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Day-by-Day Menus from Filippini, “formerly of Delmonico’s”

Day-by-Day Menus from Filippini, “formerly of Delmonico’s”
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  • Day-by-Day Menus from Filippini, “formerly of Delmonico’s”

    Post #1 - June 13th, 2010, 11:57 pm
    Post #1 - June 13th, 2010, 11:57 pm Post #1 - June 13th, 2010, 11:57 pm
    Awhile back, I posted on a Thanksgiving Day menu from Alexander Fillipini, author of The International Cookbook. While Charles Ranhofer usually gets top billing as Delmonico’s chef, Fillipini headed the kitchens there for many years.

    The International Cookbook (1906) title page reads as follows:

    The International Cook Book

    Over 3,300 Recipes gathered from all over the
    World, including many never before
    published in English. With com-
    plete menus of the three meals
    for every day of in the year


    By
    ALEXANDER FILIPPINI
    Formerly of Delmonico’s, and Travelling Inspector of the International
    Mercantile Marine Company. Author of “The Table”


    New York
    Doubleday, Page, & Company
    1906

    (Here is the scanned online title page.)

    I really like the concept of traveling back more than a century to dine-if only in a virtual sense-on the menu Filippini came up with for this season. Today being June 13, 2010, I submit to you Filippini’s suggested menus for Saturday and Sunday, Third Week of June.

    Saturday, Third Week of June
    BREAKFAST

    Strawberries and Cream
    Quaker Oats
    Eggs, Schiff
    Perch Saute, Meuniere
    Broiled Pigs’ Feet
    Garfield Potatoes
    Honey Cakes

    The strawberries are stemmed, washed and sieved to dry, then paired with “thick cream and powdered sugar, served separately.”

    Eggs Schiff begin with sliced fresh mushrooms sautéed in butter in a cream sauce studded with chopped truffle and anchovies. Hard boiled eggs are added to this sauce and the dish is crusted with parmesan and baked briefly in a hot oven.

    Garfield Potatoes are fried, thinly sliced new potatoes.

    Perch Saute, Meuniere is white perch filet, dredged in flour, salt and pepper, and fried in butter, served with lemon and parsley.

    The broiled pigs’ feet recipe calls for “cooked”, split pigs’ feet, oiled and rolled in fresh bread crumbs, then broiled for five minutes. The pigs’ feet are to be served with maitre d’hotel butter, ( an herbed butter).

    Honey Cakes are pancakes made with sweet milk, honey, powdered sugar and nutmeg.

    LUNCHEON

    Stuffed Devilled Crabs
    Goulash of Beef, Hungarian Style
    Noodles with Butter
    German Pancakes

    Stuffed Devilled Crabs are also referred to as “Stuffed Crabs Diable.” The recipe calls for making a cream sauce seasoned with chopped onion and garlic, parsley, butter, English mustard, Worchestershire sauce, cayenne, and nutmeg, and adding raw egg yolks, and crab meat. The crab meat mixture fills crab shells and is baked with a topping of bread crumbs and melted butter and served with parsley and quartered lemons.

    Goulash of Beef, Hungarian Style (or Hongroise) is made from cubed rump of beef browned in lard, carrots, onions, potatoes, salt, paprika, garlic and parsley stewed in claret and tomato sauce with the addition of a spice bag made of allspice, bay leaf, cloves and thyme.

    Noodles with butter are just that, seasoned with salt and white pepper.

    German Pancakes are made from and egg-heavy, flour-light batter, that is cooked on the stovetop, then in the oven, and served with powdered sugar and lemon.*

    DINNER

    Radishes
    Thon Marine
    Consomme with Spagettini
    Baked Weakfish with Bacon
    Potatoes, Anglaise
    Fowl with Rice, Menagere
    Spinach, Martha
    Leg of Spring Lamb, Mint Sauce
    Watercress Salad
    Ginger Pudding

    Thon Marine is simply canned “tunny fish” sliced and served on lettuce leaves with lemon slices.

    Consomme with Spagettini is topped with grated Parmesan.

    Baked Weakfish with Bacon is cooked in two stages: it is first basted with butter, sprinkled with paprika and salt, and half –baked. Next the fish is draped with slices of bacon and topped with bread crumbs and finished in the oven. Lemon and parsley accompany the fish.

    Fowl with Rice Menagere involves making a stuffing of chopped liver, heart and onion, cooked with bread crumbs, beef marrow, chervil, egg, milk, salt and pepper. The stuffed and trussed fowl is then added to a pan in which chopped celery, leek and onion have been browned. Carolina rice is specified as the next addition to the dish, which is covered and baked an hour.

    Spinach Martha is a sort of creamed spinach made with vinegar-sprinkled croutons, hardboiled eggs, butter salt, sugar, nutmeg and cream.

    The leg of lamb is basted with lard and roasted, garnished with watercress, and served with a sauce of mint in vinegar with sugar and salt.

