Every craft has its masters. The great masters pass down their craft through understudies or apprentices. To say that your lineage as an architect hailed to Frank Lloyd Wright or as an artist to say Rembrandt confers a certain status. As a chef, the same aura applies. Even today the master chef Auguste Escoffier has a large influence on the French style of cooking. In the hands of a well-trained chef, his Guide Culinaire is a treasury of recipes that bridge the span of 19th-century chefs such as Câreme and Dubois up to the mid-20th-century masters such a Chef F. Point.
I have been reading Chef Escoffier's cookbook and marvel at the luxury of some of the recipes. Here is a recipe for Poularde à la Grammont, Pullet Grammont. In the master's words:
"Poach the Pullet (young chicken) and let it half-cool. Now remove the suprémes (breasts) and bones of the breast.; fill up the cavity in the bird with a stuffing consisting of lark's brests, sautéd just before serving; grooved button mushroom caps; cocks' combs and kidneys; combined the whole by means of Béchamel sauce, finished with truffle essence.
Slice the suprémes, and return them to their place. setting a slice of truffle between each (slice). Coat the pullet with a stiff Allemande sauce. sprinkle with grated parmesan and melted butter; glaze quickly and serve at once."
Simple? The chicken would have been poached in a rich chicken broth. Of course, the poaching liquid would be reserved for other uses, such as the sauces. The mushrooms would have been decoratively "fluted" with flared grooves around the cap and either sautéd in butter or poached in the chicken stock. The cock's comb and kidney would have been cooked beforehand, again by simmering in a chicken broth. In the kitchen in Escoffier's time, they used the brigade system, much like a military hierarchy. One section would have done the base sauce preparations and another the actual cooking of the pullet.
Ingredients are all important in this dish. By today's standards, they are a bit exotic. The chicken would have come from the Bresse chicken. This dish would have been presented tableside on a service cart (gueridon) and portioned out the head waiter. It would have served two to four guests depending on their appetite.
Here is more on Chef Escoffier from the museum's web site. The museum is a worthwhile side trip the next time you are in Nice, France.
"The Escoffier Museum of Culinary Art is housed in the birthplace of Auguste Escoffier, a 300 m² authentic Provencal-style home from the 18th century, nestled in the heart of the village of Villeneuve-Loubet, between Nice and Cannes.
Created in 1966 on the initiative of Joseph Donon, one of his loyal disciples, this private Museum, managed by the Auguste Escoffier Foundation (a recognized public utility) and the only Museum of Culinary Art in France, allows you to discover the world of gastronomy.
Recently awarded the “Maisons des Illustres” label (the French equivalent of the British “Blue Plaques”), the Museum bears witness to the life and work of this great culinary master, thus contributing to continuing his memory.
Recognized as the father of modern cuisine, Auguste Escoffier (1846-1935), the “Chef of Kings and King of Chefs”, is still considered as one of the greatest of French gastronomic chefs.
A generous, inventive, and visionary man, this humanist and philosopher made a profound impact on his profession by way of an exceptional career.
With César Ritz, Director of one of the largest hotels of the 19th century, he created the basis for the luxury hotel and catering trade, still going strong today.
His major work, the Guide Culinaire, a veritable chef’s bible, remains a famous competition reference for the Meilleur Ouvrier de France."
