A guide to modern cookery by A. Escoffier

are peculiarly well suited to supplant those of _Bisque_ and _Cullis_, which are steadily becoming obsolete, as well as that too vulgar term _Purée_. Considerations of this kind naturally led me to a new classification of soups, and this I shall disclose later. I shall not make any lengthy attempt here to refute the arguments of certain autocrats of the dinner-table who, not so many years ago, urged the total abolition of soups. I shall only submit to their notice the following quotation from Grimod de la Reynière, one of our most illustrious gastronomists: “Soup is to a dinner what the porch or gateway is to a building,” that is to say, it must not only form the first portion thereof, but it must be so devised as to convey some idea of the whole to which it belongs; or, after the manner of an overture in a light opera, it should divulge what is to be the dominant phrase of the melody throughout. I am at one with Grimod in this, and believe that soups have come to stay. Of all the items on a menu, soup is that which exacts the most delicate perfection and the strictest attention, for upon the first impression it gives to the diner the success of the latter part of the meal largely depends. Soups should be served as hot as possible in very warm plates, especially in the case of consommés when these have been preceded by cold hors-d’œuvres. Hors-d’œuvres are pointless in a dinner, and even when oysters stand as such they should only be allowed at meals which include no soup. Those hors-d’œuvres which consist of various fish, smoked or in oil, and strongly seasoned salads, leave a disagreeable taste on the consumer’s palate and make the soup which follows seem flat and insipid if the latter be not served boiling hot. =Classification of Soups= This includes (1) clear soups, (2) thick soups, (3) special soups of various kinds, (4) classical vegetable soups, including some local preparations. 237—CLEAR SOUPS Clear soups, of whatever nature the base thereof may be, whether butcher’s meat, poultry, game, fish, shell-fish, or turtle, &c., are made according to one method only. They are always clear consommés to which has been added a slight garnish in keeping with the nature of the consommé. 238—THICK SOUPS These are divided into three leading classes as follows:—(1) The Purées, Cullises, or Bisques. (2) Various Veloutés. (3) Various Creams. _Remarks._—Though the three preparations of the first class are practically the same, and, generally speaking, the Cullises and the Bisques may be considered as purées of fowl, game, or shell-fish, it is advisable to distinguish one from another by giving each a special name of its own. Thus the word _Purée_ is most suitably applied to any preparation with a vegetable base. The term _Cullis_ is best fitted to preparations having either poultry, game, or fish for base, while bisque, in spite of the fact that in former days it was applied indiscriminately to purées of shell-fish, poultry, pigeons, &c., distinctly denotes a purée of shell-fish (either lobster, crayfish, or shrimp, &c.). In short, it is imperative to avoid all ambiguities and to give everything its proper name, or, at least, that name which identifies it most correctly. 239—PURÉES Farinaceous vegetables, such as haricot-beans and lentils, and the floury ones, such as the potato, need no additional thickening ingredient, since the flour or fecula which they contain amply suffices for the leason of their purées. On the other hand, aqueous vegetables like carrots, pumpkins, turnips, celery, and herbs cannot dispense with a thickening ingredient, as their purées of themselves do not cohere in the least. _Cohering or Thickening Elements; their Quantities._—In order to effect the coherence of vegetable purées, either rice, potato, or bread-crumb cut into dice and fried in butter may be used. The proportion of these per pound of vegetables should be respectively three oz., ten oz., and ten oz. Bread-crumb dice, prepared as described above, were greatly used in old cookery, and they lend a mellowness to a purée which is quite peculiar to them. _The Dilution of Purées._—Generally this is done by means of ordinary white consommé, though in certain cases, as, for instance, if the soup is a Lenten one, milk is used. _The Finishing._—When the purées have been strained and brought to the required consistence they should be boiled and stirred. Then they are placed on the side of the fire to simmer for twenty-five or thirty minutes. It is at this stage that they are purified by means of the careful removal of all the scum that forms on their surface. When dishing up complete them, away from the fire, with three oz. of butter per quart of soup, and pass them once more through a strainer. _Purée Garnishes._—These are usually either small fried crusts, small dice of potato fried in butter, a _chiffonade_, some kind of little _brunoise_, or, more generally, chervil _pluches_. 