    Watercress salad is dressed with a dressing that includes curry powder and herbs.

    Ginger Pudding is made with breadcrumbs and grated ginger as well as the expected ingredients (eggs, etc.) umolded, and served warm with a Sabayon sauce.

    Sunday, Third Week of June

    BREAKFAST

    Raspberries with Cream
    Semolina
    Scrambled Eggs, Bretonne
    Fried Whitebait
    Lamb Chops with Bacon
    Potatoes Pont Neuf
    Rice Cakes

    The raspberries with cream are presented with powdered sugar and cream, served separately.

    Scrambled eggs Bretonne involve beaten eggs added to browned sausage, squares of bread and green peas.

    Fried Whitebait are dipped in milk and tossed in cornmeal, then fried and served with lemon and parsley.

    Lamb Chops with Bacon are simply broiled and served topped with crisp bacon.

    Potatoes Pont Neuf are sliced fried potatoes.

    Rice Cakes are flannel cakes made with rice flour in place of wheat flour.

    LUNCHEON

    Chicken Broth in Cups
    Broiled Devilled Lobster
    Coquilles of Chicken au Gratin
    Eggplant Saute, Bordelaise
    Souffle of Strawberries

    Broiled Devilled Lobster involves halved broiled lobsters topped with a mixtures of chopped broiled lobster and devilled butter and broiled again. (Devilled butter is seasoned with mustard, vinegar, salt, pepper, Worchestershire sauce, cayenns, and egg yolk.)

    Coquilles of chicken au gratin is a preparation of cubed, boiled chicken in a flour-thickend sauce of white broth , canned mushrooms, and sliced truffle thickened with cream and egg yolk and seasoned with sherry, salt, cayenne, and nutmeg. The mixture is gratineed with Parmesan and butter in “table shells” ( a bit of batterie de cuisine I know nothing of—could it be the same shells used for Coquilles St. Jacques? Filippini’s reciped for scallops au gratin calls for a “baking dish” - alas!)

    Bordelaise-style Eggplant involves cubed eggplant sautéed in butter, seasoned with salt, pepper, shallot, garlic, and parsely, then cooked in claret and demiglace.

    Souffle of strawberries is a soufflé made with strawberry jelly and maraschino.

    DINNER

    Clams
    Celery
    Canapes of Anchovies
    Cream of Fresh Mushrooms
    Salmon, Valois
    Potatoes, Lisbonne
    Filet Mignons, Saute, Hussarde
    Sweetbreads, Senora Diaz
    Fresh Peas with Butter
    Punch a l’Anisette
    Roast Chicken
    Lettuce Salad
    Iced Pudding, Fontainebleau

    Canapes of anchovies are toasted one and one-half inch squares of stale bread, topped with two anchovies each, sieved hard-cooked egg and parsley.

    Littleneck clams are opened just before serving and presented in deep plates filled with shaved ice.

    Celery stalks are cut lengthwise into four pieces and served in a glass dish with ice.

    The mushroom soup involves sautéed mushrooms crushed in a mortar, then thickened with flour. To this, broth and milk are added, as well as onion, parsley, chervil, salt, cayenne and nutmeg. This mixture is enriched with cream and egg yolks, then strained and served.

    Salmon Valois are filets poached in butter, white wine, and demi-glace under buttered paper, then baked. Fried oysters and fried parsley top the salmon filets.

    Potatoes Lisbonne are new potatoes in a tomato sauce flavored with onion, thyme, clove, and broth.

    Filets Mignons Hussarde are flattened and dipped in oil and bread crumbs, then broiled and served "in a crown shape" over a browned horseradish sauce, garnished with glazed white onions and sweet corn in the center of the crown.

    Senora Diaz’s sweetbreads are larded with “raw ham” then poached in a curry/cayenne-seasoned broth in a pan in which an onion, a leek and celery have been cooked. The sweetbreads are placed in tart shells, topped with sautéed sweet peppers. A flour- thickened cream gravy is made in the pan in which the sweetbreads were cooked, and almonds are added to the gravy, which tops the sweetbread tarts.

    Punch a l’Anisette is a lemon ice flavored with anisette.

    Iced Pudding Fontainebleau is a bombe of coffee ice cream, sieved and chopped candied marrons, candied pineapple, and rum. The bombe is molded in a dome-shape and decorated with strawberries before serving.

    After going through this exercise, I'm glad I did it. However, I found an easier way to share the daily menus with you, at this website. (Recipes are given in full underneath the suggested daily menu, which saves flipping back and forth through the online book):

    http://chestofbooks.com/food/recipes/International/index.html
    Man : I can't understand how a poet like you can eat that stuff.
    T. S. Eliot: Ah, but you're not a poet.
  • Post #2 - June 14th, 2010, 8:50 am
    Post #2 - June 14th, 2010, 8:50 am Post #2 - June 14th, 2010, 8:50 am
    Thanks for sharing, Josephine. Wow. I'm full just reading these menus.

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