[lilygardener]

Hello! I am trying to locate the name, publication date, and or ISBN number for an old Escoffier Cookbook.

Sometime in the early to mid 1970's I borrowed a black Cookbook without a dust cover from a library in New Orleans. It had the single word ESCOFFIER embossed across the top of the front fabric cover. I do not remember if ESCOFFIER was the whole title or not, but it was all that was on the fabric front cover. Unlike an Escoffier Cookbook I bought thinking it was the one I was looking for, the book I'm looking for had detailed directions for preparing everything.

The book I'm seeking to identify contained a recipe I believe (it was a long time ago) was called Chicken Elizabeth. To prepare it I had to spend the morning preparing two stocks and the afternoon preparing a stuffing for and cooking the breasts. There was nothing easy about the process, but the dish was absolutely delicious. I would love to find this book so I can replicate that dish and try some of Escoffier's other recipes.

Can anyone help?

Lilygardener

 

[cheflayne]

The Escoffier Cook Book (and guide to the Fine Art Of Cookery)

ISBN 0-517-506629

Crown Publishers Inc.

1969

I was going to go you one better and scan the recipe to post it, but on quick glance I couldn't find it and I am on my way out the door to work. After work I will try to track it down because you got my curiosity going now!

 

[grande]

I like this one a little better than the escoffier cookbook, I think its a better translation & has a few more recipes(I think)

 

[chefedb]

I just went through my"" Guide Culinaire""circa 1969 Escoffier Cookbook.
I looked under Pullet, Hens, Chickens, Squabs, Partridge, Turkeys and could find no such recipe for Chicken Eiizabeth  Sorry   This book also gives prep procedures

 

[cheflayne]

I like this one a little better than the escoffier cookbook, I think its a better translation & has a few more recipes(I think)

It has 2000 more recipes than the cookbook. I have both and can't decide which I like better. Whenever I look something up these days I generally wind up using both because it seems one has an easier (for me) to use index and the other has more clear (for me) directions and measures.

Lilygardener, are you sure it was Escoffier and not Pellaprat? Pellaprat cooked for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and prepared a dish he called Poulet Reine Elizabeth. It is more famously known as coronation chicken.

 

[chrisbelgium]

There's another book that Escoffier wrote called "Ma cuisine" containing 2500 recipes, aiming at less technical cooks. I found it on the French "Diciples Escoffier" website; http://www.disciples-escoffier.com/escoffier-livres.php?pg=livre/ma-cuisine.php

I have no idea if there is or ever was an english version.

Also, iTunes split the book in 23 parts and it is available on ebooks, which means you need a Mac or ebook reader to read it.

Here's the (also French) part on chicken preparations; https://itunes.apple.com/be/book/recettes-cuisine-traditionnelle/id770991967?l=nl&mt=11

livres-macuisine.jpg

• chrisbelgium
• Jan 12, 2015

 

[lilygardener]

cheflayne,

Thank you so much for the information.  I am not 100% sure the dish was called Chicken Elizabeth; memory can be tricky and change over time.  What I do feel I remember is the two stocks cooking all morning, and the afternoon being consumed with preparing the stuffed breasts.  I am not sure but I think there was some finely minced ham involved in the delicious stuffing. Now that I have time on my hands I would love to make it again.

lilygardener 

What I have a vivid mental picture of is a dark-colored, probably black book, with the single word "ESCOFFIER" embossed across the top of the front cover.  I have actually seen the book on Amazon on the very last page of offerings given under Escoffier.  Foolishly, I clicked off of it, and when I came back, it was gone; likely sold to someone else.  I look frequently for the book, not knowing the real Title, only knowing what the cover under the dust jacket looked like.

As far as it being Escoffier, I am pretty sure that was what was on the book; who translated, edited, or selected and named the recipes I am not sure.  The name Pellaprat is totally unfamiliar to me.  Does the book you are referring to fit the description of the black one with ESCOFFIER across the front cover?  I'll have to find the recipe for the coronation chicken before I can say it is the one.  Being from New Orleans originally, I took several years of French in school and may have simply translated it roughly in my mind, and remembered it as Chicken Elizabeth.

I am not good at posting, but some have mentioned wanting to see pictures of my daylilies.  I will attempt to post one from a previous year. Never mind.  Totally confused what to do.  I will try to figure this out later and post some. 

 

[lilygardener]

chefedb,

I am new to this site and hope you can see my response to cheflayne's post.  Memory is tricky, particularly after so long a time.  The name of the recipe may have been in French and I simply remember it as the English equivalent of Chicken Elizabeth.

Thank you also Grande and ChrisBelgium.  I will look into all the books suggested and let you know.  Something published in 1969 does seem like a likely candidate to be the book I used.

Lilygardener

 

[chefwriter]

You could always call the New Orleans library. It is entirely possible they may still have  the copy and could provide you with the relevant information. They may also have an online database.

