Chef Juliette
Smelt (Éperlans)
Tiny éperlans, lightly floured and fried until their tails stand crisp, arrive in a generous heap on a napkin with fried parsley and grooved lemon, a weeknight lesson in heat and restraint.
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Pannequets à la Moscovite
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 2323, Pannequets à la Moscovite, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Cold, neat, and briny, these unsweetened pannequets wrap cayenne-touched caviare in slim little cigarettes, a special-occasion hors d'oeuvre whose whole discipline is keeping every element chilled and every pearl intact.
Appetizers & Snacks
French
Special Occasion
New Years
Make Ahead
25 min
Prep Time
0 min cook•55 min total
Yield4 servings (16 cigarettes)
Pannequets à la Moscovite (cold pancake cigarettes filled with cayenned caviare) teach a lesson that hot cooking often lets you dodge: temperature is part of structure. The pannequet must be cool and supple, the caviare cold and intact, and the finished roll firm enough to lift in two fingers without squeezing out its filling. No heat comes near this one.
The original needed neither saucier, stockpot, nor salamander. It assumed a garde-manger, the cold station, with ordinary unsugared pannequets already prepared, enough hands to cut trays of exact rectangles, and crystal hors-d'oeuvre dishes waiting for service. At home, four finished pannequets, one chilled tray, and a sharp knife give you sixteen bites for four people. The crystal is service ceremony, and a chilled glass platter is its honest equivalent; the three-inch rectangle, cayenned caviare, and tight cigarette roll are the dish and must stay. One cook, one stove, one evening.
Work in small batches and put each roll seam-side down in the cold as soon as it's made. The one step that decides the result happens before the knife touches the pancake: chill the pannequets, caviare, tray, and serving dish, then keep them cold.
Pannequets à la Moscovite belong to the Parisian classical hors-d'oeuvre repertoire, where the garde-manger turned ready pancakes and costly caviare into small cold bites for formal service. In French culinary nomenclature, à la Moscovite signals a Russian association, here carried by caviare, but the dish is not a blini: its wrapper is the ordinary unsugared French pannequet. Crystal dishes were part of the service ceremony; the enduring preparation is the cayenne-pricked roe rolled tightly inside the pale pancake.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
Preparations for Pancakes and Pannequets
Quantity
4 ordinary unsugared Pannequets (No. 2403), each about 8 inches (20 cm) across
fully cooled
black caviare
Quantity
1/4 cup (60 ml / 60 g)
thoroughly chilled
cayenne
Quantity
1 small pinch, about 1/16 teaspoon (0.3 ml / 0.1 g)
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Preparations for Pancakes and Pannequetsfully cooled | 4 ordinary unsugared Pannequets (No. 2403), each about 8 inches (20 cm) across |
| black caviarethoroughly chilled | 1/4 cup (60 ml / 60 g) |
| cayenne | 1 small pinch, about 1/16 teaspoon (0.3 ml / 0.1 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •Sharp slicing knife
- •Ruler or 3 by 1 1/2-inch (7.5 by 4-cm) paper template
- •Small offset spatula or demitasse spoon
- •Chilled metal tray lined with parchment
- •Crystal or glass hors-d'oeuvre dish
Instructions
- 1
Chill the service
Chill a metal tray, the serving dish, a small bowl, and the caviare for at least 30 minutes. Take the fully cooled ordinary unsugared Pannequets from Preparations for Pancakes and Pannequets (No. 2403) from the cold only when everything else is ready. If the pannequets retain any warmth, stop and chill them between sheets of parchment; warmth softens the caviare and turns neat rolls slack.
Keep the caviare container nested in a small bowl of ice while you cut the pannequets. Cold protects both its texture and its clean, mineral taste. - 2
Cut exact rectangles
Lay one pannequet flat on the chilled tray. Using a sharp knife and a ruler or paper guide, cut four clean rectangles measuring 3 inches by 1 1/2 inches (7.5 by 4 cm), choosing the most even central portions. Repeat with the remaining pannequets and return each batch of rectangles to the cold. Reserve the trimmings for the cook; they do not belong on the serving dish.
- 3
Season the caviare
Set aside 1 tablespoon of the caviare, then sprinkle the cayenne over the remainder. Fold it through once or twice with a small spoon, gently enough to leave the pearls whole. Taste a few pearls together. The cayenne should arrive after the caviare, never before it; if it bites too sharply, fold in the reserved plain caviare until the balance returns.
- 4
Coat and roll
Work with four rectangles at a time. Spread each with a scant 3/4 teaspoon of cayenned caviare in a thin, even coat, leaving about 1/8 inch (3 mm) bare along one long edge. Beginning at the opposite long edge, roll across the narrow dimension into a tight cigarette about 3 inches (7.5 cm) long. Set it seam-side down on the chilled tray. If a roll bulges or leaks, unroll it immediately, scrape away the excess, and roll again. Ça se rattrape.
Use the back of a small spoon or a narrow offset spatula. Pressing hard bursts the caviare and stains the pale pannequet. - 5
Set and serve
Chill the completed cigarettes seam-side down for 20 to 30 minutes, lightly covered so they neither dry nor absorb refrigerator aromas. Arrange them in a single layer on the chilled crystal or glass hors-d'oeuvre dish, keeping their clean ends visible. Bring them out only when the glasses are poured, and serve at once. À table!
Chef Tips
- •The caviare is the whole filling, so buy the best small tin you comfortably can. Its pearls should taste saline and mineral, not harshly fishy, and they should separate under the spoon rather than collapse into paste.
- •Cayenne is punctuation here. Measure the tiny pinch, fold gently, and taste before adding more; cold mutes spice at first, but the heat gathers as the caviare rests.
- •The pannequets must be pale, thin, and supple. Deep browning may be welcome at breakfast, but here it makes the wrapper dry and likely to split when rolled.
- •Do not add lemon juice, cream, onion, or herbs. They make perfectly agreeable caviare accompaniments elsewhere, but this formula depends on the direct contrast of bland pannequet, briny roe, and cayenne.
- •Pour brut Champagne or a very dry Chablis. Both clear the palate without crowding the caviare.
Advance Preparation
- •The ordinary unsugared Pannequets from Preparations for Pancakes and Pannequets (No. 2403) may be prepared one day ahead. Cool them completely, separate them with parchment, wrap them closely, and refrigerate.
- •The rectangles may be cut up to 4 hours ahead and kept between parchment on a covered chilled tray.
- •Fill and roll the cigarettes 30 to 60 minutes before serving. Longer storage softens the pannequets and dulls the caviare, so keep the components separate until close to the gathering.
- •Keep the finished pannequets refrigerated until service and return any untouched portion promptly to the cold. Do not freeze them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 55g)
Calories
140 calories
Total Fat
7 g
Saturated Fat
3 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
4 g
Cholesterol
130 mg
Sodium
370 mg
Total Carbohydrates
12 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
2 g
Protein
7 g
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