Parmentier Potato Soup
A simple velvety soup of potatoes melted in broth and enriched with butter: the 'new' vegetable the king wanted on every plate in France.
A simple velvety soup of potatoes melted in broth and enriched with butter: the 'new' vegetable the king wanted on every plate in France.
This root was long considered fit only for pigs; the good Parmentier proved Me otherwise, and I thanked him before the entire Court. Let it melt gently in chicken broth, mash it, bind it with a fine piece of butter, and you will have a soup that both poor and rich can eat. France, one day, will be grateful to this man for finding bread for her starving children. For My part, I had it served at My table without blushing.
- •Potatoes — a good quantity (base of the soup)
- •Chicken broth — as needed (cooking, flavor)
- •Fresh butter — a good piece (binding, smoothness)
- •Leek — one or two (flavor)
- •Salt — to taste (seasoning)
Parmentier Potato Soup
A simple velvety soup of potatoes melted in broth and enriched with butter: the 'new' vegetable the king wanted on every plate in France.
Why this dish? Louis XVI supported Antoine Parmentier in his crusade to make the potato accepted, then despised, in order to feed the people during famines. The king supposedly wore a potato flower in his buttonhole and tasted the dishes Parmentier served at court around 1785.
This root was long considered fit only for pigs; the good Parmentier proved Me otherwise, and I thanked him before the entire Court. Let it melt gently in chicken broth, mash it, bind it with a fine piece of butter, and you will have a soup that both poor and rich can eat. France, one day, will be grateful to this man for finding bread for her starving children. For My part, I had it served at My table without blushing.
Ingredients (period version)
- Potatoes — a good quantity (base of the soup)
- Chicken broth — as needed (cooking, flavor)
- Fresh butter — a good piece (binding, smoothness)
- Leek — one or two (flavor)
- Salt — to taste (seasoning)
Ingredients
- Floury potatoes — 600 g (base of the soup)
- Chicken broth — 1 liter (cooking, flavor)
- Unsalted butter — 40 g (binding, smoothness)
- Leek white part — 1 (flavor)
- Salt, white pepper — to taste (seasoning)
Method
- Slice the leek white and sweat it in a knob of butter for 5 minutes without browning.
- Add the peeled and diced potatoes, cover with broth, season lightly with salt.
- Simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, until the potatoes mash easily.
- Blend or mash with a potato ricer, then whisk in fresh butter for smoothness.
- Adjust salt, serve very hot, optionally with a few golden croutons.
How it was made : Before Parmentier, potatoes were cultivated but reserved for livestock and suspected of transmitting diseases. His promotional dinners (1785–1787), where he served the tuber in all forms to distinguished guests, and Louis XVI's support, durably launched its consumption in France.
The contemporary twist : A drizzle of hazelnut oil and a few chopped herbs at serving are enough to dress this peasant soup as a bistro velouté.
Sources : Antoine-Augustin Parmentier, writings on the potato, 1779-1789
Louis XVI · Charactorium
