Petersburg Cuisine

A. N. Benois. Menu of the Lunch for Class Representatives in the Alexander Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow on the occasion of the coronation of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna on May 19, 1896

A.A. Levenson Printshop (Moscow). 1896.

Chromolithograph. 37,4х26,8 cm.

Dish Recipes

English Turtle Soup

Cooking rules

Clean and boil the turtle in beef broth. When it is ready, take it out, cut it into the right portions, trim it as it should, put it in a saucepan, add the broth and keep steamed for a while. In the meantime, take veal, beef and ham trimmings, and the remains of a turtle, put them in a saucepan, add a little water and fry over a fire: when they are browned at the bottom, add the turtle soup and a good broth, boil, put the roots, all the spices, and a bunch of greens (dill, tarragon, marjoram, anise and shallot in equal proportions) and simmer until until the desired strength of the broth and good taste are reached. Then strain through a napkin, add good Madeira or Lisbon wine (one glass for 3 persons) and simmer, skimming off scum on the surface of the broth, until it is completely free from froth. Before serving, put the boiled turtle into the soup and add cayenne pepper a little.

Jellied Stuffed Hazel Grouse

3-4 hazel grouses, ⅛ veal liver
3-4 bay leaves
5 grains of English pepper
½ French white bread
½ Russian pound of bacon, 5-6 eggs, salt
⅜ Russian pound of butter

For aspic:
Veal head bones
½ Russian pound of beef
1-2 bay leaves
Vinegar, salt, ¼ glass of sherry
1-2 egg whites,

reduce to 2 cups

For a veritable layer:
2-3 beets, 10-12 potatoes
2 spoons of caperts, 2 spoons of olives
A spoonful of prepared mustard
Provence oil, 2 spoons of vinegar

Cooking rules

Clean 3-4 hazel grouses, cut along the ridge, carefully remove the bones so as not to cut through the skins, chop off the paws and wings, stuff with minced liver as follows: cut ½ veal liver into slices, put in a saucepan with 1 bay leaf, 5 grains of English pepper and ½ pounds of pork fat with roots, fry, then finely chop, put ½ soaked and squeezed French white bread, 3-6 eggs, salt; crush all this, pass through a colander, stuff the hazel grouses, put them on a saucepan, coated with butter, put into the oven to fry. Cool, cut into slices, put onto a plate, on a layer of beets, potatoes, etc., sprinkle with chopped aspic and greens. Serve separately mustard sauce or some other.

The bottom layer is cooked as follows: take a few pieces of beets and a few pieces of potatoes, bake the first, boil the second, peel, finely chop, mix with 2 tablespoons of capers and olives, with a teaspoon of mustard mixed with 2 tablespoons of Provence oil and vinegar, stir it all so that it stays in the mass; make a round or oblong-quadrangular base from it, the size of a plate, two fingers high, smooth the top and sides as best as possible.