Great Home Cooks : Bread and Circus

In the morning, the sunlight at the beach hits the water and bounces off so brightly that, without thinking, you scrunch up your eyes. When you do that, the big top sitting on the sand, and all the big blue circus trucks that surround it, look like toys scattered by some giant, careless child. The people sitting around the tables outside the tent, lazily drinking coffee in the morning sun, look like toys too--especially those with painted white faces, black eyes and big red noses.

Come closer and you can see that they are playing chess, reading books or simply talking while cooks rattle pans in the background. And although the language they are speaking is French, it doesn’t seem as if you’ve wandered off a Paris street but rather onto the set of one of those television sitcoms where big, happy families come into the kitchen to work out their problems. In the center of this kitchen stand Marie-Josee LaChance and Laurent Comeau, the skinny Mom and jolly Pop of this particular show. And they do have a problem.

“The four contortionists are such little girls, and they’re always dieting,” frets Comeau, a man who looks as if he himself has never done such a thing. “These kids are using their muscles, and I’m scared they don’t eat enough protein.” He lowers his voice and confides, “I’m always trying to sneak some protein into what they’re eating.”

“They’re young,” soothes LaChance.

An acrobat comes into the cafe, glances at the menu lettered on a big board--mussel soup, fillet of pork, salmon tart, bratwurst, zucchini gratin, tourtiere, curry and dal and raita-- and then grabs a banana from the salad bar. “Have some soup,” urges Comeau hopefully, “it’s really wonderful.”

“Maybe later,” says the acrobat, palming an apple. At the Cirque du Soleil, the kitchen is almost always open.

The circus is more than just a show. It is a small multinational village of 110 people--artists, technicians, ticket-takers, even a teacher for the children who travel with the circus. The center of the village, its heart, is the kitchen, which is open from 7 a.m. until 1 a.m., its stoves constantly pumping out an astonishing array of dishes.

When the circus rolls into town, the three huge kitchen trucks are pulled together and their backs opened up to reveal a walk-in refrigerator, a freezer, two ovens, six burners and a traveling pantry. Add a few boards and a line of steam tables and the kitchen is complete. Pull up a couple of flatbed trucks, throw a canopy across them, and suddenly there’s an adjoining cafe.

Although the circus serves a lot of food--400 meals a day--it’s really just home cooking on a grand scale. There are no huge stockpots, no giant pans. Like a mom who has to make a different dish for each member of the family, Comeau, LaChance and the eight people who work with them cook a lot of things, a little bit at a time.

“We have vegetarians, we have people who eat only hot dogs, we even have a few people who eat only live food. We have to please all tastes and all needs,” says Comeau casually, as if such a thing were possible. “We have to serve healthy to garbage. We try to make everyone happy.”

A small woman wanders into the kitchen and peers into the steam table. “Who cooked this salmon tart?” she asks. “Marie-Josee,” replies Comeau. “Oh, good,” says the woman, cutting a slice and sliding it onto her plate, “she makes the best pastry.”

“Try some of the zucchini,” Comeau entreats, “Marie-Josee made that too.” She hesitates. “It’s great,” he says persuasively, then watches happily as she spoons some up. He turns and says: “The great thing about this job is that we’re cooking for our friends. You know, the joy of seeing people’s faces when they eat your food is addictive.”

The traveling is addictive too; it’s nice, says Comeau, to know that you’re always about to move on. “Being in one place,” he says, “it must be so boring.” What he loves best about being gerant de cuisine for the circus is the constant foraging for supplies. “When I get to a new town, I get to ask a lot of questions. First I find a good butcher, and then I ask him for other suppliers. Then when we leave, I say, ‘Whom should I buy from up the road?’ ”

Moving on has another perk: In each new town, the chefs plan a big premiere celebration. This multi-course blowout changes in each city, but it is always a meal that makes the chefs very proud. “The first week everyone’s too nervous to eat,” says Comeau, “so we wait one week after opening night. And then we serve a really fabulous feast.” Months later, Comeau and LaChance can tell you what they served in Atlanta, Chicago, Montreal. “Last Christmas,” boasts Comeau, “we cooked a seven-course sit-down dinner, and we served a different wine with every course.”

Although the food they serve is often extremely sophisticated flambeed pheasant and pears at one meal--both Comeau and LaChance have learned mostly by doing. Comeau was 35 before he thought of cooking as a career. Leaving his job at the Canadian Broadcasting Co., he went to Alberta to cook on an oil rig. “I loved it,” he says. “I was hooked.”

LaChance woke up one day, realized she was spending most of her time feeding her friends and decided that if that was what she was going to do, she might as well get paid for it. She went off to the Quebec woods to cook for a logging camp. “There was no electricity,” she says. “I was cooking beaver. And you’d be surprised how hungry everybody gets in the cold.”

Since then both have logged a lot of miles--Comeau worked on a ship for a while--but both say that joining the circus was the best idea they’ve ever had.

