Recipe no. 129 from Jean-Baptiste Reboul's La Cuisinière provençale (1909), page 69.
Ingredients
- conger eels
- rainbow wrasse
- scorpionfish
- mantis shrimp
- spiny lobsters
- water
- white wine
- onions
- leeks
- carrots
- thyme
- bay leaf
- garlic
- celery
- fennel
- orange peel
- salt
- pepper
- gelatine
- egg whites
- saffron
- butter
- flour
- egg yolks
- cream
- turnips
- peas
- green beans
- flageolet beans
- mayonnaise
Preparation
- Preparing the stockPrepare a rich fish stock by putting small conger eels, rainbow wrasse, scorpionfish, mantis shrimp and 2 medium spiny lobsters in a saucepan; add liquid with water and a little white wine to obtain 2 and a half litres of stock; garnish with sliced onions, leeks and carrots, thyme, bay leaf, cloves of garlic, celery, fennel and orange peel; season with salt and crushed peppercorns.
- JellyTake the spiny lobsters out once cooked to let them cool. Strain the stock through a cloth; clarify one litre of it with 10 sheets of gelatine and a few egg whites, to obtain a clear jelly lightly tinted with saffron; strain it and fill a border mould with it, which you put to chill.
- Sauce and coating the spiny lobsterWith the remaining stock, add liquid to a small roux that you will have made in a saucepan with a piece of butter the size of an egg and 2 tablespoons of flour, so as to obtain a thick sauce; bind it with 2 egg yolks and 2 spoonfuls of cream and, once half cooled, coat the spiny lobsters with it, which you will have taken out of their shells and cut into regular slices; arranged on a tray or a marble slab, keep them cool.
- Vegetable saladYou will separately have prepared a vegetable salad made of carrots and turnips cut into small dice, peas, green beans, flageolet beans; mix in the spiny lobster trimmings, also cut up; season and bind this salad with a few spoonfuls of mayonnaise.
- PlatingWhen ready to serve, the jelly being set, unmould the border onto a round dish; put the vegetable salad in the middle; arrange the slices of spiny lobster on top in a pyramid and serve.
Reboul's text
Prepare a rich fish stock by putting small conger eels, rainbow wrasse, scorpionfish, mantis shrimp and 2 medium spiny lobsters in a saucepan; add liquid with water and a little white wine to obtain 2 and a half litres of stock; garnish with sliced onions, leeks and carrots, thyme, bay leaf, cloves of garlic, celery, fennel and orange peel; season with salt and crushed peppercorns.
Take the spiny lobsters out once cooked to let them cool. Strain the stock through a cloth; clarify one litre of it with 10 sheets of gelatine and a few egg whites, to obtain a clear jelly lightly tinted with saffron; strain it and fill a border mould with it, which you put to chill.
With the remaining stock, add liquid to a small roux that you will have made in a saucepan with a piece of butter the size of an egg and 2 tablespoons of flour, so as to obtain a thick sauce; bind it with 2 egg yolks and 2 spoonfuls of cream and, once half cooled, coat the spiny lobsters with it, which you will have taken out of their shells and cut into regular slices; arranged on a tray or a marble slab, keep them cool.
You will separately have prepared a vegetable salad made of carrots and turnips cut into small dice, peas, green beans, flageolet beans; mix in the spiny lobster trimmings, also cut up; season and bind this salad with a few spoonfuls of mayonnaise.
When ready to serve, the jelly being set, unmould the border onto a round dish; put the vegetable salad in the middle; arrange the slices of spiny lobster on top in a pyramid and serve.
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 |
|---|---|
| coungrès | conger eels |
| girello | rainbow wrasse |
| rascasso | scorpionfish |
| cigalo | mantis shrimp |
| bouioun | stock |
| esclargi | to clarify |
| jalarèio | gelatine |
| safran | saffron |
| rous | roux |
| farino | flour |
Source: Jean-Baptiste Reboul, La Cuisinière provençale, Marseille, 1909, recipe no. 129, page 69. Public domain. Transcription, formatting and Provençal glossary by Lingua Nostra.