Cailles en Sarcophage (Quail in Puff Pastry)
Reconstructed
Serve when
Carry it out when the General sets down his fork and rises to speak — the quail is what unlocks his memory of the Café Anglais, and his speech on grace begins.
In the movie
Theatrical
- The centerpiece of the feast: quail baked in puff-pastry 'sarcophagi' with foie gras and a truffle sauce. It is the very dish General Löwenhielm once ate at the Café Anglais in Paris — recognizing it, he stands and gives the speech that mercy and truth have met together.
Ingredients
Steps
- Season the quail inside and out. Tuck a nut of foie gras into each cavity, truss lightly, and brown all over in butter. Set aside to cool.
- Roll the puff pastry and cut squares large enough to wrap each quail. Set a quail on each square, gather the pastry up around it into a little case ("sarcophagus"), and seal. Chill 20 minutes, then glaze with beaten egg.
- Bake at 400°F for 20–25 minutes, until the pastry is deep golden and puffed and the quail is cooked through.
- Meanwhile, soften the shallots in butter. Add the truffle, then the Madeira, and reduce by half. Pour in the demi-glace and simmer to a glossy sauce; season.
- Set each pastry case on a warm plate and spoon the truffle sauce around it. Serve with a great red — the film pours Clos de Vougeot 1845.
In the movie
This is the dish the whole film has been quietly walking toward. General Löwenhielm, who years ago dined at the legendary Café Anglais in Paris, takes one bite and recognizes it: this is the work of the greatest cook he ever encountered. He rises, glass in hand, and delivers the film's grace note — "mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and bliss shall kiss one another" — while the table, thawed at last, glows. Babette's genius is never announced; it is simply tasted.