French Provincial Cooking (16 page)

Timbale
In terms of kitchen utensils a timbale is a round mould with straight or slightly sloping sides, sometimes fluted, made of tinned copper, tin, or fireproof china. It was originally intended to imitate the appearance and shape of a pastry crust. Once again, foods cooked in a timbale (and turned out on to the serving dish) have acquired the name of the utensil, e.g.
timbale de riz, timbale de fruits de mer.
Timbale moulds are also sometimes made with a central cylinder.

Timbale à soufflé
May be in fireproof china or metal. The different dishes in which soufflés may be cooked are described in the chapter on egg cookery.

Tourtière
A shallow tart tin. The most useful are made with a removable base, and the prettiest have fluted sides (1).

Fig. 2 shows a hinged cake-tin.

In former times a
tourtière
was a heavy iron or earthenware dish, much deeper than a tart tin, in which many things besides pastry could be cooked.

Tranchoir
A trencher, or wooden carving platter.

Vasque
Shallow crystal, silver, or china bowl for the elegant presentation of fruit, sweet dishes, ices,
foie gras,
and
mousses.

Verge
Metal, willow or birch-twig egg whisk.

ALTHOUGH there is always plenty more to say about the processes of roasting and grilling and boiling (how many people take the trouble to put the roasting joint on a grid in the tin, or to take it out of the refrigerator several hours before cooking?), these processes are generally thought to be pretty well understood by English cooks. At least they are to be found clearly explained in cookery books. So it is upon the less familiar aspects of French cookery that I shall concentrate in this brief explanation of French cookery terms.

Once, in an English translation of a cookery book by a famous French authority, there were some highly enjoyable literal renderings.
Tomates concassées
became concussed tomatoes.
Faites tomber la sauce
meant that you were to drop it. Most of us, if we use French cookery books at all, have probably got a bit further than that stage. But there are still many confusions, due possibly to the fact that for French writers it is not necessary to explain every process every time they refer to it.
Faites déglacer
they say, and leave it at that. Or because they are professionals writing for professionals they use terms and processes not usually applicable to household cookery. To avoid the worst bewilderments, those who want to use a French cookery book would be well advised to invest in one directed at housewives rather than the restaurant chef. For this purpose Madame Saint- Ange’s
Livre de Cuisine
could scarcely be bettered.

 

Bain-marie, Cuisson au
Cooking in a
bain-marie
, or
casserole à bain-marie,
is distinct from the process of keeping something hot in the
bain-marie.
To cook
au bain-marie
is to place the saucepan or dish in which the food is to cook in another saucepan, or tin, containing water which is kept at simmering point, or just below. The process may be carried out in the oven as well as on top of the stove, and is applied mainly to creams and sauces which would cook too fast and curdle or disintegrate if subjected to direct heat.

 

Blanc, Cuisson à
To cook blind, i.e. to bake a pastry or flan case without its filling.

Blanc, Cuisson au
To cook certain meats and vegetables in a
court-
bouillon
of flour and water with a few drops of vinegar, called a
blanc.
The object is to prevent the food so cooked from discolouring. In household cooking a
blanc
is more often than not replaced simply by acidulated water. A
blanc
is not to be confused, however, with a
fonds blanc,
which is a stock made from white meat, either chicken or veal.

Bleu, Cuisson au
A method of cooking fish, chiefly applied to river trout. The fish is plunged, immediately it is killed, into a
court-bouillon
of water and vinegar, and its skin thereby acquires a slightly blue tinge.

Braisage
The process of braising consists of lining a heavy cooking pot,
daubière
or
braisière
with sliced onions and other flavouring vegetables, fat pork or bacon, and/or pork rinds and a calf’s foot to supply a gelatinous element to the sauce. The meat or bird to be braised is laid on this bed. Cooking is started off on the top of the stove, and when some of the fats and juices from the underneath layer of ingredients have been released by the heat and a protective browning of the meat accomplished, liquid in the form of stock and/or wine is added, the pot is covered with a hermetically-sealing lid, and cooking continued by very moderate heat. Formerly this was done on top of the stove and between two fires; this was achieved with glowing coals placed on the inset lid of the braising-pan. Nowadays, after the preliminary cooking essential to a true braise, it is usually placed in the oven.

