From Babette's Feast · 1987 · Reconstructed
Cailles en Sarcophage (Quail in Puff Pastry)
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.
Before you start
Quail stuffed and browned, pastry cases chilled and baked, sauce reduced — all of it finished before the movie starts, so all that's left at serve time is plating.
Cook-along start: before the movie
In the movie
Theatrical
- 01:21:52 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.
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.
Ingredients
Method
- 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 — a thermometer slipped into the thigh should read 165°F.
- 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.
Substitutions
The feast's grandest, most expensive plate — here's how to bring it within reach without losing the spirit:
- Quail: Cornish hen halves keep the small-bird elegance; bone-in chicken thighs are the easiest shop.
- Foie gras: a good chicken-liver mousse or country pâté, or — no liver at all — a mushroom duxelles tucked into the cavity.
- Black truffle: sautéed mushrooms with a few drops of truffle oil. Go easy; truffle oil gets loud fast.
- Veal demi-glace: dark chicken stock reduced hard with a little gelatin, or store-bought demi-glace concentrate.
- Madeira: dry sherry or Marsala; reduced stock with a splash of vinegar to cook it alcohol-free.
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