Dumaine's Coq Au Vin

[pirate]

Cabrales. It is plain to me that they should have recognized you as a connoisseur of food and wine based on your early communications with them. Their behavior was reprehensible. There does not seem to be any definitive recipe for coq au vin. A good discussion is found in Courtine's book "The Hundred Glories of French Cooking" pp235-239. As far as origins, I quote from Courtine (hopefully not in violation of copyrights)

"The origins of the coq au vin are distant and doubtful. The Auvergne claims that the original ancestor was made with its Chanturgue wine. Burgundy claims its invention as one of the province's glories and local traditions"

Corroborating this is the fact that in Curnonsky's book "Traditional Recipes of the Provinces of France" recipes are presented for Auvergne (page 325, color illustration on page 323 from Restaurant Blanc, Paris) and for Bougogne (page 335, color illustration on page 349 from Restaurant Dumaine, Saulieu0

Courtine feels every wine region has its "coq au vin" with either red or white wine. In fact the recipe he chooses

to give is from Mme. Maigret. I quote

" The wife of Simenon's famous detective was of course originally from Alsace. And so the coq au vin that she cooks,simmers with love, for the world-famous inspector, is a coq au vin blanc. And, moreover,a white wine from Alsace.

But even , Mme Pardon, her friend, confesses to her one day that she detects something different, a subtle and flavorsome nuance in its taste.

'Ah' Mme. Maigret replies with celestial placidity, 'that's because I flavor my sauce with a drop of sloe gin'

I have tried the recipe.And flavorsome indeed it is"

The recipe uses 2 tsp. of sloe gin instead of brandy.

Okay, Cabrales, your next assignment is obvious.

[Jonathan Day]

Commiserations, Cabrales.

Many years ago I found myself in a US city (Phoenix? Las Vegas? LA? I don't remember), dining at a "French" restaurant with a group. I had just started to get really serious about French food and cooking, pastry especially, and had recently made my first génoise. It failed miserably, because I beat the final mixture rather than gently folding it, and it baked into an impenetrable disc which our Airedale played with for several days before burying it. Nonetheless I had been bitten by the French food bug in a serious way. This was years before a first visit to France, let alone a move across the pond.

After a generally forgettable meal, the dessert course arrived. The oily waiter announced, in terribly Frannsh tones, that they had a lovely apple tart on offer. "Is this a Tarte Tatin?" I asked. "Oh yes, sir," said the waiter, "that is the veritable Tarte Tatin."

Of course it was nothing of the kind -- just a mediocre tarte aux pommes with a soggy crust. I can still remember the sense of disappointment and anger that the waiter had bothered to lie about this.

It's one thing to bilk a rube at a faux-French restaurant in a strip mall, at the last minute; something else entirely to promise a dish, ordered days before, and then deliver something else entirely.

Incidentally, a very good coq au vin is not that hard to make. Chicken blood is tricky to come by unless you select the bird live and butcher it yourself (I have done this more with ducks and pheasants than chickens) but the rest of the ingredients are easily available, and the technique is fairly forgiving. Perhaps this is something to aspire to in your home cooking journey.

[KMPickard]

In Steingarten's new collection called "It must've been something I ate", he holds forth on coq au vin.

According to him, this dish must be made with a Rooster, and, of course with Rooster blood.

No problem--he mentions a supplier in Brooklyn.

[robert brown]

I have been spending part of the day reading "Trois Etoiles au Michelin". It would make Pirate the man referred to in the expression, "Have you ever seen a grown man cry". Jean Ducloux worked for Dumaine in 1935 and 1936. It is reasonable to assume that he is 82 years old, born in 1920.

The book is somewhat superficial, but you do read about the antecedents of some restaurants that are still going: Pic, La Mere Brazier, La Pyramide, La Reserve in Beaulieu and others that existed in the early 20th-century. (I am still in the section covering 1933-1939). My biggest surprise was that Restaurant La Mere Bourgeois in Priay, 35 miles NE of Lyon was not named for the socio-economic class, but for Mairie Bourgeoise whose cooking in the 1930s was revered by the Club des Cents and was awarded three stars by the Michelin until the year before she died in 1937. We loved that restaurant. It had a kitchen the size of one in a studio apartment in Manhattan. It was, when we were going there in 1975, owned by a Frenchman who then sold it to a young French woman who then sold it to an American who tried unsuccesfully to keep it going. We did have a lunch at Greuze in the late 1970s. I remember kidneys in red wine that were fabulous. My wife was overwhelmed by the quantity. I think I may have also had escargots. I bet it isn't quite the same. I remember that Francois Minot eventually became the "conseiller" who went around to Relais and Chateaux establishments and advised chefs.

Hold on: I see in viaMichelin that La Mere Bourgeois still exists, mentioning that it serves dishes that were there in the 1950s.

Edited January 2, 2003 by robert brown (log)

[cabrales]

Chef Ducloux is probably the most important of all Dumaine pupils (counting ones who have departed, not that I am aware of the Dumaine line at this point). Dumaine did not have many "recognized" pupils of which I am aware.

The restaurant recognized I was unhappy, and comp'd my apertif (the aperif of the house is a rasberry and champagne-based concoction). That did not mitigate my disappointment to any extent, although Ducloux's later recognition of the validity of the points I made was helpful.

