Recipe: French Bouillon Eateries, Part 3: Oeuf durs Mayonnaise
Part 3 in my French Bouillon series. The prologue for what the series is follows in bold. The recipes comes after.
One thing I find fascinating is that in countries such as France and Italy, there are specific classes of restaurants that serve specific types of cuisine as well as having a set décor and style of the restaurant itself. When I say cuisine, I don’t mean other ethnic cuisines, but rather, in France that serve different types of French fair or in Italy certain types of Italian food. In America, you can, of course, go to a Chinese restaurant or an Indian or a BBQ joint, but that doesn’t necessarily indicate the price point or the type of restaurant within those culinary traditions. In France, there are the small corner restaurants, Bistros, that generally serve French staples as well as moderately priced wine and other alcoholic beverages. In Italy, the cuisine I am the most familiar with there are the local small cheap restaurants, Osterias, and then the more formal, but still reasonable Trattorias, and finally the Ristorante, much more formal with secondi as well as pasta and antipasta. The closest thing we have to the French Bistro, or Italian Trattoria, is “the diner,” although even that changes names depending on your place in our nation. On the east coast, indeed they are called diners, but on the west coast we call them coffee shops, etc. When you visit a diner, you generally know the type of food available: breakfast all day-any way, burgers, and sometimes other blue-plate dinner specials: fried chicken, meatloaf, etc.
When you visit a French Bistro, generally you know you are going to be eating Bistro food at a restaurant that caters to the middle class / local neighborhood. French Bistros have caught on in America compared to other French eateries. Some of the Bistro staples have become commonplace: steak-frites, soupe a l’oignon, braised lamb shanks; however, in France, a “new” culinary wave is taking place: the revival of French Bouillons. I recently became aware of this because of an article by the New Times chronicling the revival and reviewing six of their favorite restaurants.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/10/travel/affordable-dining-in-paris.html
The term Bouillon comes from the French word for broth and certainly bowls of this simple comfort food would be expected in Bouillons. The restaurants started in the late 19th or early 20th century and were known for “a bargain-priced meal that promised to be surprising for both its quality and reasonable price: less than 20 euros, or about $23, for a three-course dinner with a glass of wine.” They are traditionally housed in large halls which allow them to serve a lot of people at lower prices with high turnaround. These Boullions were “working-class restaurants that thrived in Paris during the 19th century. ‘In an age of globalization, eating a meal at a bouillon is an affirmation of Gallic identity, since the comfort food we serve is so traditionally French,’ said Christophe Joulie, director of the Groupe Joulie, which owns and runs a number of brasseries in Paris, along with Bouillon Chartier, the 1896 vintage bouillon the company acquired in 2006.
By ‘traditionally French,’ Mr. Joulie was referring to dishes like marinated leeks, canard confit (duck preserved in its own fat) and choucroute Alsacienne (sauerkraut garnished with pork and sausage). ‘Everyone loves a bargain, especially at a time of economic uncertainty.’ he said. ‘A three-course meal of freshly cooked, on-the-premises food for 20 euros served in 30 minutes — has never been more popular.’ (So popular, that Mr. Joulie revived the original second address of Chartier near the Gare Montparnasse on the Left Bank in February.)”
And so, with that, I have decided to start my first cooking series on Gourmand Film Writer. Inspired by this article, I have decided to dive into French country food typically served at Boullions. As a means of saving money, many of the recipes use tough cuts of meat or reduce the amount of a protein in a meal to level out the cost. The food has been truly delightful. Fresh, complicated, and dare I say, new to me. It is indeed simple food, which in some respects remind me more of Italian cuisine, but there’s no mistaken that the flavor profile is truly French. Some of these recipes I have taken and altered from greats like Jacques Pepin; others I have been inspired by the recipe and tried my own editions.
Oeuf Mayonnaise
I remember in Iron Chef Gauntlet when the semi-finalist chefs were tasked with making a dish with only 5 ingredients. Chef Stephanie Izard, whose restaurant Girl and the Goat in Chicago is one of America’s best, who also won perhaps the best season of Top Chef, chose to feature the egg in her dish. She chose to make a Chawanmushi; a Japanese custard topped with broth that is delicious. I understood why she chose to do this. I believe eggs to be the most versatile ingredient in the kitchen. As Chef Anne Burrell says, “A runny egg makes a dish sexy.” Indeed, it does!
Even with my love of eggs, I approached the French dish, Oeuf Mayonnaise, with some resistance. The dish is basically boiled eggs and mayo? Really? Give me an egg salad sandwich at that point. But, I was wrong! This simple dish done well brings out the rich unctuous of the egg and the velvet creaminess of a great mayonnaise. It is a revelation of how simple food is great. I serve mine with stewed lentils and bread to make it a full meal. Again, French country food at its best.
Ingredients:
4 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon of mustard
½ teaspoon of champagne vinegar
½ teaspoon of fresh lemon juice
Good Olive Oil to stream into the blender
1 cup of green lentils or other lentils of your choice
1 carrot, diced
1 small onion diced
1 stalk of celery diced
2 cloves of garlic
1 spring of thyme
3 and ½ cups of chicken stock or vegetable stock
½ cup of white wine
Salt and Pepper to taste
Begin by placing the eggs in a small pot and covering with cold water. Place on the stove over high heat and cover with a lid. When it begins to boil turn off the burner but leave the pot on the stove to continue using the residual heat. Turn on a timer. 12 minutes for soft, 15 minutes for hard. When you are done, immediately remove the eggs and place in an ice bath to cool.
Next dice the onion, carrot, and celery. Drizzle a teaspoon of oil into a small pot and add the vegetables to the pan and saute over high heat until tender but not brown. At that point, mince 1 clove of garlic and add the garlic as well as salt and pepper. Stir. Then deglaze with white wine. Allow the wine to cook off for a minute before adding the stock. Add the lentils and sprig of thyme. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cover. Cook the lentils for 20-25 minutes until tender.
While they are cooking, make the mayonnaise. In a blender place 2 egg yolks after separating them from the whites. Discard the whites. Add mustard, vinegar, 1 garlic clove minced, and lemon juice as well as salt and pepper. Turn on the blender. Slowly stream in olive oil until the mayonnaise becomes thick. It’s up to you how thick. I like mine to run and not stand firm.
At this point, you are ready to eat. Crack the eggs and cut in half placing them on the plate. Top with the mayonnaise and serve with the warm lentils and bread. A delicious lunch!
