kgh8m

I will admit that my husband and I do not have a very refined palate. One night in Paris, we had a formal dinner in the Hotel Raphael's restaurant, La Salle a Manger. Before the appetizer/entree, our waiter brought us what appeared to be a yellowish custard in a shot glass, topped with a sprig of parsley, and what looked like enormous corn kernels, along with a small spoon. Thinking it to be a palate cleanser of some sort, I took a spoonful, and it tasted like thick, bad butter. My husband took an even smaller bite, and found it to be equally hideous, so we both ate no more. The Germans and the French who were dining at the same time, ate all of theirs.

So, what was the butter in the shot glass that we were served?

Scarlett

Most likely you were served an Amuse Bouche (Amusement for your mouth) .. sort of an hello from the chef to start your meal.

tedgale

The amuse-bouche -- or amuse-gueule -- or mise-en-appetit -- that you were served could have been anything. These things don't have names -- they are inventions of the chef, hence chosen for their singularity.

The sprig of parsley is not much of a clue, except that it clearly indicates you were meant to eat the stuff -- not dab it behind your ears.

Corn kernels sound rather un-French -- are you sure? The French generally deride our taste for corn, which they dismiss as food for 4-legged animals only.

It is quite alright to ask -- indeed usually they explain without prompting, since you are supposed to marvel at the inventiveness of the tiny dish.

kgh8m

Thanks, Scarlett. Now I have a little more information with which to search Google to figure out exactly what the custard ("butter&quot actually was!

While culinarily unrefined, we didn't turn up our noses, we just quietly placed our little spoons back on the plate, and continued our conversation. I feel bad that I didn't appreciate our "hello" from the chef!

tedgale

Sometimes it's exquisite, sometimes it's crud.

Don't feel bad -- you paid for it.

But the Hotel Raphael is supposed to be quite fine, so it was probably quite an "interesting" confection culinarily, if not gustatorily.

Christina

That´s a more expensive,trendy restaurant, I believe, so it was probably some concoction of the house. I certainly don´t recognize it and it doesn´t sound like anything in a typical cafe or bistro. I don´t agree with the post that they never serve corn in France or Paris, it is quite common to see corn in some composed salads. It´s a typical salad. You don´t see it as a side dish or vegetable, but they do use it as garnish, a lot.

cmt

<<The sprig of parsley is not much of a clue, except that it clearly indicates you were meant to eat the stuff -->>

Not necessarily! My grandmother used to use parsley in a folk remedy. It was "used" but not eaten.

I saw kernels of corn used in salads in France, and, much to my surprise, in salads in Palermo the last time I was there. It must be some fad. It's really rather eat it on the cob in season and keep it out of the salads.

ezlivin

About a week a go, we had an amuse bouche with corn, coconut milk and some bits of chopped scallops while dining at Au Bon Accueil.

I didn't find it as impressive as the other dishes, but it was corn allright. Other local diners around us seemed to be reacting satisfactorily to it.

cmt

I meant I'd, not It's, but I gues you knew that.

nytraveler

Agree it was some sort of amuse bouche. If you don;t recognize it it's always OK to ask. I generally enoy them - but have never had a strange custard concoction like that - although in the winter we have had tiny pots of soup a couple of times (once some sort of yellow pea soup, another time I believe a cream of broc with cheese) along with the usuals (tiny grilled shrimps, pates or olive paste with special home made flavored crackers or tiny seed rolls).

cigalechanta

Your amuse bouche is something we haven't tasted so can't tell you. but if there was corn on it it could have been a corn souffle, or custard.

rex

I have actually been racking my brain on this one - - I really don't think that you would confuse any kind of custard, souffle or other egg-based dish for something that "tasted like thick bad, butter".

I submit that it was a mousse (or <i>mousseline</i>?) in the family of terrines or pates, made (in part, or largely) of the fat or liver (or both) from pork, duck or goose. And/or maybe flavored with something you find disagreeable as well? truffles or artichokes? or something that combines well with items that have a very high fat content.

There must be other &quot;food detectives&quot; out there who can think of something they have had (enjoyed?) that fits your description (and would be complemented by &quot;kernels&quot; - - of &quot;corn&quot;? or something that looked like it?)

Can't wait to hear other opinions.

Best wishes,

Rex

kgh8m

Thanks, all, for the suggestions. More details on the amuse bouche:
It was served in a shot glass sized glass. The glass was filled almost to the top with a uniformly colored, slightly yellower in color than butter, custard/creme/mousse, the consistency of which was a bit creamier (but not much) than spread margarine. It was topped by two enormous squarish kernels, which I assumed to be some corn variant, since I don't know of other plants that have kernels like that. And a little sprig of parsley.

It tasted pretty heavy and creamy - almost as heavy as spread margarine, but not a complete butter taste - but our general impression was that it tasted like bad butter - no other flavors come to mind. And we found it to taste pretty bad, but, as I mentioned before, diners at other tables ate all of theirs. To be honest, had they not already brought a butter dish, I would have thought it was an elaborate presentation of the butter!
Thanks. Kelly

Underhill

Kelly,

Try posting your question over at eGullet.com, a food site with quite a few members knowledgeable about Paris restaurants.

rex

topping...

&lt;&lt;Try posting your question over at eGullet.com&gt;&gt;

...since, oh please, I don't need <i>another</i> website to have to follow/get addicted to!

Scarlett

Kelly, wouldn't it be funny if it was butter? LOL
When we ate at Le Violin D'Ingres, they brought a little platter of amuse bouches, one was heavily fishy, the rest were tasty but not overly so.
But to tell the truth, although they were tasty at the time, I have no memory of what they were ..
But none tasted like bad butter

Underhill

What about writing to the restaurant and inquiring?

tedgale

What a great idea!

I'm sure you could get an answer from Chef Philip Delahaye if you sent a discreet email to him at the restaurant email address:

17, avenue Kl&eacute;ber
75116 Paris - France
Tel : +33 (0)1.53.64.32.00
Fax : +33 (0)1.53.64.32.01
eMail : [email protected]

kgh8m

Thanks for all your help. I think that I will, indeed, need to email Mr. Delahaye. Of course, I'll have to complement him on the tasty dish, and in that regard, I will be fibbing. BUT, as I said before, other patrons lapped the dish up, so someone did find it quite tasty!

I'll swing over to eGullet.com and see if I can stump them.

Thanks, all.
Kelly

PatrickLondon

If it had parsley on it, might that be a signal that it was very garlicky? Some sort of garlic mayonnaise?