financiere

[Victor Steinbok]

This came totally out of the blue while I was researching quenelles.

Earlier, I was browsing a small book I got out of the local library
(recent book, readily available--if anyone else is into this sort of
thing--$17.92 from Amazon, or $13.96 for used copy).

Italy Dish by Dish. A Comprehensive Guide to Eating in Italy. By Monica
Sartori Cesari. Translated by Susan Simon. New York: 2011. [Original
Italian edition 2005.]
Piedmont. Meat. p. 16
> Finanziera alla piemontese:  A sumptuous and elaborate sauce, typical
> of the Piedmont region. It's made with cock's combs, wattles and
> testicles, unborn eggs and chicken livers; beef fillet; veal rump and
> saddle, tendons, sweetbreads and brains; olive oil-marinated porcini
> mushrooms and assorted herbs. It's all made into a veloute, a cream to
> which dry Marsala wine is added. The finanziera sauce can then be used
> to fill vol-au-vent, as an accompaniment to a plain white risotto,
> made into a mold or served as a very refined, hot antipasto. There are
> variations for this recipe; the most notable includes pickles. The
> name of the dish dates to the nineteenth century when it was one of
> the favorite dishes of the bankers of Turin--especially during their
> working lunches. The term /finanziera/ comes from classic French
> cuisine--it may refer to garnish or a sauce that is somehow linked to
> the concept of great wealth.

I was well past the Piedmont section, when, earlier today, I was looking
through the GB copy of an 1815 French cuisine cookbook (mentioned in the
post on quenelles--not sure which of these will go out first).

http://goo.gl/Cmfnx
The French Cook, Or, The Art of Cookery: Developed in All Its Branches.
By Louis Eustache Ude. 3rd Edition. London: 1815
p. 110
> /Pike a la Chambord. /
> Scale your pike and let it disgorge in water for an hour or two. Then
> lard it in different places on one side of the back, and bake it in a
> /marinade au vin, /as you would do in the /marinade a la Genévoise.
> /That part which has been larded must stand uppermost, to prevent the
> other getting dry. Cover this with layers of bacon, and be particular
> in basting frequently with the seasoning. When your fish is done,
> glaze the parts that have been larded, and /mask /the others with a
> /ragoût à la Chambord. /Observe that the /quenelles /must be made of
> fish. The garnish is generally composed of large /quenelles, /small
> pigeons /innocents, /(squab pigeons) larded sweetbread of lamb, &c.
> Take a little of the /marinade, /skim off the grease, reduce it nearly
> to /glace, /and mix it with the /Chambord, /which is no other thing
> than a /financière /with the addition of a little /beurre d'anchois. /

Browsing back from this,

pp. 39-40
> No. 70--/Ragoût //a la Financière/.
> You must procure cock's combs, cock's kidneys, fat livers, likewise a
> few eggs of fowls. The combs are to be scalded in the following
> manner. Put the whole of them in a towel with a handful of salt, that
> has not been pounded. Then lay hold of the four corners of the towel,
> and dip the part wherein is the /ragoût /into boiling hot water. Leave
> it there for a minute. Then take out the towel. Rub the whole well
> together, to take off the first skin that is about the combs, and
> spread your towel open; if the combs be not skinned sufficiently, dip
> them into the boiling water a second time; but mind they do not get
> too firm, because then they never would get white. When they are well
> skinned, /parez /the little black points, that the blood may disgorge.
> Next dip them into a pint of water, and lay them on the corner of your
> stove for two hours; yet mind that there is but a very little fire in
> the said stove You next blanch them, and put them in a little /blanc,
> /by which is meant butter, salt, water, and slice of lemon. Try them
> frequently with a wooden spoon, lest they should be too much done. The
> kidneys are not to boil, for then they would break. The eggs are to
> boil a little, in order that the first skin may come off. Now throw
> the whole into the /blanc. /As soon as the combs are done, you have
> ready a nice /Espagnole /reduced, with large mushrooms /tournée, /some
> small /quenelles, /which have been poached separately. Mix the whole
> together; drain the /ragoût//, /the combs, the kidneys, and the eggs.
> Put the whole in the sauce with the /quenelles; /stir gently, not to
> break the latter; season well, and use this sauce occasionally.
>
> No 71.--La Godard.
> This is the same /ragoût/ as the /financière/ only it serves to
> garnish a surloin of beef. You then add /pigeons gautiers/, larded
> sweetbreads, and you keep your sauce thinner, as you have nothing to mask.
>
> No 72.--La Chambord.
> This is a /ragoût/ like the /financière/, with this difference, that
> you must first reduce a pint of Madeira wine, which you mix with the
> /Espagnole/. You must also add to the above garnish, soft rows of
> carp, craw-fish of a large dimension, and introduce a /beurre
> d'anchois /into the sauce. The /quenelles /are to be poached /à la
> cuillière/. This to be performed requires too spoons: you fill one
> with the farce, which has been levelled all round, with a knife dipped
> into boiling water. With the other spoon, which is lying also in
> boiling hot water, you take the /quenelle /out, and put into a
> stew-pan that has been buttered. When you have thus marked your
> /quenelles/, you pour some boiling water into the Stew-pan, and boil
> them for a quarter of an hour. A small quantity of salt is required in
> the water. Some people will poach the quenelles in broth. In my
> opinion it is wasting the broth to no purpose.

p. 158
> No. 9.--/Catelettes de Veau a la //Financière//. /
> These are to be prepared, larded, done, and glazed as those /a la
> Dauphine; /put under them a /ragoût //a la //Financière//, /(see
> Sauces) and between each outlet a large /quenelle. /(See Sauces.)

p. 167
> No. 19.--/Les Ris de Veau a la //Financière//. /
> These are to be larded and done in every respect as those above. Send
> up with a fine /quenelle /in the middle, and under them the /ragoût
> //a la //financière//, /or /le //ragoût //a l'Allemande. /

There is also an almond-based teacake that is called "financier". OED
has no entries for either. History of both items is unclear, but there
is an obvious connection between the Piemontese and the French
dishes--how many other dishes with such similar names have coxcomb as
the main ingredient? It would be quite interesting if the dish
originated in Piedmont and was adopted by the French over 200 years ago.
This is not, however, something that can be easily confirmed. Although
increased complexity often indicates a derivative (e.g., compare the
mother sauces to the other traditional sauces), the reality is that,
quite often, the simpler dish is a poor imitation of the original. For
example, substituting regular white mushrooms (champignon) for porcini
would indicate an imitation. Reducing the number of proteins in a dish
is often an indication of a derivative. On the other hand, an indication
of derivative may also be an addition of wine as an ingredient. So
complexity alone is a highly unreliable test for direction of borrowing
or imitation. Note that the three French dishes (Pike a la Chambord,
calf's brains and sweetbreads a la financier) all indicate different
protein additions to the same base sauce--with all but the fish listed
as ingredients in the Piemontese version.

The association with the teacakes is even less clear. But I come across
them regularly, so I believe they belong in the dictionary. I have seen
the sauce/ragout previously, but it's not something that just jumps out
at you as being in need of a dictionary entry. Being aware of its
existence is a good idea. Listing it? The jury is still out. But having
two different versions with similar name is definitely a step toward
recognition.

Given the rather obvious hook of the "Wall Street reforms" and the
bankers' involvement in presidential elections, this would make for an
interesting historical piece for someone to run. Unfortunately, I lack
the resources. But I can see it now--"Those cock's testicle-eating
vulture capitalists!"

     VS-)

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