Cooking Term: E

EAR A piece of offal, usually from pigs or calves, used in cooking or in the preparation of brawn (head cheese) and various other forms of charcuterie. It can be boiled, fried, sauteed, braised, stuffed, made into a gratin, or grilled (broiled), and is an ingredient of great number of tasty recipes.

RECIPES

Calves Ears

Calves ears braised a la mierepoix

Clean the insides of 4 calves ears thoroughly and blanch them for 8 minutes, referesh them, then drain, scrape and dry them. Put into a casserole and cover with 200 ml (7 ft oz. ¾ cup) vegetable mirepoix, add a bouquet garni, salt, pepper and 100 ml (4 ft oz. 7 tablespoons) white wine. Reduce the liquid completely, then pour in 300 ml ( ½ pint, 1 ¼ cups) brown veal stock, cover the dish, and cook in a preheated oven at 180 ^oC (350 ^oF, gas 4) for 1 ½ hours. Drain the ears. Remove the skin which covers the inside and the outside of the thin part of the ears, pull this part down and trim it. Arrange the ears, pull this part down and trim it. Arrange the ears in a round serving dish, possibly on slices of bread fried in butter. Skim the fat from the braising liquid and sprinkle over the ears.

Stuffed calves ears du Bugey

Blanch, referesh, then carefully clean 1 calf’s ear per guest.Rub the ears with lemon and sew each one into the shape of a cornet. Put them into a pan with 1.5 litres ( 2 ¾ pints, 6 ½ cups) well-flavoured beef stock, 1 litre ( 1 ¾ pints, 4 ½ cups) dry white wine, a bouquet garni, 1 sliced onion, 2 sliced celery sticks and 3 sliced carrots. Add plenty of salt and pepper and cook gently for about 2 ½ hours. Drain the ears and put them aside, covered with a damp cloth.

Dice 1 calf’s sweetbread that has been braised in white wine, 1 chicken wing and 1 fresh truffle. Fry 100 g (4 oz. 1 ½ cups) coarsely chopped wild mushrooms in butter, add salt and pepper. When they are half-cooked, add the truffle, the sweetbread and the chicken meat, continue to cook over a low heat. Add 200 ml ( 7 ft oz ¾ cup) slightly soured cream, them take the pan off the heat and add 2 egg yolks. Blend everything well and leave to cool.

Spoon the cold mixture into the ear “cornets”. Dip the ears in flour, then beaten egg, then breadcrumbs, and fry in butter , without allowing them to brown. Drain , arrange on a serving dish and sprinkle with fried curly parsley.

Pigs” Ears

Boiled pigs’ ears

Singe 4 pigs’ ears and clean the insides thoroughly; cook them in boiling salted water using 1 teaspoon slat per 1 litre (1-3/4 pints, 4-1/2 cups) water with 2 carrots, 1 onion studded with 2 cloves, and a bouquet garni. Simmer for about 50 minutes, then drain.

Boiled pigs’ ears can be used in several ways. They can be chopped, dipped in fresh breadcrumbs and grilled (broiled), to be served with mustard or horseradish sauce and mashed potatoes or puree or celeriac (celery root). Pigs ‘ ears a la lyonnaise are cut into large strips and sautéed in butter with sliced onion. They can also be served cold with vinaigrette, or browned in the oven with a white sauce.

Braised pigs’ ears

Singe 4 pigs’ ears and clean the insides thoroughly. Blanch them for 5 minutes in boiling water, drain them and cut them in half lengthways. Grease a flameproof casserole, cover the bottom with pieces of pork rind, add 1 sliced onion and 1 sliced carrot, and arrange the pieces of ear on top in a flat layer; put a bouquet

Garni in the middle

Cover the casserole and cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes, then add 20 ml (7 fl. Oz. ¾ cup) white wine and reduce until syrupy. Add 400 ml (l4 fl. Oz, 1-3/4 cups) thickened veal juices or stock and cook, covered , in a preheated oven at 180 °C (350°F gas 4) for 50 minutes. Drain the ears and arrange them on a serving dish. Garnish with braised celery hearts or steamed cauliflower . Pour over the strained and reduced braising liquid .

Stuffed and Fried pigs’ ears

Braise the ears whole. Meanwhile, make a chicken forcemeat and some Villerol sauce. Allow the ears to cool, then slit them and stuff with the chicken forcement. Dip them into the Villerol sauce and leave for 30 minutes. Roll the ears in egg, then breadcrumbs, and fry them in very hot oil. Drain , arrange on the serving dish and serve with tomato sauce.

EASTER

The major Christian festival , which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was associated in the early days of Christianity with the Jewish feast of Passover, commemorating the passing over or sparing of the Israelites in Egypt, when God smote the firstborn of the Egyptians (the French word for Easter is derived from the Greek Paskba and the Hebrew Pesab, meaning ‘passage’). Passover is celebrated for a week at the beginning of spring (from the 14^th to the 21^st of the month of Nisan), during which no alcohol or leavened food is consumed, the feast begins with a formal meal of a roasted lamb, sacrificed according to the kosher method.

Easter Day, fixed at the Council of Nicaea in Ad 325 to fall on the first Sunday after the full moon following the spring equinox, can occur between 22 March and 22 April. It corresponds to the height of the period of the renewal of life after winter and , as Easter also follows the abstinence of Lent, numerous culinary traditions mark this festival.

In all countries, eggs are the symbol of Easter, in France, the custom of offering painted or decorated hard boiled (hard cooked)

Eggs goes back to the 15^th century, when it was particularly common in Alsace. The pasehal omellete, sometimes made with eggs laid on Good Friday, is usually enriched with bacon or sausage to emphasize the end of the period of abstinence.

The omellette is traditionally followed by a dish of meat, generally roebuck or lamb but also pork (grilled sucking pig at Metz, ham sprinkled with chopped parsley in the Cote d’Or). In Charence Poitou, Touraine, Berry and Bresse, the Easter Sunday menu includes pie filled with a mixture of chopped meats and hard boiled eggs. Little noodles in vinagrette (totelots) are typical in Lorraine, fritters Rousseilon, and large thick pancakes (pachades) in Auvergne. A variety of special cakes and pastries are prepared for Easter, pognes and pompes in Provence, Savoy and the area around Lyon; alise pacaude in the Vendee; cavagnants in Menton (shaped like baskets and containing eggs dyed red) cacavelli (crowns topped with eggs) in Corsica; alleluias in Castelnaudary; pagnoties in Forez; gingerbreads in the shape of horses in Touraine; darioles in Reims; flones in the Aveyron region; and soupe dorce in Savoy (called soupe rousse in the Creuse), which is a kind of French toast (pain perdu).

Russian cookery includes several traditional cakes for Easter Day, such as kulich and pashka. In Germany the Easter cake is the Ostertorte , a type of sponge cake filled with mocha- flavoured butter cream and decorated with chocolate eggs.

The British simnel cake is now traditional at Easter although originally it was a Cake made to celebrate Mothering Sunday.

EAU-DE-VIE

A French term meaning ‘ water of life

From the Latin aqua vitae. It is nowadays generally applied to brandy (not necessarily Cognac or Armagne) and also to the alcohols blancs (white alcohols) – spirits distilled from fruits or herbs and kept in glass (not wood) without any sweetening. The various marchs are known as eaux-de-vie-de-vin, as they are distilled from wine. Distillates from each other basics, such as Scotch whisky , vodka, gin, Schnapps and so on, are not strictly speaking eau-de-vie, although the Gaelic for Scoth whisky – usque beatba – means ‘water of life’.

ECAILLER

A French culinary term meaning to open shellfish. An ecallier is the person employed to open the oyster in a restaurant having its own oyster bed. Ecaillers are also traders specializing in the sale of shellfish and seafoods.

The verb ecailler also means to scale fish.

ECARLATE

A L. The French term describing traditional pickled pork or beef, especially ox (beef) tongue. Saltpetre (potassium nitrate) was used with salt to pickle meat; it coloured the meat bright red, hence the name, meaning’ scarlet’ . This was further enhanced by rubbing red food colouring (liquid carmine) over the cured meat before it was hung in storage. The traditional recipe is given below ; saltpeter is not used in modern commercial curing and is not readily available . Meat can be pickled at home without saltpeter or using nitritres available to the food industry, but it does not have the traditional keeping qualities. The method should be used for the flavour it yields rather than as a means as a long term preservation.

Pickled tongue is served hot with vegetables or cold as an hors d’oeuvre. It is also an ingredient of dishes described as a Pecarlate, which are served with some kind

Of red sauce , such as tomato, and it is often used as a garnish (cut into cockcombs). Beef can also be pickled cooked, pressed and used in the same way.

Fromage a L’ecarlate, a specialty of classical cookery is a type of butter made with crayfish (and therefore reddish) a recipe is given by the chef Menon in La Science du maitre d’hotel cuisinier (1749)

RECIPES

Traditional pickled ox tongue

Soak a trimmed ox ( beef) tongue in cold water for 24 hours, then drain and wipe it. Prick lightly allover, rubbing the surface with salt mixed with saltpeter. Put the tongue in a stoneware container. Prepare a brine by adding 2.25 kg (5 lb. 6-1/4 cups) coarse salt, 150 g (5 oz) 300 g (11 oz 1-3/4 cups brown sugar, a spring of thyme , a bay leaf, 12 junifer berries and 12 peppercorns to 5 litres (9 pints , 5-1/2 quarts) water. Boil for a few minutes, then leave it to become cold. Cover the tongue with this brine, place a wooden board with a weight on top over it, and leave it so steep in a cool place for 6 days in summer, or 8 days in winter.

Drain the tongue and soak it for a few hours in fresh water to draw out the salt, then cook in water without any seasonings or condiments for 2-1/2 – 3 hours, depending on its size. Drain the tongue, then strip the skin off completely while still hot. Cover it with buttered paper to prevent blackening and leave it to cool.Wrap the tongue in very thin piece of fat bacon, tie it up and wrap in muslin (cheesecloth), tying it at each end. Poach the tongue in a large quantity of simmering water for about 10 minutes. Drain immediately, remove the muslin and brush the tongue with red food colouring. Hang it up and leave to cool . Prepared in this way, the tongue will keep for several weeks in a cool dry place.

Canapes a l’ecarlate

Cut some thin slices of bread into rounds or rectangles and spread them with a little softened butter mixed with paprika, cayenne pepper and a little Worcestershire sauce. Place a slice of pickled tongue on each round and garnish with a thin line of the same butter.

ECHAUDE

A small light crisp biscuit (cracker) very popular in France up to the 19^th century. It was made from a mixture of water and flour ( to which an egg and some butter was added, poaded in boiling water (hence its name, which means scalded), and then drained and dried in the oven. Formerly, during lent the egg was omitted and the butter replaced with oil.

Echaudes are mentioned for the first time in charter dated 1202, under the name of panes qui discumar eschaudati ( bread known as scalded’). In the 13^th century they were scalloped later they were round, triangular or heart-shaped. They used to be sold in the street, like waters. In his Grand Dictionnaire de cuisine. Alexander Dumas describes them as a sort of unsweetened cake which is made for the birds and for children rather for adults. The Parisian pastrycook Favart, who brought them back into fashion at the beginning of the 18^th century, in the Rue de la Verreine, was thought for a long time to have invented them.

The echaude remain a traditional biscuit in several provinces, particularly in Aveyron (aniseedflavoured) and in the west of France along with the craquelins). It can also be made with a raising (heavening) agent.

ECHEZEAUX

A region in the Cote de Nuits, Burgundy , where 11 vineyards entitled to the AOC make fine red wine, labeled according to their specifications; one of them is a grand cru, the highest rating in Burgundy.Very few of the wines are sold just as “Echezeaux” , as many Vosne-Romanee people have difficulty pronouncing the name.

ECLADE

Also known as eglade. A traditional prepared mussels which is typical saintongue on the antlantic coast of France particularly of La

Tremblade. The mussels are scraped and cleaned and then arranged on the fumee, a thick plank of hard olive wood, which is sometimes covered with a layer of clay so that the mussels will stay in place. The plank and mussels are then covered with a layer of dry pine needles, which are set alight. When the needles, which are set alight. When the needles have been reduced to ashes, the mussels are ready. They are eaten every hot and plain , with country bread and butter.

