Petersburg Cuisine

V. D. Polenov. Menu of the Highest Dinner for the Clerics and Persons of the First Two Classes in the Palace of the Facets of the Moscow Kremlin on the Occasion of the Coronation of Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna on May 19, 1883

A. Ilyin's Cartographic Establishment (St. Petersburg). 1883.

Chromolithograph. 45.9x31.1 cm.

Cooking Rules

English Roast Sirloin of Beef

Cooking Rules

Take a tender top sirloin with a bottom sirloin and fat, cut off the backbone evenly, remove the flank, tie with Dutch thread, marinate on a baking dish with Provencal oil and chopped onion and leave until the next day (turning it over several times and pouring Provencal oil over it). Then take it out, wrap it in paper, fix it on a spit with iron studs and roast over low heat for 4 hours, pouring its own juice, which will leak out onto the baking dish placed under it. Before serving, remove the paper, glaze, put on a plate and add juice. Fried potatoes, juice in a gravy boat and scraped horseradish on a plate are served separately. As a rule, the roast beef is cut at the table by the host, but if you need to serve it sliced, then proceed as follows: cut away the top and with bottom sirloins with all the fat, slice both sirloins into thin portions, put two pieces on a plate and serve hot for each person, so that the roast beef does not get cold, or cut out the sirloins, slice and lay out so that the roast beef looks whole, and serve. Roast beef cooked in this way is called roast beef a la modern and served with side dishes a la tortue, windsor ashpo and so on.

English Diplomat Pudding

Cooking Rules

Bake 5 round sponges of medium size, place piece on piece and trim as the pudding should be. In the meantime, prepare Macedonia from different fruits and berries and remove from the syrup on a sieve. For ½ hours before serving, proceed as follows: pour a glass of maraschino into a deep plate, add ½ a glass of fruit syrup, stir, dip a layer of sponge in maraschino, lay it right in the middle of the plate, place a row of fruits on top so that there are no lumps, then dip the 2nd layer of sponge in maraschino, cover with fruits, put a row of fruits again and continue this way until the proper height, press the top layer gently with a lid. When it is smooth, cover the pudding with custard icing on top and around and, when the icing has hardened a little, beautifully decorate the top with fruits and candied fruits and let it sit. You need to try to prepare the pudding for the serving itself, otherwise the sponge will get soggy and the icing will lose its whitenes, and, most importantly, the fruit will release juice and the pudding will lose form.