The legacy of the famous French writer Alexandre Dumas Sr. includes not only fascinating historical and adventure novels, but also a collection of recipes and historical anecdotes, known as the "Great Culinary Dictionary". Being a gourmet, Dumas himself loved to cook and collected recipes from different eras and peoples.

His contemporary journalist Octave Lacroix wrote: "The friends of the highly respected Monsieur Dumas say that when he agrees to move from his office to the kitchen and leave his pen for the frying pan, there is hardly a better cook in all of France."

We offer our readers historical recipes, included by the writer in the "Great Culinary Dictionary".

Royal sticks. Dish from the Hundred Years War

This dish was popular at the court of Charles VII, son of Charles VI the Mad and Isabella of Bavaria. Charles VII is famous for ascending the throne thanks to Joan of Arc. And it is quite possible that on March 4, 1429, when the Maid of Orleans arrived at Chinon Castle to inform the future monarch of her special mission, royal sticks were on the tables among other dishes.

We mention this dish from the era of Charles VII more because of its antiquity than because of its culinary properties. It is based on very fine minced poultry and game meat. Roll up tubes from minced meat, wrap them in thin dough and fry. The resulting sticks can be put on skewers or used as a side dish for a whole piece of beef.

Cooking steps

Salt the minced meat, pepper, add nutmeg, mix well, roll up tubes 20 cm long and about 2 cm in diameter. Flour a cutting board and roll out the dough into a 20x40 cm rectangle. Cut the rolled out dough into 20x10 cm strips. Wrap the prepared minced meat in the dough strips. Roll each resulting stick on the board so that the edges of the dough stick together well.

Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan to 180°C. Deep fry the sticks for 10-20 minutes. Put the finished sticks on a paper towel, let the excess oil drain.

Onion soup according to the recipe of the Polish king Stanislav

There are countless recipes for onion soup in French cuisine. Nevertheless, Dumas emphasizes the proposed option, since this soup is not only tasty, but also owes its origin to the august lady.

According to legend, the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania Stanislav I Leshchinsky borrowed this recipe from an innkeeper in the town of Châlons-en-Champagne. The king was so impressed with the soup that he was served in the tavern that he went to the kitchen and, watching the actions of the cook, carefully wrote everything down.

Cooking steps

Cut off the crust from the bread, cut it into pieces and fry in a dry frying pan for 3 minutes. Mix the resulting croutons with half butter and fry again until they are crispy, then transfer to a plate.

Cut the peeled onion into half rings and carefully separate them from each other. Melt the remaining butter in a saucepan and fry the onion until golden, add the croutons and fry for another 5 minutes.

Pour boiling water into the pan, add seasoning, salt, pepper, cook over low heat for 15 minutes.

Green peas with cream

This dish was very popular at the court of the "Sun King". In the book "Louis XIV and his century" Dumas writes that the king was very fond of green pea and ate it regularly despite his doctor's objections. Moreover, Louis XIV, who, as you know, loved to garden, grew excellent peas himself and even anonymously sent them to the market.

Once, a certain courtier Montoron, unknowingly, bought royal peas and presented them as a gift to Louis. The king was very pleased with such a successful deal - he helped out the money and received the goods.
At the court of Louis XIV, green peas were so popular that even the cook's asparagus was cut to resemble pea shoulder blades. And in general, peas were one of the culinary symbols of France in those years; it is no coincidence that the soup from it was called "green peas in French."

Cooking steps

Finely chop the parsley and green onion. Roll a piece of butter in flour, melt in a pan, add greens. Put the peas, pour in 100 ml of water, simmer for 5 minutes. Add cream powdered sugar, salt, pepper and simmer for 3-5 minutes.

Fluffy Brie Pie

Alexandre Dumas recommends baking this wonderful fluffy pie with mature brie cheese, which is more spicy and piquant than young brie. In general, brie is one of the most ancient French cheeses. According to legend, as early as the 8th century, King Charlemagne admired this delicious dish.

Brie cheese has always been held in high esteem by French royalty. Henry of Navarre and his wife, Queen Margot, were known to be great lovers of brie.

Cooking steps

Rub the cheese with the sifted flour. Add oil, salt, 3 eggs. Knead the dough and let it rise for 30 minutes.

Shape the pie into a loaf shape, place in a greased baking dish and brush the surface of the pie with egg yolk. Bake the cake for 25 minutes at 180-200°C. Ready pie chop and serve with green onions.

Recipes from the book: Alexandre Dumas. Best Recipes. Moscow: Mann, Ivanov and Ferber, 2014

Photos: Carmen Steiner/shutterstock.com, Olga Miltsova/shutterstock.com, Jerry Lin/shutterstock.com, S_Photo/shutterstock.com,

There is no such thing as too many onions!

