|
|
Culinary Historians of Southern California |  |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dedicated to pursuing food history and supporting culinary collections at the... |
||||||
| HOME | LOS ANGELES PUBLIC LIBRARY | |||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Have Historic Recipes, will Travel - Charles Perry channels Carême | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| by Linda Civitello | ||||||
| You, too, can win Charles Perry in a silent auction at one of the Culinary Historians' twice yearly fundraiser parties and have him prepare a historic dinner in the privacy of your home. Nancy and Morris Zaslavsky and Amelia and Ralph Saltsman were the lucky hosts who outbid everyone else for Chef Charles this year. On Saturday, July 25, 2009, celebrity Chef Carême, with Charles as his instrument, created a formal French feast in the Zaslavsky home. The banquet reflected the meal sequence that began in the 18th century when the separation of sweet and savory tastes resulted in the introduction of soup as a healthy first course and sweets in the form of dessert coming last. | ||||||
| Chef Charles, in a change of pace from the Middle Eastern and Medieval dinners he has bid himself out for in the past, began with consommé garni made from strained and clarified oxtail stock. The garni — garnish — was tiny multi-colored taste morsels floating on top. These were royal custards in asparagus, tomato, and carrot, cut into diamonds, hearts, and other shapes that burst into flavor at the touch of the tongue. A slightly sweet Madeira made an excellent pairing with the meat-based consommé. | ||||||
| The soup course was followed by a salade à la parisienne that looked like a Mondrian stained glass, with vegetables separately steamed to preserve individual colors: baby beets and carrots, and turned tiny white turnips. One perfect spear of pencil asparagus peeked out of a raw spiral-cut mushroom, like the tip of a top. At this point, Chef Charles revealed that he had been cooking for the previous two days. All the guests agreed that this gave them a much greater appreciation for the anonymous cooks in the royal households, and gave thanks for electricity. | ||||||
| The main course, hot from the oven, was pâté chaud au saumon — a hot deep-dish salmon, mushroom, and bacon pie. It was sauced with a freshly made hollandaise, one of the five mother or basic sauces into which Carême divided French cuisine, which made it modular, scientific, and easy to teach. | ||||||
| After the cheese plate and its Bordeaux accompaniment, the banquet culminated in an authentic Carême creation, Charlotte Russe. After Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo in 1815, a European coalition of victors, including Russian diplomats, occupied Paris. Carême proceeded to invent dishes honoring them, like Charlotte Russe — Russian Charlotte. It was a thing of beauty, the crown of ladyfingers with its filling of white Bavarian cream and topping of red raspberry purée. Sauternes was the final wine. | ||||||
| Throughout the dinner, Chef Perry kept up a running commentary on the preparation of the food and on his inspiration, Carême. Carême's famous table centerpieces, masterpieces of spun sugar called piece montées, were also on the table, although, helas! (that's French for alas!) they were only photographs. | ||||||
| There was more food than seven lucky people could possibly consume. Leftovers were abundant, which allowed the fortunate guests to go home with sacs de chien ("doggy bags" in no recognized French). The entire evening just went to prove what everyone in the Culinary Historians already knows – Charles Perry is a prize. He could be YOUR prize! | ||||||
 |
||||||
 |
||||||
 |
||||||
 |
||||||
 |
||||||
|
 |
|---|---|
Copyright © 2009 CHSC Last modified: 2009-08-16 16:36 |
|