MENU
Hors d'Œuvres. Little Necks or Blue Points.
(At Monte Carlo one would be served Clovisses.)
Lobster with Sauce Piquante.
(A substitute for the French langouste, which is similar to a giant lobster minus the two long nippers. Or there might be served abroad for this course a little gelatinous fellow called supion, or sea-hedgehog, or perhaps nonnots, smaller and more delicate than our own whitefish.)
French Sardines Grilled, or Shad Planked.
(Shad is a most satisfactory substitute for the French restauranteur's delight—loup de mer.)
Flounder, Sauce Meunière, or Shrimps.
(In Dieppe sole and certain crevettes are both specialties and are served at this juncture, but little sole is being received here and our own flounder answers requirements admirably. Shrimps, too, will please an American palate fully as well as the crevettes.)
Bouillabaisse.
(This, for which we have no nearer synonym than fish stew, which is a libel, is the pièce de résistance of the luncheon. It is probably the most famous fish dish of France.)
Salade de Poisson with Aioli.
(Aioli is a Mediterranean mayonnaise and “the dressing,” the French say, “is the soul of the salad.”)
It will be noted that there is no dessert given with the above menu, but the repast may be gracefully topped off with crackers and cheese and café noir. Tea is never served with fish, as the tannin is said to render fish particularly indigestible.