flipVegetable Soup from the Meudon Kitchen Garden
Vegetable Soup from the Meudon Kitchen Garden
Why this dish? Rodin drew his vegetables from the garden of the Villa des Brillants in Meudon. A soup of leeks, carrots, and turnips was the ordinary beginning of a family meal, simple and nourishing just as he liked them.
A peasant soup of root vegetables thickened with potato, flavored with butter and parsley. Comforting, no fuss, exactly the kind of robust bourgeois cooking Rodin enjoyed daily.
You see, in the morning I go down to the kitchen garden before even touching the clay, and I pick what the season gives me — a leek, two turnips, carrots still warm from the sun. My cook lets them melt gently in butter, then simmers them slowly, for haste spoils a soup as much as a sculpture. I dip my bread in it, and believe me, nothing beats this honest food to keep a man on his feet before his work.
- •Leeks from the garden — a few (sweet aromatic base)
- •Carrots — a handful (sweetness and color)
- •Turnips — two or three (earthy roundness)
- •Potatoes — a few (thickening the soup)
- •Fresh butter — a good knob (fat and binder)
- •Parsley from the garden — a bunch (final freshness)
- •Salt — to taste (seasoning)
Vegetable Soup from the Meudon Kitchen Garden
A peasant soup of root vegetables thickened with potato, flavored with butter and parsley. Comforting, no fuss, exactly the kind of robust bourgeois cooking Rodin enjoyed daily.
Why this dish? Rodin drew his vegetables from the garden of the Villa des Brillants in Meudon. A soup of leeks, carrots, and turnips was the ordinary beginning of a family meal, simple and nourishing just as he liked them.
You see, in the morning I go down to the kitchen garden before even touching the clay, and I pick what the season gives me — a leek, two turnips, carrots still warm from the sun. My cook lets them melt gently in butter, then simmers them slowly, for haste spoils a soup as much as a sculpture. I dip my bread in it, and believe me, nothing beats this honest food to keep a man on his feet before his work.
Ingredients (period version)
- Leeks from the garden — a few (sweet aromatic base)
- Carrots — a handful (sweetness and color)
- Turnips — two or three (earthy roundness)
- Potatoes — a few (thickening the soup)
- Fresh butter — a good knob (fat and binder)
- Parsley from the garden — a bunch (final freshness)
- Salt — to taste (seasoning)
Ingredients
- Leeks — 2 (sweet aromatic base)
- Carrots — 3 (sweetness and color)
- Turnips — 2 (earthy roundness)
- Potatoes — 3 medium (thickening the soup)
- Butter — 40 g (fat and binder)
- Water or vegetable broth — 1.2 L (cooking liquid)
- Flat-leaf parsley — a few sprigs (final freshness)
- Salt, pepper — to taste (seasoning)
Method
- Wash and slice leeks, carrots, turnips, and potatoes into even pieces.
- Melt the butter in a large pot, sweat the leeks for 5 minutes without browning.
- Add the rest of the vegetables, cover with water or broth, lightly salt.
- Simmer over low heat for 35 to 40 minutes until everything is tender.
- Blend (or mash with a potato masher for a rustic texture), adjust seasoning.
- Serve piping hot, sprinkled with chopped parsley and a knob of butter.
How it was made : At the turn of the 20th century, soup opened almost every meal in French households, both modest and bourgeois. Vegetables from the garden or market were used, thickened with potato, and the cooking broth was never thrown away.
The contemporary twist : A drizzle of hazelnut oil and a few butter-toasted croutons transform this Meudon soup into a chic bistro starter.
Auguste Rodin · Charactorium
