|
All text and pictures of dishes are the intellectual property of
Coquinaria and may not be reproduced without permission and acknowledgement..
|
A delicious dish from the nineteenth century
that is easy to prepare. How delicious exactly it will turn out depends on
the poultry (a real capon -mouthwatering but expensive-, a good poularde
-very tasty as well-, or the watery pale poor industrial chicken -bleh-)
and the stock you use (homemade chicken
stock or a miserable liquid poured out of pots or made from cubes).
This recipe is taken from the
translation in Dutch of a German cookbook, the Praktisches
Kochbuch (Practical cookbook), written by Henriette Davidis (first
impression 1844). The Dutch version is called Keukenboek
(Kitchenbook). I have in my possession a copy of the second impression
(1868) of this Dutch adaptation (For it is not an exact translation of the
German original).
Henriëtte Davidis (1801-1876) was a well-known writer of cookbooks in
nineteenth-century Germany. Her mother was of Dutch origin, her father was
a clergyman. Some of the other cookbooks she wrote are: Puppenköchin Anna. Ein praktisches Kochbuch
für kleine, liebe Mädchen (1856) (Doll-cook Anna. A practical
cookbook for sweet little girls) and Die Hausfrau: Praktische
Anleitung zur selbständigen und sparsamen Führer des Haushaltes (How
to be an independent and economical housewife). These books were also
translated in Dutch.
Her books were also important for the American cooking tradition in the
Mid West, many emigrated Germans entered the new country with their own
volume of the Praktisches Kochbuch. In 1897 an American edition was
published, entitled Henriette Davidis Practical Cook Book (see
Bibliography).
In the city of Wetter near Dortmund there is Henriette
Davidis Museum.
A capon is a castrated cock. It was customary to castrate male animals to fatten
them up. Animals of the female sex could be productive in other ways:
reproduction, production of eggs or milk. Moreover, the meat from female animals
contains a higher percentage of fat and was tastier. The males have limited use (gentlemen,
don't take this personally!), apart from their procreational function they can
serve either as beast of burden or supplier of second-rate meat. A castrated
animal would have a higher percentage of fat, resulting in tastier meat.
Cocks were castrated ever since chickens
are held as domestic animals. The capon is larger than the cock, about the size
of a goose. However, capons have more meat than geese, because a goose has
rather heavy bones. The taste of capon is not so spectacularly different from
chicken that you have to go looking for a castrated cock, just buy a free-range
poularde (a chicken that weighs 1.5 to 2 kilo [3.3 to 4.4 lbs] and is six to
eight months old).
|
|
The original recipe from Keukenboek by Henriëtte
Davidis (1868), on pages 78, 19/20 and 162/3. To make this dish you have to
consult several recipes.
| Kapoenen worden
als kalkoenen behandeld: wanneer men ze à la braise gereed maakt, geeft
men ze met oester-, kapper- of champignonsaus (zie de sauzen.) - p.78,
Hoofdstuk E. Wildbraad en gevogelte, recept nr 12 [in de koptekst staat
een zetfout, "D"in plaats van "E".] |
Capons are
treated like turkeys: when prepared "à la braise" they are
served with oyster-, caper or mushroomsauce (see section on sauces)
-p.78, chapter E: Venison and poultry, recipe nr.12.
|
| Om braise
te maken. Men neemt eene goed sluitende pan, belegt den bodem met
schijven spek, strooit er gehakt niervet over en de volgende
kruiderijen: heele peper, nagelen, een paar stukken gember, eenige heele
chalotten of dikke schijven uije, dragon, eenige laurierbladen en een
paar pieterseliewortels. Hierop wordt het vleesch, dat met zout
ingewreven moet zijn, neergelegd, om, goed toegedekt, langzaam gaar te
smoren; als het noodig is, vult men het met wat bouillon aan.
Kalfsvleesch, kippen en eenden zijn aldus toebereid, bijzonder
smakelijk; men dient ze met eene of andere saus, waarvoor het onderste
uit de pan gebruikt kan worden. - pp.19/20, Hoofdstuk A. Algemeene
voorbereidingsmaatregelen, recept nr 36. |
To make
"braise". Take a pan with a well-fitting lid, cover the bottom
with slices of bacon, put some chopped suet on it, and the following
spices: whole pepper, cloves, some slices of ginger, some whole shallots
or thick slices of onion, estragon, some bayleafs and some roots of
parsley. The meat, rubbed with salt, is placed on [this layer
of onions and spices] and, with the lid tightly on the pan, slowly
simmered until it is done; when neccesary you can add some broth.
Veal, chickens and ducklings thus prepared are very tasty. They
are served with some sauce or other, for wich the fat out of the pan can
be used. -pp.19/20, chapter A: General preparations, recipe nr.36
|
| Kappersaus.
Men handele volgens nr 8 [het recept voor witte ansjovissaus], maar
gebruike, in plaats van ansjovis, een kopje vol kappers, met het nat
waarin zij zijn ingemaakt. - p.163, Hoofdstuk R. Sauzen, recept nr 10. |
Caper-sauce. Make
it the same way as described in recipe nr.8 (the recipe for white
anchovy-sauce), but instead of anchovy, use a cup full of capers
with their liquid - p.163, chapter R: Sauces, recipe nr.10. |
| Witte
ansjovissaus. Men kookt bouillon met citroenschil, grof gestooten
witte peper en nagelen, benevens een paar laurierbladen. Dan fruit men
chalotten en meel in boter, roert dit er door en giet alles door eene
zeef. Nu brengt men de saus op nieuw aan de kook en kruidt ze met
ansjovis, geprepareerd volgens A nr 15, met citroensap, 1 glas witten
wijn en wat gestooten foelie. Men bindt haar eindelijk met 2
eijerdoijers en een stukje boter. - Wanneer men ongeprepareerde gehakte
ansjovis gebruikt, kan men er eenige bezuinigen door de graten, die er
zijn uitgenomen, in den bouillon mede te koken. - p.162, Hoofdstuk R.