ECCLAIR

A small log shaped bun of choux pastry, filled with cream and coated with chocolate fondant icing (frosting).The paste is piped on to a “baking sheet and cooked until crisp and hollow.

After baking, the esclair is split lengthways and filled with whipped cream or confectioner’s custard (pastry cream), plainor flavoured with coffee or chocolate . The top is iced with chocolate fondant icing or melted chocolate. Eclairs can also be filled with chestnut puree or a filling made from fruits preserved in syrup.

RECIPES

Chocolate e’clairs

Prepare some choux* paste with 125 g (4-1.2 oz. 1 cup) plain (all purpose) flour, 65 g (2-1/2 oz table spoons) butter, a large pinch of salt, 250 ml (8 fl oz. 1 cup) water and 4 eggs. Using a piping (pastry) bag with smooth nozzle, 2 cm (3/4 in) in diameter, pipe thick fingers of dough, 6 – 75 cm. (2-1/2 – 3 in.) in long, on to a baking sheet, well spaced apart so that they will be able to rise without sticking together . Beat an egg yolk with a little milk and use to glaze the éclairs. Bake the éclairs in the preheated oven at 190°C (375°F; gas 5) until pale golden in color. This will take 20 minutes at the most The inside must still be soft. Leave the éclairs to must still be soft. Leave the éclairs to cool completely then split them down one side.

Make a confectioner’s custard (see custard) with 50 g (2 oz. ½ cup) plain flour, 1 whole egg, 2 egg yolks and 50 g ( 2 oz, ¼ cup) caster (superfine) sugar.Add 1 tablespoon cocoa (unsweetened cocoa) to the cream mixture. Leave to cool completely, then put into a piping bag and use to fill the eclairs. Heat 200 g ( 7 oz. 1 cup) fondant icing (frosting) over a low heat, add 50 g ( 2 oz. 2 squares) melted dark chocolate, and mix well.Coat the top of the eclairs and leave to cool.

Coffee eclairs

Use the same process as for chocolate eclairs, but flavour the cream filling with 2 teaspoons instant coffee dissolved in 250 ml ( 8 ft. oz. 1 cup) milk brought to the boil with 40 g ( 1 ½ oz. 3 tablespoons) unsalted butter.Add coffee essence (extract) drop by drop to taste, to the icing (frosting)

ECOLE DE SALERNE A collection of the health precepts of an Italian school of medicine that was highly regarded in the Middle Ages as a dietetic and therapeutic recipe manual.Translated from Latin into French in about 1500, and edited and enlarged serveral times, these precepts were rewritten in the form of little verses, easy to remember in the form of little verses, easy to remember, for example.

Fennel seeds when soaked in wine

Revitalize a heart that love makes pine,

And reaweaken the old man’s flame,

The salutary usage of the seed, you know ,

From liver and lung doth banish pain,

And quells the wind that in the gut doth blow.

ECOSSAISE, A L A French term primarily used to describe a soup inspired by Scottish cookery (Scotch broth). This is a clear soup made with diced boiled mutton, pearl barley and a vegetable mixture. This mixture is also used to make ecossaise sauce, served with white offal (variety meat) eggs or poached fish and poultry. The name is also used for various dishes, particularly egg dishes containing salmon.

RECIPES

Ecossaise sauce

Gently braise in butter 4 tablespoons vegetable brunoise and some French (green0 beans cut up into very small dice. Prepare 200 ml ( 7 ft. oz. ¾ cup) cream sauce and put through a strainer. Add the vegetable mixture.

Soft boiled (or poached) eggs a I ecossaise

Prepare 4 tablespoons salmon puree by mixing some finely crumbled poached salmon with the same quantity of thick white sauce. Heat up this puree and use it to fill 4 warmed puff pastry croustades. Arrange a soft-boiled (soft-cooked) or poached egg in each case, and cover with shrimp sauce.Each egg may be garnished with a slice of truffle.

ECOT A French term meaning each diner’s share in a meal paid for communally.The word, which comes from the Old French skot (contribution) is hardly used at all now,. except in the expression payer son ecot ( to pay one’s share).

ECUELLE A small round rimless bowl for individual portions of food. Wooden, earthenware or tin ecuelles are among the most ancient of table utensils. In the Middle Ages, one bowl was sometimes used by two people. Nowadays, ecuelles are usually made of earthenware or pottery, and are generally only used to serve thick vegetable soups or rustic dishes.

ECUYER TRANCHANT An officer in charge of cutting the meats and serving at the king’s table under the Ancient Regime. The post was soemtimes shared, the ecuyer tranchant doing the cutting and the grand ecuyer tranchant when he officiated for the queen)The ecuyer tranchant was the nobleman, who had the right to display representations of a knife and fork with fleur de lis on the handles under his heraldic arms.The post itself gradually became honorary, but remained highly lucrative owing to the privileges attached ot it.

EDAMS

A Dutch cow’s milk cheese, containing 30 – 40 % fat, in the shape of a large ball with a red low or red waxed couting. The semi hard pressed cheese is firm but elastic, free of holes, andlight yellow to yellow ochre in colour, depending on its degree of maturity. Edam is described as young after two or three months in a dry cellar , when it has a swee t nutty flavour, after six months it is semi – matured, with a stronger flavour, at the end of a years maturing it is described as matured and has a slight bite . Edam is also known in mainland Europe as tete de mort or tete de Maure (dead man’s head or Moor’s head), Manbollen and Katzenkopf, due to its characteristic head like shape .Measuring about 13 cm (5 in) in diameter, it weights between 1.5 and 17 kg (3-1/4-3-3/4 lb). A baby Edam is also available , weighing 1 kg (2-1/4 lbs), and a triple Edam, weighing 6.5 kg (14-1/2 lb).

Edam is made all over the Netherlands, and even in France and Belgium , but authentic Edam, from the small port in the northern Netherlands, is protected by a label of origin . It is usually served after a meal, often with pale ale, but it is also used a good deal in cookery. Young or semi-matured cheese is suitable for sandwiches, patries, canapés, croque monsieurs and mix salads; matured cheese is used in gratins, soufflés and tarts. Lastly, it is used in a traditional dish called Keshy yena from Curacao, the main island in the Netherlands Antilles.

RECIPE

Keshy Yena

Using a young Edam, cut a round slice from the top and hollow out the inside of the cheese with a knife, leaving the walls 1 cm (1/2 in ) thick. Cut the hollowed out cheese into small cubes, mix with a cook ragout made of Diced or chopped pork or beef, then add some stoned (pitted) olives, tomatoes cut into small segments and sliced onions. Fill the Edam ball with this mixture replace the round slice at the tope and hold it in place with cocktail sticks (toothpicks). Bake in a preheated oven at 160 °C (325°F gas 3) for l hour.

Diced or chopped pork or beef, then add some stoned (pitted) olives, tomatoes cut into small segments and sliced onions. Fill the Edam ball with this mixture replace the round slice at the tope and hold it in place with cocktail sticks (toothpicks). Bake in a preheated oven at 160 °C (325°F gas 3) for l hour.

EDELPILZ

A German cow’s milk cheese with a 55% fat content. A blue veined pale yellow cheese with a natural crust, it has a sweet flavour with a slight tang. Made in the Bavarian Alps, Edelpilz is sold in a round , a loaf or individual portions, wrapped in silver paper. Its name means literally noble mushroom.

EDELZWICKER

A white Alsace wine made from a blend of certain permitted noble grapes. A pleasant drink, it goes well with various Alsatian recipes.

EDWARD VII

While still the Prince of Wales, the future king of England was a notable personality in fashionable Paris at the end of the 19^th century. He was an habitué of the great restaurants (Voisin, Café Hardy, Paillard) and sumptuous dishes were dedicated to him . For example, turbot prince de Gulles was a dish of poached turbot garnished with oysters and fixed mussels and coated with a champagne sauce seasoned with curry spices and enriched with grayfish butter.

When he became king, he continued to receive the honours of haute cuisine. Barbue Edouard VII is brill poached in white wine, garnished with duchess potato rosettes and served with an oyster mousseline sauce. Poularde Edouard VII is chicken stuffed with foie gras, rice and truffles, coated with a curry sauce containing diced red (bell) pepper and served with cucumbers in cream. In oeufs Edouard VII, softboiled (soft cooked) or poached eggs are arranged, with slices of pickled tongue, on a truffle risotto and garnished with slices of troffle.Edouard VII itself is a small boat-shaped cake filled with rhubarb and topped with green icing (frosting)arranged, with slices of pickled tongue, on a truffle risotto and garnished with slices of troffle.Edouard VII itself is a small boat-shaped cake filled with rhubarb and topped with green icing (frosting).

EEL

A snakelike fish with a smooth slippery skin. Eels mature in fresh water where they are fished and migrate to the Sargasso Sea to breed. The larvae are carried by the ocean currents over a period of two or three years to the coasts of Europe. When they enter the estuaries, they are transparent and have grown to a length of 6 – 9 cm (2-1/2- 3-1/2 in). These are the glass eels or elvers, which make a popular fried dish in Nantes, La Rochelle, Bordeaux and the Basque country .Those larvae that survive grow larger and the skin becomes pigmented. The yellow eel has a brown back, becoming greenish, with a yellowish underbelly that later becomes silvery white. It is at this time, when it starts to travel back to the Sargasso Sea, that the eel, now described as ‘silvered ‘ or descending’ is most prized. The male measures about 50 cm (20 in) and the female 1 m (40 in) . Eels are sold alived. They are killed skinned at the last moment as the flesh deteriorates rapidly; and the raw blood is poisonous if it enters a cut – for example, on one’s finger . Eels are very fatty fish, but tasty.

Eels were popular with the Romans and widely eaten during the Middle Ages. Taillevents Viandier gives a whole range of recipes for preparing eel dishes in broth, in galantine, in tarts or pates, as Lent flan, with garlic or mustard, roasted, salted, dusted with spices, or as a roulade. Today , eels appear in numerous French regional recipes (catigot, matelote, bouilleture, ani vert, a la flamande), However, classic haute cuisine dishes (ballottine, pate), or even more simple ones (ala tartare, a la poulete), are less often prepared than they used to be.

Jellied eels are famous in Britain, served cold in the jellied stock dish in Scandinavia and in northern Germany. The skin should be shinyt and almost black, and it is served as an hors d’oevre, with rye bread and lemon.

Eels are particularly popular in Japan, especially opened and skewered, then grilled as

As part of one-pot meal prepared at the table. Eel is farmed in Japan (as well as other countries including Italy, to a lesser extent)

RECIPE

Preparation

To kill an eel, seize it with a cloth bang its head violently against a hard surface. To skin it, put a noose around the base of the head and hang it up. Slit the skin in a circle just beneath the noose. Pull away a small portion of the skin, turn it back, take hold of it with a cloth, and pull it down hard. Clean the eel by making a small incision in its belly. Cut off and discard the head and the end of the tail. Wash and wipeand dry. Alternatively, when the eel has been killed, it can be cut into sections and grilled (broiled) for a short time.The skin will puff up and can then be removed.The method has the advantage of removing excess fat from the eel, particularly if it is large.

Devilled eel

Cook an eel weighing about 800 g (1-3/4 lb.) in a court boullion of white wine and let it cool in the liquor. Drain and wipe the eel, then smear it with mustard, brush with melted butter and grill (broil) slowly. Arrange the eel on a round dish and garnish with gherkins (sweet dill pickles) if desired. Serve with a devilled sauce.

Cel a la bonne femme

Soften 4 large tablespoon chopped onion in butter and place in a sauté pan. Put slices of a medium size eel weighing about 800 g (1-3/4 lb) on top of the onion layer. Add salt and pepper, a bouquet garni and 300 ml (1/2 pint. , 1-1/4 cups) white wine. Cover and poach slowly for 25 minutes. Drain the slices of eel and arrange them on croutons of sandwich bread fried in butter. Garnish with large diced potatoes sautéed in butter. Coat the eel with the liquor from the pan, after reducing it by half and thickening it with 1

Table spoon beurre manie.

eel a la provencale

Cook 2 tablespoons chopped onion gently in a large pan with a little oil. Cut a medium- sized eel into even-sized slices, add to the pan, and cook until they have softened. Season with salt and pepper, and add 4 peeled, seeded chopped tomatoes, a bouquet garni and a crushed garlic clove.

