Bread and Milk Panade
A smooth and nourishing soup where stale bread melts into milk and a little broth, bound with an egg yolk and a knob of butter. The archetype of a recovery dish that costs almost nothing.
A smooth and nourishing soup where stale bread melts into milk and a little broth, bound with an egg yolk and a knob of butter. The archetype of a recovery dish that costs almost nothing.
Never throw away yesterday's bread, you see — at our house it always ends up in the pot. I break it into pieces, cover it with warm milk and let it drink its fill before straining it. An egg yolk beaten off the heat, a knob of butter, and there you have something to keep the whole table warm when the cold bites and the purse is light. It's humble, perhaps, but it comforts, and after the times we've been through, we've learned the value of a full plate.
- •Stale bread — a few slices (base, thickener)
- •Milk — a large bowl (liquid)
- •Broth — a little (flavor)
- •Egg yolk — 1 (binder)
- •Butter — a knob (richness)
- •Salt — to taste (seasoning)
Bread and Milk Panade
A smooth and nourishing soup where stale bread melts into milk and a little broth, bound with an egg yolk and a knob of butter. The archetype of a recovery dish that costs almost nothing.
Why this dish? In still-rationed Paris in the early 1950s, when evening came, stale bread was soaked in milk for a comforting and cheap potage — the kind of humble dish that warmed a household recovering from the war years.
Never throw away yesterday's bread, you see — at our house it always ends up in the pot. I break it into pieces, cover it with warm milk and let it drink its fill before straining it. An egg yolk beaten off the heat, a knob of butter, and there you have something to keep the whole table warm when the cold bites and the purse is light. It's humble, perhaps, but it comforts, and after the times we've been through, we've learned the value of a full plate.
Ingredients (period version)
- Stale bread — a few slices (base, thickener)
- Milk — a large bowl (liquid)
- Broth — a little (flavor)
- Egg yolk — 1 (binder)
- Butter — a knob (richness)
- Salt — to taste (seasoning)
Ingredients
- Stale bread — 150 g (base, thickener)
- Whole milk — 500 ml (liquid)
- Chicken broth — 250 ml (flavor)
- Egg yolk — 1 (binder)
- Butter — 20 g (richness)
- Salt and nutmeg — to taste (seasoning)
Method
- Break the stale bread into pieces in a saucepan.
- Pour in the warm milk and broth, let the bread soak for 10 minutes.
- Heat gently, mashing the bread until smooth.
- Off the heat, stir in the beaten egg yolk and butter, whisking to bind.
- Season with salt, grate a little nutmeg, and serve very hot.
How it was made : Panade is a medieval dish that survived through the centuries precisely because it salvages hard bread. In modest post-war households, it was the quintessential budget supper, sometimes the base for porridge for children and convalescents.
The contemporary twist : A spoonful of grated Comté melted on top and a few golden croutons for an 'onion soup' wink without the onion.
Dominique Lemor · Charactorium