Especially in this dish!

Famous onion soup originally prepared for French longshoremen, and now is one of the popular dishes in restaurants.

What are the features of the classic onion soup and how to cook it?

Classic Onion Soup - General Cooking Principles

Butter is used for frying, but sometimes it is replaced with vegetable oil. Fire is medium. Then the onion is poured with water or broth and set to boil. In the soup, it should be very soft, almost boiled. classic dish thick, you can smash it into a puree and make a creamy soup.

The hallmark of the classic onion soup is the way it is served. The dish is poured into clay or any other refractory containers, croutons are placed on top and thickly covered with hard cheese. Then heated in the oven until it melts. But you can also fry until golden brown under the grill.

Recipe 1: Classic French Onion Soup

Ingredients

60 grams of butter;

1 kg of onions;

1 liter of broth;

150 grams of hard cheese;

½ baguette;

Black pepper, salt.

Cooking

1. We put butter in a large saucepan, put it on the stove.

2. We chop the whole onion in half rings and send it to the oil. Pass for at least 15 minutes. Onions should become golden, soft, will resemble stewed cabbage in appearance.

3. Pour in a glass of broth, stir, add fire and evaporate.

4. Add the rest of the broth and cook the soup for about 40 minutes over low heat. Do not forget to pepper and add salt to taste.

5. Cut the baguette into pieces of 5 millimeters, fry in a pan on both sides. Or dry it in the oven.

6. Pour the soup into fireproof bowls, put the prepared baguette pieces on top.

7. Sprinkle with grated cheese and put the bowls in the oven. It is better to use the grill. Hold until the cheese is completely melted.

8. Take out and serve immediately. Onion soup should be piping hot.

Recipe 2: Classic Onion Soup with Cheese and Chicken (Simplified Serve)

Ingredients

300 grams of chicken fillet;

500 grams of onion;

1.5 liters of water;

2 tablespoons of butter;

Salt and spices;

5 slices of bread;

120 grams of cheese.

Cooking

1. Cut the onion, sauté in oil. Use a large skillet or saucepan.

2. We cut the fillet into cubes by a centimeter, fill it with water and cook for 10 minutes after boiling. We remove the foam.

3. We combine the broth with chicken, cook until the onion is completely soft, it should be slightly boiled.

4. Five minutes before the end, season the dish with spices.

5. In a frying pan, after the onion, fry the slices of bread. As soon as we turn it over to the second side, put a slice of cheese on each. Cover the skillet and melt the cheese.

6. Pour the soup, put the prepared croutons and you're done! Rather, we send the plates to the table.

Recipe 3: Classic Onion Soup with Cream Cheese

Ingredients

4 large onions;

1 carrot;

2 processed cheese;

40 grams of butter;

6 pieces of baguette;

Salt pepper;

dill greens;

3 tablespoons of canned peas;

1 liter of broth.

Cooking

1. Melt the butter. We put everything in at once. We use a large saucepan, you can cauldron.

2. Send the coarsely chopped onion to the oil, fry.

3. As soon as the pieces are well browned, add the grated carrot. We fry a couple more minutes.

4. Pour in the broth and cook the dish for 20 minutes.

5. Add green peas, salt and pepper, let boil for two minutes.

6. Processed cheese should be rubbed with large chips. To make it easy to do, you can hold an hour in the freezer.

7. We send the curds to the soup, let it melt, turn it off.

8. Cut the baguette pieces into 4 parts, fry in a pan. Serve with onion soup sprinkled with chopped dill.

Recipe 4: Classic Onion Soup with Salmon

Ingredients

400 grams of salmon (use fillet);

1 bunch of dill;

2 onions;

1 leek;

1 glass of milk;

2 tablespoons of flour;

50 grams of plums. oils;

100 ml cream;

Spices to taste.

Cooking

1. Shred the onion in half rings. Fry with oil for a minute.

2. Add chopped leeks. Cook together. Some recipes also add chopped fennel, you can cook with it.

3. As soon as the onion is reddened, pour a spoonful of flour into it, fry.

4. Pour in milk, then add 400 ml of water. Let the dish boil.

5. Wash the salmon, cut into small cubes. A centimeter is enough.

6. We send the fish to the soup, you can salt at this stage.

7. Cook for 10 minutes and add cream.

8. Boil for another minute, add chopped dill and black pepper. Turn off.

9. When serving, the soup can be sprinkled with grated hard cheese, it will make the taste deeper.

Recipe 5: Classic Onion Soup with Potatoes

Ingredients

350 grams of potatoes;

300 grams of onions;

1 leek;

50 grams of oil;

120 grams of cheese;

1.2 liters of broth;

Salt pepper;

Parsley greens.