Moisten with 100 ml (4 fl oz 7 tablespoon s) dry white wine, cover the pan, and cook slowly for 25-30 minutes. About 10 minutes before serving, add 12 black olives. Arrange on a dish and sprinkle with parsley.

Eel au vert

Skin and prepare 1.5 kg (3 ¼ lb) small eels and cut each one into 4 sections in a sauté pain in 150 g (5 oz, 2/3 cup) butter until they have stiffened. Add 100 g (4 oz, 11/2 cups) each of chopped spinach and sorrel leaves, reduces the heat, and continue cooking until the vegetables are soft. Add 325 ml (11 fl oz,1 1/3 cups) dry white wine, a bouquet garni, 2 tablespoon chopped parsley and 1 tablespoon each of chopped sage and tarragon. Season well and simmer for 10 minutes. Brown 6 slices of stale sandwich bread in butter. When eels are cooked, add 2 or 3 egg yolks mixed with 2 table spoons lemon slices of fried bread and coat with the sauce. Eels au vert may also be served cold without the bread.

Eels brochettes a Panglaise

Cut a boned eel into even size pieces and marinate them for an hour in a mixture of oil, lemon juice, pepper, salt and chopped parsley. Drain the eel pieces , roll in flour and coat with fresh breadcrumbs. Thread the eels on to skewers, separating the pieces with s lices of fat bacon. Grill (broil) under a low heat until the flesh separates easily from the bone. Arrange on a long dish, garnished with parsley and surrounded with half slices of lemon,

Eel pie

Bone an eel , cut the fillets into 5 – 6 cm (2-2-1/2 in.) slices and blanch them in salted water. Drain and cool the eel slices. Hard boil (hard cook) and slice some eggs. Season the fish and eggs with salt, pepper and grated nutmeg, and sprinkle them with chopped parsley. Layer the eel and egg slices in a deep, preferably oval, dish. Add sufficient white wine to just cover the fish and dot with small knobs of butter. Cover with a layer of puff pastry, making a hole for the steam to escape. Brush with, beaten egg and score the top. Bake in a preheated oven at 200^oC (400^oF, gas 6) for 30 minutes, then reduced the temperature to 180^oC (350^oC, gas 4) and cook for a further l hour just before serving , pour a few tablespoons of demi-glace sauce (made with fish stock) into the hole at the top of the pie. The pie may also be easten cold.

Eel pie aux fines herbes (a la menagere)

Bone an eel and cut the fillets into slices. Flatten each slice and season with salt, pepper, and spices to taste. Arrange in a deep dish and moisten with a few tablespoons of dry white wine, a little Cognac and a few drops of oil. Leave to marinate for 2 hours in a cool place. Drain and wipe the slices and reserve the marinade over the fish . Leave until completely cold.

Line a shallow oval pie dish with shorcrusts pastry (basic pie dough) and spread the base and sides with a layer of pike forcement containing chopped parsley. Fill the pie with alternating layers of the flattened eel slics and the pike forcement. Moisten each layer with a little of the marinade. Finish with a 2 cm. (1/4 in) layer of forcemeat and sprinkle with melted butter. Cover with a layer of pastry (dough) and trim the top with leaves cut from the pastry trimmings. Make a hole in the top for the steam to escape and bursh the pastry.

With beaten egg. Bake in a preheated oven at 180^oC (350^oF), gas 4) for 1 –3/4 – 2 hours.

Remove the pie from the dish and place it on a long serving dish. Pour a few tablespoons of dem glace sauce, made with fish stock, through the hole in the top of the pie. Anchory fillets may also be included with the eel slices , or some anchory butter or dry duxelles may be added to the pike forcemeat. If the pie is served cold, pour enough fish jelly into the hole in the top of the pie to fill the gaps left by the cooking

With beaten egg. Bake in a preheated oven at 180^oC (350^oF), gas 4) for 1 –3/4 – 2 hours.

Roulade of eel a l’angevine

Prepare a 1.5 kg (3-1/4 lb) eel as for balottine, and stuff with a pike forcement to which a salpicon of mushrooms and truffles has been added. Reshape the eel and wrap it in thin slices of bacon. Tie it up in the form of a ring. Slice a large onion and a carrot and soften in butter in a sauce pan. Spread the vegetables evenly in the pan and place the eel on top , with a large bouquet garni, a leek and a spring of savory in the center. Add just enough medium dry white wine, such as Anjou, to cover the eel. Bring to the boil, skim, then cover and simmer slowly for 35 minutes. Prepare 24 small mushrooms caps, keeping the stalks, and toss in butter. Drain the eel (reserving the Liquor) remove the bacon slices, and put into another sauce pan with the mushroom. Keep hot.

To prepare the sauce, strain the cooking liquor and make a white roux with 50 g (2 oz. ¼ cup) flour. Moisten with the strained juices and add the mushroom stalks . Reduce the sauce over a high heat and add 350 ml (l2 fl. Oz. 1-1l/2 cups) single (light) cream. When the sauce has reached the correct consistency , take it off the boil andf add 100 g (4 oz.1/3 cup) crayfish butter. Coat the rolled up eel with the sauce.

EFFILER

A French culinary term meaning to prepare green beans for cooking by breaking off the ends with the fingers , as close as possible to the tip and removing the strings , if any. When applied in almonds and pistacho nuts effiler means to cut into the thin slices lengthways, either with a knife or with a special instrument. The word is also used for slicing chicken or duck breast.

Some chefs use the term effilocher, particularly for cutting leeks into fine shreds.

EGG

The round or oval reproductive body laid by the female of many animals, containing the developing embryo and its food reserves and protected by a shell or skin. Although the eggs of many birds, fish and even reptiles can be used as food, the word ‘egg’ unqualified applies exclusively to hen’s eggs. All other types of egg offered for sale must be labeled appropriate quails eggs, duck eggs, plover’s eggs.There are also exotic rarities such as crocodile or ostrich eggs.

The average weight of a hen’s eggs is 50 g (2 oz.). The shell makes up about 12% of the total weight of the egg and is made of a calcareous porous, substance which is pervious to air, water and smells. It is lined with a delicate pellucid membrane which separates itself from the shell at the larger end of the egg to form the air chamber .

The yolk of the egg (30% of the total weight) is an opaque soft substance which congeals in heat. The yolk is composed of albumins, fats containing vitamins, lecithins, nucleus, cholrstins and mineral substances including a ferruginous pigment called haematogen, which gives it colour. It contains the germ ( visible in fertilized egg- this does not mean the egg is inedible), the remaining proteins, and all the fats (especially lecithin), together with iron, sulphur and vitamins A,B,D and E.

Varieties and qualities Contrary to popular opinion, brown egg is neither better nor more “natural” than a white one; it is, in fact, usually smaller and less well-filled. However, it is easier to examine for freshness against a bright light because the shell is thinner and less opaque. The colour of the yolk (deep or pale yellow) has no bearing on the quality of the egg, and any blood spots that may be found in the white Fresh eggs should be use in 1 month and stored unwashed, with the pointed end down, in their box in the refrigerator. Washing an eggs makes the shell permeable to smells. A raw egg yolk will keep for 24 hours and a raw egg white from 6 to 12 hours. A desert containing raw eggs, such as a mousse, should be eaten within 24 hours. Fresh eggs can be poured into suitable containers.

Freshness of eggs A fresh eggs is heavy and should feel well-filled. An egg loses a tiny fraction of its weight every day by evaporation of water through the porous shell. It is easy to test the freshness of an egg by plunging it into salted water containing 125g (4 ½ oz, 1/3 cup) salt per 1 litre (1 ¾ pints, 4 1/3 cups) water. An egg up to 3 days old will sink at once to the bottom; an egg 3-6 days old will float halfway up the water; if it is bad, it floats horizontally on top of the water. Another method is to break an egg on the plate. If the yolk is compact and positioned in the center, the eggs is fresh. If the egg is 1 week old, the yolk is not the center, and in an egg that is 2-3 weeks old. The yolk has a tendency to spread. The freshness of an egg can also be tested by holding it up to the light- a very small air chamber indicates a very fresh egg.

Uses Eggs are among the most versatile ingredients used in cooking. They are of prime importance in mnay branches of food industry, especially those concerned with making pasta, ices, biscuits (cookies) and cakes. In the kitchen have innumerable uses, such as liaisons, egg and bread crumb coatin, glazing pastry, preparing emulsified sauces and forcemeats. They are an ingredients in many basic dough and batters.

Eggs can be cook in a great variety of ways and serve with all sort of garnishes. According to James de Coquet, “There is not a celebrity, a marshal, a composer, or an opera singer who has not given his name to a method include poaching, boiling, frying and baking; eggs can be scrambled or made into omelettes. They can be served plain or with an incredible array of garnishing ingredients, sauces or other accompaniments.

The nutritive value and versatility of eggs ensured that they became part of the human diet all over the world from the earliest times; they were frequently associated with rites and traditions.

Enormous numbers of eggs were eaten in the Middle Ages and, as in acient Rome, the diner crushed the shell in his plate to prevent evil spirits from hiding there. Eggs were forbidden during Lent because of their “richeness” and it was traditional in France to search for and collct eggs on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday and hva prolific consumption over Eastertide. The French

word for the yolk at that time was moyeu, meaning center or hub, and some people believe that the word “mayonnaise” is derived from it. The French word for the white aubun (now blanc).

Recipes

Eggs en Cocotte

Break the eggs into small buttered cocottes or ramekins and cook in a bain in a preheated oven at 200^oC (400^oF, gas 6) for 6-8 minutes.

Eggs en cocotte with cream

Put a layer of chkcen quenelle forcement into each into each ramekin. Break 1 egg on top and place a knob of butter on the yolk. Cook in a bain merie in a preheated oven. When cooked, add salt and pepper. The eggs may also be sprinkled with a little gratd. Parmesan cheese and moistened with melted butter before cooking.

Eggs en cocotic with tarragon

Cook the eggs in bain marie in a preheated oven and pour some reduced tarragon-flavoured veal gravy around each yolk. Garnish with blanched drained tarragon leaves arranged in the form of a star, if wished, chopped tarragon can be sprinkled in the bottom of the buttered ramekins and the veal gravy can be replaced with reduced tarragon flavoured cream.

Eggs in a Mould

This dish from the grande cuisine is rarely made nowadays but is very simple to prepare .Break the eggs into buttered dariole moulds and sprinkle with some types of chopped flavouring (parsley, ham, truffle). Cook in a bain marie in a preheated oven at 200^oC (400^oF, gas 6) and turn out on to a crousade , fried bread or an artichoke heart. Coat with sauce and serve.

Eggs in a mould Bizer

Butter the dariole moulds and line them with a mixture of minced (ground) pickled tongue and dicked truffle. Break the eggs into the mouths and cook them in a bain marie in a preheated oven. Unmould them on to braised artichoke hearts.Cover with Perigueux sauce and garnish with a slice of truffle.

Fresh eggs should be use in 1 month and stored unwashed, with the pointed end down, in their box in the refrigerator. Washing an eggs makes the shell permeable to smells. A raw egg yolk will keep for 24 hours and a raw egg white from 6 to 12 hours. A desert containing raw eggs, such as a mousse, should be eaten within 24 hours. Fresh eggs can be poured into suitable containers.

The nutritive value and versatility of eggs ensured that they became part of the human diet all over the world from the earliest times; they were frequently associated with rites and traditions.

word for the yolk at that time was moyeu, meaning center or hub, and some people believe that the word “mayonnaise” is derived from it. The French word for the white aubun (now blanc).

Recipes

Eggs en Cocotte

Break the eggs into small buttered cocottes or ramekins and cook in a bain in a preheated oven at 200^oC (400^oF, gas 6) for 6-8 minutes.