240—CULLISES Cullises have for their base either poultry, game, or fish. _The thickening ingredients used are_:— _For fowl_, two or three oz. of rice, or three-quarters pint of poultry velouté per lb. of fowl. _For game_, three or four oz. of lentils, or three-quarters pint of game Espagnole per lb. of game. _For fish_, a clear panada made up of French bread soaked in boiling salted milk. Use five oz. of bread and one good pint of milk per lb. of fish. Having strained and made up the Cullises, boil them while stirring (except in the case of fish cullises, which must not boil, and must be served as soon as they are made), then place them in a _bain-marie_ and butter their surfaces lest a skin should form. At the last moment complete them with two or three oz. of butter per quart. The garnish of poultry or game cullises consists of either small dice of game or fowl-fillets, which should be kept aside for the purpose; a fine _julienne_ of these fillets, or small quenelles made from the latter, raw. The garnish of fish cullis is generally fish-fillets poached in butter and cut up into small dice or in _julienne-fashion_. 241—BISQUES The invariable base of Bisques is shell-fish cooked in _mirepoix_. Their thickening ingredients are, or may be, rice, fish velouté, or crusts of bread fried in butter, the proportion being three oz. of rice, ten oz. of bread-crusts, or three-quarters pint of fish velouté per lb. of shell-fish cooked in _mirepoix_ (No. 228). When the soup is strained, treat it in precisely the same way as the cullises. The garnish consists of small dice of the meat from the shell-fish used. These pieces should have been put aside from the first. 242—THE VELOUTÉS These differ from the purées, cullises, and bisques in that their invariable thickening element is a velouté whose preparation is in harmony with the nature of the ingredients of the soup, these being either vegetables, poultry, game, fish, or shell-fish. _The Preparation of the Velouté._—Allow three and one-half oz. of white roux per quart of the diluent. This diluent should be ordinary consommé for a velouté of vegetables or herbs, chicken consommé for a poultry velouté, or very clear fish _fumet_ for a fish or shell-fish velouté. The procedure is exactly the same as that described under No. 25 of the leading sauces. _The Apportionment of the Ingredients._—In general, the quantities of each constituent are in the following proportion:—Velouté, one-half; the purée of the substance which characterises the soup, one-quarter; the consommé used to bring the soup to its proper consistence, one-quarter. In respect of finishing ingredients, use, for thickening, the yolks of three eggs and one-fifth pint of cream per quart of soup. Thus for four quarts of poultry velouté we arrive at the following quantities:— Poultry velouté, three pints; purée of fowl obtained from a cleaned and drawn hen weighing about three lbs., one quart; consommé for regulating consistence, one quart; leason, twelve yolks and four-fifths pint of cream. _Rules Relative to the Preparation._—If the velouté is to be of lettuce, chicory, celery, or mixed herbs, these ingredients are scalded for five minutes, drained, gently stewed in butter, and added to the prepared velouté in which their cooking is completed. If carrots, turnips, onions, &c., are to be treated, finely mince them, stew them in butter without allowing them to acquire any colour, and add them to the velouté. If fowl be the base, cook it in the velouté. This done, withdraw it, remove the meat, finely pound same, and add it to the velouté, which is then rubbed through tammy. In the case of fish the procedure is the same as for fowl. For game, roast or _sauté_ the selected piece, bone it, finely pound the meat, and combine the latter with the velouté, which should then be rubbed through tammy. For shell-fish, cook these in a _mirepoix_, finely pound them together with the latter, add to the velouté, and pass the whole through tammy. _The Completing of Velouté._—Having passed the soup through tammy, bring it to its proper degree of consistence with the necessary quantity of consommé, boil while stirring, and place in a _bain-marie_. At the last moment finish the soup with the leason and two oz. of butter per quart of liquid. _Garnish for Velouté._—In the case of vegetables: _Chiffonade_, fine _printaniers_, or _brunoise_. For fowl and game: The fillets of one or the other, poached and cut into small dice or in _julienne-fashion_; little quenelles made with the raw fillets, or either fowl or game royales. For fish: Small dice or fine _julienne_ of fish fillets poached in butter. For shell-fish: Small dice of cooked shell-fish meat put aside for the purpose. _Remarks._—In certain circumstances these garnishes are increased by means of three tablespoonfuls of poached rice per quart of the soup. 243—THE CREAMS Practically speaking, the preparation of the creams is the same as that of the veloutés, but for the following exceptions:—