“I don’t know what there’s left for me to do after this,” says Comeau. “People here depend on us. They’re our friends. And what could I possibly do that would be this much fun?”

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This was the main course at the premiere dinner this year in Santa Monica. The marinade produces meat of amazing tenderness.

GRENADINS DE CHEVREUIL MARINE AU PORTO (Venison Filets Mignons Marinated in Port)

3 cups red Bordeaux wine

2 cups Port

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 leek, white part only, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 bay leaves

3 to 4 juniper berries

Crushed thyme

Crushed rosemary

2 venison tenderloin filets, trimmed of fat

1 cup veal stock

7 tablespoons butter

2 ounces chanterelle mushrooms, sliced

2 ounces morels, sliced

1 shallot, chopped

1/4 cup chopped parsley

Water

Bring red wine to boil in small saucepan and flambe to remove alcohol bitterness. Remove from heat. Add Port. Pour into shallow glass dish and let cool.

Stir in carrot, celery, leek, onion, garlic, bay leaves and juniper berries and season to taste with thyme and rosemary. Add tenderloin filets and allow to marinate at least 24 hours.

Remove tenderloins and strain marinade into saucepan, reserving vegetables. Add veal stock to marinade. Boil and reduce to 1 cup. Strain and keep warm.

Lightly brown 2 tablespoons butter in oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat. Add and saute whole tenderloin filets on all sides. Place skillet in 450-degree oven and bake 8 to 10 minutes for rare. Remove meat and slice into rounds. Keep warm.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in skillet over medium-high heat. Add and saute chanterelles, morels, shallot and parsley until mushrooms are tender. Reheat wine sauce and briskly whisk in 2 tablespoons butter. Stir in mushroom mixture.

Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in skillet and saute reserved vegetables. Add few tablespoons water, cover and steam few minutes until tender-crisp.

To serve, spoon hot sauce onto individual plates or serving platter and top with venison. Cover with vegetables and mushrooms. Makes about 4 servings.

Each serving contains about:

713 calories; 523 mg sodium; 110 mg cholesterol; 24 grams fat; 13 grams carbohydrates; 21 grams protein; 1.14 grams fiber.

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“This recipe came about because everybody likes souffles,” Comeau says, “but we had to find a souffle that would be good after it fell. Marie-Josee makes such great pastry that we thought about taking the souffle and putting it into a shell. This puffs really high, but it’s delicious after it falls too.”

TARTE SOUFFLE AU SAUMON FUME (Smoked Salmon Souffle Tart)

1/4 cup butter, softened

3 tablespoons flour

1 cup warm milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

Dash white pepper

1/2 cup sliced smoked salmon

4 egg yolks, beaten

6 egg whites

1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese

1 (9-inch) unbaked pie shell

Heat butter in saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour and heat 1 to 2 minutes. Slowly pour in warm milk, stirring until thickened and smooth to make bechamel. Add salt and white pepper. Puree smoked salmon in blender and add to bechamel. Cool to lukewarm and add beaten egg yolks.

Whip egg whites until very stiff. Gently fold into bechamel (do not overwork). Gradually add cheese. Turn mixture into pie shell and bake at 375 degrees 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden and puffy. Serve immediately. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Each serving contains about:

348 calories; 501 mg sodium; 163 mg cholesterol; 25 grams fat; 20 grams carbohydrates; 11 grams protein; 0.07 gram fiber.

*

Most of the people who travel with the Cirque du Soleil are French - Canadian. When people get homesick, the cooks make this traditional dessert for them.

GRAND-PERES IN SYRUP

2 cups water

1 1/4 cups maple syrup

1 1/4 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup butter, melted

Mix water and maple syrup in 4-quart saucepan and bring to boil over high heat. Mix flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in small bowl. Stir in milk and melted butter just until blended.

Drop batter by spoonfuls into boiling syrup. Cover and simmer 15 minutes (do not uncover while cooking), or bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees until golden brown. Makes 4 large servings

Each serving contains about:

510 calories; 757 mg sodium; 33 mg cholesterol; 12 grams fat; 96 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams protein; 0.11 gram fiber.

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LaChance has made the search for vegetarian recipes her personal mission. She’s particularly fond of Indian food, and there’s almost always some sort of dal or curry on the menu. Among the artists--both vegetarian and carnivorous--her vegetable frittatas are especially beloved. Several mentioned how much they like this one made of zucchini.

ZUCCHINI AU PARMESAN

3 cups grated zucchini

1 large onion, minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon mixed herbs, such as oregano, parsley, rosemary

Salt, pepper

Additional grated Parmesan cheese

Mix zucchini, onion, garlic, eggs, oil, Parmesan, flour, baking powder, baking soda and herbs. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour into buttered shallow oven-proof mold (such as 11-inch round glass baking dish). Lightly sprinkle with more cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees 30 to 40 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Each serving contains about:

336 calories; 458 mg sodium; 148 mg cholesterol; 25 grams fat; 20 grams carbohydrates; 11 grams protein; 0.49 gram fiber.