Lucien and buns: culinary “failures” that have become real hits

There are many legendary dishes that arose by the will of His Majesty by chance. Two famous examples from Russia are Olivier salad and raisin buns.

There are many legends about the creation of lettuce. I especially like the one in which Lucien Olivier (the French chef and owner of the Hermitage restaurant in the capital) slid down the column in horror and decided to leave wild Russia once and for all… What happened?

That day, Lucien prepared a new serving of hazel grouse, in which potatoes and gherkins served more as a substrate-decoration, the composition also included: tongue, crayfish tails and meat jelly … And then he sees how drunk Russians roughly mix his elegant design!

The next day, receiving the same guests, Lucien out of spite immediately mixed the salad – and generously seasoned with his signature Provencal sauce. This caused complete delight. And so the salad was born, which glorified the chef Olivier for centuries …

The story of the baker Filippov is not so appetizing, but also very instructive. When the formidable Governor-General of Moscow noticed a cockroach in his bun, the resourceful Filippov quickly ate it, explaining that it was raisins. Then he went to the kitchen and turned the word into action, generously pouring raisins into the dough. From the next day, Filippovskiye bakeries began to quickly sell a novelty – buns with raisins.

Olivier cake with salted salmon and caviar (or crayfish tails)

For 8 people

Preparation: 20 minutes

Preparation: 1 hour

Ingredients

120 g salted salmon

2 large potatoes

2 carrots

1/2 small red onion

1 green apple

2 eggs

120 g red caviar

For mayonnaise:

2 yolk

1 hours. L. mustard

400 ml of refined vegetable oil

1 st. l. lemon juice or vinegar

salt and sugar to taste

Boil potatoes and carrots or bake in foil and cool. Boil eggs. Finely chop the onion. Cut the salmon into 5 mm cubes.

Make homemade mayonnaise: pour the yolks into a glass for a blender, put mustard, pour 2 tbsp. l. warm water, lemon juice and put a blender leg on top of the yolk with mustard. Then pour in all the oil and turn on the blender for 5-10 seconds, without lifting it from the bottom, and then lift and gradually mix in the remaining oil until an emulsion is formed throughout the volume. At the end, mayonnaise needs to be salted, sweetened and diluted a little with water – so that it is easier for them to season the salad.

On a flat dish, grate potatoes on a coarse grater, forming a circle (the future basis of the cake). Lubricate with mayonnaise, then alternately grate a layer of carrots (spread with mayonnaise), apples, onions, salmon (mayonnaise again). Form a “cake”, wipe the sides of the plate. Grate the eggs with the final layer. Gently lay the caviar on top, pushing the eggs apart with two forks. Let it brew for two hours.

In the days of the USSR, the role of hazel grouse was played by sausage, cancer necks became carrots. We offer to cook Olivier in the form of a cake with caviar

Scones with rum raisins and lemon fudge

Preparation: 1 hour

Preparation: 20 minutes

Ingredients for 40 7 cm scones:

900 g flour

175 g butter

70 g sugar

pinch of salt

3 tsp with a huge slide of baking powder

3 eggs

450 ml of milk

200 г изюма

150 ml rum

For fondant:

100 ml lemon juice

300 grams of powdered sugar

Soak the raisins in rum for an hour or more, strain (the rum can be used for the next raisin). Preheat oven to 250°C. Mix flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Cut the butter into small cubes, mix them with flour and rub with your hands until the mixture looks like small crumbs.

Then add eggs and milk at room temperature, mix all the ingredients with your hands until smooth (you don’t need to knead such a dough for a long time), add raisins. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and flatten with your hands into a 2 cm thick layer. Take a mold or a glass and cut out circles. Roll out the rest and roll out again. Bake for 8-12 minutes, until browned, remove to a wire rack.

Prepare the glaze: remove the zest and squeeze the juice of the lemons, combine, bring to a boil, evaporate by a third, stir in the powder until smooth. Let cool. After 5-10 minutes brush the tops of the scones with glaze.

The baker Filippov became famous for skeins with raisins made from yeast dough. And on our menu – the simplest possible buns: fantastically fast scones with rum raisins and fudge.