Herb chicken fricassée
Chicken pieces browned in butter, moistened with clear broth and thickened with egg yolk, perfumed with parsley, spring onion, and tarragon: the elegance of the new French taste of the Grand Siècle.
Chicken pieces browned in butter, moistened with clear broth and thickened with egg yolk, perfumed with parsley, spring onion, and tarragon: the elegance of the new French taste of the Grand Siècle.
When I supped at Monsieur the Superintendent's, at Vaux, they served fricassées whose mere aroma would have converted a hermit. Here is the trick: you brown the poultry in fresh butter without burning it, you moisten it with a clear broth, and you bind it with a beaten egg yolk, with plenty of fine herbs from the garden. None of those shrill spices of old that mask everything! Good taste, you see, is like a good fable: you must recognize the thing itself.
- •Chicken (young fowl) — one, cut up (protein)
- •Fresh butter — a good knob (fat)
- •Clear meat broth — two ladles (moistening)
- •Egg yolks — two (thickener)
- •Fine herbs (parsley, spring onion, tarragon) — a bunch (signature)
- •Verjuice — a dash (acidity)
- •Salt, nutmeg — to taste (seasoning)
Herb chicken fricassée
Chicken pieces browned in butter, moistened with clear broth and thickened with egg yolk, perfumed with parsley, spring onion, and tarragon: the elegance of the new French taste of the Grand Siècle.
Why this dish? La Fontaine was the protégé of Nicolas Fouquet and celebrated the sumptuous feasts at Vaux-le-Vicomte. This butter-and-herb fricassée, a star dish of La Varenne's new cuisine, featured among the refined entrées of such a table.
When I supped at Monsieur the Superintendent's, at Vaux, they served fricassées whose mere aroma would have converted a hermit. Here is the trick: you brown the poultry in fresh butter without burning it, you moisten it with a clear broth, and you bind it with a beaten egg yolk, with plenty of fine herbs from the garden. None of those shrill spices of old that mask everything! Good taste, you see, is like a good fable: you must recognize the thing itself.
Ingredients (period version)
- Chicken (young fowl) — one, cut up (protein)
- Fresh butter — a good knob (fat)
- Clear meat broth — two ladles (moistening)
- Egg yolks — two (thickener)
- Fine herbs (parsley, spring onion, tarragon) — a bunch (signature)
- Verjuice — a dash (acidity)
- Salt, nutmeg — to taste (seasoning)
Ingredients
- Free-range chicken thighs and breasts — 1 kg (protein)
- Butter — 50 g (fat)
- Chicken broth — 40 cl (moistening)
- Egg yolks — 2 (thickener)
- Fresh parsley, chives, and tarragon — 1 bunch (signature)
- Verjuice or lemon juice — 1 tbsp (acidity)
- Salt, grated nutmeg — to taste (seasoning)
Method
- Melt the butter in a casserole and brown the chicken pieces without coloring them too much.
- Season with salt and a little nutmeg, moisten with hot broth, and simmer covered for 30 minutes.
- Remove the pieces and keep warm; beat the egg yolks with the verjuice.
- Off the heat, pour the yolks into the broth while stirring vigorously to thicken the sauce without boiling.
- Add the chopped fine herbs, return the chicken, reheat gently, and serve immediately.
How it was made : The fricassée is one of the emblematic recipes of *Le Cuisinier françois* by La Varenne (1651), which revolutionized cooking by replacing medieval spices with butter, broths, and fresh herbs. The egg yolk liaison, sometimes sharpened with verjuice, was a mark of refinement.
The contemporary twist : Serve in individual cocottes with a splash of cream and herbs snipped at the last moment, in a "Grand Siècle bistronomy" style.
Jean de La Fontaine · Charactorium
