https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/31/magazine/food-soup-beautiful-soup.html?
Food; Soup, Beautiful Soup The New York Times
BY Jacques Pepin
- March 31, 1991
IF I HAD TO CHOOSE ONE DISH THAT I COULD NOT LIVE WITHOUT, it would have to be soup. And if I had to name my two favorite soups, they would probably be vegetable soup and bread-and-cheese soup.
I don’t know of any country that doesn’t boast of having the greatest soups in the world. In France during the Middle Ages, the word “potage” was given to anything that was cooked in a pot; the mixture could be slightly liquid, like a thick soup, or drier, like a stew or boiled roast. Today, “potage” designates a smooth soup as well as a clear soup, and a potage of vegetables is usually pureed into a smooth mixture. Usually, soupe in France refers to a coarse mixture, often containing bread, like the classic French onion soup. Then, of course, there is the consomme, a clarified, crystal-clear stock that often takes on the name of the garnish served with it, like truffle consomme or tarragon consomme.
Soup is perhaps the ideal vehicle for leftovers, since it can be made from almost anything — fresh vegetables, fish, poultry, fruit, herbs, pasta and dried beans, to name but a few possibilities. Soup can be complicated or very simple: water and a few leftover vegetables or even water and bread will suffice.
A big fallacy regarding soup is that it takes hours to make. Often, the most time-consuming part of soup-making is waiting for some water to come to the boil. While you wait, look in your refrigerator and collect a couple of vegetables — a piece of carrot, a chunk of zucchini, a wedge of onion, a scallion, for example — and grate them on a hand cheese grater. When the water reaches a boil, drop in the grated vegetables. By the time the water returns to the boil, the vegetables are cooked and the soup can be thickened, perhaps with a little Cream of Wheat, cornmeal, oatmeal, couscous, tapioca or pastina. After a few additional minutes to cook the thickener, the soup is ready to eat. Garnish it if you like with a pat of butter or a dash of olive oil and a little salt.
For a bread-and-cheese soup, I’ve provided a recipe for a plain chicken stock, which I simply pour over pieces of toasted leftover bread and serve sprinkled with either Swiss or mozzarella cheese and cracked pepper. This same recipe can be transformed into an onion soup gratine by cooking sliced onions with the stock and browning the bread-and-cheese topping under a broiler before serving. Simple and straightforward either way, this recipe demands a good-tasting homemade stock — which can be made ahead and frozen — or, if time is limited, a good-quality canned stock. The chunky vegetable soup, on the other hand, is better made with water because it preserves the authentic, clean taste of the vegetables — stock masks and often overpowers their fresh taste.
There are, of course, more complex soups, among them the bouillabaisse and bourride of Provence. Included here is a cotriade, a fish soup from Brittany. For this dish, potatoes and fish are cut into large chunks, cooked and dished out of the resulting bouillon and eaten with a sprinkling of pepper vinegar and olive oil. The bouillon, with croutons added, is eaten as an accompaniment. Serve this soup with a salad and an ice cream or custard dessert.
The potage a la reine, the original of which dates back to the 16th century, is a velvety combination of rich broth, chicken pieces and vegetable garnish. In this recipe, a whole chicken is gently poached to create a rich stock. This stock is thickened with a roux and finished with cream, a julienne of vegetables and, if you desire, the chicken pieces, shredded. With the chicken pieces included, this is a meal in itself; if, however, you prefer to reserve the chicken for a salad, the soup — now a veloute of chicken — makes a nice first course for a dinner party.
Soups can be made ahead and refrigerated or frozen for later use. Very often, they actually improve with reheating. Soups can be served for breakfast, lunch or dinner. They are served at very fancy parties, but are also a welcome main dish for a family meal. More than any other food, they are the universal panacea of the cook. CHUNKY VEGETABLE SOUP 1 onion, peeled 1 rib celery, cleaned 4 scallions, cleaned 1 tablespoon corn oil 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 carrots, peeled 1 zucchini, trimmed and rinsed 1 white turnip, peeled 1 piece white cabbage (about 4 ounces) 2 or 3 potatoes, peeled 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 7 cups water 3 cloves garlic About 1/2 cup fresh parsley or basil leaves, or a mixture of both 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.
1. Fit a food processor with the 1 millimeter slicing blade and process the onion, celery and scallions.
2. Heat the oil and butter in a large stockpot and add the sliced vegetables. Saute about 3 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, slice the carrots, zucchini, turnip, cabbage and potatoes in the food processor. Add these vegetables to the stockpot along with the salt and the water, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat and boil gently for 20 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, mince the garlic and herbs together in a food processor fitted with a steel chopping blade. Add the herb mixture to the stockpot, mix well, season with pepper and serve.
Yield: Six to eight servings. BREAD-AND-CHEESE SOUP 6 cups fresh or frozen homemade chicken stock (recipe follows) Salt to taste 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 4 slices bread (preferably crusty, country-style), toasted 4 ounces Gruyere cheese, shredded Freshly ground pepper to taste.
