127 replies to this topic

[PS]

I had a wonderful Poulet de Bresse meal at George Blanc's L'Ancienne Auberge bistro in Vonnas. I think it was Poulet a la mere Blanc (excuse my shaky French) - chicken done in a creme fraiche sauce, served with rice. Absolutely delicious, and as noted above, very moist. The recipe is in his Cuisine en Famille book, which is highly recommended, even with my sketchy grasp of the language.

You could always try Blanc's La Splendid in Lyon? I am sure they will do plenty of Poulet de Bresse recipes there.

[MobyP]

Here's an appalingly tanslated English Version of the Blanc recipe with Foie Gras.

[Jonathan Day]

I used to buy poultry from the Boucherie Alain in Mougins; it may well have supplied the poulet de Bresse to L'Amandier, where Ducasse cooked that chicken described in the link Moby has provided. It supplied a number of the area restaurants. Sadly, the Boucherie Alain is now closed and my last meal at L'Amandier, which no longer associated with Vergé or Ducasse, was horrid -- e.g. parts were burnt.

But Alain, while it was open, was a marvel. I once ordered a Bresse capon there; Alain's apprentice started to prepare it, removing pinfeathers, trimming the bird, and in general going through the wonderful ritual that artisanal butchers follow before handing a product over to the customer. The queue was long and Alain himself was busy, but he spotted the apprentice at work, swooped down on him and grabbed the capon. "C'est un chapon de Bresse," he admonished, "et il faut le respecter." That's a Bresse capon! Show it some respect!

Quite a bit of cookery advice could be summed up in those four words: show it some respect!

[Bux]

Here's an appalingly tanslated English Version of the Blanc recipe with Foie Gras.

From the White George restaurant! At least i can add "elutriate" to my vocabulary.

[Fat Guy]

Bleu, that recipe/presentation looks almost exactly like what I had at Georges Blanc. I'll try to dig out my notes to see if there was any notable variance.

[Bux]

Especially since Blanc doesn't brown the meat, I would think it would be great cold the next day in a salad with some homemade mayonnaise. Thus a larger bird could be good for two or more meals.

[sarge]

Here's an appalingly tanslated English Version of the Blanc recipe with Foie Gras.

Here is a better if less interesting translation of the recipe from the same site.

Edited by sarge, 04 July 2004 - 03:33 PM.

[artisanbaker]

the chicken is overrated imo.

go with a farm chicken that's been well raised for half the price

[bleudauvergne]

Hi artisanbaker - would you mind sharing your experience that gave the impression it was overrated, i.e. have you prepared dishes featuring this bird or were you served it at a restaurant and felt it was not up to your expectation? My poulet de Bresse is the same price as free range. My thought is that maybe I am not preparing it in a way that best suits the bird, and hearing both how people have prepared it and had memorable experiences or how it was served (and enjoyed - or not) in a restaurant would be helpful.

[Jonathan Day]

By American standards his chicken is also a bit undercooked, but this definitely allows the flavors to carry -- I imagine if you took his chicken up another few degrees in doneness it would lose much of its subtlety.

This is a point not worth skating by. Some of the finest chickens I have tasted in French restaurants (Ledoyen and the Grand Véfour both come to mind) have had breast meat that was just on the edge of pink. A recent chicken with tarragon at L'Auberge, in London, was done in this way. Chez Bruce, also in London, sometimes features a poached chicken; the waiters warn customers that the meat will be slightly pink.

Corby Kummer wrote a piece in The Atlantic -- unfortunately so long ago that it's not on their website -- called "Cook Pork Pink: It's Better That Way". Maybe something similar should be written about chicken.

[Schneier]

The Bresse chicken we had at Georges Blanc a few years ago was quite memorable. It seemed identifiably different from any other chicken we'd had in France and altogether different from American chickens. It was probably a 4-5 pound bird. Half of it split between two people was a lot of food.

I also had a Bresse chicken at Georges Blanc a few years ago. I didn't taste a real qualititative difference in the chicken. Yes, it was delicious, but it was chicken. What I really want is a side-by-side comparison.

