Book of Days Tales

Today is the birthday (1755) of Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, a French lawyer and politician who was, and still is, an enormously influential food writer. He served as mayor of Belley, the city where he was born, but his opposition to the Jacobins during the French Revolution made it necessary for him to flee to Switzerland in 1792. He then made his way to New York, where he taught language and played violin in the John Street Theater Orchestra to support himself.

After two years in New York, Brillat-Savarin spent time in Connecticut familiarizing himself with U.S. culture and food. His discourse on hunting and cooking wild turkey (including his discussions on the subject with Thomas Jefferson) is riveting reading. Approximately four years after his exile, Brillat-Savarin was able to return to France after being reinstated as an honorable person. Soon after, he began serving as a judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal in Paris, a post he held for the rest of his life.

Brillat-Savarin embraced Parisian society and intellectual life, but he is best known for his culinary expertise and his twenty aphorisms on food, the most famous of which is, “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.” Even as a child he loved to be near the kitchen. While in Paris, he wrote Physiology of Taste, or Meditations on Transcendental Gastronomy, which he published anonymously.  It can be found here in English translation:

https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/5434/pg5434.txt

Pot-au-feu is one of the great classic dishes of France, served by rich and poor alike.  Brillat-Savarin was not enamored of haute cuisine or fancy cooking.  He prepared simple, hearty dishes prepared well and served without fanfare.  His discussion of pot-au-feu is a classic.

MEDITATION VI.

Section I. POT-AU-FEU, POTAGE, ETC.

 Pot-au-feu is a piece of beef, intended to be cooked in boiling water, slightly salted so as to extract all the soluble parts.

Bouillon is the fluid which remains after the operation.

Bouilli is the flesh after it has undergone the operation.

Water dissolves at first a portion of the osmazome; then the albumen coagulates at 50 degrees Reaumur, and forms the foam we see. The rest of the osmazome, with the extractive part of juice, and finally a portion of the wrapping of the fibres detached by the continuity of ebullition.

To have good bouillon, the water must be heated slowly, and the ebullition must be scarcely perceptible, so that the various particles necessarily dissolved, may unite ultimately and without trouble.

It is the custom to add to bouillon, vegetable or roots, to enhance the taste, and bread or pates to make it more nourishing. Then it is what is called potage.

Potage is a healthy food, very nourishing, and suits every body; it pleases the stomach and prepares it for reception and digestion. Persons threatened with obesity should take bouillon alone.

All agree that no where is potage made so well as in France, and in my travels I have been able to confirm this assertion. Potage is the basis of French national diet, and the experience of centuries has perfected it.

Pot-au-feu is one of my favorite dishes – so much so that I used to make a version of it about once per week. Many cultures have their own version of pot-au-feu such as the northern Italian bollito misto or the Argentine puchero. I am not inclined to give you a fixed recipe because that would destroy the spirit of pot-au-feu.

©Pot-au-Feu

A classic pot-au-feu begins with marrow bones and stewing beef which may be browned or not.  For 4 people you will need about 2 lbs of beef cut in large chunks and 1-2 lbs of bones.  Place them in a large, heavy stock pot and add 4 pints of water.  The essential secret concerning pot-au-feu is that the water must be brought to a simmer very slowly and maintained at the merest simmer for the entire cooking time – 5 hours or longer.  Some people add vegetables right at the beginning, but I find that this practice, while making a rich broth, overcooks the vegetables.  So I let the meat and bones simmer for about 3 hours before adding the vegetables.

When the water starts to simmer, add salt to taste.  This was bring a brownish-grey scum to the surface.  Use a slotted spoon to remove it, add a small amount of cold water to the pot to stop the simmering and then let it warm to the simmer again.  This will induce more scum to rise, which should be removed.  Repeat this process for about 15 to 20 minutes until there is no more scum, just a white froth.

Add a bay leaf, a coarsely chopped onion, a minced clove of garlic, and some parsley and thyme, and let gently simmer, covered for 3 hours.  Then add coarsely diced carrots, leeks, turnips, and celery, or whatever hardy vegetables you desire.  It is customary to cook potatoes separately if you desire them.

When the meat is very tender, strain off the broth (bouillon) into a fresh pot and bring to the boil.  If you desire you can clarify it to make a consommé, but I prefer it as is.  Keep the meat and vegetables (bouilli) warm whilst you serve the bouillon.  Serve the bouilli with sauces and garnishes of your choice, which might include mustard, horseradish, cornichons, pickled onions and the like.  I serve the meat and vegetables all together but it is also common to present the meat in one serving dish and the vegetables in another.