Aiguillettes de Rouennais aux Truffes

Aiguillettes de Rouennais aux Truffes (thin slices of Rouen-style duckling breast with truffles) teaches restraint. The Chambertin must perfume the truffle without bullying it, the duckling must remain rosy, and the sauce must lie over both as a thin gleaming veil. The one true thing to know before touching a pan is this: too much sauce buries the dish.

The original kitchen assumed a saucier with light sauce Rouennaise waiting, a stockpot never cold, a deep poëling pan, and spare hands to carve while the cooking liquor was reduced and strained. A home kitchen has a heavy cocotte, a fine sieve, an instant-read thermometer, and one pair of hands. That is enough. The salamander can stay out of it; the cocotte's uncovered finish gives the duckling its colour. Separate hot holding and serviette-straining were brigade scaffolding, so they become a lukewarm platter and a fine sieve. What stays is the dish itself: Poëlings (No. 250), whole truffles cooked in Chambertin, the reduction folded into sauce Rouennaise, and the lengthwise carving established by Aiguillettes de Rouennais à la Bigarrade (No. 1755).

One cook, one stove, one evening. Hold back a little plain sauce before finishing, because if the reduction tightens or turns greasy, ça se rattrape. Most of all, stop reducing while the sauce still runs freely from the spoon. A thick coat is not generosity here; it is poor judgment in evening clothes.