Free 1,000 Foods To Eat Before You Die: A Food Lover's Life List by Mimi Sheraton Page A

habits mean that not enough customers order roasted meat, so a whole leg would lead to uneconomical leftovers. Thus, what often passes for gigot is really a lamb steak cut from the leg and grilled or roasted to order—not the same thing by a long shot.
    Carré d’agneau persillé
—Parsleyed rack of lamb. A cut that stretches from the loin of the carcass to the first rib, the rack or
carré
of lamb is really a long row of unseparated lamb chops—plump, tender, and attached to riblikebones that in this dish are typically “frenched,” the meat and fat stripped away from the bare bones to create a refined and useful set of handles. Roasted to a rare state, the rack is removed from the oven, lightly brushed with spicy Dijon mustard, and encrusted with a heady mix of bread crumbs, garlic, and minced parsley. Then it goes back into the oven until the meat is medium rare and the coating crisp, golden, and fragrant. The rack is carved into chop portions and hopefully laid alongside a square of creamy baked
pommes Dauphinoise
(see listing ).
    Navarin d’agneau printanier
—Spring lamb stew. Even the cherished salt meadow lamb includes some cuts that are better braised than roasted, among them the neck and shoulder meat. With the coming of spring, two-inch cubes of these cuts are gently stewed until almost tender with a little dry white wine, a few tomatoes, thyme, garlic, and a bay leaf. The meat is jeweled with new white potatoes, tiny onions, young carrots and turnips, and freshly shelled new peas, and cooked until tender; it’s served as a gastronomic celebration of the vernal equinox.
    Of course, all of these methods are also applied to less exalted lamb, when it is the chef who seasons to taste.
    Further information and recipes:
The Food of France
by Waverley Root (1992);
Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1
by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck (1961); foodnetwork.com (search rack of lamb persillade).

THE WORLD’S BEST MASHED POTATOES
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Aligot
French (Auvergnat)

    Aligot’s impressive stretch.
    Silken smooth or rustically lumpy, mashed potatoes rank high among the world’s comfort foods. But no version is as wickedly rich or sensuously addictive as aligot, a fonduelike specialty of the Auvergne region in south central France. Preparation begins with starchy potatoes that are cooked and pureed with butter, crème fraîche, and a hint of crushed garlic, and then dramatically finished at the table in a copper saucepan. There, the concoction is whipped and stirred, and whipped and stirred again, along with soft curds of the cow’s milk Cantal or Salers cheese or the acidic, nutty Tomme de Laguiole. As a wooden spoon is worked through the mixture, it becomes elastic and stretchy. A skillful practitioner can turn the process into a veritable floor show, pulling the potato-and-cheese-coated spoon high above the pot before dipping it back again, in an act reminiscent of mozzarella production.
    As elegantly as it is presented now, aligot is believed to have originated as a shepherds’ dish, and it was much favored by supplicants stopping to rest overnight in the Auvergne en route to the shrine of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain. This delicious dish often accompanies roasted meats, and itis traditionally topped with darkly pungent, crisp-skinned blood sausage, as it is at L’Ambassade d’Auvergne in Paris.
    Where:
In Paris
, Ambassade d’Auvergne, tel 33/1-42-72-31-22, ambassade-auvergne.com ;
in New York
, Minetta Tavern, tel 212-475-3850, minettatavernny.com ;
in Los Angeles
, Spago, tel 310-385-0880, wolfgangpuck.com . Further information and recipe:
Cheese Primer
by Steven Jenkins (1996); cookstr.com (search aligote).

A CLASSIC BISTRO
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L’Ami Louis
French

    Chef Antoine Magnin’s spirit lives on at L’Ami Louis.
    At first glance, a newcomer to this venerable bistro might decide he or she had come to the wrong address. Given its justifiable reputation for high