Chef Juliette
Mayonnaise de Volaille
Cold roast chicken, ciseled lettuce, and a shining coat of homemade mayonnaise, arranged with capers, olives, anchovies, eggs, and lettuce hearts, then tossed at the table as the canon intends.
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Salade de Homard
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 963, Salade de Homard, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Cold lobster collops, seasoned as an ordinary salad and garnished directly, make a composed first course whose discipline is restraint: no mayonnaise, no masking, only sweet shellfish carried by clean seasoning.
Salads
French
Dinner Party
Special Occasion
Make Ahead
25 min
Active Time
0 min cook•40 min total
Yield4 servings
Salade de Homard (lobster salad) teaches the hardest form of restraint: when the principal ingredient is splendid, seasoning must carry it rather than cover it. The source is exact about this. Tail meat is cut into collops, dressed as an ordinary salad, and given its decorating garnish directly on top. No mayonnaise. The lobster is the point.
The original entry assumed a brigade pantry where Salade de Saumon (No. 810) was already understood and a platter could be assembled in service quantities without explanation. At home, the honest equivalent is one home-scale batch of that referenced preparation, with its salmon replaced by enough lobster for four. There is no saucier, stockpot, or salamander to replace because the dish calls for none; the brigade scaffolding is scale and cross-reference, while the clean seasoning and direct garnish are the dish and must stay. One cook, one stove, one evening, and the stove may remain cold.
Before you touch a knife, make certain the cooked lobster is cold and absolutely dry. Water makes the seasoning slide away and collect at the platter's edge; dry collops take a fine gloss and still taste unmistakably of lobster. This is the step that decides the salad.
Salade de homard belongs to the Parisian classical cold table, where Atlantic lobster arriving from Brittany and Normandy was sliced into collops and arranged as a composed first course. It passed from formal service into bourgeois dining rooms because most of the work could be finished before guests sat down. The source formula corrects a common assumption: mayonnaise is absent, and the lobster is seasoned exactly as an ordinary salad.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
cooked lobster tails
Quantity
2 large tails, yielding about 2 cups (475 ml / 340 g) shelled meat
thoroughly chilled in their shells
referenced salmon-salad preparation
Quantity
1 home-scale batch Salade de Saumon (No. 810), enough for 4 servings
prepared through its salad-seasoning and decorating-garnish stage with the salmon omitted
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| cooked lobster tailsthoroughly chilled in their shells | 2 large tails, yielding about 2 cups (475 ml / 340 g) shelled meat |
| referenced salmon-salad preparationprepared through its salad-seasoning and decorating-garnish stage with the salmon omitted | 1 home-scale batch Salade de Saumon (No. 810), enough for 4 servings |
Equipment Needed
- •Kitchen shears
- •Long, sharp slicing knife
- •14-inch (35 cm) chilled oval serving platter
- •Clean kitchen towels
Instructions
- 1
Shell and dry
Keep the cooked lobster tails in their shells until fully cold, then cut through the thin underside with kitchen shears and ease out the meat in whole pieces. Pat every surface absolutely dry. If thawed lobster releases water, lay it between clean towels in the cold for 10 minutes; ça se rattrape. Wet lobster cannot hold a clean, even seasoning.
Save the shells for another preparation. They have no place on this platter, but they still hold excellent flavour for a shellfish stock. - 2
Cut even collops
Slice each tail crosswise into collops about 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick. Use one long, clean stroke so the slices keep their shape rather than fraying under the knife. Cover and return them to the cold while you ready the platter.
- 3
Ready the reference
Bring Salade de Saumon (No. 810) to its finished salad-seasoning and decorating-garnish stage exactly as its own entry directs, omitting the salmon so the lobster can replace it. Keep the seasoning and garnish separate until assembly. Do not add mayonnaise; its absence is explicit, not an invitation for substitution.
- 4
Compose and season
Overlap the cold lobster collops across a chilled oval platter without packing them tightly. Place the decorating garnish from Salade de Saumon (No. 810) directly upon the lobster, as the source instructs, then season the whole as an ordinary salad. Use only enough seasoning to give the meat a fine gloss. If liquid pools at the edge, lift the lobster and garnish onto a clean chilled platter and spoon back only what clings; ça se rattrape.
- 5
Rest and serve
Let the composed salad stand in the cold for 5 minutes, just long enough for the seasoning to settle across the collops. Serve within 15 minutes of dressing. A longer wait lets the acid tighten the lobster's surface and dulls its sweetness. Bring the platter directly to the table. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Ask the fishmonger for lobster cooked plainly and chilled in its shell. Frozen cooked tails are an honest alternative when fresh lobster is poor; thaw them slowly in the refrigerator, drain them well, and take the drying step seriously.
- •A collop is a neat crosswise slice, not a chunk. Keep the slices close to 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick so they remain tender but still look generous on the platter.
- •No mayonnaise means no mayonnaise. The clean salad seasoning lets you taste the lobster first, which is the entire argument of this preparation.
- •Pour a cold Muscadet or a restrained Chablis. Both have enough freshness for the seasoning and enough composure to leave the lobster alone.
Advance Preparation
- •The lobster may be cooked and chilled in its shell up to 1 day ahead. Keep it well covered and remove the meat only when you are ready to slice.
- •The referenced salad seasoning and decorating garnish may be readied earlier in the day and held separately according to their own entry.
- •Slice and arrange the lobster up to 2 hours ahead, cover closely, and refrigerate. Add the garnish and seasoning no more than 15 minutes before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 310g)
Calories
360 calories
Total Fat
18 g
Saturated Fat
3 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
14 g
Cholesterol
225 mg
Sodium
900 mg
Total Carbohydrates
25 g
Dietary Fiber
3 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
25 g
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