Copyright © 1970 by Richard Olney

Introduction copyright © 2002 by Paul Bertolli

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Ten Speed Press, an imprint
of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
www.tenspeed.com

Ten Speed Press and the Ten Speed Press colophon are registered trademarks of
Random House, Inc.

Originally published in hardcover in the United States by Simon and Schuster,

New York, in 1970. Subsequently published in hardcover with a new introduction
by Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, in 2002.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Olney, Richard.
The French menu cookbook: the food and wine of France—season by delicious
season—in beautifully composed menus for American dining and entertaining
by an American living in Paris and Provence / Richard Olney.
p. cm.
Originally published: New York: Simon and Schuster, 1970. With new introd. by
Paul Bertolli.
1. Cookery, French. 2. Menus. I. Bertolli, Paul. II. Title.
TX719.O45 2002
64I.5944- dc21

ISBN 978-1-60774-002-5

Printed in the United States of America

Jacket design by Colleen Cain

Original design by Eve Metz

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

First Paperback Edition

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 Summer Menus
boil over a medium flame. Never stir, but when the boil is reached,
gently reach down the sides of the cooking vessel with a wooden spoon
to slightly displace anything that may stick to the bottom; repeat this
procedure every couple of hours. Adjust the flame so that only the
slightest movement is produced on the surface of the liquid—a near-
simmer. (Unless you are accustomed to doing this kind of cooking in
that particular vessel over the same flame, the adjustment may take a
good half hour of lifting the lid at regular intervals and turning the
flame slightly up or down. The dish may equally well be done in an
oven heated to approximately 25o° F., but the adjustment is still neces-
sary, and cooking time may take even longer.) It should cook like this
for 8 hours. Halfway through, carefully skim the fat from the surface,
taste for seasoning, and continue, every hour or so, to skim. Skim thor-
oughly before serving, or, if it is to be cooled and reheated the next day,
skim it while cold. Count a good 2 hours for reheating (in earthenware
at a very low heat). Discard the parsley and bay leaf before serving.

Strawberries in Orange Juice

Fraises à l’Orange

1 quart of strawberries
sugar
juice of 3 oranges

Wash the strawberries rapidly without letting them soak, and remove
the stems. Place them, whole, in the bowl or deep dish in which they
are to be served, sprinkle them generously with sugar, pour the orange
juice over, and leave them to macerate, covered, in the refrigerator for
a couple of hours before serving. Simple, delicious and refreshing.

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Warm Salad of Small Green Beans

Haricots Fins Chauds en Salade

2 pounds young, freshly picked green beans

Accompaniments:
olive oil
pepper, coarse salt
cold sweet butter
crusty white bread

For this or any other preparation of green beans served whole to be

exquisite, the beans should be tiny (about 3 inches long) and freshly
picked. Their great delicacy of flavor is partly lost even if one waits for
5 or 6 hours between the time they are picked and the time they are
cooked. Snap off the tips, but leave them whole. If they have been
picked in your own garden and have never been sprayed by insecticide,
they need not be washed. Otherwise, wash them quickly in cold water.
Plunge them into a large quantity of well-salted water at a churning
boil and cook, uncovered, at a continued rapid boil, until tender—7 or
8 minutes. (There is a widespread theory that vegetables cooked in a
large quantity of water lose in vitamin content—on the contrary, this
method permits them to be cooked in the minimum amount of time,
and the cooking water may, in any case, always be saved to moisten a
vegetable soup. Never should they be cooked either covered or in a small
quantity of water—their delicate flavor and their bright-green color
are both lost.) Serve them, well drained and undecorated, accompa-
nied by a pitcher of the finest and freshest olive oil available, a pepper
mill, a salt mill (containing, if possible, coarse sea salt or, lacking that,
coarse kosher salt), cold sweet butter and rough, crusty white bread.
The contact of the olive oil with the hot beans produces a delicious
olfactory explosion.

