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Si jâai choisi de vous parler de la recette du veau Marengo, câest parce quâelle a une origine historique intĂ©ressante mais surtout parce quâelle est dĂ©licieuse et peut ĂȘtre mangĂ©e Ă nâimporte quel moment de lâannĂ©e.
If I chose to talk to you about the Veal Marengo recipe itâs because it has an interesting historic origin, but mostly because it is delicious and can be served at any time of the year.
1 â Veal Marengo â A Recipe With An History
Pour la petite histoire, cette recette a Ă©tĂ© créée par Dunan, le cuisinier de NapolĂ©on 1er. Revenons un peu Ă cette Ă©poque : nous sommes en juin 1800 dans le petit village de Marengo qui se trouve dans le PiĂ©mont Italien Ă lâouest de Milan. NapolĂ©on et ses troupes y affrontent les Autrichiens.
The story is that this recipe was created by Dunan, Napoleon Iâs cook. Letâs go back to that period: weâre in June 1800, in the little village of Marengo, located on the Italian Piedmont west of Milan. Napoleon and his troops are facing the Austrians.

Deux histoires diffĂ©rentes expliquent lâorigine de cette recette. La premiĂšre version nous raconte que Dunan aurait créé une recette avec le peu dâingrĂ©dients qui lui restaient en cuisine pour cĂ©lĂ©brer la victoire de NapolĂ©on sur les Autrichiens (le 14 juin 1800) et lui donna donc le nom de Marengo.
Two different stories explain the origin of this recipe. The first version recounts that Dunan had created the recipe with the few ingredients left over in the kitchen to celebrate NapolĂ©onâs victory over the Austrians on June 14th 1800, and thus gave it the name Marengo.

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Lâautre version nous dit que câest la veille de cette victoire (le 13 juin donc) que Dunan aurait pris ce qui lui tombait sous la main pour sustenter lâEmpereur. NapolĂ©on, qui Ă©tait trĂšs superstitieux, associa sa victoire au plat mangĂ© la veille et le rĂ©clama chaque veille de bataille.
The other version tells us that itâs the day before this victory (so June 13th), That Dunan had used whatever he had on hand to sustain the Emperor. Napoleon, who was very superstitious, associated his victory with the dish eaten the day before and from that moment on demanded it the day before each battle.
Comme vous le voyez, il nây a pas une grande diffĂ©rence. Câest juste une question de jour. Je ne sais pas laquelle vous prĂ©fĂ©rez mais moi, jâaime bien la seconde. La Corse est rĂ©putĂ©e pour ĂȘtre empreinte de religiositĂ© et de superstition et jâaime imaginer lâEmpereur ĂȘtre sous lâinfluence de son Ă©ducation.
As you can see, thereâs not a big difference. Itâs only a matter of days. I donât know which story you prefer but I kind of like the second one. Corsica is famous for being marked by religiosity and superstition and I like to imagine the Emperor being under the influence of his education.

2 â Veal Marengo â Or is-it Chicken Marengo?
Pour tout vous dire, la recette du veau Marengo que nous connaissons aujourdâhui nâa plus grand-chose Ă voir avec celle créée sur le champ de bataille.
To be completely honest with you, the recipe for Veal Marengo as we know it today doesnât have much to do anymore with the one created on the field of battle.
En effet, Dunan aurait pris du poulet Ă la place du veau, des Ă©crevisses Ă la place des champignons, et des Ćufs frits Ă la place des oignons et du vin blanc ! Il aurait ensuite modifiĂ© la recette Ă sa convenance et lâEmpereur nây aurait vu que du feu !!!
Indeed, Dunan could have used chicken in place of veal, some crayfish in place of mushrooms, and some fried eggs in place of the onions and white wine. He would have then modified the recipe at his convenience and the Emperor would not have known the difference! [French idom â lit: would have only seen fire!]
Moi, jâaurais tout de suite vu la diffĂ©rence ! Mais NapolĂ©on avait sĂ»rement dâautres chats Ă fouetter que de se prĂ©occuper dâune recette. Et de toute façon, lâimportant câest que ce soit bon ! Et je peux vous assurer que cette recette est dĂ©licieuse.
Me, I would have spotted the difference right away! But Napoleon surely had other things to attend to [idiom â lit. âother cats to whipâ] than to preoccupy himself with a recipe. And anyway, the important thing is that itâs good! And I can assure you that this recipe is delicious.
3 â Veal Marengo â What About the Crayfish?
Jâai Ă©tĂ© presque tentĂ©e de vous faire la recette originale mais je nâavais pas le temps dâaller Ă la pĂšche aux Ă©crevisses. Quand ma fille Eliane Ă©tait petite, nous allions pĂ©cher les Ă©crevisses au bord de la riviĂšre.
I was almost tempted to prepare for you the original recipe but I didnât have the time to go fishing for crayfish. When my daughter Eliane was young we used to go fishing for crayfish at the edge of the river.
Câest trĂšs facile, il suffit de plonger un gros morceau de viande sur le bord de la riviĂšre et dâattendre ! Peu de temps aprĂšs, les Ă©crevisses sont toutes agglutinĂ©es sur le bout de viande et vous nâavez plus quâĂ les ramasser. Un vrai jeu dâenfant !
Itâs really easy, you just have to submerge a big piece of meat at the edge of the river and wait! A few moments later the crayfish are all packed together on the piece of meat and you only have to pick them up. Piece of cake ! [idiom â lit. âa childrenâs gameâ]

4 â Todayâs Veal Marengo
Câest la recette actuelle que je vais prĂ©parer aujourdâhui avec Chuck, mon Ă©tudiant en immersion de français, qui mâa proposĂ© gentiment de me servir de commis de cuisine. En fait, je devrais plutĂŽt dire quâil va me servir dâaide de camp si on se rĂ©fĂšre aux origines militaires du veau Marengo.
Itâs the modern recipe that Iâm going to prepare today with Chuck, my French immersion homestay student, who kindly offered to serve me as kitchen assistant. In fact, I should say that he is going to help me as aide-de-camp if one refers to the military origins of Veal Marengo.

