crush the cookies and place a layer of crumbs about half an inch deep in the bottom of each parfait glass or wineglass.

Add berries until the glass is three-quarters full. (Reserve a berry for each glass as garnish.)

Spoon on cream mixture.

Top with a single berry.

Boeuf Bourguignon

I
NGREDIENTS

1 cup olive oil

3 pounds good beef—chuck steak, brisket, etc.—in a single piece or large chunks, retaining some fat, cut into 1-inch square chunks

4 large onions, sliced thin

1 clove garlic, crushed

Bottle red wine, ideally burgundy style, made from pinot noir grapes

Bouquet garni
(bay leaf, stalk of parsley, two or three sprigs thyme, tied in a bundle)

1 pint beef stock, either fresh or canned (Stock cubes are
not
recommended.)

Salt and pepper

M
ETHOD

Heat half the oil in a deep cast-iron pot.

Sauté the meat in batches, making sure all pieces are well browned. (Do
not
put them in the pot all at once. This will cause them to sweat rather than brown. If they begin to sweat, remove the meat, let the liquid evaporate, add more oil, and commence again, using fewer pieces at a time.)

Lower the heat, transfer the meat to another dish, add the rest of the oil to the pan, and sauté the onion and garlic until browned.

Pour in the wine and bring to a simmer. Stir until all the meat residue on the bottom of the pot is dissolved.

Return meat to pot with
bouquet garni
. Add beef stock (or equivalent amount water) until the meat is barely covered. Season with salt and pepper.

Cover pot tightly with foil, replace lid, and place in the middle of the oven at low heat, about 150 degrees Celsius (300 degrees Fahrenheit).

Cook without unsealing the pot for at least two hours. If, when you check, most of the liquid has not been absorbed and the meat isn’t sufficiently tender to be broken up with a fork, replace the seal and cook for another hour. If it seems too dry at any time, add a cup of stock or water, although our aim is a dish with a minimum of liquid.

Unseal, remove
bouquet garni
, skim fat, and serve with simple mashed potatoes and boiled carrots, sliced and sautéed with a little butter and sugar until they begin to caramelize.

Acknowledgments

M
y gratitude first to my wife, Marie-Dominique, without whom, had she not brought me to France, I would know nothing of great food. Our daughter, Louise, as well as her many treasurable qualities, has become both a skilled cook and a connoisseur of the best in cuisine.

In researching this book, I’ve been aided by them and by many friends. Christopher Jones was an invaluable companion on some of these hazardous excursions. Charles DeGroot and Dr. Nicole Larroumet offered generous hospitality in Cabris and Bergerac. To Chris Hanley, I apologize for his unfortunate experiences on the Riviera. Thanks are due also to Rick Gekoski; to Peter Grogan, for his advice on wine; to Lauren Sabreau and the staff of Caviar House and Prunier for their cordial welcome; to the administrators of the twenty-third Fête du Boeuf and to the people of Bugnicourt. I also owe a special thanks to the food and vegetable merchants of Paris’s sixth
arrondissement
and of the town of Fouras, without whose unfailing maintenance of excellence no good cooking and eating would be possible.

Sincere thanks to my agent, Jonathan Lloyd; my editor, Peter Hubbard; and the entire publishing team at Harper Perennial.

Index

The pagination of this electronic edition does not match the edition from which it was created. To locate a specific entry, please use your e-book reader’s search tools.

“Address to a Haggis” (Burns), 182–83

“Advertisement for the Waldorf-Astoria” (Hughes), 273

afternoon tea, 296–99

aires
, 331

À La Recherche du Temps Perdu
(Proust), 55, 82–84

Alexander II, Czar, 168

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
(Carroll), 243

anchovies, 305–9

anchovy paste, 299–301, 305

Gentleman’s Relish (Patum Peperium), 300–301, 310

recipe for, 357–58

Angela (companion), 142–52, 186–88

Anouilh, Jean, 129–30

Antibes, 216–18, 237

Apache Dance, 285

apaches
, 283

aperitifs, 41–42, 46, 51–53

Kir, 47–51, 53, 214–15, 245

Kir Royal Florian recipe, 357

Argenteuil, 238

Aromas and Flavors of Past and Present
(Toklas), 162–63

artichoke hearts, 21

asparagus soup, 5–6, 252

Auberge du Vieux Château, L’, 214–15

Austen, Jane, 145

baba ghanoush
, 66

Balfour, Arthur, 128

Baltard, Victor, 279

banquets, 128–29, 165–66, 295

theatre and spectacle in, 179–97

barley water, 268–69

Baxter, Louise, 81–92,
90
, 291

bear meat, 176

Beauce, La, 81–82

Beauvoir, Simone de, 322

Becket
(Anouilh), 129–30

Becket, Thomas à, 129–30

Beckett, Samuel, 320

beef, 219–20, 226

bourguignon
, 243, 255, 258

recipe for, 364–66

burgers, 8, 222–26, 234

carpetbag steak, 99

ox, 8, 24, 38, 53, 75, 220–21, 258

roasting of, 326–28, 329–41, 344–51,
349
,
350

scandals connected with, 222

tartare, 226–35

truffles and, 108

beef stock cubes, 256–58, 293

Beeton, Isabella, 240

Bellanger, M., 170

Belleville, 239

Bell Jar, The
(Plath), 64

Belly of Paris, The
(Zola), 280

Benjamin, Walter, 303, 304

Bergerac, 115–20, 237

Bernhardt, Sarah, 259

Bible, 343, 351

blackberries, 49–51

Blue Train, 199–201, 209

boeuf bourguignon
, 243, 255, 258

recipe for, 364–66

Book of Household Management
(Beeton), 240

Boorman, Charley, 165

Boris (friend), 25, 29–39, 44, 53, 67–70, 71, 121–22, 252–58, 275, 318–19, 326–28, 330, 332, 334, 343–44, 348, 351

