flipGreen Porée with Beans and Cabbage
Green Porée with Beans and Cabbage
Why this dish? Before taking up the quill to write his romances, Chrétien shared the household's daily fare: porée, this potage of simmered green vegetables, was the everyday dish, from clerk to lord, in Troyes as everywhere in Champagne.
A thick and comforting potage of leeks, cabbage, and beans bound with bread, flavored with bacon and lifted by a hint of ginger. The humble dish that nourished long days of writing.
Approach, friend, and fear not the simplicity of this dish. Here, when the cold bites and the candle burns low on my parchment, nothing comforts better than a good steaming porée. My cook tosses in leeks, cabbage, and beans from the garden, then melts a bit of bacon to give flavor, and thickens it all with breadcrumbs. Eat it hot, soaked with bread: it is a clerk's fare, not a lord's, but it is worth many a roast.
- •Leeks — a fine bunch (green base)
- •Green cabbage — half a cabbage (body of the potage)
- •Fresh or dried broad beans — a bowlful (substance and protein)
- •Salt bacon — a piece (fat and umami)
- •Stale breadcrumbs — a few slices (thickener)
- •Ginger — a pinch (signature spice)
Green Porée with Beans and Cabbage
A thick and comforting potage of leeks, cabbage, and beans bound with bread, flavored with bacon and lifted by a hint of ginger. The humble dish that nourished long days of writing.
Why this dish? Before taking up the quill to write his romances, Chrétien shared the household's daily fare: porée, this potage of simmered green vegetables, was the everyday dish, from clerk to lord, in Troyes as everywhere in Champagne.
Approach, friend, and fear not the simplicity of this dish. Here, when the cold bites and the candle burns low on my parchment, nothing comforts better than a good steaming porée. My cook tosses in leeks, cabbage, and beans from the garden, then melts a bit of bacon to give flavor, and thickens it all with breadcrumbs. Eat it hot, soaked with bread: it is a clerk's fare, not a lord's, but it is worth many a roast.
Ingredients (period version)
- Leeks — a fine bunch (green base)
- Green cabbage — half a cabbage (body of the potage)
- Fresh or dried broad beans — a bowlful (substance and protein)
- Salt bacon — a piece (fat and umami)
- Stale breadcrumbs — a few slices (thickener)
- Ginger — a pinch (signature spice)
Ingredients
- Leeks — 3 large (green base)
- Curly kale or green cabbage — 300 g (body of the potage)
- Shelled broad beans (or frozen) — 250 g (substance)
- Smoked bacon lardons — 100 g (fat and umami)
- Stale bread — 2 slices (thickener)
- Ground ginger — 1/2 tsp (spice)
- Broth or water — 1.5 L (liquid)
- Salt — to taste (seasoning)
Method
- Melt the bacon lardons over low heat in a large pot.
- Add the sliced leeks and chopped cabbage, let them sweat for 5 minutes.
- Pour in the broth, add the beans, season with salt, and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Crumble the bread into the pot to thicken the potage and stir.
- Flavor with a pinch of ginger, adjust salt, and serve very hot with bread.
How it was made : Porée (from "poireau" meaning leek) referred to any potage of green vegetables bound with bread. It was the staple of medieval diet, on meat days (with bacon) and lean days (with oil or almonds). The precise vegetable varied according to the garden and season.
The contemporary twist : Serve it in a deep bowl with a drizzle of walnut oil and a few golden croutons: the porée becomes a rustic velouté that is entirely fashionable.
Sources : Le Ménagier de Paris (medieval tradition of porées) · Bruno Laurioux, Manger au Moyen Âge
Chrétien de Troyes · Charactorium
