Pot-au-feu
Main dish | |
Place of origin | France |
---|---|
Main ingredients | Meat and vegetables (typically, carrots, celery, leeks, onions and turnips) |
Pot-au-feu (/ˌpɒtoʊˈfɜːr/,[1] French: [pɔt‿o fø] ⓘ; lit. 'pot on the fire') is a French dish of slowly boiled meat and vegetables, usually served as two courses: first the broth (bouillon) and then the meat (bouilli) and vegetables. The dish is familiar throughout France and has many regional variations. The best-known have beef as the main meat, but pork, chicken, and sausage are also used.
Background
The Oxford Companion to Food calls pot-au-feu "a dish symbolic of French cuisine and a meal in itself";[2] the chef Raymond Blanc has called it "the quintessence of French family cuisine ... the most celebrated dish in France, [which] honours the tables of the rich and poor alike";[3] and the American National Geographic magazine has termed it the national dish of France.[4]
The Dictionnaire de l'Académie française dates the term pot-au-feu to the 17th century.[5] In 1600 the king of France, Henry IV, declared, "there shall be no peasant in my kingdom who lacks the means to have a hen in his pot."[n 1] A one-pot stew was a staple of French cooking, and the traditional recipe for poule-au-pot – also known as pot-au-feu à la béarnaise[7] – resembles that for pot-au-feu.[8][n 2]
One batch of pot-au-feu was maintained as a perpetual stew in Perpignan from the 15th century until World War II.[10]
Ingredients
The main ingredient in most versions of pot-au-feu is meat. Many recipes specify more than one cut of beef to give both the broth and the cooked meat the required flavour and consistency.
The inclusion of cabbage divides opinion; David comments that it is frequently encountered in France but in her view it "utterly wrecks" a pot-au-feu;
Cook/writer | Meats | Vegetables | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
Beck, Bertholle and Child | beef; pork; chicken; sausage | carrots; leeks; onions; turnips | [18] |
Raymond Blanc | ham hock; beef; bacon; sausage | cabbage; carrots; celery; onions; turnips | [3] |
Paul Bocuse | beef; veal; chicken | carrots; celeriac; fennel; leeks; onions; parsnips; tomatoes; turnips | [12] |
Elizabeth David | beef; veal; chicken giblets | carrots; celery; leeks; onions; parsnip; pea pods; tomato; turnips | [20] |
Édouard de Pomiane | beef rib; calf's head; Morteau sausage | cabbage; carrots; leeks; turnips | [21] |
Alain Ducasse | beef | carrots; leeks; onions; turnips; potatoes | [22] |
Auguste Escoffier | beef; necks, wings and gizzards of fowl (unspecified) | cabbage; carrots; celery; leeks; turnips | [23] |
Larousse | beef; chicken or duck or turkey | cabbage; carrots; celery; leeks; turnips | [7] |
Joël Robuchon | beef; veal; chicken; duck | carrot tops; celery; leeks; onions; turnips or parsnips | [17] |
Madame Saint-Ange | beef; necks, wings and gizzards of chicken | carrots; celery; leeks; onions; parsnips; turnips | [19] |
Regional variations include:
- pot-au-feu à l'albigeoise – with veal knuckle, salted pork knuckle, confit goose and sausage, in addition to beef and chicken.[7]
- pot-au-feu à la béarnaise, also called Poule-au-pot– the basic pot-au-feu with a chicken stuffed with a forcemeat made of fresh pork and chopped ham, onion, garlic, parsley and chicken liver.[7]
- pot-au-feu à la languedocienne – the basic pot-au-feu with the addition of a piece of fat bacon.[7]
- pot-au-feu provençal – lamb or mutton replaces some of the beef.[24]
- pot-au-feu aux
- pot-au-feu madrilène – the meats are chicken, beef, veal, ham, bacon, chorizo sausage and boudin noir.[26]
