Chef Juliette
Pullets and Capons for Relevés
Three roads through the Paris poultry canon, poach, poêler, or braise, with one rule beneath them all: protect the breast with bacon while the legs cook, then turn the liquor into sauce.
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Poularde au Gros Sel
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 1479, Poularde au Gros Sel, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Poularde au Gros Sel makes restraint visible: a tender whole bird, ten carrots, ten onions, clear cooking liquor, and coarse salt at the table, all decided by a poach that must never boil.
Main Dishes
French
Comfort Food
Weeknight
One Pot
25 min
Active Time
1 hr 30 min cook•2 hr 10 min total
Yield4 servings
Poularde au Gros Sel (poached pullet served with coarse salt) teaches the discipline of gentle heat. The one true thing to know before you touch the pot is this: the poaching liquor must never boil. A hard boil tightens the breast, roughens the skin, and clouds the broth, while a bare tremble cooks the bird evenly and leaves its own liquor clear and delicate.
The source entry is brief because its kitchen assumed a poaching vessel fitted to the bird, a stockpot never cold nearby, and hands available to skim while ten carrots were turned alike. Yet it calls for the poularde's own cooking liquor, not a separate sauce, so this home version needs neither borrowed stock nor a saucier. A snug heavy pot keeps the broth concentrated, an instant-read thermometer replaces brigade instinct, and evenly tapered carrots replace knife-school perfection. That is the scaffolding changed, and no more. We keep what is the dish: one whole bird, ten carrots, ten onions, its liquor in a sauceboat, and gros sel offered separately. One cook, one stove, one evening.
At the table, the pale, glossy poularde sits whole among bright carrots and pearly onions. Each diner spoons over the clear broth and adds a pinch of coarse salt, seasoning the mild meat bite by bite. Nothing hides here, which is precisely its confidence. Hold the poach below a boil from first tremble to final temperature, and the dish is yours.
Poularde au gros sel belongs to Parisian cuisine bourgeoise and the codified national repertoire rather than to one claimed province. It applies the service of pot-au-feu to a plump young hen: poached meat, its own clear liquor, root vegetables, and coarse salt offered separately so each diner seasons the cut face. Its austerity is deliberate, not unfinished; the preparation traveled from the household poaching pot to formal service without acquiring a sauce.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
oven-ready poularde or plump young chicken
Quantity
1 (4 to 4½ lb / 1.8 to 2 kg)
neck and giblets removed
small carrots
Quantity
10 (about 1½ cups / 250 g)
peeled
small onions
Quantity
10 (about 1¼ cups / 200 g)
peeled
cold water
Quantity
12 to 14 cups (2.8 to 3.3 L / 2.8 to 3.3 kg)
or enough to cover the bird
coarse sea salt
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 32 g)
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| oven-ready poularde or plump young chickenneck and giblets removed | 1 (4 to 4½ lb / 1.8 to 2 kg) |
| small carrotspeeled | 10 (about 1½ cups / 250 g) |
| small onionspeeled | 10 (about 1¼ cups / 200 g) |
| cold wateror enough to cover the bird | 12 to 14 cups (2.8 to 3.3 L / 2.8 to 3.3 kg) |
| coarse sea saltfor serving | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 32 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •6 to 7 quart (5.7 to 6.6 L) heavy, snug-fitting pot
- •Instant-read thermometer
- •Slotted spoon
- •Fine-mesh sieve
- •Warm sauceboat and open salt cellar
Instructions
- 1
Shape the garnish
Tuck the poularde's wings underneath and tie the legs loosely together so the bird keeps its shape without being cinched tight. Make the tournage, the classical turning of vegetables into small olive shapes: trim each carrot into an even tapered piece with rounded ends. They need not be identical little parade soldiers, but they must be close enough in size to cook together. Leave the onions whole and trim only their root ends so their layers remain attached.
- 2
Begin the cold poach
Set the poularde breast-side up in a snug heavy pot and add enough cold water to cover it by about 1 inch (2.5 cm). If the full measure barely reaches the bird in a broad pot, change to a narrower one rather than adding more water and weakening the liquor. Bring the water up slowly over medium heat, uncovered, skimming away the grey foam as it gathers. Do not salt the pot. The separate gros sel is part of the service, not a decorative flourish.
- 3
Hold below a boil
As soon as the surface begins to quiver, lower the heat. Hold the liquor between 180 and 185°F (82 and 85°C), with an occasional bubble appearing at the edge but no rolling movement through the centre. Partially cover the pot and poach for 30 minutes. If the pot boils, pull it completely off the burner and uncover it until the movement subsides, then return it over the lowest heat. Ça se rattrape. A brief boil is not a ruined dinner, but stopping it promptly protects the breast and keeps further cloudiness from forming.
Watch the liquid, not the burner setting. A heavy pot stores heat and may keep gathering momentum after you turn the flame down. - 4
Poach the vegetables
Add the ten carrots and ten onions, slipping them down around the bird so they remain submerged. Continue the bare poach for 20 to 30 minutes, until the carrots yield to a knife, the onions are tender without separating, and a thermometer reaches at least 165°F (74°C) in the thickest part of the breast and 175°F (79°C) in the thigh without touching bone. If the vegetables finish first, lift them into a bowl with a ladleful of liquor and keep them covered. If the bird finishes first, lift it out and let the vegetables complete their cooking alone. The thermometer decides, not the clock.
- 5
Strain the liquor
Lift the poularde carefully, tipping it over the pot so the cavity drains, and rest it on a warm platter under a loose cover for 15 minutes. Remove the vegetables with a slotted spoon. Let the cooking liquor settle briefly, skim away excess surface fat, and pass about 2 cups (480 ml) through a fine-mesh sieve into a warmed sauceboat. Do not reduce, thicken, or enrich it. Its clear, direct taste is the point. If the liquor clouded during cooking, let it stand for 5 minutes and ladle gently from the top through a sieve lined with a damp clean cloth.
- 6
Dish and serve
Snip away the twine and set the poularde whole in the centre of the platter. Arrange the ten carrots and ten onions around it in small, distinct heaps, exactly as the preparation intends. Bring the warm cooking liquor in its sauceboat and the coarse salt in an open cellar, both separately. Carve the bird at the table, spoon a little liquor over each portion, and let every diner add a pinch of gros sel. À table!
Chef Tips
- •A true poularde is a plump, well-fattened young hen, but a good 4-pound (1.8 kg) chicken is the honest market equivalent. Choose one with a full breast and intact skin. Technique first, always: a modest bird poached attentively will beat a dear one boiled without mercy.
- •Fit the pot to the bird. Too broad a vessel demands extra water, and extra water gives a thin cooking liquor. A snug 6 to 7 quart (5.7 to 6.6 L) pot leaves just enough room for the vegetables.
- •Use coarse sea salt with firm crystals, not delicate finishing flakes and not fine table salt. Each pinch should season the carved surface distinctly, then dissolve into the spoonful of broth.
- •Save every drop of liquor left after filling the sauceboat. It is a clean, useful chicken broth for soup, rice, or a velouté, though those belong to another meal and never need to intrude on this one.
Advance Preparation
- •Turn the carrots and peel the onions up to 12 hours ahead. Keep them covered separately in the refrigerator so the onions do not perfume the carrots.
- •The poularde is best poached shortly before serving. The extra strained cooking liquor can be cooled rapidly and refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 325g)
Calories
510 calories
Total Fat
27 g
Saturated Fat
8 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
19 g
Cholesterol
175 mg
Sodium
3300 mg
Total Carbohydrates
11 g
Dietary Fiber
3 g
Sugars
5 g
Protein
53 g
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