Eggs en cocotte with cream

Eggs en cocotic with tarragon

Eggs in a Mould

Eggs in a mould Bizer

Eggs sur le Plat or Shirred Eggs

Eggs sur le plat are cooked in individual dishes in a preheated oven at 160^oC(325^oF, gas 3) . The size of the cooking dish is important as the yolks do not cook as well when the whites have too much room to spread out. Some cooks recommend separating the whites from the yolks, cooking the white first until they begin to set, and then placing a yolk in the center of each white. It is advisable to put salt on the white only as it will show up as white speeks of the yolk.

Eggs au miroir

Eggs aur miroir are also baked in the oven but at a far higher temperature , so that the yolks when cooked are shiny. Melt a knob of butter in a small flameproof eggs dish. When it begins to sizzle , break 2 eggs on to a plate and slide them into the dish. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and top with soft butter. Cook in a preheated oven at 240^oC (475^oF, gas 9)until the white has set. Serve very hot while the yolks are still shiny. Alternatively, the eggs can be cooked on the hob (stove top), basting them constantly with the hot butter in the cooking dish.

Eggs sur le plat a al chaville

Cook a salpicon of mushrooms in butter and put a tablespoon into individual egg dishes. Break the eggs on top and cook them in a preheated oven. Garnish with 1 tablespoon tomato sauce flavoured with chopped tarragon.

Eggs sur le plat a Pagenaise

Line some individual eggs dishes with 1 tablesppon chopped onion that has been sauced in goose fat.Break an egg into each dish and cook in a preheated oven. When they atre cooked, add a little , chopped garlic and parsley. Garnish with coarsely chopped sautéed subergines (eggplants) . Alternatively, the eggs can be cooked in a single large dish.

Eggs sur le plat a Pantboisc

Roll 4 spoonsfuls of whitebait in flour and sauce them in olive oil. When they are brown, add l tablespoon on the bottom of individual egg dishes. Break the eggs into the dishes and cook in a preheated oven.

To serve, garnish with a ragout of sweet (bell) peppers, a foreintale and a saffron-flavoured rice au gras. Four tomatao sauce round the eggs.

Eggs sur le plat archduke

Soften some chopped onion in butter, season with paprika and use it to line individual dishes. Break the eggs on top and cook in a preheated oven. Garnish with cooked diced truffles. Surround with supreme sauce seaoned with a little paprika.

Eggs sur le plat Jockey club

Cook the eggs in a large buttered dish. Trim them with a pastry (cookie) cutter, leaving only a narrow border of white around each yolk. Toast some slices of bread and spread them with pureed foie gras. Place an egg on each slice and arrange them in a circle on round dish . Fill the center of the dish with sliced calves’ kidneys sautéed in Madeira. Tope each egg with a slice truffle.

Eggs sur le plat Louis Oliver

Cook a slice( about 40 g 1-1/2 oz) of fresh foie gras in a little butter in a large egg dish until heated through. Season with salt and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Add a little more butter and, when very hot bvreak 2 eggs into the dish, one on either side of the foie gras. Coat the latter with a little very hot chicken veloute sauce and cook for 2 minutes over a high heat . Surround the eggs with Perigueux sauce and serve immediately.

Eggs suc le plat Montrouge

Butter individual egg, dishes and pipe a border of mushroom duxcelles in each . Break the eggs into the dishes, surround the yolks with a ribbon of double (heavy ) cream and bake in a preheated oven.

Eggs sur le plat with bacon

Heat a little butter in a frying pan and lightly fry some thin rashers (slices) of bacon. Break the eggs on to the bacon and cook, basting them with the fat that runs from the bacon. Alternatively, line small individual dishes with thin strips of lightly browned bacon. Break an egg into dish, pour bacon fat over them and bake in a preheated oven.

Fried Eggs

Break each egg into a cup, season with salt and pour into a frying pan containing hot oil, butter, goose fat or lard. Immdiately draw the white neatly around the yolk and baste with hot fat until the white is set. Drain well. To deep dry,

Add the egg to hot fat and fold the white over the yolk. Turn after cooking for a few seconds. As soon as it is lightly browned , remove and drain. The white should be crisp and the yolk soft.

Fried eggs a la bayonnaise

Deep fry some small round slices of bread, then place a slice of friend Bayonne ham cut to the same shape on each one. Fry the eggs in oil and place one on each slice of bread. Garnish with sautéed mushrooms (preferably caps.)

Fried eggs a la Catalane

Fry halved, seeded tomatoes and aubergine (eggplant), cut into rounds, separately in olive oil. Add salt and pepper, a little crushed garlic and chopped parsley. Spread the vegetables over a dish . Fry the eggs and slide them on the vegetables.

Hard boiled Eggs

Cook the eggs in their shells in boiling water for 10-12 minutes, then plunge them into cold water for 7-9 minutes to cool them before shelling. The white and the yolk should be completely set. The eggs must not be allowed to boil for longer because the white becomes rubbery and the yolk crumbles.

Hard boiled egg cutlets

Dice the whites and yolk of a hard boiled (hard cooked) eggs and blend them with 4 tablespoons thick bechamel” sauce to which 2 raw egg yolks have been added .Chili thoroughly.

Divide the mixture into 50 g (2 oz) portions and shape them into cutlets. Dip in eggs and breadcrumbs and deep fry at 175^oC (347^oF) or shallow fry in butter.Arange them on a dish, and put a paper frill on the narrow end of each cutlet. Sprinkle with fired curly parsley. Serve with tomato sauce and a garnish of green vegetables blended with butter or cream, or with a vegetable macedoine, tomato fondue or risotto.

The recipe may be varied by adding a little diced mushroom, truffle , lean ham or tongue to the egg mixture.

Hard boiled eggs a la macedoine

Cook and shell the eggs . Cut off the larger ends and fine dice them. Remove the yolks

Carefully without damaging the whites. Make some mayonnaise and blend half of it with a well drained chilled macedoine of vegetables, using 1 tablespoons mayonnaise and blend half of it with a well drained chilled macedoine of vegetables, using 1 tablespoon to 5 tablespoons macedoine. Colour the remaining mayonnaise with a little tomato puree (paste) and blend with the mashed yolks and the finely diced egg white. Fill the eggs whites with this mixture, shaping the top into a dome. Line a dish with the macedoine, smooth the surface and press the eggs into it so that they stand upright . Garnish with the remaining tomato mayonnaise.

Hard-boiled eggs Elisabeth

Cut the ends off some hard boiled (hard cooked ) eggs so that they look like little barrels. Extract the yolks takng care not to break the whites. Press the yolks taking care not to break the whites. Press the yolks through a fine sleve and mix with an equal quantity of fairly thick artichoke puree with a little chopped truffle added. Season with salt and pepper. Fill the eggs with this stuffing, rounding the top into a dome shape. Arrange the eggs in a gratin dish, placing each one on an artichoke heart which has been cooked gently in butter. Cover with Mornay sauce, sprinkle with grated cheese and moisten with melted butter. Brown the eggs in a preheated oven at 220^oC (425^oF, gas 7).

Hard boiled eggs in breadcrumbs

Take a good handful of young sorrel, remove the stalks , wash and dry the leaves, and shred them finely. Cook slowly in a saucepan with 40 g (1-1/2 oz. 3 tablespoons) butter until all the moisture has evaporated. Add 1 tablespoon flour, cook for 5 minutes over a gentle heat, and allow it to cool. Gradually add 400 ml (14 fl oz. 1-3/4 cups) boiling milk, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Add salt and pepper and simmer for 15 minutes . Press the mixture Through a fine sleve. Return to the pan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and add 2 tablespoons cream. Adjust the seasoning. Hard boil (hard cook) 4 eggs , arrange them in a hot dish and pour the issue over them.

Poached Eggs

Break the eggs into a cup and then slip it quickly7 into gently boiling water with 1 tablespoon vinegar added per l litre 1-3/4 pints , 4-1/3 cups). Cook for 3 –5 minutes with the water barely simmering, depending on how firmly , set the yolk needs to be . If the egg is very fresh, it will not spread out in the water and the white will coagulate instantly. When cooked, remove with a spoon, refresh in cold water , drain on a cloth and trim.The eggs should be poahed one by one so that they do not merge together in the water they can be kept , warm in water at 70^oC (158^oF).

Poached eggs almaviva

Cook 4 artichoke hearts in salted water, drain them and braise them in butter. Spread a knob of foie gras over each and top with a poached eggs. Coat them with Mornay sauce and glaze in a preheated oven each and top with poached egg. Coat them with Mornay sauce and glaze in a pre-heated oven at 230^oC (450^oF, gas 8) . When the eggs are browned , sprinkle with finely chopped fresh truffles and serve immediately.

Scramble eggs with cep mushrooms

Slice some cep mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and saute them in butter or oil with a little garlic. Make the scrambled eggs and add the ceps. Place in a serving dish with a generous tablespoon of fried ceps in the center. Sprinkle with fried croutons.

Other varieties of mushrooms may be used , chanterelles, blewits, horn of plenty , or cultivated button mushrooms.

Scramble eggs with chicken livers

Make the scrambled eggs and pile them into a heated dish. Garnish with sliced chicken livers, sautéed in butter and blended with demi-glace sauce. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Scrambled eggs with shrimps

Add some peeled (shelled) shrimps or prawns heated in butter to the scrambled eggs. Arrange them in a heated dish and garnish with peeled shrimps that have either been tossed in butter or blended with shrimp sauce. Surround with croutons fried in butter and a ribbon of shrimp sauce.

This recipe can be varied by using crayfish tails and Nantua sauce.

Scrambled eggs with smoked salmon

Cut some smoke salmon into thin strips, allowing 25 g ( 1 oz) per 2 eggs. Pile the scrambled eggs into a hot dish or into a warm puff pastry case. Garnish with the smoked salmon and some croutons fried in butter.

Soft boild Eggs

There are three methods of preparing these 1) plunge the eggs into boiling water and cook for 3 minutes 2) plunge them into boilinhg water; boil for l minute, remove the pan from the heat, and leave them to stand for 3 minutes before taking them out of the hot water; 3) put the eggs into a saucepan with cold water, heat and remove the eggs as soon as the water boils. Whichever method is chosen, ensure that the eggs are at room temperature before cooking them. The precise cooking time depends on personal preference those suggested in these methods give whites that are softly set and runny yolks. Increase the time slightly for firmly set whites and slightly set yolks.

When several eggs are to be boiled at once , they can be cooked together in a special egg holder.

All the following recipes given for soft boiled (soft cooked) eggs can also be used for poached eggs.

Soft boiled eggs Aladdin

Prepare some saffron flavoured rice au gras. Peel and dice some sweet peppers and fry them in oil together with some chopped onion. Spread the rice over the bottom of a hot dish and arrange the peppers in the center . Place the cooked eggs in a circle round the peppers. Cover with tomato sauce seasoned with a pinch.

Soft boiled eggs Amelie

Prepare some cream sauce and some roals cooked in cream. Make some croustades with puff pastry. Prepare a fine mirepoix of vegetables cooked slowly in butter and deglaze the pan with a little Madeira. Reheat the croustades, fill them with the mirepoix, and place a soft boiled (soft cooked) egg in each. Coat the eggs with the cream sauce and garnish with the morels

Soft –boiled eggs beranger

Make a shortcrust pastry (basic pie dough) flan case and bake it blind in a preheated oven at 200^oC (400^oF, gas 6). Line it with a fairly thick onion puree. Arrange the cooked eggs on top and coat them with Mornay Sauce, sprinkle with grated cheese and melted butter and brown quickly in a pre-heated oven.

Soft boiled eggs Berlioz

Make some oval croustades with duchess potato mixture and brown them lightly in a preheated oven. Fill them with a salpicon of truffles and mushrooms blened with a very reduced Madeira sauce and place a cooked egg on each . Coat very light with supreme sauce.

Garnish the center of each croustade with a cockscomb fried to Villeroi , if desired.

