Carottes à la Vichy

Carottes à la Vichy (Vichy-style glazed carrots) teaches controlled reduction in its clearest form. The one true thing to know before touching a pan is that every carrot coin must have the same thickness. Butter, sugar, salt, and water can glaze them together only if they become tender together; uneven slices leave hard centers beside collapsing edges.

The old entry assumed a saucier tending garnish pans and a timbale waiting at service. At home, that becomes 1½ pounds of carrots, a broad 10-inch pan, and a warmed serving bowl, while the linked garnish formula and its proportions remain intact. Turning carrots into olive shapes belongs to the general garnish preparation, not this dish; Carottes à la Vichy explicitly asks for slices. The optional parboil for old carrots, the controlled reduction, the final sauté in the syrup, and the parsley must stay. One cook, one stove, one evening.

When it is right, each coin is tender but distinct, lacquered in butter-gold syrup, and brightened by parsley added after the heat. If the glaze tightens before the carrots soften, a spoonful of hot water restores the balance. Ça se rattrape. Before you begin, set a ruler beside the knife: every coin should be ¼ inch thick, from the first carrot to the last.