flipChicken in white sauce with mushrooms
Chicken in white sauce with mushrooms
Why this dish? Poultry was the dish for reception days. At the Château de Cirey, host to Voltaire and Émilie du Châtelet, and later in her Paris salon on Rue Saint-Hyacinthe, Graffigny entertained literary figures and actors from the Comédie-Française: a chicken in white sauce was the prestigious dish within her means.
Chicken pieces simmered in a velvety white butter sauce with mushrooms and parsley, thickened with cream and brightened with a dash of verjuice.
When I kept table for my wits, I gladly had this chicken served. You cook it gently in a white of broth and butter, never letting it brown — the sauce must stay pale as ivory. I put in mushrooms and a splash of verjuice to wake it all up, then thicken with cream at the last moment. My guests asked for more, and the conversation only improved. A good table makes good words, I assure you.
- •Chicken — one, cut in pieces (meat)
- •Fresh butter — a good piece (fat)
- •Flour — a spoonful (thickener for white roux)
- •Clear broth — as needed (liquid)
- •Mushrooms — a handful (garnish)
- •Verjuice — a dash (acidity)
- •Cream — a little (final thickener)
- •Parsley, salt — to taste (seasoning)
Chicken in white sauce with mushrooms
Chicken pieces simmered in a velvety white butter sauce with mushrooms and parsley, thickened with cream and brightened with a dash of verjuice.
Why this dish? Poultry was the dish for reception days. At the Château de Cirey, host to Voltaire and Émilie du Châtelet, and later in her Paris salon on Rue Saint-Hyacinthe, Graffigny entertained literary figures and actors from the Comédie-Française: a chicken in white sauce was the prestigious dish within her means.
When I kept table for my wits, I gladly had this chicken served. You cook it gently in a white of broth and butter, never letting it brown — the sauce must stay pale as ivory. I put in mushrooms and a splash of verjuice to wake it all up, then thicken with cream at the last moment. My guests asked for more, and the conversation only improved. A good table makes good words, I assure you.
Ingredients (period version)
- Chicken — one, cut in pieces (meat)
- Fresh butter — a good piece (fat)
- Flour — a spoonful (thickener for white roux)
- Clear broth — as needed (liquid)
- Mushrooms — a handful (garnish)
- Verjuice — a dash (acidity)
- Cream — a little (final thickener)
- Parsley, salt — to taste (seasoning)
Ingredients
- Free-range chicken thighs and breasts — 1 kg in pieces (meat)
- Butter — 50 g (fat)
- Flour — 1 tablespoon (white roux)
- Chicken broth — 500 ml (liquid)
- White mushrooms — 250 g (garnish)
- Verjuice — 2 tablespoons (or lemon juice + water) (acidity)
- Crème fraîche — 100 ml (final thickener)
- Flat-leaf parsley, salt, white pepper — to taste (seasoning)
Method
- Melt the butter without browning, gently sear the chicken pieces on low heat (they must not brown).
- Sprinkle with flour, stir for 2 minutes to make a white roux.
- Add hot broth, season with salt, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Add sliced mushrooms, cook another 15 minutes.
- Pour in the verjuice, adjust seasoning.
- Off the heat, stir in the cream, sprinkle with parsley, and serve without reheating to boiling.
How it was made : The "chicken in white sauce" is a classic of Menon's cuisine. Before ubiquitous black pepper and easy lemon, verjuice (juice of unripe grapes) provided acidity in French cooking. The white sauce, ancestor of sauce suprême, demonstrated a household's refinement without ruining its finances.
The contemporary twist : Served in individual cassolettes with a golden puff pastry crust, a "salon tourte" style.
Sources : Menon, La Cuisinière bourgeoise, 1746
Françoise de Graffigny · Charactorium