Soft boiled eggs bonvalet

Hollow out some rounds of bread and fry them in butter until golden. Place the cooked eggs in the hollows and coat them with veloute sauce.Surround with a ring of very thick , tomato flavoured béarnaise sauce and garnish each egg with a slice of truffle that has been heated through in butter.

Soft boiled eggs chenier

Make some saffron flavoured pilaf rice and shape it into small round cakes in

Individual ramekins. Place a cooked egg on

Of each one and surround with slices of fried aubergine (eggplant). Coat with tomato sauce.

Egg Cup

A small wooden, metal or china cup designed as a holder for boiled eggs and placed on a saucer or plate. Sets of two, four or six eggs cups are often presented together on a tray.

Called oviers in France in the Middle Ages, coquetiers (or coquetieres) in the 16^th century were little tables with a cover and several cavities whre the eggs were placed . The eggs stands often incorporated a salt cellar. Today a coc uetiere is an eggholder used for boiling several eggs at the same time.

EGG CUSTARD

The name often given to a baked sweet custard, a dessert made by pouring sweetened hot milk on to a beaten eggs lightly sweetened with caster (superfine) sugar. The milk is usually flavoured with vanilla. The custard is cooked in one large dish or individual moulds in bain marie in the oven. The same , or a similar , mixture may be cooked in a part baked pastry case (pie shell to make custard tart.

RECIPE

Egg custard

Boil l litre (1-3/4 pints, 4-1/3 cups) milk 125 g (4-1/3 oz. , ½ cup) caster (superfine ) sugar and a vanilla pod (bean). Beat 4 eggs lightly in a deep bowl. Gradually pour the boiling milk over the eggs, stirring constantly. Strain into an ovenproof dish or into ramekins and cook in a bain marie in a preheated oven at 160^oC (325^oF gas 3) for about 40 minutes . Serve cold.

EGGNOG

A nourishing drink served either hot or cold .To make it, beat an egg yolk with a tablespoon of sugar .Add a glass of hot milk and lace with nim or brandy.

Proper Montagne gave a recipe for beer eggnog (lait de poule a la biere), a German specialty that they call Biersuppe. It is actually more like a substantial soup.

RECIPE

Eggnog with beer

Boil 2 litres (31/2 pints, 9 cups ) pale ale with 500 g (18 oz. 2-1/4 cups) sugar, a pinch of salt, a little grated lemon zest and a pinch of ground cinnamon. Add 8 egg yolks beaten with 1 tablespoon cold milk, strain and chill.Soak 125 g (4-1/4 oz. 2/3 cup) each of raisins and currants in 500 ml (17 fl. Oz. 2 cups ) warm water until plump. Drain well and add to the eggnog.Add a bowl of wholemeal, (wholewheat ) croutons, just before serving .

EGG SAUCE

A hot English sauce made of diced hard boiled (hard cooked) eggs and butter, most often served with poached fish.

Scrotch egg sauce is a béchamel sauce containing sieved hard boiled egg yolks and white cut into small strips. It is served with similar dishes.

RECIPE

Egg sauce

Boil 2 eggs for 10 minutes , then remove their shells and dice them. While still hot , add diced egg to 125 g (4-1/2oz ½ cup) melted butter, season with salt and pepper , and flavour with lemon juice . Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

EGG THREADS

Eggs poached in such a way that they form long threads, used to garnish consommé or soup . the raw eggs are lightly beaten and poured through a fine strainer into the boiling consommé.

The fine threads of eggs dropping through the strainer set instantly in the boiling liquid. They can be cooked in boiling water . They can be cooked in boiling water, drained, and added to thicker soups, such as vegetable soup, cream of watercress soup of cream of sorrel soup.

EGG TIMER

A Small gadget consisting of two transparent bulbs linked by a very narrow opening . The upper bulb contains sand or some other powdery material , which runs into the lower bulv in a given length of time. Many egg timers are designed so that the time taken for the sand to run through is 3 minutes , the average cooking time for a soft boiled (soft cooked) egg. Some are graded . From 3 to 5 minutes to suit varying tastes.

EGYPTIENNE , A L’

Describing various dishes using rice, aubergines (eggplants) or tomatoes, together or separately, Aubergines a Pegyptinne are stuffed with mixture of chopped aubergine pulp and onions and served with fried tomatoes. A garnish a Pegyptienne is made of fried aurbergine rounds, rice pilaf and tomato fondue. The term also describes a mixed salad of rice with chicken livers, hams, mushrooms, aritchoke hearts, peas, pulped tomatoes and red (bell) peppers.Fried eggs a Pegyptenne are served with tomato havles filled with saffron rice, and potage a l;egyptienne is a cream of rice soup made with leeks and onions softened in butter , sieved and then finished with milk.

RECIPE

Chicken medallions a Pegyptienne

Remove the breast from a raw chicken and trim and flatten them into round or oval medallions. Cut some large aurbergines (eggplants) into ronds about 1 cm. (1/2 in) thick and sprinkle with lemon juice. Prepare some rice pilaf . Fry the chicken medallions and aubergine rounds separately in olive oil then arrange them alternatively round a serving dish. Fill the center of dish with rice pilaf . Deglaze the pan in which the chicken was cooked with white wine , add this juice to a thick and well seasoned tomato fondue, and serve separately in a sauceboat (gravy boat).

ELDER

A common European tree or shrub with aromatic flowers that are prepared as fritters. And usxed to flavour syrup or cordials, jams, vinegars and wine. Elderflower champagne , is a traditionally . British non-alcoholic , but sparkling , summertime drink . The young shoots ensure the best flavour and long life. These processes enable the biological and physio-chemical development of the wine to be controlled and are carried out in tnaks, vats or more especially in small oak casks, which allow very slow aeration; they take a varying length of time from a few months in the case of Beaujolais and Muscadet to 1-2 years for Burgundy and Bordeaux, and at least 6 years for vins faunes.

EMBALLER

A French culinary term meaning to wrap up an article that is to be pouched or stewed in stock ( a large fish, stuffed cabbage, a balloine, any dish cooked in a caul). The food is wrapped in a pig’s caul or a piece of muslin (cheesecloth) or linen, to hold it together while cooking in French charcutene, emballer means to fill the moulds with a mixture to be cooked such as pate and galantines.

EMBOSSER

To put a piece of meat or stuffing in a net, skin or mould so as to give it its final form before cooking. The technique allows draining steaming, drying or smoking to be carried out without too much distortion or loss of weight.

EMINCES

A dish consisting of thin slices of left over meat, (roast, braised or boiled) placed in an ovenproof dish, covered with a sauce , and a gently heated in the oven. ( An emince is a thin slice of meat). Eminces are most often made with beef, lamb or mutton, sometimes with game (venison) and less frequently with pork, poultry or veal as white meats are always other when reheated.

Beef eminces are prepared with Madeira sauce and mushrooms, bordelaise sauce and slices of bone marrow, or with chasseur, lyonnaise, piquante, Robert , tomato (well reduced and highly seasoned). Or Italian sauce, they are accompanied by sautéed potatoes , green vegetables tossed in butter or cream, braised vegetables , purees, pasta or risotto. Venison eminces are covered with poivrade, grand venuer or chasseur sauce and serve with chesnut puree and redcurrant jelly. The sauce for mutton eminces are mushroom, tomato , paprika or Indian the accompanying vegetables are rice and courgette. Pork eminces are made with piquante. Robert or charcutierre sauce and served with a potato or split pea puree. Veal or poultry eminces are covered with tomato , royal or supreme sauce, the accompanying vegetables are the same as for beef eminces.

By extension, the word emince is also used for various other dishes made of items sliced thinly before cooking. In veal emince, for example , thin slices of veal cut from the noix (the fleshy upper part of the leg) are quickly fried and then covered with stock, gravy or sometimes cream; the dish is served with fried mushrooms.

RECIPE

Beef eeminces with bordelaise sauce

Make some bordelaise sauce. Poach some slices of beef bone marrow in stock. Arrange thin slices of boiled beef on a lightly buttered overproof dish and garnish with the hot slices of bone marrow. Generally coat with bordelaise sauce and heat through gently in the oven.

Beef eminces with mushrooms

Arrange some thin slices of boiled beef in a long overproof dish. Prepare some Madeira sauce. Trim and slice some mushrooms on the meat and cover generously with hot Madeira sauce, heat through gently in the oven.

Veal or chicken eminces a blanc

Lightly butter an overproof dish. Cut some poached or boiled veal or chicken into thin slices . These slices can then be treated as for beef eminces with mushrooms , or they can be coated with tomato , Breton, royal or supreme sauce.

EMMENTAL

A Swiss unpasteurized cow’s milk cheese containing 45% fat, named after the Emme valley in the canton of Bern, where it was first made. It is a hard, ivory coloured cheese with a good many holes and a golden yellow to brown rind. Emmental is matured for 6 – 12 months in a color edges, 80 –85 cm (31-34 in) in diameter, 22 cm (8 1/ 4 inch) thick, and weighing 80 – 100 kg. (176-220 lbs) . The edge of the cheese bears the word Switzerland stamped in red .

The cheese was introduced into Haute –Savoie in the middle of the 19^th by German Swiss immigrants , and a Savoy Emmental, made in the cheese dairies of Savoy , is a similar in appearance and flavour to the Swiss , is very similar in appearance and flavour to the Swiss cheese. It is marketed in wheel shapes. 70 –100 cm (27-1/2 –39 in) in diameter, 13-25 cm (5-10 in) thick and weighing 60-130 kg (132-286 lbs) Swiss and Savoy Emmentals are used for the table.

Another type of French Emmental (also spelth Emmental) produced in the flatter regions of France, such as Franche-Comte and Burgundy, it is matured for 2 months in a warm cellar and resembles Gruyere, with large holes. It is used for cooking (especially grated). A similar cheese is made in the United States , known as American lace.

RECIPE

Croque-Emmental

Place a slice of ham on a slice of Emmental or Gruyere (cut to half the size of the ham slice), fold over and secure with a cocktail stick (toothpick).Coat with flour, then dip in batter and fry in hot oil . Put a fried egg on each croque-Emmental and serve very hot.

EMPANADA

A pie or pasty filled with meat or fish, popular all over Spain and in parts of South America. The Classic empanada comes from Galicia and is made with chicken, onions and peppers . It can also be made with seafood, sardines, eel or lamprey. Formerly made with bread dough, empanada is now usually made with flaky pastry and often eaten cold. It is also prepared in the form of small individual pies.

In Chile and Argentina, empanada are small pastries with scalloped edges.They are filled with a mixture of minced (ground) meat, raisins, olives and onions, spiced with pepper, paprika and cumin. They are served as a hot hors d’ ocuvre or snack with wine.

RECIPE

Empanada

Cut 500 g (18oz) lean beef into small cubes and cook gently a little oil with 100 g ( 4 oz, 2/3 cup ) chopped onions, ½ needed and diced sweet (bell) green pepper and leaf pimiento (ignara), 1 teaspoon ground cumin and 1 crushed garlic clove. When the meat is cooked, add 2 tablespoons raisins, previously soaked, and 1 chopped hard boiled (hard cooked eggs). Put a layer of this mixture on a piece of pastry and make little pasties. Bake in a preheated oven at 180^oC (350^oF, gas 4) for 30 minutes and serve

Very hot.

EMPEROR FISH

Fish of the Beryciform family, which lives at great depths in the eastern Atlantic, from Ireland to Spain and in the Pacific around New Zealand. It is about 60 cm (2 ft) long, and is identified by its red colour and by its dorsal fin being longer than its anal fin. Sold as fillets, its excellent flesh is similar to that of monkfish, and it is cooled in the same way.

EMULSION

A preparation obtained by dispersing one kind of liquid (in the form of tiny droplets) in another liquid, with which it does not mix. An emulsion consisting of fatty substance, such as oil or butter, dispersed in vinegar , water or lemon juice will only remain smooth and stable if it is bound with an emulsifier, usually egg yolk. This preparation is the basis of emulsified sauces, such as hollandaise, mousseline and their derivatives. Milk is a natural emulsion consisting of globules of ctream suspended in a watery solution containing protein (which acts as an emulsifier).

