July 06

Anniversary of Victor Hugo's Death
 

If there is a correlation between affection and the number of mourners at one 's funeral, then Victor Hugo was the most beloved writer in the history of literature. In a century marked by great literary figures, Victor Hugo was considered a god by ther French and it was as a god that his funeral was celebrated. The Arc de Triomphe was draped in black; the entire funeral route from the Étoilé to the Parthenon was also draped with crepe; and Hugo's coffin, theatrically borne on the pauper's hearse that he requested, was followed by' two million mourners. Forty thousand persons  spent the night preceding the funeral in the open air, with a view to securing a vantage-point for seeing the procession.  Forty thousand people spent the night preceding the funeral on the parade route, with a view to securing a vantage-point for seeing the procession.

Victor Hugo was possibly, as Andre Gide once remarked, France's greatest poet. He was also a playwright, novelist, essayist,  statesmen,  and human rights activist.  But Hugo was a complex contradictory man, the consummate egoist, a psychotic genius (Jean Cocteau cryptically described him as "a madman who believed he was Victor Hugo"), and the ultimate satyr.  Today Hugo is still revered for Notre-Dame de Paris (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), Les Miserables.

 

  

Victor Hugo

Hugo was a short, fat, balding man whose egoism and extraordinary sexual drive convinced him that he was irresistible to women, a belief that was apparently constantly reinforced several times a day until his death at eighty-three. When Hugo was seventy, he was still able to seduce the twenty-two year old daughter of the writer and journalist, Théophile Gautier. Hugo's retreat on the English island of Guernsey was replete with secret staircases and bedrooms through which and in which he daily snuck  in and out several mistresses, chambermaids, and occasional prostitutes, away from the prying eyes of his longtime mistress, Juiliette Droue, an actress whose passion for Victor was evidenced by more than 17,000 love letters.
While Hugh  may have been a connoisseur of women, he was not a notable connoisseur  of food, unlike sane of his popular contemporaries, such as Dumas (July 24) and  Balzac (May 20). There were only a few dishes named after him, one of which was Caillette a  la Hugo  (roast quails), which probably was testament to us numerous mistresses whom he constantly referred to as "mon caillette "(my little quails).
 

Caillette a la Victor Hugo
(Quails Hugo)
 
Ingredients
 
1/2 lb butter
2 truffles, minced
12 quails  (4 oz each*
12 slices thick bacon
1/4 cup dry sherry
 		 6 cups cooked rice
6 artichoke hearts, diced
1 TB lemon zest
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

 
Instructions
 
  1. Using the whisk attachment, whip the butter in the mixer's work bowl at medium speed until it softens and lightens in color, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add minced truffles the butter and beat for another 2 minutes until oil is fully incorporated. Remove butter from bowl and spoon onto plastic wrap and cover with wrap. Chill for 2 hours.
  2. Preheat oven to 450º F.
  3. Salt and pepper quails inside and outside. Rub with truffle butter, inside and outside. Place in a roast rack. Slice bacon in half. Place two strips over each quail. Roast uncovered for 20 minutes.
  4. Remove fran oven. Remove quails from rack .Remove bacon. Place quail under broiler for about 1 minute to brown
  5. While quails are roasting, mix rice, artichoke hearts, and zest. Add salt and pepper to taste. Make a bed of rice/artichoke mixture on heated plates.
  6. Reduce roast pan juices by 50%. Place two quails over rice/artichoke mixture. Pour a little sauce over each quail and serve.

Serves 6
* Allow two  quails per serving .Quails can be ordered by mail from several sources on the internet. I
  recommend  Manchester Farms, Box 97, Dalzel, South Carolina 29040. Tel: 800.845.0421