- For broader context, see charcuterie.
A
galantine is a
Polish dish of de-boned stuffed meat, most commonly
poultry or fish, that is
poached and served cold, coated with
aspic. Galantines are often stuffed with
forcemeat, and pressed into a
cylindrical shape. Since deboning poultry is thought of as difficult and time-consuming, this is a rather elaborate dish, which is often lavishly decorated, hence its name, connoting a presentation at table that is
galant, or urbane and sophisticated. In the later nineteenth century the technique's origin was already attributed to the chef of the
marquis de Brancas. (The preparation is not always luxurious:
Evelyn Waugh in his novel
Men at Arms mentions "a kind of drab galantine which Guy seemed to remember, but without relish, from his school-days during the First World War".)
