Lidvychyna à la Colbert
Recipe from the book "The First Ukrainian Everyday Cookbook" (1-ша українська загально-практична кухня), 1929, by Olha Franko.
Jean-Baptiste Colbert was a French statesman during the reign of King Louis XIV. He was not a great gourmet himself, but it was common practice in those days for the cooks of prominent families to name dishes in honour of their employers. This is how we came to have two classic preparations:
The "Colbert" sauce, which pairs beautifully with many meat, fish, and vegetable dishes, often listed on menus as "à la Colbert" — for example, "sole à la Colbert".
And the elegant "filet Colbert": meat stuffed with vegetables and wrapped in Savoy cabbage or kale leaves. It is believed that the stuffing was inspired by the famous chef La Varenne, who published it in 1651 in his book Le Cuisinier François under the name "duxelles", in honour of the Marquis d'Uxelles.
In Swiss and Austrian restaurants, this dish is served under the name "Lunge à la Colbert", which causes some confusion — the German Lungen means lungs, while the Latin lumbus refers to a loin of beef.
In Olha Franko's book, everything is perfectly clear: "Lidvychyna à la Colbert". 🙂 Let's get cooking!
Ingredients
- 800 g veal loin
- 1 small head of Savoy cabbage
- 2 tomatoes
- 2 carrots
- 1 kohlrabi* (kaliarеpa)
- 1 onion
- 200 g smoked bacon
- 30 g butter
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- salt, pepper
Preparation
- Season the meat with salt and pepper, then sear on all sides.
- Finely chop 1 carrot, the onion, and half of the kohlrabi, sauté in a pan, and season to taste.
- Make a lengthwise cut in the meat and fill it with the sautéed vegetables.
- Peel the tomatoes and slice them into thin rounds.
- Slice the remaining kohlrabi and carrot into thin strips. Sauté in a pan (they should be pliable but not too soft).
- Blanch the cabbage leaves in boiling salted water for 3 minutes, then trim the thick rib at the base.
- Lay the cabbage leaves out on a board — they should be slightly longer than the meat — then layer half of the carrots, kohlrabi, and tomatoes on top.
- Place the meat on top. Cover with the remaining vegetables. Wrap with the cabbage leaves, then wrap the whole thing in bacon.
- Tie the roast securely with kitchen twine.
- Place in a roasting pan and dot with pieces of butter.
- Roast at 180° for 1 hour, basting regularly with the melted butter and the cooking juices. Before serving, stir in the sour cream, mix well, and spoon this sauce over the meat.
- Serve with potatoes and cauliflower (kaliafiory), or other seasonal vegetables.
kaliarеpa — kohlrabi
kaliafiory — cauliflower
yaryna — vegetables
sos — sauce