EN-CAS

The French term of a light meal, usually cold, eaten between main meals( the word literally means in case of hunger in this context) In the old chateaux, an en-cas de nutt, consisting of cheese. Furit and cold meats was arranged on a pedestal table for the refreshment of travelers returning home late at night. At Versailles the king’s en-cas de nuit consisted of three loaves, two bottles of wine and a carafe of water . Wishing to publicize his support for Moliere, Louis XIV invited him to share his snack, in order to teach a lesson to the courtiers who refused to allow the famous dramatist to sit at their table.

ENCHAUD

A speciality from Pergord consisting of a piece of bone pork fillet (tenderloin) rolled up, tied with string and cooked in the oven in a casserole. It can also be stuffed .Cold and enchaud is particularly delicious.

RECIPE

Enchaud

Bone a piece of pork fillet (tenderloin) weighing about 1.5 kg (3-1/4 lb) , and keep the bone. Spread out the fillet on the work surface. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle lightly with crushed thyme and insert small pieces of garlic. Roll up the meat tightly, tie it up with a string and keep it cool.

The next day, heat 2 tablespoons lard (shortening) in a flameproof casserole and brown the enchaud of all sides. Add a small glass of warm water, a spring of thyme and the pork bone. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and seal the lid with a fl,our and water paste.Cook and seal the lid with a flour and water paste. Cook in a preheated oven at 180^oC (350^oF, gas 4) for about 2 hours . When the echaud is cooked, drain it and keep it hot on the serving dish.Remove the bone and the thyme from the casserole and skim as much fat as possible from the cooking juices; add 4 tablespoons stock and reduce. Serve the enchaud with the sauce, accompanied by potatoes sautéed with garlic.

The garlic can be replaced by small sticks of truffle. In this case , the pork is stuffed with about 400 g (14 oz. 1-1/4 cups) well-seasoned fine forcemeat, to which 1 teaspoon brandy and some truffle peel have been added. Roll up and cook the enchaud as in the previous method and serve cold, with a salad dressed with walnut oil.

Clean the endive, rinse it and dry it as thoroughly as possible. Season with a sizzling- hot bacon strips over the top. Tiny fried garlic-flavoured croutons are usually added. Serve immediately.

Stewed Endive

Prepare the endive as for braising, and place it an a saucepan with 50 g ( 2 oz ¼ cup ) butter for each 450g ( 1 lb ) endive. Season, add 500-600 ml (17-20 fl oz, 2-2 ¼ cups) water, cover and cook in a preheated oven at 180^oC ( 350^oF, gas 4 ) for 1 ½ hours. When cooked, the endive may be tossed in butter, reduce cream or béchamel sauce just before serving.

ENTRCOTE (RIB STEAK ) a piece of prime quality beef, which should be cut from between two ribs hence the name. However, it is usually cut from the boned set of ribs,. Marbled and tender, entreote steak should be grilled (broiled0 or fried. Steaks cut from the lower ribs are prepared in the same way but tend to be finner. Ideally, the steak should be about 2 cm ( ¾ in) thick, flat and well trimmed, with just a thin margin of fat, which is cut at intervals to prevent it curling up during cooking.

The following is an interesting account of a method of barbecing entrecote over vine shoots.

Letter to gourmets, gourmands, gastromones, and gluttons,

Grilled Fried It doesn’t matter, The only essential thing is that it should be properly sealed. Season well and brown until it is slightly charred outside but bright red inside. In passing, let us make a recommendation to the profane, do not scorn the end of the entrecote steak, the crusty part. It is delicious. The entrecote steak has a penchant for shallots, which is where the famous entrecote maitre de chai comes from.

RECIPES

Fried entrecote

Season the steak with salt and pepper. Melt some butter in a frying pan. When it bubbles, add the steak and brown both sides over a high heat. Then drain, arrange on the serving dish, and garnish with a knob of butter (plain butter, maitre d’hotel butter or marchand de vin butter) Alternatively, serve with a red wine sauce or sprinkle with the cooking butter plus a few drops of lemon juice and some chopped parsley.

Fried entrecote a la bourguignonne

Fry a 400-500 g (14-18 oz) steak in butter, drain and keep hot on the serving dish. Pour 100 ml (4 ft oz, 7 tablespoons) each of red wine and demiglace into the frying pan and heat until reduced, then coat the steak with this sauce.

The demi-glace can be replaced by the same amount of well- reduced consomme bound with 1 teaspoon beurre manie.

Fried entrecote a la fermiere

Prepare about 450 g ( l lb) vegetable ondue. Fry a 450 g ( 1 lb) steak in butter, palce in a serving dish and keep hot.Surround with the vegetable fongue. Deglaze the pan with 100 ml ( 4 ft oz. 7 tablespoons) white wine and the same amount of beef consomme, reduce and bind with 1 teaspoon beurre manie. Pour this sauce over the steak.

Fried entrecote a la hongroise

Season a 450 g ( 1 lb) steak, then fry it in butter. When it is three-quarters cooked, add 1 tablespoon chopped onion. Drain the steak place it on a serving dish and keep hot. Finish cooking the onions, add a little paprika and adjust the seasoning.Deglaze the frying pan with 100 ml ( 4 ft oz. 7 tablespoons) white wine and the same amount of veloute. Reheat and pour over the steak. Serve with boiled potatoes.

Fried entrecote a la lyonnaise

Thinly slice 2 large onions and fry them gently in butter.Fry a 450 g ( 1 lb) steak in butter, when three-quarters cooked, add the onions.When cooked, drain the steak and onion, place in a serving dish and keep hot.Deglaze the frying pan with 2 tablespoons vinegar and 100 ml ( 4 ft oz. 7 tablespoons) demi-glace.Reduce, stir in 1 tablespoon chopped parsley and pour over the steak.(The demi-glace can be replaced with reduced consomme bound with 1 teaspoon beurre manie).

Fried entrecote with mushrooms

Fry a 450 g ( 1 lb) steak in butter.When three quarters cooked, add 8-10 mushroom caps to the frying pan.Place the steak in a serving dish and keep hot. Finish cooking the mushrooms, then arrange them around the steak.Deglaze the frying pan with 100 ml ( 4 ft oz. 7 tablespoons) each of white wine and demi-glace, and reduce.Sieve, add 1 tablespoon fresh butter, stir and pour the sauce over the steak.

Instead of demi-glace, the same quantity of well reduced consomme bound with 1 teaspoon beurre manie can be used.

Grilled entrecote

Lightly brush the steak with oil or melted butter, season with salt and pepper and cook over very hot wood charcoal or grill (broil) in a vertical grill, under the grill (broiler) of the cooker (stove) or over an iron grill.The surface of the steak must be sealed so that the juices will not escape.(Some cooks advise agaisnt seasoning with salt before cooking because this draws out the blood.) Serve with chateau potatoes, bunches of cress and bearnaise sauce (separately), if liked.

Grilled entrecote ala bordelaise

In the authentic recipe, the steak is simply grilled (broiled) over vine-shoot embers, seasoned, then served with a knob of butter. However, in certain gastronomic circles, the steak is grilled, garnished with slices of beef bone marrow poached in stock and sprinkled with chopped parsley. It is served with bordelaise sauce.

ENTRE-DEUX-MERS An AOC white wine from the Bordeaux region.Some red wine is also produced from Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes and is sold as Bordeaux AOC. The production area is between two rivers, the Garonne and Dordogne, hence a name which means between two seas. White wines sold as Entre-Deux-Mers AOC are dry, crisp and fruity and are made mainly from Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Muscadelle and Ugni Blanc grapes.They provide a good accompaniment to most fish and shellfish dishes, including the oysters that are a speciality of the Gironde region.

ENTRÉE Today, the entrée is usually the main coruse of a meal, but in a full French menu, it is the third course, following the hors d’oeuvre (or soup) and the fish, course and preceding the roast.At a grnd dinner, the entrée is either a hot dish in a sauce or a cold dish.Mixed entrees are composite dishes, such as croustades and timbales.When more than one entrée is either a hot dish in a sauce or cold dish.Mixed entrees are composite dishes, such as croustades and timbales.When more than one entrée is served, they must be clearly differentiated. Distinctions were formerly made between entrees volantes de boucherie (meat entrees) entrees d’abats (offal entrees0 and entrees diverses (various entrees).

With the trend towards simplification and reduction in the number of courses, modern menus usually centre on a main dish, preceded by a starter and followed by a salad, cheese and dessert. In the Middle Ages, entrees included such items as crystallized (candied0 melon peel, oyster tarts, andouillettes, forcemeats and cheese ramekins.Today (when present) they include fish, shellfish, caviar, foie gras, fish terrine, pasta dishes (such as gnocchi, macaroni, spaghetti and ravioli), quenelles, savoury pastries (such as quiches, patties, timbales, tarts and vol-auvent) egg dishes (including souffles) and even vegetables dishes (artichokes and asparagus) In theory cold charcuterie, fish in marinades or oil, raw vegetables, mixed salads, melon and radishes are considered to be hors d’oeuvre.

ENTREMETS The sweet course, which in France is always served after the cheese (the word is also used to mean a specific dessert), Formerly, all the dishes served after the roast, including vegetables and sweets, were called entremets (the word literally means between dishes) In the royal households of the Middle Ages, the entremets were a real show piece, being accompanied by music, juggling and dancing. In restaurants, the word still embraces the vegetable dishes (which in large establishments are the responsibility of the entremetier), as well as the entremets de cuisine (souffles, savoury pancakes and fritters, pastries, croquettes and omelettes) and the desserts.The latter are subdivided into three categories.

HOT ENTREMETS.Fritters, pancakes, flamed fruits, sweet omeletttes and souffles.

COLD ENTREMETS Bavarian creams, blancmanges, charlottes, compotes, pastries, creams, chilled fruits, meringues, puddings, rice or semolina desserts and moulds, often with fruit.

ICE ENTREMETS fruit ice creams, sorbets, iced cups, frosted fruits, ice cream, cakes, bombes, mousses, parfaits, souffles and vacherins.

From the Middle Ages to the 19^th century. Taillevent proposed the following as entremets frumenty, broth, oyster stew, rice pudding, fish jelly, stuffed poultry, almond milk with figs. All these dishes were served throughout the meal, alternating with the roasts and fish dishes, and mixing sweet and savoury.Certain spectacular entremets, such as swan in its skin and all its feathers, were purely decorative showpieces, presented with great pomp and musical accompaniment.

EPEE DE BOIS a Parisian taven that was situated in the Rue Quancampoix, is a 16th the tavern became the meeting place of dancing masters and violin master, who later established the Academie de Danse, which formed the nucleus of the paris Opera in 1719, financier called law set up his bank in the same street, and the taven served as a meeting palce for speculators and money lenders. It is said that the tavern was frequency lenders. It is said that the tavern was frequented by Abbe Prevoust who probably wrote a large part of Manon Lescaul there.

EPIGRAMME A dish consisting of two cuts of lamb, both cooked dry. These two pieces are a slice of breast and a cutlet or chop, dipped in egg and breadcrumbs and grilled or fried.

Phleas Gibert explain the origins of the term epigmagme as follows. It was towards the middle of the 18th century. One day a young marquise overheard one of her guests at table remark that when he was dining the previous evening with the Conmie de Vaudreuil he was charmingly received and, furthermore, had a feast of excellent epigram. The marquise, through pretty and elegrant, was somewhat ignorant of the meaning of words, she later summoned Michellet, her chef. Michelet, she said to him shall require a dish of epigrammes.

The chef withdrew , pondering the problem. He looked up old recipes, but found no reference to anything of the kind. None of his colleagues had ever heard of the dish. But no French master chef is ever at a loss. Since he could discover nothing about the dish, he set about inventing one. Next day, inspiration came and he created a most delicate dish.

At dinner, the guests fell into ecstasies over the dish put before them and after complimenting the lady of the house, desired to know its name. The chef was called. With perfect composure he replied, Epigrammes of lamb a la Michele

Everyone laughed. The marguise was triumphant, though she could not understand the amusement of her guest. From that moment, the culinary repertori of France was enriched by a name still used to this day.

