Recipe no. 391 from Jean-Baptiste Reboul's La Cuisinière provençale (1909), page 185.
Ingredients
- lettuces
- water
- salt
- pepper
- nutmeg
- bacon fat
- onion
- carrots
- thyme
- bay leaf
- salt pork
- white wine
- gravy
- broth
- thickened gravy
Preparation
- PreparingRemove only the largest leaves from your lettuces, blanch them for 7 to 8 minutes in salted water.
- RefreshingRefresh them, then drain them well.
- Arranging and seasoningArrange them on a table side by side, split them halfway along their length, season them with salt, pepper and nutmeg, reshape them and tie them in bundles of 3.
- BraisingPut them into a saucepan on the bottom of which you will have placed a few strips of bacon fat, rounds of onion and carrot, thyme and bay leaf. Add a piece of salt pork, let it sweat for a few minutes over the heat and then moisten with half a glass of white wine and a few spoonfuls of gravy or broth; let it cook covered.
- FinishingWhen the lettuces are tender, take them out onto a colander, untie them, separate each into 2 halves which you fold over in the middle to give them the shape of a fan; arrange them as you go in a pan or sauté pan, with a spoonful of broth to keep them warm until serving time. You will then arrange them in a ring on a dish; between each you will place a slice of the salt pork you cooked; spoon a little good gravy or thickened gravy over them.
Reboul's text
Remove only the largest leaves from your lettuces, blanch them for 7 to 8 minutes in salted water.
Refresh them, then drain them well. Arrange them on a table side by side, split them halfway along their length, season them with salt, pepper and nutmeg, reshape them and tie them in bundles of 3, and put them into a saucepan on the bottom of which you will have placed a few strips of bacon fat, rounds of onion and carrot, thyme and bay leaf. Add a piece of salt pork, let it sweat for a few minutes over the heat and then moisten with half a glass of white wine and a few spoonfuls of gravy or broth; let it cook covered. When the lettuces are tender, take them out onto a colander, untie them, separate each into 2 halves which you fold over in the middle to give them the shape of a fan; arrange them as you go in a pan or sauté pan, with a spoonful of broth to keep them warm until serving time. You will then arrange them in a ring on a dish; between each you will place a slice of the salt pork you cooked; spoon a little good gravy or thickened gravy over them.
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 |
|---|---|
| lachugo | lettuces |
| blanqueja | to blanch |
| aigo | salted water |
| agouta | to drain |
| assaboura | to season |
| enfeissela | to tie in bundles |
| lard | bacon fat |
| bagna | to moisten |
| vin | white wine |
| bouioun | broth |
Source: Jean-Baptiste Reboul, La Cuisinière provençale, Marseille, 1909, recipe no. 391, page 185. Public domain. Transcription, formatting and Provençal glossary by Lingua Nostra.