bouchots
, 190

bouillabaisse, 142–44, 150–58,
150
,
152
, 202, 237

recipe for, 358–60

bouillon, 248–50, 252, 258, 275–77, 288–89

powdered, 293

Bouzigues, 147

bovine spongiform encephalopathy, 222

Bowles, Thomas Gibson, 172

Brassens, Georges, 149–50

British Rail, 296

Britten, Benjamin, 304

brocantes
, 15–17,
16
, 157

Bugnicourt, 327–28, 329–41, 344–51

Buñuel, Luis, 304

burgers, 8, 222–26, 234

Burns, Robert, 182–83

cabbage soup, 32–33

Cabris, 213–16,
213
, 328

Cadillac Jack
(McMurtry), 61

Café au Chai de l’Abbaye, 67–68

café au lait
, 320–21

café crème
, 321

Café Croissant, 33–34

cafés, 23, 35,
35
, 285–86

cake, 75–81, 244

mixes for, 292

wedding, 76, 181

Callisto, 113

Camp Coffee, 323–26

Camus, Albert, 322

canard
Montmorency, 239, 240

Caneton Nantais Cresson
, 21

canned products, 293

cannelés
, 77–78

Cannes, 211–12

Capus, Alfred, 144

Carlton Hotel, 266

carpetbag steak, 99

Carrier, Robert, 292

Carroll, Lewis, 243

Carte, Richard D’Oyly, 260

cassoulet, 147, 148, 243

Catalonia, 306

Caveau des Innocents, 283–85,
284

caviar, 55–74

Golden Opulence Sundae, 66–67

packaging of, 65–66

sturgeon, 62–66, 69–74

chabrot
, 287

Chance
(Parker), 95

Chandelle Verte, La, 31–33

Chanel, Coco, 201, 206–7

Chantilly, 124, 131–33, 135, 138

Charles (friend), 208, 212–18

Château Royal, 307, 311–12

cheese, 3

chef
, use of term, 267

chicken, 20, 125, 162–63

tikka masala, 190

Child, Julia, 9

Choron, Alexandre-Étienne, 170–71, 174, 178, 179

Christmas, 181

Voisin dinner menu, 173, 175–78

Christopher (friend), 301, 305–14

Churchill, Winston, 3

Cimetière Montmartre, 252–53

Clamart, 238

class, 159–60

Cocteau, Jean, 201, 208

coffee, 315–26

Camp Coffee, 323–26

decaf, 317

espresso, 321

in glasses, 322

iced, 316–17

Irish, 317

milk in,
318
, 320–21

noisette
, 315–16

in restaurants, 319, 320

street vendor of,
318

Colette, 104, 205, 209, 215

Collioure, 305–14

Commodore, The
(Forester), 121

Conan Doyle, Arthur, 329

Condé, Prince de, 124, 128, 131–33, 137–38

Consommé à la Royale
, 20

Contre Saint-Beuve
(Proust), 91–92

Coronation Chicken, 20

Corridor of Mirrors
, 298

Corsica, 214

Côted’Azur, 199–209

Cannes, 211–12

Country Cooking from Central France: Roast Boned Rolled Stuffed Shoulder of Lamb (Farce Double)
(Mathews), 270–71

courgette (zucchini) flowers, 111, 216

Coward, Noël, 1

crème brûlée
, 244

crème Chantilly
, 128

crème de cassis
, 47–48, 49

croissants, 78–79

cucumber sandwiches, 298

Cyril (acquaintance), 145–53

czarist banquets, 128

Dadone, Antoine, 62–63

Dalí, Gala, 302

Dalí, Salvador, 301–3, 309

Darwin, Charles, 172

Dayan, Raymond, 223–26

Deboos, M., 171, 172

Decroix, Émile, 343–44

de Gaulle, Charles, 3

De Gourville, Jean, 124, 133, 136

Dekobra, Maurice, 200

Depardieu, Gérard, 137

Desclaux, François, 308–9

Desclaux, Madame, 308

desserts, 244

cake, 75–81, 244

mixes for, 292

wedding, 76, 181

Parfait Swann recipe, 363–64

pastries, 76–77, 79–80

Diaghilev, Sergei, 200

Dietrich, Marlene, 202

Doctor No
(Fleming), 325

donkey, 177

Dordogne, 116

dormice, 164

Dos Passos, John, 208

Downton Abbey
, 130–31

drinks, 41–53, 56–57

aperitifs, 41–42, 46, 51–53

Kir, 47–51, 53, 214–15, 245

Kir Royal Florian recipe, 357

barley water, 268–69

coffee, 315–26

Camp Coffee, 323–26

decaf, 317

espresso, 321

in glasses, 322

iced, 316–17

Irish, 317

milk in,
318
, 320–21

noisette
, 315–16

in restaurants, 319, 320

street vendor of,
318

kumis
, 232–33

wine, 43, 174, 287–88

Drug Store, Le, 224–25

duck, 8, 21, 125

canard
Montmorency, 239, 240

Du Côté de Chez Swann
(
Swann’s Way
) (Proust), 82–84, 92–93

du Fort, Pierre, 249–50