Sauzen, recept nr 8. |
White
anchovysauce. Bring to the boil broth with lemonpeel, coarsly crushed
white pepper end cloves, and some bayleafs. Then fry shallots and flour
in some butter, stir in [the broth with spices] and put through a
sieve. Now bring the sauce to the boil again and season with anchovy,
prepared as described in A nr 15, with lemonjuice, 1 glass of white wine
and some crushed mace. Thicken the sauce with 2 eggyolks and a piece of
butter. - When using unprepared chopped anchovy, one can economize on
these by boiling the fishbones that were taken out with the broth.
-p.162, chapter R. Sauces, recipe nr.8. |
|
|
1 poularde, rubbed with salt
To do the braising:
150 gram (1/3 pound) bacon or porkfat in 6 slices
some extra, thin slices bacon
100 gram (1/2 cup) chopped suet
15 black peppercorns
8 cloves
5 slices of gingerroot
1 onion, sliced
some sprigs of estragon
some roots of parsley
some chickenbroth (optional)
|
To make the sauce:
40 gram (2 1/2 Tbsp.) butter or chicken-dripping
40 gram (1/3 cup) flour
1/2 liter (2 cups/1 pint) chicken broth
lemon peel, white pepper, 3 cloves, 1 bayleaf
2 finely chopped shallots
100 gram (1/2 cup) capers with the vinegar
1 decilitre (1/2 cup) white wine
pinch of ground mace
2 egg yolks
small lump of cold butter
6 thin slices of bacon*
|
|
Preparation in advance:
Cover the bottom of a heavy casserole with a layer of
thick slices of bacon. Cover this with the suet, herbs and spices. Place the
chicken on top of this, and cover the bird with thin slices of bacon
(optional). Close the lid, place the casserole on a slow fire to melt the fat,
then put it in the oven (175EC/350EF). Let the chicken simmer for an hour,
basting it now and then with the molten fat. If the contents of the casserole
are too dry, add some chicken broth.
To make the sauce: Simmer the broth for the sauce with lemon peel, pepper,
cloves and bayleafs for twenty minutes. Strain the liquid.
Preparation:
Make a roux: melt the butter, or use three tablespoons of the
drippingfat of the chicken (only when no broth was added). Sauté the shallots, add the flour in one go. Stir with a flat wooden spatula, let simmer on a
very slow fire for five minutes. Keep stirring. Now add the strained broth,
starting with a small amount. Keep stirring until all the liquid has been
absorbed by the roux. Add the next amount of liquid when the roux starts boiling
again (keep stirring ...). When all the broth is used, add wine, mace, capers
and caperliquid.
You have now a sauce. Henriette Davidis made a more luxurious sauce by finishing
it off with two eggyolks and some cold butter. The yolks are mixed with a little
of the warm sauce. Then more sauce is added, until the yolks are warm
themselves. Then you can add them to the sauce without danger of curdling. Keep
the sauce from boiling, for then it will curdle after all. The cold butter
stirred in gives the sauce a nice velvety shine.
To serve:
Remove the chicken from the casserole, remove the bacon from the bird.
Have a decorous serving dish ready to put the chicken on. Surround it with slices
of lemon and/or lime. Show it to your guests at the dinner-table, then take it
back to the kitchen to cut the chicken in portions. Arrange the chicken pieces on the
serving-dish and pour some sauce over them. Use a saucier for
the rest of the sauce.
In the nineteenth century the capon was cut at the table by the host. To
know how to cut various kinds of roasts, fowl et cetera was part of a
gentleman's education.
If you want to prepare a real capon, you
have to double the other ingredients, and put the bird into the oven for
one and a half to two and a half hours (depending on the weight of the
beast).
Bacon: probably pure
white porkfat was used, smoked
or natural. The thin slices of bacon on the chicken are my addition.
Capers. These
are the pickled unripe flowerbuds of the Capparis spinosa L. The shrub is
indigenous to the regions around the Mediterranean, and its flowerbuds were
already eaten in Antiquity. They are never eaten raw.
Suet:
This cooking fat is hardly ever used in Dutch cuisine. Suet is the hard fat
around the kidneys and loins in beef, but there is also suet from veal and
mutton or lamb. It is -at least where I live- most often sold in its raw form,
you have to melt and strain it yourself. Suet melts at a higher temperature than
lard. Its use is more common in the English cuisine, to make mince pies and suet
puddings.
Bibliography
The editions below
are in my possession. Links refer to available editions.
All books mentioned on this site
Henriëtte Davidis, Keukenboek. 1868, 2d
impr. (1st impr. 1867). Dutch adaptation of the eleventh impr. of the Praktisches
Kochbuch (1st impr. 1844). On the internet you can find an edition
of the German orginal and of the American
edition of 1897.
|
|
This page was last updated on
10-01-10.
|
All text and
pictures of dishes are the intellectual property of Coquinaria and may not be
reproduced without permission and acknowledgement.
|
