Coulibiac with chicken, a recipe from Carême

Straight to the recipe

Russian pastry from the classic French cuisine

Coulibiac or coulbac is a traditional Russian pie that has been assimilated in to the classic French cuisine as early as the nineteenth century. The Russian name koulibiac has its origins in German: Kohlgeback (pastry with cabbage). Some versions of coulibiac do contain cabbage. The version with fish often also contains a special ingredient: vésiga, the dried spine of a sturgeon. The French early nineteenth-century cook Carême suggests to use turbot instead of salmon, sturgeon or zander when preparing the pie in Paris. The picture on top of this page is a view of the river Neva in Saint Petersburg (1859), where the fish mentioned swam abundantly.

The Russian pie from Carême

The historical recipe on this page is not the Russian version, but the adaptation by Antonin Carême (1784-1833) and published by Armand Plumery in the fifth and final part of L’art de la cuisine Française aux XIXe siècle (‘The French culinary art in the nineteenth century’) in 1844, eleven years after Carême had died. However, already in his first publication , Le patissier royal Parisien (1815), Carême provides a recipe for ‘Paté chaud Russe’: a hot Russian pie that the young cook had seen being prepared at the home of the Russian ambassador Kourakin by his cook, who was of course also Russian. Carême does not use the name coulbac, and the stuffing in his recipe seems to have been ‘Frenchified’: alternating layers of salmon and goose liver from Strassbourg are separated by chopped hard-boiled eggs and surrounded by rice that has been cooked in chicken stock. Carême does not specify what kind of dough he uses, probably the shortcrust dough that was used for all kinds of hot pies. The Russian cook told Carême that these pies are not served with any sauce, but Carême suggests serving a demi-espagnole à glace. Nowadays that is called a demi-glace.

The original recipe

Although the version of coulibiac with fish is more widely known, I have chosen another version, small pies with chicken. Many recipes for coulibiac with salmon use brioche dough and buckwheat (kasha), but this version with chicken calls for puff pastry and rice, which is more European in character. The source is the fifth and final part of L’art de la cuisine Française aux XIXe siècle (‘Entrées chaudes des rots en gras et en maigre’) 1844 (see bibliography).

Modern adaptation of the recipe

It is possible to prepare these pies using puff pastry from the freezer, stock cubes and a package of ready-bought brown sauce. There is nothing wrong with that, because using Carême’s recipe will require two days of hard work.

For 36 small pies; preparation in advance 30 minutes; preparation 15 minutes + 25 minutes baking.

puff pastry (see this page)

The stuffing
green part of 2 spring onions (scallions)
2 Tbsp parsley, chopped
150 gr mushrooms
½ à 1 Tbsp grated horseradish
pepper, salt and nutmeg to taste
2 Tbsp butter
1¼ dl espagnole (see recipe)
300 gr fillet of chicken
75 gr long-grain rice
2 hard-boiled eggs
chicken stock for the rice and chicken fillet

Optionally
fresh crumbs of three sandwiches

Preparation in advance

Of course one can use ready-bought puff pastry, but it is worthwhile to make it yourself.

Cook the rice using chicken stock (from a stock cube or home made). Poach the chicken fillets also in some chicken stock, and cut into small pieces when they are done. Chop the hard-boiled eggs.

Chop scallions, parsley and mushrooms, and braise them in 2 tablespoons butter. Add grated horseradish, pepper, salt and nutmeg to taste. Stir in the sauce espagnole, and heat through. Then add chicken and rice, and finally the eggs. Let this stuffing cool in a wide dish.

Preparation

Roll out the puff pastry and divide it in as many round or square pieces as needed. Scoop the stuffing on one half of each piece, moisten the edges and fold the other half over the stuffing to get ‘half moons’ or triangles. Press the edges well together. Braise the top of the pies with some water and sprinkle some bread crumbs on it if an extra crunchy crust is desired. Bake the pies in a preheated oven on 220 °C/430 °F for 17 to 20 minutes.

To serve

These small pies can be served either hot or cooled to room temperature. When hot, serve with sauce espagnole, otherwise serve some sour cream or crème fraîche with them.

Ingredients

All descriptions of ingredients

Horseradish

Deze witte, scherp-smakende wortel (Armoracia rusticana) kom je weinig tegen in de klassieke Franse keuken. De plant komt waarschijnlijk uit Centraal-Europa, en hoewel de Oude Grieken mierikswortel vooral kenden als medicinaal gewas, beperkte het culinaire gebruik zich lange tijd tot die regio. De smaak wordt wel met die van mosterd vergeleken (Dioscorides noemt mierikswortel ‘Perzische mosterd’), en tegenwoordig is het hier een vervanging van wasabi, de knalgroene Japanse mierikswortel. Reken maar dat ‘wasabi’ hier inderdaad soms gewoon mierikswortel met een kleurtje is. In West-Europa dringt mierikswortel pas na de Middeleeuwen door in de keuken. Persoonlijke tip: sandwich van rosbief met mierikswortel!

Bibliography

The editions below were used by me. Links refer to available editions.

• Antonin Carême, Le Patissier Royal Parisien ou Traité Elementaire et Pratique de la Patisserie Ancienne et Moderne, 1815.
• Antonin Carême, Armand Plumerey, L’art de la cuisine française aux XIXe siècle, Tome V 1844. Replica Elibron Classics 2005.

Russian pies with chicken from the classic French cuisine of the 19th century
Originally, couilibiac is a Russian pastry that is often made with a stuffing with fish. The French cook Carême has a recipe for small ‘coulbac’ as he calls them, with chicken.
© Author Christianne Muusers