Get your holidays off to a delectable start this year with bouchées à la reine — literally, mouthfuls for the queen. This supremely French savory starter consists of pastry shells with an elegant filling, for example sea scallops or mushrooms in a creamy sauce. The shells are made using puff pastry, while the sauce is a Béchamel with a dash of white wine. Preparation is a bit of a production, but it’s fun. Then sit back and prepare for applause.
Bouchées à la reine / Elegant filled pastry shells
Bouchées à la reine were a dime a dozen when I first got to Paris. You could find them in pastry shops and delis (charcuteries), filled with morsels of chicken, ham, mushrooms, fish dumplings (quenelles) or, often, sweetbreads (ris de veau). People would take them home and heat them up in the oven, for lunch or as the starter of a more elaborate meal.
But culinary fashions evolve and these days bouchées are seen less often, so I decided to try my hand at home. Making the shells is like playing with Play-Doh. You cut out large rounds of pastry, rings of the same size and smaller rounds for the caps. You top the large rounds with the rings and set the small rounds beside them, coat everything with an egg wash and pop them into the oven. You then make the filling and assemble the pastries.
Perhaps unsurprisingly in France, there’s a story of passion behind the invention of bouchées à la reine. This dates back to the 18th century, when the Polish-born wife of Louis XV, Queen Marie Leszczynska, was seeking a way to one-up her rival, Madame de Pompadour, the king’s mistress. The queen allegedly asked her pastry chef to create a savory dish with aphrodisiac qualities — a dish more refined than the sweet pastries created by the chef of Madame de Pompadour.
I’ve never found bouchées a la reine to be of a particularly aphrodisiac nature, but who knows? Maybe with enough Champagne… Today’s recipe includes the sea scallop and the mushroom versions. You can make one or the other, or both.
Happy holidays, and happy cooking!
The Everyday French Chef will be on vacation until the New Year. For holiday menu ideas, click here.
The recipe booklet on offer for readers of my novel, The Rites of Man, is now available. To receive it, send a photo of yourself with the book to megbortin@everydayfrenchchef.com.