Cooking

1. Chop the onions in large cubes, send them to a frying pan with oil. Fry until light brown.

2. Add the chopped leek and fry for another minute.

3. Pour the broth into the pan, set to boil.

4. Cut the peeled potatoes into small cubes no more than 5 millimeters. We cook 5 minutes.

5. Add onions from the pan to the potatoes, boil together for another 15 minutes. Season with salt in the middle.

6. At the end, season with pepper, chopped parsley and turn off.

7. Pour into bowls and add grated cheese. Delicious!

Recipe 6: Classic Onion Soup with Cabbage "Lightness"

Ingredients

500 grams of cabbage;

500 grams of onion;

1 liter of water;

1 carrot;

Black pepper;

Bay leaf;

30 ml of vegetable oil;

Cheese and herbs optional.

Cooking

1. In vegetable oil, fry the onion heads cut into half rings. Stir regularly.

2. As soon as all the moisture has evaporated, and the pieces become golden, add shredded cabbage. This soup is best cooked in a large saucepan. You can use a cauldron.

3. Fry cabbage with onions for a couple of minutes.

4. Add grated carrots, then pour in water or broth. Immediately salt, reduce the heat and cook everything together for about ten minutes.

5. Add pepper, bay leaf, taste and turn off.

6. Pour into bowls. We put cheese and greens at will.

Recipe 7: Classic Country Style Onion and Garlic Soup

Ingredients

500 grams of onion;

3 sprigs of parsley;

50 grams of any cheese;

60 grams of flour;

40 grams of any oil;

Bread for croutons.

Cooking

1. Cut the peeled onion heads into strips, fry in a pan. At the end, add flour and sauté for a minute.

2. We shift the onion into a saucepan, pour in a liter of water and cook for 20 minutes. Stir well while pouring so that the flour does not grab lumps.

3. Add spices, chopped garlic.

4. Put the grated cheese, let it dissolve and turn it off.

5. Add parsley when serving soup on the table.

6. Dry croutons from bread or just fry in a pan, serve with soup.

Recipe 8: Classic Leek Soup

Ingredients

4 stalks of leek;

1 liter of water;

2 potatoes;

1 bell pepper;

150 grams of cream;

40 grams of oil;

Salt pepper.

Cooking

1. We cut the leek into rings, immediately remove the green part, but do not put it anywhere. We will also use it in soup.

2. Melt a piece of butter in a frying pan and lightly sauté the onion.

3. Pour a liter of water or broth into a saucepan, set to heat up.

4. We clean the potatoes and just rub them on coarse grater, send to the pan.

5. After boiling, add the fried onions, cook together for 15 minutes. Vegetables should become very soft.

6. Cut the pepper into cubes and chop the green part of the leek, which was set aside earlier.

7. Salt the soup and add the remaining vegetables, boil for two minutes.

8. Add cream, pepper, warm, but do not let it boil. Serve with greens and crackers.

It is not necessary to add water to onion soup. The liquid can be replaced with any broth: vegetable, meat, mushroom. You can also cook french dish on milk.

If there is no butter or you just need to replace it with vegetable oil, then it is advisable to use olive oil. It will better emphasize the taste of the first course than sunflower. By the way, sometimes the olives themselves are put in the soup, but quite a bit, three pieces per serving are enough.

Onions don't want to brown? This happens if the vegetable is summer and very juicy. For a beautiful color, you can add a little sugar to the pan.

You don't have to cry to peel and chop a mountain of onions! You can take cold water in your mouth and there will be no tears. Only the water needs to be changed regularly. It is also recommended to rinse the knife and cutting board, and keep the bowl of chopped vegetables covered.

100 recipes for love dishes. Delicious, healthy, sincere, healing Vecherskaya Irina

Alexandre Dumas Onion Soup

Compound: 2 large onions, 200 g wheat bread, 1 liter of broth, 2 tbsp. l. butter, 100 g cheese.

Cut wheat bread into small cubes, fry in a pan in half the butter. Onion finely chop, fry in butter until golden brown, add fried bread and fry until the onion takes on a bronze hue. Then put everything in a saucepan, pour boiling broth. Add grated cheese and, stirring constantly, cook at a minimum boil for 5-7 minutes.

ALEXANDRA COCKTAIL Required: 45 ml HENNESSI V. S. cognac, 45 ml fresh cream, 30 ml chocolate liqueur, ice. Cooking method. Mix chocolate liqueur and cream in a shaker, add cognac. Put ice in cognac glasses and pour into them