Chocolate-Coated Vulvinettes with Sichuan Spices

Vulvinettes are undoubtedly the Duchess of Crestignac’s most celebrated culinary enigma. No botanist, no fisherman and no cook has ever been able to say for certain what they were. The Duchess would simply smile, leaving everyone to imagine them according to their own appetite.

A few carefully prepared vulvinettes

Dark chocolate with a high cocoa content

A hint of Sichuan spices

Unsalted butter

Fleur de sel

1. Never wash the vulvinettes in copious amounts of water.

2. Sear them very briefly in butter to preserve their delicacy.

3. Melt the chocolate with a hint of Sichuan spice.

4. Gently coat the vulvinettes with this glossy sauce.

5. Finish with a few crystals of fleur de sel.

The Duchess wrote: “Vulvinettes tolerate neither haste nor vulgarity.”

Serve warm, on a small black plate, leaving guests free to debate the true nature of vulvinettes.