flipSunday veal blanquette
Sunday veal blanquette
Why this dish? When Éluard entertained at his table — Nusch, the surrealist friends, sometimes Picasso — it was around a slow, generous dish. The blanquette, mild and bound with lemon, is the modest festive dish of Parisian families, one that brings people together and makes the evening last.
Veal cooked long in a fragrant broth, bound with a white sauce brightened with a dash of lemon. A sharing dish that simmers while you talk.
Sit down, the blanquette won't wait for you. I wanted it white as a blank page: above all, don't let the meat brown, never. Nusch added the lemon juice at the very end, with a gesture, and the sauce held firm. We'd talk for hours, about poetry and freedom, and the dish would cool without anyone complaining. A meal among friends, you see, is already a poem we write together.
- •Veal shoulder — a nice piece (meat)
- •Carrots, onion, leek — a bunch of vegetables (broth aromatics)
- •Bouquet garni — 1 (flavor)
- •Butter and flour — equal parts (roux for binding)
- •Egg yolk and cream — a little (final binding)
- •Lemon — a dash (acidity)
Sunday veal blanquette
Veal cooked long in a fragrant broth, bound with a white sauce brightened with a dash of lemon. A sharing dish that simmers while you talk.
Why this dish? When Éluard entertained at his table — Nusch, the surrealist friends, sometimes Picasso — it was around a slow, generous dish. The blanquette, mild and bound with lemon, is the modest festive dish of Parisian families, one that brings people together and makes the evening last.
Sit down, the blanquette won't wait for you. I wanted it white as a blank page: above all, don't let the meat brown, never. Nusch added the lemon juice at the very end, with a gesture, and the sauce held firm. We'd talk for hours, about poetry and freedom, and the dish would cool without anyone complaining. A meal among friends, you see, is already a poem we write together.
Ingredients (period version)
- Veal shoulder — a nice piece (meat)
- Carrots, onion, leek — a bunch of vegetables (broth aromatics)
- Bouquet garni — 1 (flavor)
- Butter and flour — equal parts (roux for binding)
- Egg yolk and cream — a little (final binding)
- Lemon — a dash (acidity)
Ingredients
- Veal shoulder, cubed — 1 kg (meat)
- Carrots — 3 (aromatic)
- Onion studded with a clove — 1 (aromatic)
- Leek — 1 (aromatic)
- Bouquet garni — 1 (flavor)
- Butter — 40 g (roux)
- Flour — 40 g (roux)
- Egg yolk — 1 (binding)
- Crème fraîche — 10 cl (binding)
- Lemon — 1/2 (acidity)
- Button mushrooms — 250 g (garnish)
Method
- Put the veal in a large pot of cold water, bring to a simmer and skim.
- Add carrots, clove-studded onion, leek and bouquet garni; cook gently for 1h15 without boiling hard.
- Drain the meat, reserving the broth; sauté the mushrooms separately.
- Prepare a roux: melt the butter, add the flour, then gradually moisten with the strained broth to obtain a smooth sauce.
- Off the heat, bind with the egg yolk mixed with cream, add the lemon juice without letting it boil.
- Combine meat, mushrooms and sauce; serve with rice or steamed potatoes.
How it was made : The blanquette is the great 'poor man's Sunday dish': an economical meat transformed by slow cooking and delicate binding. The golden rule was never to brown the meat to keep the sauce immaculate.
The contemporary twist : Served in individual cocottes, sprinkled with grated lemon zest and fresh tarragon, it takes on a contemporary bistro air.
Paul Éluard · Charactorium