[John Whiting]

Some of the finest chickens I have tasted in French restaurants (Ledoyen and the Grand Véfour both come to mind) have had breast meat that was just on the edge of pink.  A recent chicken with tarragon at L'Auberge, in London, was done in this way. Chez Bruce, also in London, sometimes features a poached chicken; the waiters warn customers that the meat will be slightly pink.

Corby Kummer wrote a piece in The Atlantic -- unfortunately so long ago that it's not on their website -- called "Cook Pork Pink: It's Better That Way".   Maybe something similar should be written about chicken.

The pinkness is, I believe, the result of a necessary compromise in restaurant cooking. An unavoidable fact is that it is impractical for a restaurant to offer very long slow-cooked meat, unless it is a joint that can be divided into a number of servings, such as mouton de sept heurs. For instance, on Sunday we had, at home, a fine organic chicken which had been cooked for half a day in a brick at gas 1 while we were out visiting gardens. If Allard's poulet de Bresse on Thursday is in this class, I'll be pleasantly astounded.

When Rowley Leigh wrote his first cookbook, his title of choice, which his publisher asked him to drop, was Better at Home.

EDIT Slow cooked in this fashion, the skin is pale and not crisp, but we consider this to be a small sacrifice. When cold, the meat can still virtually be eaten with a spoon. It is essential that the meat rest to luke-warm before cutting, so that the juices do not pour out.

Edited by John Whiting, 05 July 2004 - 02:13 PM.

[Schneier]

For instance, on Sunday we had, at home, a fine organic chicken which had been cooked for half a day in a brick at gas 1 while we were out visiting gardens.

Can someone please translate this into American. I have no "brick," nor is my gas numerically calibrated.

[Fat Guy]

Isn't meat color a question of temperature, not time?

Restaurants manage to do plenty of slow cooking. There's nothing about the configuration of a restaurant kitchen that makes quick cooking mandatory. Slow cooking is basically just a part of mise en place, like dicing vegetables or making stocks: you have to make a prediction as to how many customers will want the dish, you prepare that many portions, and if you underestimate you 86 the item and if you overestimate you have tomorrow's staff meal. Braised dishes are ubiquitous at all levels of restaurant -- short ribs, lamb shanks, etc. -- and prime rib and roast beef are easy enough to find in both the US and UK. Cassoulet, coq au vin . . . you can get all this stuff in restaurants. In the poultry department, there are plenty of restaurants, though not typically haute cuisine ones, and vendors that specialize in rotisserie chicken, which I would characterize as a slow cooking method. And of course sous vide cooking has opened up a whole new area of slow cookery.

I certainly agree that some things are better at home, though. Indeed I think that would make a good topic, separate from this one.

[John Whiting]

Steven's response is entirely correct in theory, but I suspect that the practicalities militate againsy very slow cooking except for those restaurants which specialize in it for a narrowly defined repertoire. As for color: whatever the reason, our very slow-cooked meat is never in fact pink.

For American readers: a chicken brick, once fashionable but now difficult to obtain, is an unglazed clay pot whose interior is exactly the shape and size of a 4 lb. chicken. Gas 1 in an oven is 275F.

[Fat Guy]

Okay now I need to find one of these things. Is this eBay item what you're talking about?

http://cgi.ebay.com/...ssPageName=WDVW

[Boris_A]

An unavoidable fact is that it is impractical for a restaurant to offer very long slow-cooked ...

That's why I love to offer exactly that kind of cookery. It's tasty, it's simple (almost primitive) , and I dont' know of many (rather any) professional locations where you can order it. Thus, a vast field for amateurs (not inclined to imitate the pros).

  Isn't meat color a question of temperature, not time?

There are two parameters in play here (one too much, I'm tempted to say)

the waiters warn customers that the meat will be slightly pink.

A task much more difficult if you are not the waiter but rather an unstarred home cook wihtout any authority.

[Bux]

the waiters warn customers that the meat will be slightly pink.

A task much more difficult if you are not the waiter but rather an unstarred home cook wihtout any authority.

