Calf's Head en Tortue, Dressed

The boiled ear turned back and skewered upright on a bread pyramid, as the centrepiece.

From: The Epicurean
Published: 1894
Also printed in: 1 other book
Yikes Scale: Big yikes

Exactly as printed, 1894

Bone half of a very white calf's head, put it into boiling water for fifteen minutes, then cut it up and finish cooking it in a white stock (No. 182) acidulated with lemon juice; it will take three hours to boil slowly. Have a silver plated dish with a border of the same; in the center of this fasten a fried bread pyramid covered with raw forcemeat and then poached in the heater or slack oven; prepare a garnishing composed of small quenelles molded with a coffeespoon (No. 155) and poached, large cocks'-combs, olives, fresh mushroom heads, round truffles and green pickles cut into small half-inch diameter balls. Keep in a bain-marie a slightly tomatoed Madeira sauce (No. 492) with a little truffle moistening. Half an hour before serving drain the pieces of head on a cloth, pare them rounded, and slit the outside gristle of the ear in order to be able to turn it backward, then lay them in a saucepan with half of the sauce, let simmer over a gentle fire and just when prepared to serve set the ear on the top of the pyramid, fastening it down with a small skewer, and surround this support with the remainder of the head and garnishings; cover over lightly with the sauce and pour the rest into a sauce-bowl to be served at the same time as the entree.

The Epicurean, 1894. Public domain; transcription unaltered.

So what happens if I make it?

Structurally sound and safe, so long as the brains stay out — and in this preparation they do; the dish is built on the head meat, the ear and the garnish.

It is a display piece. The ear standing upright on a bread pyramid is doing the same job as the peacock's feathers: telling the room that the kitchen could do this.

Notes from the 21st century

The blanch is not cooking. Fifteen minutes in boiling water firms the skin and clears the scum. The three hours in white stock is the actual cooking.
Acidulated stock keeps it white. Lemon juice in the cooking liquor stops the head greying. “Very white” is the first thing the recipe asks for.
Ranhofer ran Delmonico's. The Epicurean is his 1,200-page record of it. This is the top of the American profession in 1894.

Also in this book

Frog Broth and Puree — A pound of frogs' legs simmered with root vegetables and pounded into a purée for the sick.
Gherkins (pickling method) — Boiled in half vinegar in an untinned copper basin, and left to cool in it.

Don't take our word for it. The complete book is online, free and searchable.

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