Instructions: Have the butcher lard the meat. In Dutch oven or large heavy saucepan, heat butter. Add meat and cook over brisk flame until slightly browned on all sides. Add salt pork and onions and continue cooking until well browned. Add brandy and ignite. Add calfs foot, carrots, sugar, thyme, bay leaf, parsley, salt, pepper, consomme, and wine. Bring to boil. Cover tightly and simmer for 4 hours, or until meat is tender. Remove meat and cut it against the grain into thin slices. Arrange slices on heated serving dish. Garnish with onions, carrots, and meat of calfs foot. Skim fat from gravy. Pour a few spoonfuls of gravy on slices of meat. Strain remaining gravy and serve in a sauce boat.

Serve with boiled potatoes.

Comments: Boeuf a la mode is one of the basic dishes of French cuisine. It is served everywhere in France, from the most elegant homes and restaurants to the farmers table.

Although it is a family dish, it is considered fit for a king, and Marcel Proust, one of the most sophisticated French writers, has written in "Remembrance of Things Past" a lengthy and loving description of boeuf a la mode and the mysterious way the family cook had of making this dish THE dish to be anticipated, tasted, and talked about.

Boeuf a la mode is equally good when reheated, and delicious when eaten cold, covered with the jellied sauce.

Suggested Wine: A full-bodied red wine: French red Bordeaux; etc.

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