Mrs. B has no problem not only telling me how the food will be served, but that I will like it--all with good authority.

[TarteTatin]

I agree with Fat Guy that Georges Blanc, where we've eaten twice, has the best Poulet Bresse I've ever had!
It does taste completely different!

But for us, perhaps its because we are visiting the very heart of Bresse country?
The Terroir is everything.
Even Bleu de Bresse is better when you are right there in the middle of it!

Just like Jersey tomatoes are better when you are right here in New Jersey (actually Philly).

Local stuff tastes best to me.
Wherever you are.

...and as to the pink question for fowl...I say go for it. Not bloody, but pink is fine.

[TatarsHat]

I was just perusing my August Food & Wine and came across an article using a Mattone (Italian Brick) It's a two piece clay vessel. The top lid needs to fit inside the bottom which applies pressure to the chicken. Not sure if chicken brick on ebay does that but it looks interesting!! A Mattone can be purchased at Sur La Table, W-S etc.

[John Whiting]

Okay now I need to find one of these things. Is this eBay item what you're talking about?

http://cgi.ebay.com/...ssPageName=WDVW

That's it. A slightly different design, but exactly the same principle. It needn't fit the bird exactly; we often do a couple of little poussins side by side in ours.

The bird(s) ends up partially roasted, partially braised in its own juices.

And now -- off to Allard.

[robyn]

I agree with Fat Guy that Georges Blanc, where we've eaten twice, has the best Poulet Bresse I've ever had!
It does taste completely different!

I'll cast another vote. Best chicken I ever had. Robyn

[robert brown]

John, one of my old-time Parisian gastronomic pals, an eccentric (but not wildly so) chap named Alain Weill told me a couple of months ago as we were lamenting the various gastronomic losses, that Allard remains unchanged. For some inexplicable reason I never have set foot in it. Let us know how you find it. Bon appetit.

[bleudauvergne]

Today we will be driving up to Bourg en Bresse to check out a kitty camp - if it turns out to promise fun for a cat, ours will take her August vacation there. I will report on the state of affairs in the locale upon our return.

John - any news from Allard?

[Jonathan Day]

Allard was one of the very first restaurants I visited in Paris. My girlfriend (now my wife) and I had gone in the early 1980s. It was late springtime, we were in love, and Paris seemed to glow. We rented a flat on the Rue Jacob, at the Pl. Furstenburg end, near a tiny but wonderful market. Asparagus were in season, and I was charmed that the proprietor of the best vegetable stall was more than happy to discuss her product as we returned each day to buy. The flat had a minuscule kitchen, but it was equipped with every tool you could want, and none you didn't need.

There are only a few things I remember about that first meal at Allard: enormous asparagus, covered with the freshest butter I had ever tasted and perfectly tender. At a neighbouring table, a single woman had ordered duck with olives, which I believe is a speciality of the place. We couldn't understand how one person could consume a whole duck by herself (the olives made the bird look larger than it is), and were puzzled that she kept taking pieces from her dish and putting them under the table. Was it the French way to throw indigestible bits on the floor? We later realised that her dog was having a duck feast underneath the table.

We returned to Allard some 10 years later. It no longer had the same ethereal glow; the shock of the new was gone, and I have no doubt that the restaurant declined in performance, as restaurants tend to do. Nonetheless we enjoyed it. This time we ordered duck with olives. It was tasty, though just a bit oversalted. An American couple at the next table was so interested in the dish that we gave them some to try. Obviously, this is a dish to share.

John, I hope that your meal at Allard is as wonderful as that first one seemed to us.

[bleudauvergne]

After visiting the closest thing to hell for a cat, complete with kennels of big barking hunting dogs lurching up and slamming their lumbering bodies against the fence in attempt to eat us (and we weren't even kitties!), we bid the kitty summer camp goodbye forever with a vow not to abandon our dear feline companion there, ever, and proceeded to a town called Vonnas, which is entirely consecrated to the Georges Blanc dynasty. Squares and streets names after his family members, etc. Statues of chickens everywhere. It came very close to Disneyland.