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 Provençal Braised Beef

THE DAUBE

A daube, like most rustic dishes that require a long, slow, even cooking
process, is never as good as when prepared in seasoned earthenware,
which absorbs heat more slowly and more evenly and holds it longer
than any other kitchen utensil. A daube is usually prepared in amounts
sufficient for several meals. If anything, the dish improves with a gen-
tle reheating the next day, and it also serves as a delicious cold hors
d’oeuvre—la daube en gelée. For a more attractive presentation, it is
only necessary to arrange the more presentable pieces of beef and car-
rot slices neatly in a simple mold and pour the remainder over before
chilling. It may then be turned out and decorated with a bit of green.
A daube is a good winter dish but has been placed here among the sum-
mer menus so that it may profit from fresh tomatoes.
Perhaps the finest cut of meat for this preparation is that known in
French as the macreuse. This is a small section of the chuck near the
shoulder joint, rich both in flavor and gelatin. The other recommend-
ed cuts are equally gelatinous. In most daubes, the larding process
is overlooked and, although the resultant sauce may be decent, the
meat tends to be dreary, dry and stringy. Only the triple combination
of gelatinous meat, the inserted fat, and slow and even cooking can
produce pieces of meat that hold their shape, remain moist, and melt
in the mouth—and the discovery of the isolated pockets of parsley and
garlic flavor is a supplementary pleasure.

Provençal Braised Beef

Daube à la Provençale

31/2 pounds beef without bones (heel, shank, chuck, or a mixture)

Larding elements:
4 ounces fresh fat side pork
2 cloves garlic
1 small handful finely chopped parsley
(Continued)

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5 ounces pork rind
1 small glass cognac
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 bottle good dry white wine
8 ounces lean side pork (or bacon, if not available)
2 medium carrots (about 5 ounces)
1 pound firm, ripe tomatoes
2 medium onions
1
/2 pound mushrooms
4 cloves garlic
1 large bouquet parsley
2 bay leaves
2 strips dried orange peel
1 healthy handful (about 1/4 pound) pitted black olives
(unpitted if they are the tiny niçoises)
1 healthy teaspoon mixed thyme, oregano, savory
salt
1 cup (if available) leftover juice from roast or braised beef or veal,
or veal stock, or pot-au-feu bouillon—otherwise a cup of water

Cut the meat into fairly large pieces of more-or-less regular shape,
respecting, as nearly as possible, the natural muscular structure. For
31/2 pounds of boneless meat, you should have 15 or 16 pieces.
Remove the rind from the fat pork and save it. Cut the fat into
strips approximately 1/3 inch square and 1 to 11/2 inches long. Peel the
2 cloves of garlic and reduce it to a paste in a mortar, add the chopped
parsley, mix well, then add the strips of fat pork and stir well together.
With a small, sharply pointed knife, pierce each piece of meat
completely through, with the grain, being careful not to make a wide
and messy gash. Gently force a strip of pork fat, well coated with the
garlic-and-parsley mixture, into the center of each piece of meat, and
place the pieces in a bowl. Sprinkle the cognac and the olive oil over,
turn the pieces around until all sides are equally moistened, pour the
white wine over and leave to marinate for 2 to 3 hours.
Remove the rind from the lean side pork, and cut all the pork rind,
including the rind reserved earlier, into small pieces approximately
1/2 inch square. Parboil them for 5 or 6 minutes and drain them.

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 Provençal Braised Beef
Cut the side pork into 1/2-inch strips across the grain, and, if it is
salted, parboil it for 2 or 3 minutes. If you have been able to find only
bacon, use a somewhat smaller quantity and simmer it for a good
1o minutes to rid it as nearly as possible of its smoked taste.
Peel the carrots and slice them thinly. Peel and seed the tomatoes and
chop them coarsely. Peel and chop the onions fine, pare off the stem tips
of the mushrooms, rinse mushrooms, sponge dry with paper towels, and
chop them fine. Smash the 4 garlic cloves, remove their skins, chop them
as fine as possible, and mix together with the onions and mushrooms.
Divide the parsley into 2 bouquets, enclose a bay leaf and a strip of
dried orange peel in each and tie them up with kitchen string.
Choose a cooking utensil (preferably of earthenware, but enameled
ironware or heavy copper will do) of approximately 4-quart capacity
to hold the ingredients exactly. The lid should fit as tightly as possible.
The different ingredients must now be arranged in layers—whether
2, 3 or more layers will be necessary depends on the proportionate
height and width of the cooking vessel. Begin by sprinkling the bot-
tom with pork rind pieces; remove meat from marinade and arrange
on the rind a layer of meat pieces, close together but not packed in,
then tomatoes, chopped onions and mushrooms, olives, carrots, side
pork strips, mixed herbs and salt. Place the parsley packages on this
bed and begin again with rind, beef, etc. Pour the marinade over and
add sufficient meat juice (or water) to barely cover.
If the lid to your chosen daubière should not fit tightly, tear a long
strip of cloth about 1 inch wide, dip it into a thin flour-and-water
paste, squeeze out the excess liquid, and, placing the lid upside down,
wrap the cloth around the outside of the fitting ridge; then turn the
lid right side up and carefully cover the daubière.
Install the dish in a medium oven (325° to 35o° F.). After about
45 minutes, it should be approaching the boiling point—you will be able
to hear it beginning to bubble; turn the oven down (25o° to 275° F.)
and forget about it for a good 5 hours.
Break the seal, if you have used one, lift off the lid and skim off
most of the fat floating on the surface. Discard the parsley packages.
At this point the dish may be put aside to be reheated the next day, or
kept hot while preparing the macaroni, if served immediately.
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 Cold Ratatouille (Mixed Vegetable Stew)

