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Cabbages for Garnish.—B
Created by Chef Juliette
Eight glossy parcels of Savoy cabbage hide a cold-set heart of smooth pork forcemeat, poaching gently as the leaves braise, then receiving a final coat of their own buttered juices.
Choux pour Garnitures, B (braised cabbage balls with pork forcemeat) teach a small, exact lesson: the cabbage and its filling must finish cooking together. The farce fine de porc (smooth pork forcemeat) must stay cold and sit precisely at the centre. Warm farce loses its fine emulsion, while an off-centre portion reaches the edge too soon and can split the parcel.
The brigade entry assumes cabbage already prepared by a preceding method, farce waiting at the garde-manger station, stock never off the fire, and enough hands to shape service quantities. A saucier and a salamander contribute nothing here. The home translation uses a food processor, good unsalted chicken stock, and one lidded sauté pan to make eight balls for four people. The book's pigeon’s-egg measure becomes a 1-ounce, or 28 to 30 gram, oval that a home cook can repeat accurately.
Separate stations and great quantities were scaffolding for the brigade, so they go. Blanching and squeezing the cabbage, keeping the farce cold, enclosing it completely, and braising at a bare tremble are the dish, so they stay. Before you touch the pan, remember the one thing that decides the result: cold filling, dead-centre.
Ingredients
Savoy cabbage
Quantity
1 small cabbage (about 1½ pounds / 680 g)
10 large outer leaves kept whole and 10 ounces / 280 g tender inner leaves finely shredded
fine sea salt
Quantity
1 tablespoon (15 ml / 18 g) for blanching, plus ¾ teaspoon (3.75 ml / 4.5 g)
divided
boneless pork shoulder
Quantity
5 ounces / 140 g
very cold and cut into ½-inch pieces
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Savoy cabbage10 large outer leaves kept whole and 10 ounces / 280 g tender inner leaves finely shredded | 1 small cabbage (about 1½ pounds / 680 g) |
| fine sea saltdivided | 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 18 g) for blanching, plus ¾ teaspoon (3.75 ml / 4.5 g) |
| boneless pork shouldervery cold and cut into ½-inch pieces | 5 ounces / 140 g |
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