But whereas this name was originally used for slices of breast of lamb dipped in breadcrumbs, fried in butter, and arranged in a circle round a blaquette of lamb, by the end of the 18th century it had been completely transformed into what it is today, cutlets as well as slices of breast, dipped in egg and breadcrumbs and fried in butter or grilled.

RECIPE

Epigrammes

Braise a breast of lamb, or poach it is a small quantity of light stock. Drain and bone the meat, and cool it in a press. Cut it into equal portions and coat with egg and breadcrumbs. Coat the same number of lamb cutlets with egg and breadcrumbs. The cutlets and breast portions should then be grilled (broiled) or fried in butter and oil, and arranged in a round dish. Garnish the cutlet bones with paper frills, then put a few spoonfuls of reduced and sieved braising stock around the epigrammes. Garnish with glazed vegetables carrots, turnips and baby onions muschrooms, tomatoes fried in oil, or subergine (eggplant) fritters, arranged in the centre of the dish.

ESAU The name of this biblical character, who sold his birthright to his brother Jacob for a mess of pottage, is given to a thickened sops made from lentil puree and white stock or consommé. This also serves as a basis for other soups, such as Conti.Soft boiled or poached eggs Esau are arranged o n lentil puree, garnished with heart shaped croutons, and coated with concentrated veal stock with butter added. Alternatively, the eggs are arranged in a croustade of crustles bread, fried, hollowed out and filled with lentil puree, the whole is covered with concentrated veal stock with butter added.

ESCABECHE A spicy cold marinade intended for preserving cooked foods and originating in Spain. It is used chiefly for small cooked fish (sardines, macherel, smelt, whiting red mullet) The fish are headed (hence the name fro cabeza, head) then fried or lightly browned, they are then marinated for 24 hours in a cooked and spiced marinade. The fish then keep for up to a week in a refrigerator.

The preparation has spread throughout the Mediterranean region, it is called escabetche in North Africa, escabechio or scanvece in Italy and escabeche in Belgium. In Berry a similar preparation of fried gudgeon is called a la cascameche. Escabeche is also used for poultry and game birds. In Spain partridge is fried quickly in oil with garlic, then drained and marinated in its cooking juices with species and served cold. In Chile, chicken in escabeche is prepared in the same way and served cold with lemon and onions.

RECIPE

Fish inescabeche

Gut some small fish (smelt, sand cells, weavers) and remove the heads, clean, wash and wipe the fish. Dip in flour and fry in olive oil until golden. Drain and arrange in an earthenware dish. Slice an onion and a carrot thinly. Heat the oil used for cooking the fish until it begin to smoke, then fry the onion and carrot and 5-6 unpeeled garlic cloves for a few moments. Remove from the heat and add 150 ml (1/4 cup) water. Add a bouquet garni containing plenty of thyme and season with salt, pepper, a pinch of cayenne pepper, and a few coriander seeds. Cook for about 15 minutes, then pour the boiling marinade over the fish and leave to marinate for at least 24 hours.Serve as an hors d’oeuvre.

ESCALOPE (SCALLOP) A Thin slice of white meat. The word comes from the Old French eschalope (nutshell) probably because the slice tends to curl up during cooking (it is sometimes snipped on one side to prevent the flesh from shrinking) If taken from the fillet, veal escalopes are usually tnder and lean, escalopes from lower down the leg are finner and more sinewy. Italian scaloppeine (small escalloped) prepared as saltimbocca or piecata, are breast or wing may be prepared in the same ways as veal.

RECIPES

Escalopes a la mandelleu

Flatten some escalopes (scallops) sprinkle them with salt and pepper and sauce in clarified butter until golden. Then flame in Cognac, using 1 tablespoon.Cognac for 4 escalopes.Cover each with a thin slice of Gruyere or Cornte cheese and sprinkle with a few dried breadcrumbs. Moisten with melted butter and brown in a preheated oven at 240 oC (475 oF, gas 9) Prepare 250 g ( 9 oz, 3 cups) mushrooms and sauté them in the butter in which the escalopes were cooked.Add 2 tablespoons tomato puree (paste and 250 ml ( 8 ft oz, 1 cup) reduced consommé, cook for about 5 minutes.Adjust the seasoning and serve this sauce with the escalopes.

Escalopes a l anversoise

Cut some round slices of bread, 1 cm ( ½ in) thick, and fry them in butter. Lightly fry some very small new potatoes in butter, and prepare some hope shoots in cream,. Flatten some round escalopes (scallops) sprinkle with salt and pepper, and sauté them in a frying pan containing clarified butter.Drain and arrange while hot on the fried bread slices.Add to the frying pan a little white wine or beer and some very concentrated consommé. Reduce to a sauce and pour over the escalopes.Serve piping hot with the potatoes and the hop shoots.

Escalopes casimir

Slowly cook in butter as many artichoke hearts as there are escaloeps (scallops) Stew 4 tablespoons julienne of carrots in butter and separately, a little julienne of truffles.Cut some escalopes from the fillet, flatten them, season with salt, pepper and paprika, then sauté in clarified butter, halfway through cooking, and 1 tablespoon chopped onion. Arrange the artichoke hearts in the serving dish, place an escalope on each one and garnish with the julienne of carrots. Add some cream to the pan juices from the escaloeps and reduce. Coat the escalopes with this sauce and garnish with the julienne of truffles.

Escalopes with attbergines and courgettes

Slice, without peeling, 2 mediuym sized courgette (zucchini) and a choice aubergine (eggplant) Saute them in seasoned olive oil in a frying pan. Cut 4 escalopes (scallops) flatten them, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and sauté in clarified butter.Arrange therm in a serving dish,. Garnish with the aubergit e and courgettes, and keep hot. Add to the pan juices 5 tablespoons white wine and 2-3 tablespoons meat juices, reduce by half. Add a small chopped garlic clove and reduce further. Pour the sauce over the escalopes and sprinkle with chopped parsley.

ESCALOPER A French culinary term meaning to carve thin slices (escaloeps) of meat, such as veal or poultry, large, fish filets, lobster or a certain vegetables, such as mushroom caps or artichoke hearts.

ESCARGOT AUX RAISINS. Swiss brioche made with a sausage of dough rolled up like a snail, spread with confectioner’s custard (pastry cream0 and raisins, and sometimes flavoured with kirsch. It is then iced with a white fondant (frosting)

ESCAROLE A vegetable, also called Batavia, similar to curly endive (chicory) but with broader leaves (which are fairly curly and very crisp. It usually has a heart of while leaves edged with yellow.

\ Escarole is generally eaten raw, in a green salad, (often with seasoning flavoured with mustard or shallots) possibly with tomatoes or scalded French (green0, possibly with tomatoes or scalded French (green) beans, or in a winter salad with nuts and raisins. It can also be cooked like spinach.

ESPAGNOLE, AL;A The name of several preparations inspired by

Spanish cuisine. The main ingredients are tomatoes, sweet (bell) peppers onions and garlic, usually fried in oil. The garnish a espagnole, used for small sautéed or lightly braised items, consist of tomatoes, stuffed with tomato flavoured rice, braised sweet peppers, small braised onions and Madeira sauce. Mayonnaise a espagnole contains chopped ham, mustard, a dash of garlic and red pepper.

There are a considerable number of ways to cook eggs a espagnoule Soft boiled or poached eggs are arranged on cooked tomatoes with a salpicon of sweet peppers coated with tomato sauce and garnished with fried onion rings. Bakes eggs are arranged on a bed of finely sliced onions an garnished with tomato sauce fried diced pepper, halves of tomato and fried onion rings, they are served with a tomato sauce to which a salpicon of sweet peppers has been added. Scrambled eggs are garnished with diced tomatoes and pepper and served with fried onion rings.

RECIPES

Calfs liver a espagnole

Season slices of calf’s liver with salt and peper. Coat with flour and sauté them in oil.Arrange the liver slices on tomatoes that have been softened in olive oil andseasoned with garlic. Garnish with fried onion rings and fried curly parsley.

Poached eggs a l espagnole

Coat some onion rings in flour andfry them in oil. Prepare a salpicon of slowly cooked sweet (bell) peppers in a tomato sauce flavoured with a dash of cayenne pepper. Cut the ends off some tomatoes and cook the tomatoes in oil.Garnish each tomato with a little of the salpicon and top with a poached egg. Place the onion rings in the centre of a serving dish,. Arrange the tomatoes and eggs around them, and coat the eggs with tomato sauce.

Ragour of sweet peppers a I espagnole

Seed and peel 6 sweet (bell) peppers, and cut them into large strips. Fry 100 g (4 oz. 2/3 cup) finely sliced onions in some olive oil in a shallow frying pan.Add the strips of pepper, some salt, pink pepper, and a large crushed garlic clove. Stir in 1 tablespoon and 2 tablespoons tomato puree ( paste). Cook very gently, covered, for 35 minutes. Adjust the seasoning.Serve in a vegetable dish sprinded with chopped parsley.

Soft boiled eggs a I espagnole

Coat some soft boiled (soft cooked) eggs with meat aspic to which a little tomato puree (paste) has been added. Garnish each egg with a blanched onion ring with a pinch of chopped parley in the centre. This should stick to the half set jelly. Spread a mixture of mustard and butter on some round slices of toast and place in egg on each slice. Hollow out some very small tomatoes and marinate them in a mixture of oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Fill them with diced green (bell) peppers seasoned with vinaigrette and place them around the eggs.

Spanish omelette

Dice some sweet (bell) peppers and cook them slowly in olive oil.Cut some tomato pulp into cubes, add a little garlic and some chopped parsley, and fry briskly in butter.Beat some eggs and add some of the sweet peppers and tomato pulp (1 large tablespoon of each vegetable for 6 eggs). Season with salt and pepper. Make an omelette, roll it up and serve with a highly seasoned tomato sauce.

ESPAGNOLE SAUCE A brown sauce, which is used as a basis for a large number of derivative brown sauces, such as Robert, genevoise, bordelaise,bercy. Madeira and Perigueux. It is made with a brown stock to which a brown roux and mirepoix are added, followed by a tomato puree. Cooking takes several hours and the sauce needs to be skimmed, stirred and strained when a particular stage in the cooking is reached.The meat stock may be replaced by a fish stock, depending on the requirements of the particular recipe. Careme’s recipe is considered to be the classic method of preparing an espagnole sauce. Nowadays, a shoulder of veal is used instead of a noix, and partridge is not used in the stock.

RECIPES

Espagnole sauce (1)

(From Caremes’recipe) put 2 slices of Bayonne ham into a deep saucepan. Place a noix of veal and 2 partridges on top. Add enough stock to cover the veal only. Reduce the liquid rapidly, then lower the heat until the stock is reduced to a coating on the bottom of the pan. Remove it from the heat. Prick the noix of veal with the point of a knife so that its juice mingle with the stock. Put the saucepan back over a low heat for about 20 minutes. Watch the liquid as it gradually turns darker.

To simplify this operation, scrape off a little of the essence with the point of a knife. Roll it between the fingers. If it is not ready, it will make the fingers stick together.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and set it aside for 15 minutes for the essence to cool. Fill the saucepan with clear soup or stock and heat very slowly.

Strain through cloth into a bowl, stirring from time to time with a wooden spoon so that no skin forms on the surface, as easily happens when the sauce is exposed to the air.

ESROM A semi-hard Danish cow’s-milk cheese made in flat rectangular shapes and sold wrapped in foil.The pale yellow paste is supple with irregular small holes. The flavour is quite rich and aromatic and the mature cheese is quite spicy. It is served on open sandwiches.

ESSAI The ceremony of tasting the king’s food and drink at the French royal courts.The cups used for tasting were also called essals.

The fear of poisoning in the Middle Ages gave rise to a complicated ceremonial attending the sovereign’s meals. In France, this was minutely regulated by court etiquette, which continued with slight modifications until the Revolution, to be revived under the Empire.

The knife, fork, spoon, salt cellar, spices and napkin were locked I n the cadenas, or nef. The maitre d hotel rubbed all the cutlery and the dishes with balls of breadcrumbs which he made sure were eaten by the squares of the pantry, who previously, had subjected the servants who had handed them the dishes to the same ordeal.