On Ducloux, the portions are very large. A 1/2 order of the Pate en Croute "Alexandre Dumaine" is more than sufficient as an appetizer. The item contains not only foie gras, truffled gelee, but also very fatty meat from the neck of pigs together with very lean veal (last item tasted like chicken meat, but was in fact veal). Not bad, but perhaps slightly disappointing relative to my heightened expectations.

The restaurant's wine list is passable. According to fellow diners, it has deteriorated significantly in the past year after the departure of Claude (?). There are some bottles not on the list, but available, that were still not overwhleming.

Peter Rodgers -- I have only visited Auberge Bressane in Bourg-en-Bresse once, sampling a very morel-ridden, and fairly good Bresse chicken dish. For members who happen to visit, the Auberge is located right opposite Bourg-en-Bresse's church structure, which is worth a quick visit (after visits to the Bresse chicken farms, of course).

Edited January 2, 2003 by cabrales (log)

[Louisa Chu]

What I meant was does anyone have a recipe for Dumaine's coq au vin?

[cabrales]

Ducloux promised me one during my first meal at the restaurant, but forgot to hand it over during the second meal. I'll follow up to see whether he can do anything now, although I will ask him to take his time.

[pirate]

Let me give some references and comments. Since royalties from intellectual properties are part of my livelihood (yes I get pirated) I'm very reluctant to violate copyrights and quote.

In Dumaine's "Ma Cuisine" his recipe for Le Coq au Vin is on page 163. Main point is marinade.Non-numerical recipe. Some white wine incorporated with the red. The impeccable Richard Olney in his classic book "The French Menu Cookbook" ,pages 308-312 in original edition, gives an excellent discussion and recipe which helped me understand Dumaine's recipe.

Apart from this, I have found that the designation "volaille de Bresse" is too broad to guarantee quality; the chicken and duck I've eaten in France in the last few years has diminished in quality. I find the chicken and duck I've had in Japan superior. Also with respect to the quality of ingredients the red wine used for cooking is also the wine served. I would be impressed with any restaurant that did it that way.

[cabrales]

pirate -- Your food library seems to have many books that I lack and that I am hoping to acquire in time through web-based sources and perusing of the Librarie Gourmand. If you don't mind my asking, how many books of this nature do you have?

[pirate]

cabrales; Actually a small library. Less than a hundred books. I donate books that I don't feel worth keeping to the county library. Alas the German "Gourmet" ceased publication with the 100th issue. I only subscribe to "Feinschmecker" now.

[cabrales]

My own library is about that size, leaving aside the Michelin guides I also collect. I tend to discard many of the English langauge books I review.

[cabrales]

The menus for my meals at Greuze:

(Amuses of gougeres)

1/2 Pate en Croute "Alexandre Dumaine"

1/2 Quenelle de Brochet "Henri Racouchot" (Pike quenelles)

(Sorbet of Marc, as described by lizziee)

Purported coq au vin

House aperatif of rasberry-flavored champagne/white wine

1/2 bottle Gevrey Chambertin, Les Combettes, Dujac 1998

Chartreuse vert

(Amuses of gougeres)

1/3 Turbotin grille beurre a l'estragon (Grilled turbot with tarragon butter)

1/3 Galette de truffes "Dodin Bouffant" (Truffle pastry-like cake)

(Sorbet of Marc, as described by lizziee)

Filet de canard de Challans au poivre vert et ses cuisses grillees avec salade a l'huile de noix (Challans duck in two services, with green peppercorns and with the thighs served with a walnut oil salad)

House aperatif

Batard Montrachet, Sauzet 1997

Richebourg, Marc Rougeot-Dupin 1995

Apart from the Poulet de Bresse Saute "Jean Ducloux", the Greuze menu has another type of Bresse poultry -- the latter requires 24 hours' advance notice (and likely two diners at least). It is a version of chicken in half-mourning.

Edited January 8, 2003 by cabrales (log)

[Pierre de Cœur]

What I meant was does anyone have a recipe for Dumaine's coq au vin?

I have it, written by Monsieur Dumaine himself on his old typewriter on paper of the Hôtel de la Côte d'Or.

Here is the link to the original in French with a scan of the sheet: http://bitiji.org/pierredecoeur/category/gastronomy-fr/

There are also versions in English ans Spanish. Here it is in English:

 

COQ AU VIN

Take one farm chicken, cut it in pieces and condiment it.

In one pan, golden-brown some non-smoked bacon dices and a few small onions in a nut of butter. Remove them and put them apart for later.

In this butter, steam the pieces of fowl, during 20 minutes more or less, keeping them covered at a 75%. Add a mirepoix (sauce base) of shallots, carrots and one clove of garlic. Water it with Fine Bourgogne (wine alcohol similar to Cognac but from the region of Bourgogne). Reduce. Wet it with a bottle of good young red wine from the Côtes de Nuits (a Bourgogne wine), add a bouquet garni (a blend of species with thyme and laurel and a choice of parsley, sage, oregano, rosemary, coriander and savoury). Cook during half an hour besides the stove. Remove the pieces of chicken and put them in another casserole. Strain the cooking over the pieces of chicken, add the bacon, the small onions and 150 grams of mushrooms previously passed through butter. Let it simmer until complete cooking. Bind the sauce with a light roux and the blood of the chicken diluted in two supper spoons of the above-mentioned wine. Correct seasoning.

Serve with a generous wine of a good year of the Côtes de Nuits.

-- 

Pierre de Cœur