5 â Veal Marengo â Ingredients
Cette recette se prépare donc avec du veau, mais vous pouvez aussi utiliser un poulet comme Dunan. Comme toujours, le temps de cuisson est un peu plus court avec du poulet car ça cuit plus vite. Voici la liste des ingrédients dont vous avez besoin pour 5 personnes environ :
This recipe is made with veal, but you can also use a chicken like Dunan did. As always, the cooking time is a bit shorter with chicken because it cooks faster. Here is the list of ingredients that [âof whichâ, literally] you need for about 5 people:
- 1 kg de sauté de veau
- 20 g de beurre et 1 cuillĂšre Ă soupe dâhuile dâolive.
- 3 Ă©chalotes, 3 gousses dâail
- 6 ou 7 carottes
- 1 cuillĂšre Ă soupe de farine
- 250 ml de vin blanc
- 125 ml dâeau
- Une petite boßte de concentré de tomate
- 2 branches de thym, 2 feuilles de Laurier
- Sel, poivre
- 225 g de champignons
- 1 kg of veal for stew
- 4 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 3 shallots, 3 cloves of garlic
- 6 or 7 carrots
- 1 tablespoon of flour
- about 1 cup of white wine
- about 1/2 cup of water
- 1 small can of tomato paste
- 2 branches thyme, 2 bay leaves
- Salt, pepper
- 1 cup of mushrooms

6 â My Veal Marengo Recipe â Step One
Je commence par fariner les morceaux de viande. Jâai une astuce pour faire ça trĂšs facilement sans me mettre de la farine plein les doigts : il faut simplement placer les morceaux de viande dans un sac en plastique, ajouter une cuillĂšre de farine et secouer ! VoilĂ , le tour est jouĂ© !
I start by dredging the meat pieces in flour. I have a trick in order to do it easily, without putting the flour on the fingers. You simply to place the pieces of meat in a plastic bag, add the flour, and shake! Thatâs all there is to it! [idiom â lit: The round is played!]

Chuck, lui, sâoccupe dâĂ©plucher les carottes et de les couper en grosses rondelles. Il Ă©mince ensuite lâail et les Ă©chalotes.
Chuck takes care of peeling the carrots and cutting them into big slices. He then minces the garlic and the shallots.
7 â My Veal Marengo Recipe â Step Two
Je fais fondre le beurre et la cuillĂšre dâhuile dans la cocotte et fais dorer les morceaux de chaque cĂŽtĂ©. Lorsquâils ont pris une jolie couleur, jâajoute les carottes, les Ă©chalotes et lâail que je fais revenir quelques minutes.
I melt the butter and the olive oil in the pressure cooker and brown the meat pieces on all sides. When they take on a nice color, I add the carrots, the shallots, and the garlic and brown them a few minutes.

Jâarrose le tout dâun verre de vin blanc, jâajoute lâeau et lâĂ©quivalent de 2 cuillĂšres Ă soupe de concentrĂ© de tomate. Je mĂ©lange bien. Je sale, je poivre.
I moisten everything with a glass of white wine, add the water, and add the equivalent of 2 tablespoons of tomato paste. I mix well. I add salt, and pepper.
8 â My Veal Marengo Recipe â Step Three
Il ne reste plus quâĂ faire cuire tout cela pendant une heure trente environ si vous avez choisi une cuisson traditionnelle. Si vous trouvez que les morceaux semblent encore fermes aprĂšs 1h30, prolonger la cuisson dâune demi-heure. 30 minutes avant la fin de la cuisson, il faut ajouter les champignons.
The only thing left is to cook everything for about one hour and a half, if you chose a traditional cooking method. If you find that the pieces still seem firm after 1h30, extend the cooking time by a half-hour. Thirty minutes before the end of the cooking, you have to add the mushrooms.
Jâai choisi de cuire mon veau Marengo en cocotte-minute ce midi car je nâai pas le temps dâattendre si longtemps. Il faudra 20 minutes environ Ă partir du moment oĂč la soupape commence Ă siffler. Puis 10 minutes supplĂ©mentaires aprĂšs avoir ajoutĂ© les champignons.
I chose to cook my Veal Marengo in a pressure cooker this lunch time because I donât have the time to wait. You need about 20 minutes after the valve starts to whistle. Then 10 additional minutes after adding the mushrooms.
Le repas du midi est prĂȘt. Il nây a plus quâĂ le dĂ©guster avec des pĂątes, ou des pommes de terre, ou encore du riz
The lunch meal is ready. Just enjoy it with some pasta, potatoes, or rice.
Bon appétit !
Merci beaucoup Ă Chuck pour la traduction. Il mâa fait gagnĂ© beaucoup de temps !
A big thank you to Chuck for the translation. He saved me a lot of time!
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