 

[lilygardener]

I have looked up coronation chicken and it seems to be more a chicken salad than stuffed breasts.  I know that is not what I made. The dish was very complex and literally took me all afternoon to prepare and cook (I am an amateur and was not familiar with what I was doing).

 

[lilygardener]

The New Orleans Library lists the Escoffier cookbook that is on sale on Amazon with a light colored dust jacket and was probably published in 1989.  I don't know that they would have anything as old as the book I want.

I lost a number of my favorite recipes in a move around 30 years ago.  Years later, when I tried to contact the magazines from which the recipes came, none of them had copies of their own journals that old. Those recipes are lost to me forever.  

 

[flipflopgirl]

Good morning Lilly and welcome to Chef Talk.
Don't have any answers for you but have been following your very interesting thread.
You may have noticed already but just in case thought I would mention it anyway.
When you post to any thread everyone can see and read these posts.
If you want to talk privately offline this is done thru the P(rivate) M(essage) option located on each members profile page as well as in a drop down under the member name on each post.
You must be logged on to the site to access the feature.

Again thanks for the interesting thread and hope to see your garden pix soon.

mimi

 

[cheflayne]

Does the book you are referring to fit the description of the black one with ESCOFFIER across the front cover?

Here is a scan of my copy without the dust cover.

escoffier.jpg

• cheflayne
• Jan 12, 2015

 

[grande]

Hi lilygardener, Escoffier wrote "le guide culinaire" in 1902 or 1903, & "ma cuisine" around 1920 He may have had one other books, but those two have gone through various translations and reprintings, in addition to having bits of them republished seperatly. "The Escoffier Cookbook" is a very slighly condensed version of "le guide culinaire," & my translation preference mostly has to do with language (e.g. "toss the mushrooms in butter" vs. "Saute the mushrooms in butter")
Anyway, the best way to start is maybe go to a bookstore and thumb through a copy; the one you remember is ptobably largely the same book in a different format.

 

[grande]

Darn it, cheflayne, posted while i was typing!

 

[cheflayne]

Darn it, cheflayne, posted while i was typing!

He who hesitates is lost. Bwahahaha!!!! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/chef.gif

 

[cheflayne]

I am not 100% sure the dish was called Chicken Elizabeth; memory can be tricky and change over time. What I do feel I remember is the two stocks cooking all morning, and the afternoon being consumed with preparing the stuffed breasts. I am not sure but I think there was some finely minced ham involved in the delicious stuffing.

Back in the dark ages when I was a young culinary student and first being exposed to the wonders of French cuisine, this was exactly the same thing that would drive me crazy. WHY didn't they put some of the ingredients in the name of the dish? WHY name the dish after someone? HOW was I ever supposed to remember the dish without some semblance of a clue or hint as to what was in it?

Somehow I survived those days, but it still drives me crazy!

Liliygardener, I have been through the poultry section of the book and have nothing to offer in the way of help at the moment, but the quest goes on. If i find anything, I will let you know. By the way, I love doing stuff like this. One can never learn too much. Thanks for the kick start.

Was the chicken breast rolled up with the stuffing and then poached?

 

[lilygardener]

The details about how I constructed the dish are murky, but I do believe the breasts were pounded thin and the stuffing was place in that and secured somehow. I do believe they were poached slowly in a beautiful sauce, the details of which I have no memory.  Their were several elements to the stuffing and it took a long time to assemble them. I remember not having a lot of confidence in the stuffing because it was not made as most American stuffing is made (lots of bread crumbs, etc); I was wrong.

My memory of the book having just the one word "ESCOFFIER" on the cover is very vivid so I don't remember it being the same book cover you scanned (thank you for doing that).  I do know this about memory however, according to recent research, every time we access a memory and bring it into consciousness, it becomes vulnerable to change or influence by what is going on in our minds or environment at the time we access it.

I do think I saw the very cover I was looking for on Amazon, the last item on the last page when I searched "Escoffier" the very first time I looked for it months ago..  I clicked off and when I clicked back on to purchase it, it was gone.  I have never seen another identical picture of the book without the dust jacket.  Of course my memory of this could be faulty also.  The memory I have may be so indelible in my mind that I saw what I thought was there.  

 

[lilygardener]

Garden 035.jpg

• lilygardener
• Jan 12, 2015

Garden 006.jpg

• lilygardener
• Jan 12, 2015

Garden 032.jpg

• lilygardener
• Jan 12, 2015

Thanks mimi,

Appreciate the info. Here are a few photos. I will have to look through my files and see if I can find some closer up views.

Lilygardener

 

[flipflopgirl]

Just gorgeous!
Lillies hold a special place in my heart.
Lots of them in hospital rooms and when I would make rounds I loved opening a door and being greated in that manner.

Interesting fact about memory.
Thanks for sharing so openly.
Refreshing.

mimi