1. Bring the chicken stock to a strong boil and add the salt and pepper. Meanwhile, break the toast into pieces and place the equivalent of 1 slice in each of four soup bowls. Divide the cheese among the bowls, sprinkle with the ground pepper and pour the boiling stock on top. Serve immediately.
Yield: Four servings. COTRIADE BRETONNE 1/3 cup olive oil 3 onions, peeled and sliced thin 9 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced thin 1 large leek, root end and damaged and wilted leaves removed and discarded, and the remainder (both green and white parts) thoroughly cleaned and sliced thin 8 cups water 2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces 1 1/2 pounds codfish (or other thick fillets of fish), cleaned and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 2 teaspoons herbes de Provence (see note) Pepper-vinegar dip: 1/3 cup red-wine vinegar 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Croutons: 1 baguette, cut into 1/2-inch slices 1 tablespoon corn or safflower oil Extra olive oil for serving at the table.
1. Place the 1/3 cup olive oil, onions, garlic and leek in a large pot and cook gently over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes.
2. Add the water and the potatoes. Bring to a boil, cover and boil gently for 20 minutes. (The recipe can be prepared ahead to this point and kept out for a few hours or refrigerated overnight.)
3. Just before serving, add the fish and bring the mixture back to a boil. Immediately remove the pot from the heat and season with the salt, 1 teaspoon pepper and herbes de Provence.
4. Make the pepper-vinegar dip: in a small bowl, mix together the vinegar and the 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Set aside.
5. Make the bread garnish: arrange the bread slices on a baking sheet and sprinkle with the oil. Bake in a 400-degree oven for about 10 minutes, or until brown and crisp.
6. Serve the soup in large bowls or soup plates with a small warmed plate on the side. Invite each guest to transfer pieces of potato and fish from the soup to the side plate and sprinkle them with the pepper-vinegar and, if desired, a few drops of oil. Add the croutons to the soup and serve immediately.
Yield: Six servings.
Note: If you do not have herbes de Provence, substitute equal amounts of at least 3 of the following: dried marjoram, thyme, summer savory, sage, fennel, basil, rosemary and lavender. POTAGE A LA REINE 1 chicken (about 2 1/2 to 3 pounds) 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme 2 bay leaves 1 1/2 teaspoons salt Garnishes: 1 leek, root end and damaged and wilted leaves removed and discarded, remainder julienned 3 carrots, peeled and julienned 2 ribs celery, preferably the white inner ribs, julienned 6 large mushrooms, thinly sliced 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 chicken bouillon cubes Veloute: 3 tablespoons unsalted butter 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1 cup heavy cream.
1. Place the chicken in a narrow, stainless-steel stockpot. Add enough water to cover the chicken, then add the thyme, bay leaves, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat and boil gently, covered, for 10 minutes. Let the chicken cool in the stock, still covered, for about 1 hour, or until lukewarm.
2. Strain 3 cups of the stock from around the chicken and place it in a saucepan. Add the leek and bring the stock to a boil. Boil gently for 5 minutes. Add the carrots and celery, and bring the stock back to the boil. Boil gently for 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and the 1/2 teaspoon salt, and boil gently for an additional 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Remove the chicken from the remaining stock. Peel off and discard the skin. Pick the meat from the bones and shred it into 1-inch pieces. Line a colander with dampened paper towels and strain the stock through the towels. Skim the fat from the surface of the stock (you should have 7 cups). If you have too much stock, boil to reduce it to 7 cups; if you have too little stock, add enough water to bring it to 7 cups. Add the bouillon cubes to strengthen the stock.
4. To make the veloute: in a sturdy saucepan melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and cook for 10 seconds. Add half of the remaining stock (3 1/2 cups) and mix well with a whisk. Bring to a boil, whisking occasionally, to form a smooth mixture. Add the rest of the stock and the pepper and return the mixture to a boil. If any lumps remain, strain the soup and return it to a clean saucepan. Add the cream and bring the mixture to a boil. Remove from heat.
5. Just before serving, add the vegetable garnishes with their cooking juices and the shredded chicken. Reheat gently to a boil. Divide among six large bowls or soup plates, and serve immediately.
Yield: Six servings. BASIC CHICKEN STOCK 3 pounds chicken bones (neck, backs and gizzards, skinless or with as little skin as possible) 6 quarts lukewarm water 1 tablespoon herbes de Provence (see note) 1 large onion, peeled and cut into 4 pieces 12 whole cloves 1 teaspoon celery seed 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce.
1. Place the bones and the water in a large stockpot, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and boil gently for 30 minutes. Most of the fat and impurities will come to the surface during this time; skim off and discard as much of them as you can.
2. Add the remainder of the ingredients, return the liquid to a boil and boil gently for 2 hours. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve or through a colander lined with a dampened cloth kitchen towel or dampened paper towels.
3. Allow the stock to cool. Then remove the surface fat and freeze the stock in plastic containers with tight-fitting lids. Use as needed.
Yield: Thirteen cups.
Note: If you do not have herbes de Provence, substitute equal amounts of at least 3 of the following: dried marjoram, thyme, summer savory, sage, fennel, basil, rosemary and lavender.