Serving
Generally, the broth (bouillon) is served first. It is often enriched with rice or pasta, and
Sauces served with the bouilli may include
Pot-au-feu broth may also be used for cooking vegetables or pasta. Ready-to-use concentrated cubes are available to make what purports to be pot-au-feu broth when water is added.[28][29][30]
Variants
Other countries have similar dishes with local ingredients. The Vietnamese dish pho has been said to be inspired by French cuisine in former French Indochina, with a possible etymology for the name being a phonetic respelling of the French feu.[31]
See also
Notes
- ^ "N'y aura point de Laboureur en mon Royaume, qui n'ait moyen d'avoir une poule dans son pot."[6]
- ^ Such one-pot, slow-cooked stews were earlier called a "pot-pourri": the term dates to at least 1564 in Middle French, and indicated a dish of mixed meats.[9] The term, which was taken up in England in the 1600s, is related to the Spanish and Portuguese olla podrida.[9]
- ^ Saint-Ange and David suggest that if cabbage is to be served with a pot-au-feu it is cooked separately in a little of the bouillon from the main pot.[15]
References
- ^ "pot-au-feu". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.); and "pot-au-feu". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
- ^ a b c Hyman, p. 626
- ^ a b c "Vive La France!" (PDF). Observer Food Monthly. No. 112. The Observer. February 2011. p. 26. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 October 2011. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
- ^ "Top 10 National Dishes – National Geographic". Travel. 13 September 2011. Archived from the original on 14 October 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
- ^ "pot-au-feu", Dictionnaire de l'Académie française. Retrieved 30 January 2023
- ^ Péréfixe, p. 549
- ^ a b c d e Montagné, pp. 904–905
- ^ La poule au pot farcie de "nouste Henric" du Béarn, Cuisine Collection. Retrieved 30 January 2023
- ^ a b "pot-pourri". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- ^ Prager, Arthur (1981). pot-au-feu-many-happy-returns.html "From, A pot-au-feu, Many Happy Returns". New York Times.
- ^ David, pp. 138–139
- ^ a b c pot-au-feu-paul-bocuse.html "Pot au feu de Paul Bocuse", Épicurien. Retrieved 1 February 2023
- ^ David, p. 139; and Escoffier, p. 216
- ^ David, p. 139
- ^ David, p. 139; and Saint-Ange, p. 83
- ^ De Pomiane, p. 113; Ducasse, p. 305; Escoffier, p. 216; Montagné, pp. 904–905
- ^ a b "pot-au-feu aux 5 viandes par Joël Robuchon". Pinterest. Retrieved 1 February 2023
- ^ a b c Beck et al, p. 324
- ^ a b Saint-Ange, pp. 81–83
- ^ David, p. 137
- ^ De Pomiane, p. 113
- ^ Ducasse, p. 305
- ^ Escoffier, p. 216
- ^ David, p. 142
- ^ "pot-au-feu aux pruneaux (recette bretonne)", Marmiton. Retrieved 1 February 2023
- ^ "pot-au-feu madrilène", Marmiton. Retrieved 1 February 2023
- ^ Montagné, p. 904; and pot-au-feu-367768 pot-au-feu, Bon Appetit Test Kitchen, epicutious.com. Retrieved 28 September 2021
- ^ pot-au-feu "InterMarche Express – Paris". Retrieved 28 September 2021.
- ^ pot-au-feu-maggi-7613033687914 "Carrefour online". Retrieved 28 September 2021.
- ^ pot-au-feu/ "ePURE, Épicerie Botanique". Retrieved 28 September 2021.
- ^ "pho". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
Sources
- ISBN 978-0-241-95339-6.
- OCLC 809349711.
- OCLC 9560311851.
- ISBN 978-1-74270-050-2.
- OCLC 53543887.
- Hyman, Philip; Mary Hyman (1999). "Pot-au-feu". In ISBN 978-0-19-211579-9.
- OCLC 1285641881.
- OCLC 230717271.
- OCLC 1285661274.