We went to the inn where they have the fancy restaurant to ask about what they offer, and I was greeted by Georges Blanc's wife (I didn't realise it at the time, but I later saw her photo on the front of a cookbook in the Georges Blanc gift shop). She gave me some brochures. If we'd stayed another 3 minutes, we would have been greeted by the chef himself, since we saw him walking down the other side of the street from us from one of the kitchens down the street. I was tempted to approach him, but decided to wait for an official visit when I would have questions ready and be more elegantly dressed.


We decided to have lunch at his l'Ancienne Auberge, which is much more casual than the formal restaurant Georges Blanc.



We had the cheapest menu, which had Poulet de Bresse a la creme for a €3 supplement. Lunch for two came to about €78, complete with a pot of Macon blanc and coffee.

The poulet:



Although I've been avoiding rice lately, I ate it yesterday in order to fully appreciate the sauce. The rice was garnished with roasted garlic, part of the comb, and chevril. The comb wasn't very flavorful but edible and it gave a nice visual touch.



In my opinion, the chicken was perfectly fine as chicken goes, but the sauce was what made the dish.

We proceeded to the Georges blanc gift shop after lunch. I passed on the opportunity to buy a new wardrobe of Georges Blanc clothing, complete with his name embroidered across my chest and on back pocket, and decided instead to pick up a cookbook. There were two that interested me. One had lots of gorgeous photos and cost €36, and had a Poulet de Bresse recipe. The other, "Cuisine en Famille", did not have any photos but had 4 recipes for Poulet de Bresse. I got the second one. It cost €22.

edit spellling of Georges

Edited by bleudauvergne, 11 July 2004 - 08:17 AM.

[Fat Guy]

You don't mess around.

Looking forward to a report of the official visit!

[artisanbaker]

"the sauce was what made the dish"



funny how that always works! glad you agree that there is nothing more special than a AOC designation. a well raised poulet slaughtered at a age "correct" is more important than celebration/authentication.

[bleudauvergne]

"the sauce was what made the dish"



funny how that always works! glad you agree that there is nothing more special than a AOC designation. a well raised poulet slaughtered at a age "correct" is more important than celebration/authentication.

I'm really not sure it always works like that, since I've had some pretty mangy free range birds in my day. Let me emphasize that it was a very good chicken as chickens go. And the sauce, well it was divine. The flavor of the sauce comes from the bird, of course.

Now that you've so thoughtfully mentionned it, I've done a little more research into the AOC standard. They are fed on milk products, sweet corn, and cereals only, and raised on lush grass free range. Age of slaughter are specified as follows:

Poulet de Bresse (avg weight - 1.2 Kg): 4 months
Poularde de Bresse (avg weight 1.8Kg): 5 months
Chapon de Bresse (avg weight 3Kg): 8 months

This could explain the Poularde Fricasee being especially flavorful. I have not looked for the Poularde or the Chapon, but will keep an eye out this week at the producers market.

[Bux]

We proceeded to the Georges blanc gift shop after lunch. I passed on the opportunity to buy a new wardrobe of Georges Blanc clothing, complete with his name embroidered across my chest and on back pocket, and decided instead to pick up a cookbook.

What a simple and unpretentious, but absolutely lovely presentation of the rice.

I too passed up on what I actually thought was a very handsome tie. I don't remember why, it may have been too expensive for my taste or we may have wanted to spend our money on pates and jams as gifts for friends. In those days you could bring jarred and canned meats into the US legally. I believe it was the peach jam with vanilla that was super, albeit premium priced. Anyway, the ties are the same ones worn by the waiters in the main restaurant. One Asian diner was sporting a Georges Blanc rooster tie that evening. When he noticed the waiters were wearing the same ties, he retreated into the rest room and returned without the tie.

In addition to at least two restaurants, Blanc operates two inns, or did at the time. The less luxurious rooms were in the buidling just over the shop. It very much resembles a theme park devoted to cuisine (and to Georges Blanc). There was a grassy square surrounded by Blanc establishments. When we were there, they also very proudly showed us a heliport installed in a field behind the main residence.