The same ceremonial took place for the queen. By special favour, Louis XIV bestowed the same prerogative upon the daupine.

ESSENCE (EXTRACT) A concentrated aromatic liquid used either to enhance the flavour of certain culinary preparations or to flavour certain foods that have little or no flavour of their own. They are plant extracts obtained by distillation or infusion and include lemon oil, rose oil and essence of oranges, cinnamon and vanilla. Natural essences are obtained by three methods by extracting the essential oil of a fruit or a spice (lemon, bitter almond, orange, rose, cinnamon0 by reducing an infusion or a cooking liquid (mushroom, tarragon, chervil, tomato, game carcass, fish trimmings0 or by infusing or marinating items in either wine or vinegar ( truffles, onions, garlic, anchovy).

Essence sold commercially sometimes contain artificial flavourings and colourings.

ESSENTIAL OIL An oily substance which has a strong flavour and is extracted from the flowers, fruit, leaves, seeds, resin or roots of certain plants. Essential oils are used principally in the perfume industry and in aromatherapy but they re also used to flavour food.Examples are citrus oils, almond oil and peppermint oil.

ESTAMINENT Until the 18th century in France, an estaminent was a café where people could drink beer and wine, and were permitted to smoke. Today, the term is rare and often pejorative, being used in northern France and Belgium to designate a bistro or, more specifically, the room in a café reserved for smokers. It derives from a word of Germanic origin meaning column (the ceilings of tavern rooms were supported by wooden columns)

ESTOFINADO A local name in Provence for salt cod a la provencale ( it is also called stoficado, estoficado and stocaficado) The word is a Provencal transcription of stockfish. In Marselle and Saint Tropez, the dish is a well seasoned ragout of salt cod cooked with tomatoes, onions, garlic, olive oil and various spices.

Under the name stoficado, it is also a speciality of Aveyron, especially at Villefranche-de Rouergue and Decazeville, the cod is poached and mixed with potatoes. The mixture is then mashed with very hot walnut oil, butter, garlic, parsley, beaten raw eggs and cream.

There have been a number of theories to explain why salt cod has been so popular for such a long time in Provencal cookery. One suggestion is that recipes were brought back from the Netherlands and Scandinavia by southern French soldiers. Another seemingly more probable theory is that salt cod was introduced by northern European merchants travelling to the Italian cities. Its presence in the Rouergue could also be associated with the fact that it was introduced into the area when there was a constant trade in iron ore between the mines of Auvergne and the fishing port of Bordeaux.

RECIPE

Estofinado

Ragour of sweet peppers a I espagnole

Soft boiled eggs a I espagnole

Spanish omelette

ESPAGNOLE SAUCE A brown sauce, which is used as a basis for a large number of derivative brown sauces, such as Robert, genevoise, bordelaise,bercy. Madeira and Perigueux. It is made with a brown stock to which a brown roux and mirepoix are added, followed by a tomato puree. Cooking takes several hours and the sauce needs to be skimmed, stirred and strained when a particular stage in the cooking is reached. The meat stock may be replaced by a fish stock, depending on the requirements of the particular recipe. Careme

Ragour of sweet peppers a I espagnole

Soft boiled eggs a I espagnole

Spanish omelette

RECIPES

Espagnole sauce (1)

To simplify this operation, scrape off a little of the essence with the point of a knife. Roll it between the fingers. If it is not ready, it will make the fingers stick together.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and set it aside for 15 minutes for the essence to cool. Fill the saucepan with clear soup or stock and heat very slowly.

Strain through cloth into a bowl, stirring from time to time with a wooden spoon so that no skin forms on the surface, as easily happens when the sauce is exposed to the air.

ESSAI The ceremony of tasting the king’s food and drink at the French royal courts.The cups used for tasting were also called essals.

The same ceremonial took place for the queen. By special favour, Louis XIV bestowed the same prerogative upon the daupine.

Essence sold commercially sometimes contain artificial flavourings and colourings.

RECIPE

Estofinado

Soak a stockfish in water for several hours, changing the water frequently to remove the salt. Scrape the skin carefully to remove the scales and cut the flesh into 5 cm ( 2 in) pieces. Fry 1 or 2 chopped onions lightly in 1 tablespoon oil in a large flameproof earthenware casserole.Then add 3 tomatoes, peeled seeded and choppped.Cook over a low heat for 4-5 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon.Add 2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped, a bouquet garni consisting of celery, parsley, basil, bay leaf and thyme, carefully tied together, and a pinch of cayenne pepper.Crushed anchovy or grated nutmeg could also be used to season if wished. Place the pieces of fish in a larger pan and add 100 ml ( 4 ft oz. 7 tablespoons) white wine, the tomato mixture and enough water to cover the fish.Cook for 30 minutes over a low heat.Cut 4-6 potatoes into thick slices and add to the pan (one potato per person) Add a generous dash of Cognac, and 8 olives per person 5 minutes before the end of the cooking time.Remove the bouquet garni and serve.

ESTOUFFADE A dish whose ingredients are slow.

meals. In France, this was minutely regulated by court etiquette, which continued with slight modifications until the Revolution, to be revived under the Empire.

The same ceremonial took place for the queen. By special favour, Louis XIV bestowed the same prerogative upon the daupine.

Essence sold commercially sometimes contain artificial flavourings and colourings.

RECIPE

Estofinado

ESTOUFFADE A dish whose ingredients are slowd䐀

ly stewed. The word comes from the Italian stufato (a daube) and is applied most often to beef in wine sauce, with carrots and small onions.

In traditional cookery, estouffade is also a clear brown stock used to dilute brown sauces and moisten ragouts and braised dishes.

RECIPE

Estouffade of beef

Dice and blanch 300 g ( 11 oz. 15 slices) lean bacon. Brown the bacon in butter in a flameproof casserole, drain and set aside.Cut 1.5 kg ( 3 ¼ lb) beef, half chuck steak, half rib, into cubes of about 100 g ( 4 oz) and brown in the same pan. Cut 3 onions into quarters, add them to the beef and brown. Season with salt, pepper, thyme, a bay leaf and a crushed garlic clove.Then stir in 2 tablespoons flour and add 1 litre ( 1 ¾ pints, 4 ½ cups) red wine with an equal quantity of stock. Add a bouquet garni and bring to the boil.Cover and cook in a preheated oven at 160 oC (325oF, gas 3 ) for 2 ½-3 hours.

Drain the ragout in a sieve placed over an earthenware dish. Place the pieces of beef and the strips of bacon in a pan and add 300 g ( 11 oz. 3 ½ cups) sauted sliced mushrooms. Skin the fat from the cooking liquid strain and reduce. Pour it over the meat and mushrooms and simmer gently, covered, for about 25 minutes. Serve in a deep dish.

RECIPE

Estouffat of haricot beans a I occitane

Brown a diced carrot and a sliced onion in either goose fat or lard in a pan. Add 1.5 litres (2 ¾ pints, 6 ½ cups) water and a bouquet garni, bring to the boil and simmer for about 20 minutes. Add 1.5 litres ( 2 ¾ pints 6 ½ cups) fresh white haricot (navy) beans and cook until almost tender, then drain. Cut 250 g ( 9 oz.) slightly salted belly bacon, blanch and brown in goose fat or lard. Add to the pan 150 g ( 5 oz. ¾ cup) chopped onions, 2 large tomatoes (peeled and crushed) and 1 crusched garlic clove, and cook for a further 10 minutes. Then add the drained beans, cover the pan and gently simmer until cooking is completed.

If liked, 200 g ( 7 oz) rind from preserved pork may be added to the bean cooking liquid.When cooked, the rind is cut into squares and added to the beans in the serving dish.

EWE A female shee. The ewes of breeds reared for meat are allowed to breed for 4-6 years and are then fattened up for slaughter (In the past, ewes were allowed to breed for longer before being slaughtered, but consumers today prefer meat with a milder flavour) Ewe’s meat provides most of the joints sold as mutton.

Ewe’s milk contains more fat than cow’s milk ( 8.5% as opposed to 4%) It is used for making cheese that is traditionally manufactured in dry mountainous areas. The most famous is Roquefort, but other regions produce notable cheeses, induding Broccio and Niolo from Corsica, Oloron and Laruns from Bearn, and Esbareich and Ameguy from the Basque region.Cachat and Rocammadour also deserve a mention.

In Spain and Portugal, the best cheeses are made from ewe’s milk., for example, Hecho, Villalon and Serra, in Italy, Pecorino, and Flore Sardo are good ewe’s milk cheeses. Liptal is the Hungarian national cheese. In Greece, the Balkans and the Brandza are the most common cheeses.Fresh ewe’s milk chese is served with sugar or fresh cream. It may also be used for making tarts or as filling for puff pastry turnovers.

EWER A tall vessel formerly used for serving water at table for washing the hands at the start and finish of a meal rather than for drinking. It had a base, spout and handle and a tray or bowl beneath it to catch the water poured over the hands.Ewers were made of gold or silver until the 18^th century, materials used later included powder, glazed earthenware and marble.

EXCELSIOR A cow’s milk cheese from Normandy with 72% fat content.The skin is white with brown markings and the ivory coloured paste is soft, fine and dense in texture, with a mellow, slightly nutty, flavour.

Created in 1890, Excelsior is the oldest of the double or triple cream cheeses (along with Fin-de siecle, Explorateur, Lucullus and Brillat Savarin).

EXCELSIOR A garnish for lamb tournedos and noisettes that consists of braised lettuce and pommes fondantes The term also refers to a method of preparing sole, which is rolled into paupiettes, poached and arranged in a crown around diced lobster a la Neuburg.The fish is then coated in normande sauce and garnished with slices of truffic and prawn tails.

EXPLORATEUR Triple cream (75% fat content) soft cheese from the lie de France made from enriched unpasteurized cow’s milk. It is a cylinder 8 cm ( 3 ¼ in) in diameter and 6 cm 2 ½ in) tall. Invented after World War II, it has a firm, very creamy texture.

EXTRA An adjective printed on French labels to denote particular features of certain products when they are marketed. In France, extra eggs have a special label with whtie

Friday, September 16, 2011

E

Stuffed and Fried pigs’ ears

EASTER

EAU-DE-VIE

ECAILLER

ECARLATE

ECHAUDE

ECHEZEAUX

ECLADE

ECCLAIR

RECIPES

EDELPILZ

EDELZWICKER

EDWARD VII

EEL

RECIPE

Preparation

eel a la provencale

Eel au vert

Eels brochettes a Panglaise

Eel pie

EFFILER

EGG

Recipes

Eggs en Cocotte

Eggs en cocotic with tarragon

Eggs in a Mould

Eggs in a mould Bizer

Recipes

Eggs en Cocotte

Eggs en cocotic with tarragon

Eggs in a Mould

Eggs in a mould Bizer

Eggs sur le Plat or Shirred Eggs

Eggs au miroir

Eggs sur le plat a al chaville

Eggs sur le plat a Pagenaise

Eggs sur le plat a Pantboisc

Eggs sur le plat archduke

Eggs sur le plat Jockey club

Eggs sur le plat Louis Oliver

Eggs suc le plat Montrouge

Fried Eggs

Fried eggs a la Catalane

Hard boiled Eggs

Hard boiled egg cutlets

Hard boiled eggs a la macedoine

Hard-boiled eggs Elisabeth

Hard boiled eggs in breadcrumbs

Poached Eggs

Poached eggs almaviva

Scramble eggs with cep mushrooms

Scramble eggs with chicken livers

Scrambled eggs with shrimps

Soft boild Eggs

Soft boiled eggs Aladdin

Soft boiled eggs Amelie

Soft –boiled eggs beranger

Soft boiled eggs Berlioz

Soft boiled eggs bonvalet

Egg Cup

EGG CUSTARD

RECIPE

Egg custard

EGGNOG

RECIPE

EGYPTIENNE , A L’

RECIPE

ELDER

RECIPE

Beef eminces with mushrooms

RECIPE

Croque-Emmental

EMPANADA

RECIPE

EMPEROR FISH

EN-CAS

ENCHAUD

RECIPE