Nantua Duchesses

Duchesses Nantua (little crayfish-filled Choux) teach the discipline of glazing with gelée, savory aspic: every coat must be cool, thin, and fully set before the next touches it. One heavy pour makes a rubber casing; warm gelée soaks the shell and slips away. Temperature is the one true thing to settle before you touch a pan.

The old entry assumed a garde-manger, the cold-larder cook, beside a saucier, a stockpot never off the fire, ready gelée, and trays of Choux. A salamander has no work here; this is a cold preparation. At home, one small saucepan, a food processor, clear prepared fish stock strengthened with powdered gelatin, and a refrigerator shelf do the same work for twenty-four pieces. Ready aspic and brigade quantities are scaffolding, so they go. The repeated glazing is the dish, so it stays. One cook, one stove, one evening.

Inside, the purée should taste unmistakably of crayfish, rich with butter and softly pink, not whipped into an airy mousse. Outside, the finished gelée should gleam as a barely visible film. Chill the filled Choux completely before the first spoonful, then give every coat its time in the cold.