flipBread and milk panade
Bread and milk panade
Why this dish? Buffon took a light meal in the morning before going to his study at dawn, where he wrote his Natural History. The panade, an economical and nourishing bread soup, was perfectly suited to this disciplined man who wanted to feed the body without weighing down the mind.
A humble soup of stale bread long simmered in broth then bound with milk and egg yolk, soft and comforting, as was served in the morning in Burgundian households.
At daybreak, before the pen runs over the paper, I content myself with this very simple panade. You see, the mind cannot rise if the body is weighed down by too rich fare: I let yesterday's bread melt gently in good broth, bind it with a little milk from my cows and an egg yolk, and that suffices me until evening. Sobriety, believe me, is the nurse of study.
- •Stale bread — a few slices (base)
- •Chicken broth — one bowl (moistening)
- •Milk — a splash (smooth binding)
- •Egg yolk — one (binding)
- •Butter — a knob (richness)
- •Salt — to taste (seasoning)
Bread and milk panade
A humble soup of stale bread long simmered in broth then bound with milk and egg yolk, soft and comforting, as was served in the morning in Burgundian households.
Why this dish? Buffon took a light meal in the morning before going to his study at dawn, where he wrote his Natural History. The panade, an economical and nourishing bread soup, was perfectly suited to this disciplined man who wanted to feed the body without weighing down the mind.
At daybreak, before the pen runs over the paper, I content myself with this very simple panade. You see, the mind cannot rise if the body is weighed down by too rich fare: I let yesterday's bread melt gently in good broth, bind it with a little milk from my cows and an egg yolk, and that suffices me until evening. Sobriety, believe me, is the nurse of study.
Ingredients (period version)
- Stale bread — a few slices (base)
- Chicken broth — one bowl (moistening)
- Milk — a splash (smooth binding)
- Egg yolk — one (binding)
- Butter — a knob (richness)
- Salt — to taste (seasoning)
Ingredients
- Stale country bread — 150 g (base)
- Chicken broth — 500 ml (moistening)
- Whole milk — 150 ml (smooth binding)
- Egg yolk — 1 (binding)
- Butter — 20 g (richness)
- Salt and nutmeg — to taste (seasoning)
Method
- Cut the stale bread into pieces and soak it in the hot broth for about ten minutes.
- Bring gently to a simmer and let the bread break down, stirring, until a creamy porridge is obtained (15 min).
- Off the heat, incorporate the milk, butter, then the beaten egg yolk, whisking to bind without curdling.
- Salt, grate a hint of nutmeg, and serve very hot.
How it was made : Panade was a staple dish throughout Ancien Régime France, from cottages to castle kitchens. Stale bread, a precious commodity, was recycled into a nourishing soup. Menon describes it in La Cuisinière bourgeoise (1746) among everyday potages.
The contemporary twist : Serve it in an earthenware bowl with a drizzle of Morvan walnut oil and a few croutons browned in butter to recall Buffon's Burgundy.
Sources : Menon, La Cuisinière bourgeoise, 1746
Buffon · Charactorium
