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Pecan-Mandine By Poppy Tooker

In restaurants all over New Orleans, waiters have tradi tionally asked, “Would you like your fish served amandine or meunière?” It’s one of the simplest of French butter sauces, and the great French culinary authority, Auguste Escoffier, included his classic meunière sauce among the first 100 recipes in his 1903 Le Guide Culinaire — a cooking bible still used widely in cooking schools today. His procedure describes sautéing a floured fish fillet in butter finished with a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkling of parsley, resulting in an easy, authentic meunière sauce. I t is unknown if Antoine Alciatore, founder of Antoine’s Restaurant, served “truite meunière” in New Orleans’ oldest restaurant, but it is a safe bet he did. The dish is featured prominently on the restaurant’s earliest menus, dating back to the time of Antoine’s son, Jules. When it comes to amandine, as late as 1940 there is still no mention of that variation on the Antoine’s menu. When and how sautéed fish first received a crowning garnish of toasted almonds is not clear, but by the mid-20th century both options were commonplace on New Orleans’ fine dining menus. Escoffi er’s meunière sauced French sole fillets but here in the Crescent City, speckled trout fillets — plentiful from both Lake Pontchartrain and the Gulf of Mexico — were the favored substitute. Both remain menu standards today, but what about the official state nut of Louisiana — the pecan? How does it figure into the story? Trout pecan meunière is a direct offspring of trout amandine, born of an early Sunday morning walk Dickie Brennan remembers from his high school days. Dickie’s dad, Richard Brennan, was one of the original siblings who made the move from Brennan’s on Royal Street to Commander’s Palace in the Garden District in 1969. It was agreed that Richard’s sister Ella would work Saturday nights at Commander’s, and he would be responsible for opening the restaurant for Sunday morning brunch. Dickie accompanied his dad to the restaurant most Sundays and remembers one particular autumn day when newly fallen pecans were underfoot. Richard mused to his son, “Dickie, why in the world do we put almonds on our fish dishes? They’re not local! We should use pecans instead!” A young Chef Paul Prudhomme was at the helm of Commander’s kitchen at the time and set about cooking the first pecan meunière for “Mr. Dick.” Since that momentous Sunday morning, countless chefs have given their own creative spin on what has become a Louisiana classic. Some take the extra step of adding finely ground, roasted pecans to the flour dredge, giving an extra, nutty crunch to the finished dish. No matter which nut you choose to top which fish with, a buttery meunière is guaranteed to classically finish the dish splendidly.

BERGERON PECANS ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Now under the stewardship of a third generation of Bergerons, HJ Bergeron Pecan Company — the HJ is for founder Horace Joseph Bergeron — is the largest pecan shelling plant in Louisiana. The company processes an impressive five million to seven million pounds of in-shell pecans a year, sourced not only from their own family orchards, but also from a network of over 90 growers across the state. Bergeron Pecans have earned the highest-quality pecan rating from the National Pecan Shellers Association.

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