Cold Ratatouille (Mixed Vegetable Stew)

Ratatouille Froide

1 pound white onions

/ cup olive oil
2 3

4 large, firm, well-ripened tomatoes

1 pound sweet peppers (red, yellow and green, mixed,
or 1 large of each)
1 pound eggplant (the small violet elongated variety, if available)
1 pound baby zucchini (the smallest available, in any case)
6 cloves garlic
salt
tiny pinch of Cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon thyme leaves
a bouquet of parsley and 1 bay leaf, tied together
a handful of finely chopped parsley
freshly ground pepper

Peel the onions and cut each in quarters or eighths, depending on

their size. Put them to cook gently in 1/3 cup of the olive oil while
preparing the other vegetables. Stir from time to time and do not let
them brown.
Peel and seed the tomatoes and cut each half into 6 or 8 pieces.
Cut the peppers in 2 lengthwise, discard the stems and all the seeds
and cut them into pieces 3/4 to 1 inch square; wipe the eggplant and
zucchini clean with damp paper towels and cut off the tip ends of
both. Cut the eggplant into 3/4 -inch cubes without peeling, and cut the
zucchini crosswise into 1/2- to 1-inch sections, depending on its thick-
ness. Smash the garlic cloves with the blade of a knife, discard the
hulls, and chop the garlic.
When the onions are yellowed and soft from cooking, add the pep-
pers, the eggplant pieces, the garlic, salt, and Cayenne. Continue to
cook gently for 1o minutes or so, stirring occasionally with a wooden
spoon, then add the tomatoes, the zucchini (if desired, the zucchini
may be added halfway through the cooking process, for it cooks very
rapidly, and if delayed it remains firmer), thyme, and the parsley and
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 Summer Menus
bay-leaf bouquet. At this point, one may turn up the flame until the
boil is reached, easing a wooden spoon to the bottom of the cooking
utensil and stirring from time to time to prevent sticking. Leave to
cook over a tiny flame, at a bare simmer, with the lid ajar, for 2 hours.
Place a colander or sieve over another saucepan, pour in the vegeta-
bles and allow to drain well; then return the vegetables to their sauce-
pan and to the fire, leaving the lid off (they will continue to give off
liquid, which in this way evaporates in part). Place the saucepan con-
taining the liquid over a very high flame and, stirring constantly with
a wooden spoon, reduce it to a light, syrupy consistency (first, the liq-
uid will foam up—it must be rapidly stirred to prevent it from boiling
over—then it will settle down to a loose, rapid boil, and finally, as it
approaches the correct consistency, it will bubble in a more explosive
way. There should be around 1/2 to 3/4 cup of syrupy liquid remaining—
pour it back into the vegetables and leave to cool. Add the remaining
olive oil, half the chopped parsley, season with pepper (and more salt,
if necessary), and mix together thoroughly, stirring carefully to avoid
crushing the vegetables. Pour into the serving dish, chill thoroughly,
and sprinkle with the remaining parsley before serving.

THE BLANQUETTE OF BEEF TRIPE

The term pistou refers to the pommade of garlic and basil leaves (this
ordinarily contains much more garlic), the flesh of raw tomatoes, and
grated Parmesan cheese, the whole thing worked into a thick paste
and thinned with olive oil; it is customarily used to add an explosive,
last-minute perfume to la soupe au pistou, basically a minestrone con-
taining, in addition to the usual vegetables and pasta, white beans,
green beans, and a slice of cut-up local squash, somewhat resembling
our winter squash, which lends a velvety quality to the soup. Pistou
was, longer ago than anyone can remember, adopted into Provençal
cooking from Genoa, where a somewhat different version, pesto, is
often used as a sauce for pasta.
In French culinary terminology, gras-double refers to the stomachs
and intestinal parts of beef (it only becomes tripes when the feet are
added), and the variety is preferable to the exclusive use of honey-
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