Chef Juliette
Poularde à la Carmélite
Poularde à la Carmélite turns poached chicken, crayfish mousse, truffle, and melting aspic into a cold Parisian centerpiece. The mastery lies in coating while the sauce still flows smoothly.
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Chicken Salad
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 1713, Chicken Salad, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Cold roast or poached chicken with fine ribbons of lettuce, dressed at the final moment with oil and vinegar: a composed salad whose freshness depends entirely on timing.
Salads
French
Picnic
Weeknight
Quick Meal
20 min
Active Time
0 min cook•20 min total
Yield4 servings
Salade de volaille (chicken salad) teaches the discipline of the last minute. Before you touch a pan, know the one true thing: the assaisonnement ordinaire (plain oil-and-vinegar seasoning) goes on only when everyone is ready to eat. Dress it early and the ciselée lettuce softens while the cold chicken sheds moisture; dress it at the last breath and each ribbon stays crisp around the tender meat.
The old formula assumed a garde-manger, the brigade's cold station, holding cooked fowl and washed lettuce ready for service. At home, yesterday's roast chicken or chicken gently poached ahead, a salad spinner, and one wide bowl do the same work. The only modernization is to read boiled fowl as gently poached chicken, because a young market bird turns firm and stringy under a hard boil. The brigade's holding setup was scaffolding and can go. Skinless cold fowl, ciselée lettuce, and last-minute seasoning are the dish and must stay.
This is deliberately not the mayonnaise-bound version beside it in the classical repertoire. Its foundation is a temporary emulsion, bright enough to wake the cold meat without concealing it. One cook, one stove, one evening, though tonight the stove has already earned its rest. Dry the lettuce completely, then wait until the final moment to toss. That timing decides everything.
Salade de volaille belongs to the Parisian cuisine bourgeoise and the classical garde-manger, where cold roast or poached fowl was recut for luncheon rather than treated as a lesser leftover. Classical collections place two versions side by side: one bound with mayonnaise, and this brighter composed salad dressed with ordinary oil-and-vinegar seasoning only at service. It traveled naturally from household dining rooms to café buffets and picnic baskets, but chicken, ciselée lettuce, and dressing were always kept apart until the final toss.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
cold roast or gently poached chicken meat
Quantity
about 3 cups (710 ml / 450 g)
skin and bones removed, sliced into bite-size pieces
butter lettuce
Quantity
1 small head, about 6 loosely packed cups (1.4 L / 180 g)
washed, thoroughly dried, and cut ciselée
mild olive oil or neutral salad oil
Quantity
3 tablespoons (45 ml / 41 g)
wine vinegar
Quantity
1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g)
fine salt
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml / 3 g)
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml / 0.5 g)
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| cold roast or gently poached chicken meatskin and bones removed, sliced into bite-size pieces | about 3 cups (710 ml / 450 g) |
| butter lettucewashed, thoroughly dried, and cut ciselée | 1 small head, about 6 loosely packed cups (1.4 L / 180 g) |
| mild olive oil or neutral salad oil | 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 41 g) |
| wine vinegar | 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g) |
| fine salt | 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml / 3 g) |
| freshly ground black pepper | 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml / 0.5 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •4-quart (3.8-liter) wide salad bowl
- •Salad spinner
- •Sharp chef's knife
- •Small bowl and whisk
- •Two large serving spoons
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the chicken
Keep the cooked chicken cold while you remove every scrap of skin, bone, cartilage, and excess fat. Cut the meat across the grain into neat pieces about 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick, large enough to remain juicy but small enough to meet the lettuce in every serving. Pat any damp surfaces dry. Moisture left on the chicken dilutes the seasoning before it can coat the meat.
- 2
Cut the ciselée
Separate the lettuce leaves, wash them in cold water, and spin them until thoroughly dry. Stack a few leaves at a time, roll them loosely, and cut crosswise into fine ribbons. Work with a sharp knife and a light hand; crushed lettuce darkens and softens. Reserve one loose handful of the driest ribbons, then place the remainder in a wide salad bowl with the chicken.
If the lettuce still feels damp, stop and dry it again. Oil cannot cling through a film of water, and no amount of extra seasoning will restore the clean texture. - 3
Whisk the seasoning
Put the wine vinegar, salt, and pepper in a small bowl and whisk until the salt dissolves. Add the oil in a thin stream while whisking until the assaisonnement looks lightly thickened and unified. Without mustard it will separate as it stands, which is proper for this plain seasoning. If it divides before serving, whisk again for a few seconds. Ça se rattrape.
- 4
Toss at service
Set the table before dressing the salad. Whisk the assaisonnement once more, pour about three-quarters of it around the inner wall of the bowl, and lift the chicken and lettuce through it with two large spoons. Toss only until every surface carries a fine sheen, then taste one piece of chicken together with some lettuce. Add the remaining seasoning only if the salad needs it. If it becomes too wet, fold in the reserved dry lettuce at once; ça se rattrape, but only if you act before the leaves soften.
Pouring the seasoning around the bowl distributes it more evenly than dropping it onto one patch of lettuce. Eight or ten gentle turns should be enough. - 5
Serve without delay
Transfer the salad loosely to a shallow serving dish without pressing it into a compact mound. Bring it straight to the table while the lettuce remains crisp and the chicken is cool. For a picnic, carry all three components chilled and separate, then mix them only after the plates are out. Cooking well is not cooking fancy. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Cold roast chicken gives the fullest flavour, while gently poached chicken gives a paler, more delicate salad. A bought roast bird is perfectly useful if it has no sweet glaze or smoky seasoning. Remove the skin as the formula directs; cold skin turns rubbery beneath the dressing.
- •Butter lettuce gives the tender ciselée the dish expects. For a picnic, the inner leaves of romaine will hold a little longer, though the texture becomes firmer. Whichever you choose, dryness matters more than pedigree.
- •Keep the proportion at three parts oil to one part wine vinegar. No mayonnaise, mustard, celery, eggs, or handful of herbs belongs in this particular entry. Those additions may make another good salad, but they erase the distinction the formula is preserving.
- •Carry the chicken in a well-chilled container for a picnic and keep it cold until serving. Once dressed, the salad should be eaten promptly; time turns its crisp ribbons limp.
Advance Preparation
- •Roast or gently poach the chicken up to one day ahead, remove the skin and bones, and chill the meat covered. Slice it shortly before assembling so its cut surfaces stay moist.
- •Wash and dry the lettuce up to six hours ahead. Wrap it loosely in a clean towel and keep it chilled, but wait to cut the ciselée until close to serving.
- •The assaisonnement can be mixed up to three days ahead and kept covered in the cold. Let the oil loosen for a few minutes, then whisk it vigorously before the final toss.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 172g)
Calories
310 calories
Total Fat
19 g
Saturated Fat
4 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
14 g
Cholesterol
100 mg
Sodium
390 mg
Total Carbohydrates
1 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
0 g
Protein
33 g
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