Title: Lievre A La Royale Pt 2
Categories: Main dish, French, Game, Cerebral
Yield: 8 servings
'Second Operation (to be carried out during the first cooking of the
hare)
'First chop exceedingly finely the four following ingredients,
chopping each one separately:
(i) 1 lb of bacon.
(ii) the heart, liver, and lungs of the hare,
(iii) 10 cloves of garlic,
(iv) 20 cloves of shallot.
'The chopping of the garlic and the shallots must be so fine that
each of them attain as nearly as possible a molecular state. 'This is
one of the first conditions of success of this marvellous dish, in
which the multiple and diverse perfumes and aromas melt into a whole
so harmonious that neither one dominates, nor discloses its
particular origin and so arouse some preconceived prejudice, however
regrettable. 'The bacon, the insides of the hare, the garlic, and
shallots being chopped very fine, and separately, blend them all
together thoroughly, so as to obtain an absolutely perfect mixture.
Keep this mixture aside.
'Third operation (from four o'clock until a quarter to seven)
'At four o'clock. Remove the stewpan fiom the fire. Take the hare out
very delicately; put it on a dish. Then remove all the debris of the
bacon, carrot, onions, garlic, shallot, which may be clinging to it;
return these debris to the pan. 'The Sauce. Now take a large deep
dish and a sieve. Empty the contents of the pan into the sieve, which
you have placed over the dish; with a small wooden pestle pound the
contents of the sieve, extracting all the juice, which forms a coulis
in the dish. 'Mixing the coulis and the hachis (the chopped mixture).
Now comes the moment to make use of the mixture which was the subject
of the second operation. Incorporate this into the coulis.
'Heat the half bottle of wine left over from the first operation.
Pour this hot wine into the mixture of coulis and bachis and stir the
whole well together. "At half past four. Return to the stewpan: (i)
the mixture of coulis and hachis, (ii) the hare, together with any of
the bones which may have become detached during the cooking.
'Return the pan to the stove, with the same gentle and regular fire
underneath and on the top, for another 1 1/2 hours' cooking.
'At six o'clock. As the excess of fat, issuing from the necessary
quantity of bacon, will prevent you from judging the state of the
sauce, you must now proceed to operate a first removal of the fat.
Your work will not actually be completed until the sauce has become
sufficiently amalgamated to attain a consistence approximating to
that of a puree of potatoes; not quite, however, for if you tried to
make it too thick, you would end by so reducing it that there would
not be sufficient to moisten the flesh (by nature dry) of the hare.
'Your hare having therefore had the fat removed, can continue to
cook, still on a very slow fire, until the moment comes for you to
add the blood which you have reserved with the utmost care as has
already been instructed.
'Fourth Operation (quarter of an hour before serving)
'At quarter to seven. The amalgamation of the sauce proceeding
successfully, a fourth and last operation will finally and rapidly
bring it to completion. 'Addition of the blood to the hare. With the
addition of the blood, not only will you hasten the amalgamation of
the sauce but also give it a fine brown colour; the darker it isthe
more appetizing. This addition of the blood should not be made more
than 30 minutes before serving; it must also be preceded by a second
removal of the fat. 'Therefore, effectively remove the fat; after
which, without losing a minute, turn to the operation of adding the
blood. '(i) Whip the blood with a fork, until, if any of it has
become curdled, it is smooth again. (Note: the optional addition of
the brandy mentioned at the beginning helps to prevent the curdling
of the blood.) '(ii) Pour the blood into the sauce, taking care to
stir the contents of the pan from top to bottom and from right to
left, so that the blood will penetrate into every corner of the pan.
'Now taste; add pepper and salt if necessary. A little later (45
minutes at a maximum) get ready to serve.
'Arrangememts for serving 'At seven o'clock. Remove from the pan your
hare, whose volume by this time has naturally somewhat shrunk. 'At
any rate, in the centre of the serving disb, place all that still has
the consistency of meat, the bones, entirely denuded, and now
useless, being thrown away, and now finally around this hare en
compote pour the admirable sauce which has been so carefully
created.' Needless to say (concludes the senator) that to use a knife
to serve the hare would be a sacrilege. A spoon alone is amply
sufficient. * times are given for a dinner to be served at seven
o'clock. ** In spite of the enormous quantity of garlic and shallots
which enter into the composition of lievre a la royale, the
remarkable fact is that to a certain extent the two ingredients
cancel each other out, so that the uninitiated would hardly suspect
their presence.
Recipe Senator Couteaux "Le Temps 29 Nov 1898"
Mmed IMH Georges' Home BBS 2:323/4.4
