C18th RECIPE: Chickens a la tartare

Having plumed and cleaned your chickens, cut them in half, truss them and pound them with the flat of a big knife: then put them in a pot with good butter and melted lard, some slices of lemon, elephant garlic and all sorts of fines herbes, except thyme and laurel; cook and simmer all this slowly over a low fire with a little good bouillon, then put in a glass of Champagne, or of good white wine: when they are almost cooked, take them out of the pot, bread them well and grill them, and serve them as is or with a Remoulade.

Massialot’s Cuisinier Royal et Bourgeois (1705)


For the sauce:
Chop two or three shallots up very fine, a little chervil and some tarragon; put all this in the bottom of an earthen vessel with mustard, a trickle of vinegar, salt and pepper, depending on how much you need; sprinkle your suace lightly with oil, and stir it constantly; if you see that it thickens too much, put in a little vinegar; taste to see if it is properly salted; if it is too salty, put in a little more mustard and oil.