The cordon bleu is above all a way of designating an excellent cook.

But it is also the name of a classic dish of French gastronomy: an escalope surrounded by ham and cheese, all breaded with breadcrumbs.

The culinary columnist of Europe 1 Olivier Poels gives a simple recipe to make and delicious for making cordon bleu at home. 

It's a comforting dish that everyone loves and has eaten at least once in the canteen: the cordon bleu.

But ready-made, they are often not very good.

So to find their greedy and crispy taste, Olivier Poels offers you a good recipe, just after having told the origins of this dish.

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It is one of those essential dishes of our fine cuisine and its name confirms it.

It evokes someone who cooks remarkably well.

But this is not the only explanation for the name of the cordon bleu.

The name of the cordon bleu has two origins

The name could go back to Henry III, the one who created the order of the Knights of the Holy Spirit.

They wore a blue cord which held their cross but above all, they were sacred greedy.

They used to meet in gourmet clubs where we ate extremely well.

And at the time we used to say "eat like a blue cordon".

But there is another explanation: to hold the cheese, the ham, the escalope, it was surrounded with a small cord that was blue.

An iconic dish in the United States in the 1950s

Originally, this dish originates from Italy.

It looks like an improved Milanese schnitzel with ham and cheese added to it.

It first imposed itself in the United States.

The first mentions of cordon bleu appeared at the end of the 1950s in the country, in restaurants, before the industry took hold of it.

But it is even better to taste them as before.

This is why Europe 1 is delivering the classic cordon bleu recipe to you.

The recipe for four blue cords

Ingredients

  • 4 cutlets (turkey, poultry, veal or pork) well opened

  • 4 slices of ham

  • 4 county slices

  • Flour

  • 2 eggs

  • Breadcrumbs

The steps of the recipe 

1. Flatten the cutlets with a rolling pin

2. Place a slice of ham then a slice of cheese on the escalope

3. Fold the cutlet and tighten it with your fingers.

4. Pass it in English breadcrumbs: flour, egg then breadcrumbs

5. Cook cordon bleu in a pan over medium heat in fat.