Owing to the fact that in France the secondary cuts of meat used for braising are usually boned, then rolled and tied in a long shape, braising-pans are oval. In England these cuts tend, unless you specify otherwise, to be dressed by the butcher in a round shape. In that case a round pan can be used, the important point being that it must be of a size in which the meat or bird, with all its accompanying ingredients, fits comfortably without being crowded, but not so large that the liquid will waste away leaving the meat dry and without any sauce. The whole point of a braise is that it turns a somewhat tough piece of meat or an old bird into a succulent and juicy dish that is full of flavour.

 

Clarification du consommé
For the clarification of a consommé or an aspic jelly, two whites of eggs to between three and four pints of liquid are beaten slightly in the soup-pan; the broth to be clarified, after every particle of fat has been removed, is then poured in cold or tepid. Heat very gently, beating with a wooden spoon. Bring to an almost imperceptible boil, and let this continue for 10 minutes. By this time the whites will have formed a sort of crust on top of the broth, to which all particles and impurities have adhered, leaving the liquid clear and limpid. Turn off the heat and leave for another 10 minutes without moving the saucepan. Place a cloth wrung out in hot water in a colander placed in a deep bowl. Very gradually pour the broth through it. Gather up the four corners of the cloth; tie with string to form a bag. Have ready on a chair another bowl, place the bag on the edge of the table so that it hangs right over the bowl, the knotted end secured to the table by a heavy weight, and let the rest of the liquid drip through without squeezing it. If you are dealing with a large quantity of broth, an improvised arrangement of two chairs, the bowl and the cloth, as shown in the sketch, serves the purpose more efficiently.

After the clarification, any necessary flavouring of wine is added. Take care not to overdo this; two tablespoons of Madeira or four of dry white wine for three pints is enough. If the broth is not clear after the first filtering, it means either that the process has been carried out too abruptly or that there were insufficient whites of egg to the quantity of broth. The whole process must be started over again with fresh whites.

At one time a quantity of lean, finely minced beef was used as well as the white to clarify clear soup and to improve its taste and colour. But if the broth has been correctly cooked in the first instance, that is to say never allowed to boil, and with the right quantity of meat, chicken or whatever it may be, the final addition of beef is not necessary. In a
pot-au-feu,
however, a piece of ox-liver is sometimes cooked, and this gives colour and flavour while clarifying at the same time.

 

Clarification du beurre
Ideally, all butter used for frying should be clarified, as this greatly decreases the risk of the butter burning and the food sticking. To clarify butter, melt it in a
bain-marie.
Leave it to settle, then filter it through a fine cloth wrung out in warm water so that all scum is left behind. When you have no time for this, add a little olive oil to your frying butter, which will help it not to stick.

Daube, Cuisson en
To cook
en daube
is much the same as to braise. Sometimes a piece of meat for a daube is larded with pork fat or salt pork as explained in the paragraph on larding, sometimes it is sliced before cooking. A daube being essentially a country dish, it is apt to be rougher than a braise, but none the worse for that. A Provençal
bœuf en daube,
for example, or
estouffat de bœuf,
has an addition of olives and tomatoes and a robust flavouring of herbs, garlic and wine.

Déglaçage
Deglazing is the process of detaching the juices and all the particles which have adhered to the bottom and sides of a saucepan or sauté pan in which food has browned. This is done by adding liquid, either wine, stock, water or cream, into which these juices and particles are scraped up and incorporated to form a sauce. This is a good example of those French cookery terms which require a whole paragraph to explain in English, although some translators render
déglacer
as ‘to rinse out the pan.’

Dégorger, Faire
To soak meat or other food in cold water to free it of impurities; to rid it of salt; to let the blood soak out (as with brains and sweetbreads).

Dégraissage
The removal of fat from a broth, a sauce. If the liquid to be cleared of fat is put into the refrigerator and left until the fat sets, it is a simple matter to remove it by lifting it up with a palette knife. Any small particles left are wiped off with a cloth wrung out in hot water. When the fat is not set, pour off as much as possible without losing the gravy or broth itself, and the rest can be quite successfully soaked up with large paper tissues. The fat removed from stock, the
pot-au-feu
, etc., is called
dégraissis
; it can be clarified and used for frying.

Dépouiller un lièvre
To skin a hare.

Dépouiller une sauce
To skim a sauce, to rid it of impurities by skimming them as they rise to the top during cooking.

Ébouillanter, Échauder
To put or plunge something into boiling water for a few seconds. To scald. If the expression is used about fruit, it will mean to dip it into boiling water to facilitate the skinning.

Émincer
To slice thinly. Term usually applied to cooked meat which is to be sliced for reheating.
Émincé
is occasionally and wrongly understood to mean minced.