239—Purées

Farinaceous vegetables, such as haricot-beans and lentils, and the floury ones, such as the potato, need no additional thickening ingredient, since the flour or fecula which they contain amply suffices for the leason of their purées.

On the other hand, aqueous vegetables like carrots, pumpkins, turnips, celery, and herbs cannot dispense with a thickening ingredient, as their purées of themselves do not cohere in the least.

Cohering or Thickening Elements; their Quantities.—In order to effect the coherence of vegetable purées, either rice, potato, or bread-crumb cut into dice and fried in butter may be used.

The proportion of these per pound of vegetables should be respectively three oz., ten oz., and ten oz. Bread-crumb dice, prepared as described above, were greatly used in old cookery, and they lend a mellowness to a purée which is quite peculiar to them.

The Dilution of Purées.—Generally this is done by means of ordinary white consommé, though in certain cases, as, for instance, if the soup is a Lenten one, milk is used.

The Finishing.—When the purées have been strained and brought to the required consistence they should be boiled and stirred. Then they are placed on the side of the fire to simmer for twenty-five or thirty minutes. It is at this stage that they are purified by means of the careful removal of all the scum that forms on their surface.

When dishing up complete them, away from the fire, with three oz. of butter per quart of soup, and pass them once more through a strainer.

Purée Garnishes.—These are usually either small fried crusts, small dice of potato fried in butter, a No. 215, Chiffonade, some kind of little brunoise, or, more generally, chervil pluches.