an excessive enthusiasm for progress. Just across the river
from the Île St-Louis, Bofinger has a menu that would have
been largely unrecognisable thirty years ago. True, the
oysters and coquillages are still there, as is the choucroute,
and the desserts are a symphony of sugar and cream, with
a rum baba the size of a football and containing enough
rum to inebriate the first team of Paris St-Germain.
However, the main courses are no longer brasserie fare
but positively gastronomic, and my veal with salsify, black
truffles and creamed potatoes was expertly done.
Meanwhile, across the river, I am happy to say that
the jarret de porc aux lentilles is still on the menu at the
Brasserie de l’Isle. It costs a bit more than the six francs
I paid in 1978 but it is still a huge chunk of meat adorned
by nothing more than a thin gravy, some firm green lentils
and a pot of mustard.
30
HAM HOCK WITH LENTILS
The dark, moss-green puy lentils are traditional, but on this
occasion I used the slightly browner Castelluccio lentils.
They hold up just as well when cooked and have the
requisite rich and earthy flavour.
Serves at least eight.
2 ham hocks, weighing about
1.25kg (2lb 12oz) each
2 onions, both peeled, 1 sliced
1 large carrot
4 celery sticks
1 garlic bulb
3 bay leaves
a few sprigs of thyme
a handful of parsley stalks
250g (9oz) green or brown
lentils
12 cloves
1 red chilli
25g (1oz) butter
1 shallot, peeled and finely
chopped
½ glass of dry white wine
(say about 75ml/23⁄4fl oz)
100ml (3½fl oz) double cream
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons grain mustard
a little squeeze of lemon juice
salt and black pepper
Soak the hocks in a large pan of cold water overnight.
The next day, change the water, bring to the boil, then
discard the water and cover with fresh cold water. Add
the sliced onion, the carrot, celery, garlic, bay leaves and
thyme. Bring to a simmer, skimming carefully, and cook
over a gentle heat for 21⁄2 hours, replenishing the water so
it always covers the hocks.
Rinse the lentils in a sieve with cold water before
covering with fresh water in another saucepan. Add the
second onion, studded with the cloves and the chilli, and
bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and simmer gently
for 40 minutes, or until the lentils are perfectly tender.
Drain, if necessary, and season with salt only now that the
lentils are cooked.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small saucepan, add the
shallot and sweat gently. Add the wine and cook for about
5 minutes, or until it is reduced by half, before adding
two large ladlesful of the stock from the ham. Reduce this
quite vigorously by two-thirds, then whisk in the cream.
Boil briefly, then whisk in both mustards. Season this
sauce with salt, freshly ground black pepper and a little
squeeze of lemon juice to taste. Lift the hocks from their
stock and carve the meat from them, arranging it on top
of the lentils and dressing the dish with the sauce.
Boiled potatoes may also be served.
WINE: The brasserie staple, when speaking of red wine,
is a racy and fruity Beaujolais. In truth, this dish will not
struggle with any red.
32
A Good GCSE
Steak au Poivre
Albert Roux once maintained that if he wanted to assess
the ability of a young chef he would ask them to fry an
egg. The care with which they would break the shell, the
patience and low temperature they needed to cook the
white so that it did not toughen, the manner in which
they would gently baste the yolk and thus end up with a
perfectly cooked example would tell him all he needed to
know. If a fried egg was the eleven-plus of cookery I think
a peppered steak might be a good GCSE or even ‘A’ level.
There are a number of trucs – a French expression, best
translated as something between a trick and a technique
– involved in the operation. Firstly, assuming you have
bought well and have two beautiful chunks of fillet, the
meat should be brought to room temperature well in
advance of cooking. If the centre of the meat is at ambient
temperature, this will drastically shorten the cooking time
and the rest period. Secondly, the peppercorns must be
broken but no more: a crafty cook will then sieve the
ground corns and use what is left, retaining the finely
ground pepper for some other use. If finely ground pepper
is used on the steak it will burn and make it bitter.
The cook must colour the meat well on all sides, in a
mixture of oil and butter, and salt the meat before cooking
(frowned upon by some, but essential for flavour in my
book), and cook it until the centre of the steak it reaches
just over blood heat, then let it rest in a warm place while
they make the sauce. If the cooking of the meat will test
technical ability, the sauce will test the sense of taste. It
must be unctuous without being cloying and will need
just a hint of acidity and bite to do the steak