Happy Friday, saucy cook!
The French love leeks, and poireaux vinaigrette — leeks simmered to tenderness then dressed in vinaigrette — is one of the most popular bistro dishes in all of France.
A few years back, a lovely flourish of chopped hard-boiled egg began to show up atop that simple classic: poireaux mimosa became the entrée du moment. (The entrée is what the first course is called in France, as it’s the entry into the meal, and mimosa is the term for anything with chopped hard-boiled egg on it.) In springtime, you’d see lots of asparagus mimosa as well. The trend continues.
Then, last fall, there was a new leek-look on fashionable plates: poireaux ravigote.
With this evolution, the leeks — usually left whole and poached — come dressed with a vinaigrette boosted with lots of fresh herbs, minced capers and shallots and chopped boiled eggs. Usually the eggs are in the dressing.
It’s really good!
Here’s a nice one I had on my birthday last fall in Paris, at a restaurant called Rives.
Soon after I returned home, I set about trying to replicate it, though I had the idea of roasting the leeks instead of simmering them.
Good, but not great; I didn’t really like the way the eggs were playing with the rest, and wanted them boiled a little harder.
Months passed. Seasons changed. We had a total eclipse of the sun.
Then last week, I saw some really pretty leeks — slender and young, with long white parts. “Today’s the day,” I thought. I cleaned and trimmed the leeks, leaving the slenderest whole, and cutting a fatter one in half vertically. This time I’d simmer them.
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