“Many recipes call for a faggot.” — Louis Diat
mais oui—everything is tastier with a dash of faggotry! I’m not talking buggery— although many of us could use a soupcon of that too, survey says up to half of gay men never do it up the butt anyway — but the joie de vivre, the je ne sais quoi of a fabulous queen. In the radical muffin kitchen, cooking gusto evokes a certain make-do and then some learned at the hip of sassy men who could out stomp me in their platform shoes and draw suitors to them through the din of crowded bars with their eyes. Certainly, a femme is better with a faggot.
this is perhaps not what monsieur Diat had in mind. No, the French born chef was the head at the New York Ritz-Carlton kitchens, where he not only trained many chefs in the U.S. but also made it his life’s work to translate French cooking techniques into English. In Gourmet’s Basic French Cooking: Techniques of French Cuisine, published for the first time in 1961, he includes among Tricks of the Chef:
Faggot Many recipes call for a faggot. To make a faggot, cut a stalk of celery in 2 pieces 3 or 4 inches long. In the curve of one piece, tuck a few sprigs of parsley, folding in the ends, lay on this a bay leaf, and sprinkle with a little thyme. If the recipe does not include carrots, a small piece of carrot is sometimes tucked in with the parsley. Place the other piece of celery on top very firmly and secure the faggot by winding a long piece of string closely around it. Unless you assemble a faggot firmly and bind it tightly with plenty of string, it is apt to roll apart during the cooking.
Soupe Bonne Femme is simply potato leek soup, although all the following “bonne femme” recipes in his magnum opus seem to be “with mushrooms” and how this all relates remains a mystery to me. The soup would probably be delicious with mushrooms, but as it is or rich with cream, Soupe Bonne Femme is perfect fare for blustery March weather.
scrub clean 4-5 potatoes. chop them and put them aside in a bowl of cold water. Slice the greens and roots from 4 medium-small leeks, clean them well in cold running water. Dice the white part of the leek along with 1 small onion and a few peeled garlic cloves. Melt a tablespoon or so of butter in a big, heavy pot, add the leeks, onions and garlic, and cook until soft but not brown, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon.
drain the potatoes and stir them into the leeks, turning to coat with butter; cook for about 5 minutes. Pour in 4 cups of hot water or stock. Assemble and bind a faggot of celery, carrot, parsley and thyme. Add this to the soup pot along with a dash of salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for ½ an hour to 45 minutes or until the potatoes are beginning to fall apart.
serve as is or…stir in another tablespoon of butter and 2 cups of whole milk or 1 cup of cream. If you add the cream or milk, be sure not to return to a boil but only gently reheat. In the alternative, to go entirely vegan, cook all the veggies in olive oil.
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