The French perfection

Rahul verma

Despite being a die-hard supporter of Spain, I felt a little sorry for France when it lost in the football Euro Cup last week. France has a good team. To top it, the country has just gone through a gruelling election. And then, today is their national day too. On this day 235 years back, the Bastille fell, and July 14 became a symbol of revolutionary struggle.

Keeping all that in mind, I thought it was time to say bonjour to French food. This cuisine is a great favourite of mine, and it never fails to sadden me that France’s subtle yet flavoursome food hasn’t really taken off in India, not the way, say, Chinese, Thai or Italian has.

There are some big and small French restaurants across the country, of course. Delhi has a few, and I had some great meals in restaurants which no longer exist. I remember in particular a vol-au-vent with baked cheese and snails, and the Brie de Meaux aux truffes — brie (soft cheese) stuffed with chopped truffles, served with toasted walnut bread — that I ate at a quaint little place in New Delhi.

To my mind, the cuisine is among the top three in the world. The ingredients are often mouth-watering — who can say no to truffles? And, of course, it’s the sauce that gives every dish a special touch. Take the immensely popular coq-au-vin. This dish gets its flavours largely from a wine sauce. What appeals to me in particular is that the sauces don’t overwhelm the flavours of the main ingredient.

I enjoy all the wonderfully elegant dishes that the French prepare with such care. Think of une gelee d’escargot a ’aneth — escargots (snails) served with dill-flavoured hard-boiled quail eggs and jelly — or poitrine de canard fumée sur lit de pomme de terre sarladaise, miel et truffes, smoked duck breast with sautéed potatoes, honey and truffle. But, equally, I love the home-style food of France. I once had a simple garlic soup that a French chef had prepared for me, and thought it was out of this world. When there was just a bit of soup left in my bowl, he asked me to pour some wine into it. I, following his instructions, stirred the wine in, and swirled the bowl. And then, I mopped the remaining soup-cum-wine with a piece of crusty bread, and came close to nirvana.

To prepare this garlic soup, take 120 g sliced garlic, 60 g flour, 60 g butter, 1 litre strong vegetable stock, 8 slices of bread, 40 ml cream and salt and pepper to taste. Sauté the garlic in hot butter till it is light golden. Add the flour and cook for three minutes. Now add the stock and cook for 20 minutes, stirring now and then. Season. Add the cream. Place the bread at the bottom of a soup bowl. Pour the hot soup on it and serve.

Provençale food — the cuisine of south-eastern France — is to die for. I recall a meal that Michelin-starred chef Marc Bayon had prepared at a Delhi restaurant several years ago. Provençale food, influenced by Mediterranean cuisine, relies heavily on the flavours of extra-virgin olive oil, garlic and tomatoes. His menu included a delightful garlic-rubbed lamb dish with vegetables and lavender jus (thin gravy or sauce), and an olive-studded red snapper with tomato tarte tatin and sauce vierge (fresh French sauce). Combinations of these three ingredients would be found in sauces, soups, salads, and all kinds of dishes in the region, the chef said.

The French, as I discovered after a few encounters with a couple of master chefs, are as proud of their cuisine as they are critical of those who wish to play around with it. A top visiting chef once told me that he made sure that there were no salt and pepper cellars on the table when he served a meal. He used to turn very French and say ‘Non, non!’ when anyone asked for salt or condiments.

I have my own two-word answer to French cuisine. ‘Oui, oui,’ I say.

French Onion soup

Ingredients
Butter 30 g
Onions (large, thinly sliced) 4
Black pepper (ground) 1 tsp
Meat or vegetable stock 1 litre
Worcestershire sauce 3 tbsp
Garlic (minced) 1 tsp
Crusty bread, toasted 4 slices
Cheese slices 4
Salt To taste

Method

Heat a heavy-bottomed pot. Add the butter, onion, black pepper and garlic. Sauté till the onions are tender. Add the broth, Worcestershire sauce and salt to taste. Cover and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes. Ladle out the soup in four small bowls. Add a piece of toast and cheese slice to each bowl, and put on the top shelf of your oven (for direct heat) for about five minutes.

Take out of the oven, and serve.