Recipe no. 11 from Jean-Baptiste Reboul's La Cuisinière provençale (1909), page 15.
Ingredients
- A piece of mutton, from the leg slice
- Lard
- 100 g of lean bacon or salt pork
- An onion
- Salt and pepper
- Broth
- A litre and a half of hot water
- 250 g of sorted and washed rice
- A pinch of saffron
- A small onion studded with 2 cloves
- Bouquet garni (celery, chervil, bay leaf)
Preparation
- Browning the meatTake a piece of mutton, preferably from the leg slice; put it into a pan with a little lard and 100 g of lean bacon or salt pork; brown it on both sides.
- Onion and slow cookingAdd a chopped onion, give it 2 turns without browning, moisten with a spoonful of broth, season with salt and pepper, cover and let cook over low heat.
- Hot waterWhen you judge the meat cooked (usually not less than 2 hours are needed), then add about a litre and a half of hot water.
- Rice and aromaticsRaise the heat, and once the boil is well under way throw in 250 g of sorted and washed rice, a pinch of saffron, the necessary salt, a small onion studded with two cloves, a small bouquet garni made of a sprig of celery, a sprig of chervil and a bay leaf tied together.
- Final cookingLet cook covered and slowly for at least 25 minutes; a few minutes more if rice well cooked is preferred.
Reboul's text
Take a piece of mutton, preferably from the leg slice; put it into a pan with a little lard and 100 g of lean bacon or salt pork; brown it on both sides, add a chopped onion, give it 2 turns without browning, moisten with a spoonful of broth, season with salt and pepper, cover and let cook over low heat; when you judge the meat cooked, which happens somewhat sooner or later according to the thickness of the slice (usually not less than 2 hours are needed), then add about a litre and a half of hot water.
Raise the heat, and once the boil is well under way throw in 250 g of sorted and washed rice, a pinch of saffron, the necessary salt, a small onion studded with two cloves, a small bouquet garni made of a sprig of celery, a sprig of chervil and a bay leaf tied together; let cook covered and slowly for at least 25 minutes; a few minutes more if rice well cooked is preferred.
This soup should be almost as thick as a pilau. The mutton is served separately.
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 |
|---|---|
| moutoun | mutton |
| casseto | pan |
| sahin | lard |
| lard | bacon |
| besuscla | brown |
| ris | rice |
| safran | saffron |
| girofle | clove |
| àpi | celery |
| cerfuei | chervil |
Source: Jean-Baptiste Reboul, La Cuisinière provençale, Marseille, 1909, recipe no. 11, page 15. Public domain. Transcription, formatting and Provençal glossary by Lingua Nostra.