Garden Soup from Petite Plaisance
A thick soup of root vegetables and garden greens, long-simmered, flavored with herbs and bound with a little oil. The base dish of a deliberately sober cuisine.
A thick soup of root vegetables and garden greens, long-simmered, flavored with herbs and bound with a little oil. The base dish of a deliberately sober cuisine.
I ask very little of my table, you see: a clear soup, drawn from the vegetables that the Maine earth is willing to give me. I let them cook over a low flame, without haste, as one lets a sentence ripen. I have given up the flesh of animals, and I am all the better for it; there is in a bowl of honest soup a form of peace that feasts have never been able to give me. Drink it slowly, and listen to the silence of the garden.
- •Garden root vegetables (carrots, turnips, parsnips, leeks) — a full garden basket (soup base)
- •Potatoes — a few tubers (thickening and body)
- •Seasonal greens (celery, chard leaves) — a handful (vegetable freshness)
- •Garden herbs (thyme, parsley, bay leaf) — a small bouquet (flavor)
- •Oil and salt — to taste (seasoning)
Garden Soup from Petite Plaisance
A thick soup of root vegetables and garden greens, long-simmered, flavored with herbs and bound with a little oil. The base dish of a deliberately sober cuisine.
Why this dish? At Petite Plaisance, Yourcenar drew the essentials of her meals from the Maine vegetable garden and led, out of ecological and ethical conviction, a vegetarian and frugal life. This vegetable soup from the garden sums up her everyday table: simple, seasonal, without ostentation.
I ask very little of my table, you see: a clear soup, drawn from the vegetables that the Maine earth is willing to give me. I let them cook over a low flame, without haste, as one lets a sentence ripen. I have given up the flesh of animals, and I am all the better for it; there is in a bowl of honest soup a form of peace that feasts have never been able to give me. Drink it slowly, and listen to the silence of the garden.
Ingredients (period version)
- Garden root vegetables (carrots, turnips, parsnips, leeks) — a full garden basket (soup base)
- Potatoes — a few tubers (thickening and body)
- Seasonal greens (celery, chard leaves) — a handful (vegetable freshness)
- Garden herbs (thyme, parsley, bay leaf) — a small bouquet (flavor)
- Oil and salt — to taste (seasoning)
Ingredients
- Carrots — 3 (base)
- Leeks — 2 (sweet base)
- Turnip and parsnip — 1 each (depth of flavor)
- Potatoes — 3 medium (thickening)
- Celery stalks — 2 (vegetable umami)
- Bouquet garni (thyme, bay, parsley) — 1 (flavor)
- Olive oil — 2 tbsp (smoothness)
- Salt, pepper — to taste (seasoning)
- Water or vegetable broth — 1.5 L (liquid)
Method
- Wash and cut all vegetables into regular pieces.
- Sweat leeks and celery in olive oil for 5 minutes without browning.
- Add root vegetables and potatoes, cover with water or broth, add the bouquet garni.
- Simmer over low heat for 35 to 40 minutes, until everything is tender.
- Remove the bouquet garni, partially blend to keep some texture, adjust salt.
- Serve very hot with a drizzle of olive oil and country bread.
How it was made : In the Maine house, without great culinary luxury, cooking was done as close to the garden and seasons as possible. Long-simmered soup was the most economical and nourishing way to prepare a vegetable harvest, and perfectly suited the meatless diet she gradually adopted.
The contemporary twist : Serve in a raw stoneware bowl, topped with a few fresh herb leaves and a drop of olive oil — to recall the luminous sobriety of the Maine villa.
Marguerite Yourcenar · Charactorium