flipHealth broth with herbs and bread
Health broth with herbs and bread
Why this dish? Graffigny, frail of health and short of purse, lived on soups and stews. This "health broth" — green vegetable stock poured over bread — was the everyday meal of modest Parisian women, economical and reputed to soothe the delicate stomach she complained of in her letters.
A fragrant broth of leeks, sorrel and chervil, thickened with egg yolk and poured piping hot over thin slices of stale white bread. Comforting, green, and light.
My poor stomach can hardly bear heavy meats, so I have this broth brought to me almost every day God sends. You let the leeks and a little sorrel simmer slowly in the broth until they yield all their greenness; then you pour everything over the bread cut thin in the bottom of the bowl. I thicken it with an egg yolk beaten off the heat, else it curdles — trust my experience. It is a small matter, but it restores body and mind to take up the pen again.
- •Lean chicken broth — a large bowlful (base)
- •Leeks — two (vegetable)
- •Sorrel and chervil — a handful (tart herbs)
- •Stale white bread — a few thin slices (base)
- •Egg yolk — one (thickener)
- •Butter — a nut (richness)
- •Salt — to taste (seasoning)
Health broth with herbs and bread
A fragrant broth of leeks, sorrel and chervil, thickened with egg yolk and poured piping hot over thin slices of stale white bread. Comforting, green, and light.
Why this dish? Graffigny, frail of health and short of purse, lived on soups and stews. This "health broth" — green vegetable stock poured over bread — was the everyday meal of modest Parisian women, economical and reputed to soothe the delicate stomach she complained of in her letters.
My poor stomach can hardly bear heavy meats, so I have this broth brought to me almost every day God sends. You let the leeks and a little sorrel simmer slowly in the broth until they yield all their greenness; then you pour everything over the bread cut thin in the bottom of the bowl. I thicken it with an egg yolk beaten off the heat, else it curdles — trust my experience. It is a small matter, but it restores body and mind to take up the pen again.
Ingredients (period version)
- Lean chicken broth — a large bowlful (base)
- Leeks — two (vegetable)
- Sorrel and chervil — a handful (tart herbs)
- Stale white bread — a few thin slices (base)
- Egg yolk — one (thickener)
- Butter — a nut (richness)
- Salt — to taste (seasoning)
Ingredients
- Chicken broth — 1 liter (base)
- Sliced leeks — 2 whites (vegetable)
- Fresh sorrel — 2 handfuls (or spinach + lemon juice) (tart herb)
- Chervil — 1 small bunch (herb)
- Stale country bread — 4 thin slices (base)
- Egg yolk — 1 (thickener)
- Butter — 20 g (richness)
- Salt, pepper — to taste (seasoning)
Method
- Sweat the sliced leeks in butter without browning, 5 minutes.
- Add the broth, season lightly with salt, bring to a simmer and cook 15 minutes.
- Add the chopped sorrel and chervil, cook 2 minutes: the sorrel melts and brings acidity.
- Place the bread slices in the bottom of bowls.
- Off the heat, temper the egg yolk with a ladle of warm broth, then whisk it back into the pot (do not reboil).
- Pour the hot broth over the bread and serve immediately.
How it was made : The "health broth" appears in 18th-century cookbooks such as Menon's *La Cuisinière bourgeoise* (1746). The bread at the bottom of the bowl (the "soupe" in the literal sense) always preceded the broth: one "sopped the soup." Egg yolk thickening was an affordable luxury in modest kitchens.
The contemporary twist : A few borage flowers and a drizzle of green olive oil for a photogenic "Enlightenment broth."
Sources : Menon, La Cuisinière bourgeoise, 1746
Françoise de Graffigny · Charactorium
