Recipe no. 208 from Jean-Baptiste Reboul's La Cuisinière provençale (1909), page 107.
Ingredients
- Beef fillet
- Foie gras
- Veal flesh
- Truffles
- Bacon fat
- Kitchen thread
- Strips of bacon fat
- Onion rings
- Carrots
- Thyme
- Bay leaf
- Madeira
- Broth
- Juice
- Sweetbreads
- Button mushrooms
- Flour
Preparation
- Trimming the filletChoose a fillet of good thickness. Trim it of its sinews and excess fat.
- Stuffing the filletOpen it along the side from one end to the other. The incision should go three quarters of the way in. Introduce a stuffing of pounded foie gras with half its weight of veal flesh. Scatter fine slices of truffle throughout.
- Sewing and bardingBring the two edges together and sew them with kitchen thread. Bard with bacon fat and tie well.
- Initial braisingLay the fillet in a braising pan lined with strips of bacon fat, onion rings and carrots, thyme, bay leaf. Put around it the trimmings of the fillet and truffles. Season, cover and set on a brisk fire. Let it sweat for a few minutes.
- Cooking with madeiraWhen the vegetables begin to catch, drizzle with a glass of madeira and let it reduce. Moisten with one or two ladlefuls of broth or juice. Let it finish cooking, basting it from time to time.
- Preparing the garnishesPrepare in parallel: braised sweetbreads cut into escalopes; 2 dozen cooked button mushrooms; as many small truffles cooked in madeira. Pour half the truffle cooking liquid into the mushrooms.
- Finishing the sauceTo the three garnishes in separate saucepans, add to each 2 spoonfuls of the fillet's juice, previously strained through a sieve, skimmed of fat and brought to a boil. Bind with 2 spoonfuls of flour mixed with madeira.
- Dressing and servingArrange the fillet on the platter with its garnish of sweetbreads, mushrooms and truffles, arranged symmetrically. Coat the fillet with part of the sauce and send the rest in a sauceboat.
Reboul's text
Choose a fillet of good thickness; trim it of its sinews and excess fat; open it along the side from one end to the other; the incision should go three quarters of the way into the fillet. Introduce into this opening a stuffing made of foie gras pounded with half its weight of veal flesh. Scatter fine slices of truffle throughout the stuffing and along the whole length of the fillet. Bring the two edges together and sew them with kitchen thread.
Barded with bacon fat and well tied, lay the fillet in a braising pan lined with strips of bacon fat, onion rings and carrots, thyme, bay leaf; put around it the trimmings of the fillet and of the truffles; season, cover the braising pan, set on a brisk fire, and let it sweat for a few minutes.
When the vegetables begin to catch, that is when they take on colour, drizzle with a glass of madeira, which you let reduce; moisten with one or two ladlefuls of broth or juice, and let it finish cooking, basting it from time to time with its own juices.
Meanwhile you will have prepared a garnish of braised sweetbreads; these sweetbreads will be cut into escalopes. You will also have cooked 2 dozen button mushrooms and as many small truffles. The latter should be cooked in madeira. Pour half the truffle cooking liquid into the mushrooms.
For these three garnishes, in separate saucepans, add to each 2 tablespoons of the fillet's juice, which you will have previously strained through a sieve, skimmed of fat and brought to a boil to bind it with 2 tablespoons of flour mixed with madeira.
Arrange the fillet on the platter with its garnish of sweetbreads, mushrooms and truffles, arranged symmetrically. Coat the fillet with part of the sauce, and send the rest in a sauceboat.
Small Provençal glossary for this recipe
Reboul writes in French: no Provençal word appears in this recipe, apart from the dish's name itself. The table below gives the Provençal equivalents of the words used, in mistralian spelling, translated by Lingua Nostra. Each form is attested in our Provençal-English dictionary; click to open the entry.
| Provençal | English |
|---|---|
| fielat | fillet |
| para | trim |
| oubra | open |
| farço | stuffing |
| fege | foie gras |
| rabas | truffles |
| brasiero | braising pan |
Source: Jean-Baptiste Reboul, La Cuisinière provençale, Marseille, 1909, recipe no. 208, page 107. Public domain. Transcription, formatting and Provençal glossary by Lingua Nostra.