flipVol-au-Vent à la Financière
Vol-au-Vent à la Financière
Why this dish? A showpiece of early 19th-century Parisian cuisine, the vol-au-vent crowned the grand tables where Madame de Staël gathered the intellectual elite of Europe, from Benjamin Constant to the exiles of Coppet.
A tall puff pastry shell, light as a breath, filled with a ragoût of poultry, quenelles and mushrooms bound in a velouté sauce: the prestige dish of service à la française.
Here is the dish that everyone speaks of at good tables, and which requires, I assure you, more patience than wit. You must turn and fold the puff pastry until it rises into a light, almost airy crust — hence its pretty name 'vol-au-vent.' It is filled with a fine ragoût of chicken breasts, quenelles and mushrooms, all bound with a blond sauce. At Coppet, I would have it served on evenings of great gatherings, when all of Europe seemed to fit in my salon: a dish to be shared, as ideas are shared.
- •Puff pastry — for a large crust (casing)
- •Chicken breasts — two (filling)
- •Mushrooms — a handful (filling)
- •Veal or chicken quenelles — a few (filling)
- •Butter and flour — for roux (binding)
- •Chicken broth — a bowl (sauce)
- •Cream and egg yolk — a little (finishing sauce)
Vol-au-Vent à la Financière
A tall puff pastry shell, light as a breath, filled with a ragoût of poultry, quenelles and mushrooms bound in a velouté sauce: the prestige dish of service à la française.
Why this dish? A showpiece of early 19th-century Parisian cuisine, the vol-au-vent crowned the grand tables where Madame de Staël gathered the intellectual elite of Europe, from Benjamin Constant to the exiles of Coppet.
Here is the dish that everyone speaks of at good tables, and which requires, I assure you, more patience than wit. You must turn and fold the puff pastry until it rises into a light, almost airy crust — hence its pretty name 'vol-au-vent.' It is filled with a fine ragoût of chicken breasts, quenelles and mushrooms, all bound with a blond sauce. At Coppet, I would have it served on evenings of great gatherings, when all of Europe seemed to fit in my salon: a dish to be shared, as ideas are shared.
Ingredients (period version)
- Puff pastry — for a large crust (casing)
- Chicken breasts — two (filling)
- Mushrooms — a handful (filling)
- Veal or chicken quenelles — a few (filling)
- Butter and flour — for roux (binding)
- Chicken broth — a bowl (sauce)
- Cream and egg yolk — a little (finishing sauce)
Ingredients
- All-butter puff pastry — 2 sheets (or 1 large ready-made crust) (casing)
- Chicken breasts — 300 g (filling)
- Button mushrooms — 200 g (filling)
- Plain quenelles — 150 g (filling)
- Butter — 40 g (roux)
- Flour — 40 g (roux)
- Chicken broth — 400 ml (sauce)
- Cream + 1 egg yolk — 100 ml + 1 (final binding)
Method
- Make (or buy) a large puff pastry shell, glaze it and bake until puffed and golden; reserve the lid.
- Poach the chicken breasts, dice them; sauté the sliced mushrooms in butter.
- Prepare a velouté: make a blond roux, add the broth and let thicken.
- Add chicken, mushrooms and quenelles to the sauce, heat gently, then bind off the heat with cream and yolk.
- Fill the hot crust with this financière, top with the lid and serve immediately at the center of the table.
How it was made : The vol-au-vent, popularized by great chefs of the early 19th century (associated with Carême's circle), is the archetype of the 'grand piece' of service à la française: a spectacular dish placed in the center of the table for display.
The contemporary twist : Make individual golden bite-sized vol-au-vents, one per guest, for a modern dinner of ideas.
Sources : Antonin Carême, L'Art de la cuisine française au XIXe siècle
Madame de Staël · Charactorium
