Pain de Volaille Froid

Pain de Volaille Froid (cold molded chicken loaf) teaches the discipline of making a warm emulsion for cold service. The one true thing to know before touching a pan is this: the yolks must never meet direct heat. They should thicken gently with the concentrated poëling liquor, then accept the butter little by little, or the filling turns grainy instead of smooth.

The original assumed a tender chicken prepared by another station, a saucier minding the yolks, strong veal stock never off the fire, a tammy for sieving, and a mould packed in ice. At home, concentrated low-salt veal stock replaces the perpetual stockpot, a bowl over barely simmering water replaces the side of the range, and a food processor followed by a fine-mesh sieve does the tammy's work. The elaborate ice packing and hand pounding are brigade scaffolding and may go. The pale poëling, the yolk-and-butter emulsion, the truffled lining, the rice cushion, and the aspic croûtons stay because they are the dish.

There is one further change for one cook: bone and sieve the chicken before beginning the emulsion. A brigade could perform those jobs at once, but a home cook should have the purée and chilled mould waiting before the yolks meet the reduction. One cook, one stove, one evening of work, then the refrigerator takes the night watch. Set up the gentle water bath first, because once the emulsion begins, it deserves your whole attention.