Chef Juliette
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Crosnes à la Crème
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 2127, Crosnes à la Crème, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
A small lesson in reduction: pearly crosnes parboiled, cooked gently in butter, and finished in cream until each crisp-tender curl wears a sauce kept supple with one last spoonful.
Side Dishes
French
Dinner Party
Comfort Food
Weeknight
20 min
Active Time
25 min cook•45 min total
Yield4 servings
Crosnes à la Crème (Chinese artichokes in cream) teaches the discipline of staged cooking. The one true thing to know before touching a pan is that cream cannot be asked to tenderize a raw tuber: parboiling starts the work, butter carries it three-parts of the way, and only then does boiling cream become both cooking liquid and sauce.
The original entry assumed a vegetable cook at the range, a second pan of cream already boiling, and a hot timbale ready at service. It did not need a stock kept on the fire or a salamander; its professional advantage was timing. At home, a small saucepan beside a wide sauté pan and a warmed serving bowl do the same work. The separate holding ritual is brigade scaffolding and goes. The sequence is the dish, and it stays, scaled to four.
Keep your eye on the reduction. The crosnes should remain pearly and gently crisp under the teeth while the cream becomes nappant, thick enough to coat a spoon, then a little thin fresh cream loosens it at the last moment. Stop while the sauce still flows. It will tighten on the walk to the table, and that final spoonful is the rescue built into the recipe. One cook, one stove, one evening.
Crosnes came to French tables from China through the market gardens of Crosne, a town in Essonne in Île-de-France, whose name the tuber adopted in French. Growers sent the small, pearly tubers into Paris, where their curious shape and delicate, nutty flavor carried them from market cooking into the classical vegetable repertoire. Despite the English nickname, the plant is a member of the mint family, not an artichoke, and the cream finish belongs to classical cookery rather than to Normandy in particular.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
fresh crosnes
Quantity
4 cups (600 g / 21 oz)
coarse sea salt
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 36 g)
for cleaning
water
Quantity
8½ cups (2 L / 2 kg)
fine sea salt
Quantity
2 teaspoons (10 ml / 12 g)
divided
unsalted butter
Quantity
3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g)
heavy cream, at least 35% fat
Quantity
¾ cup (180 ml / 180 g)
light cream, 18 to 20% fat
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g)
cold, for finishing
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| fresh crosnes | 4 cups (600 g / 21 oz) |
| coarse sea saltfor cleaning | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 36 g) |
| water | 8½ cups (2 L / 2 kg) |
| fine sea saltdivided | 2 teaspoons (10 ml / 12 g) |
| unsalted butter | 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g) |
| heavy cream, at least 35% fat | ¾ cup (180 ml / 180 g) |
| light cream, 18 to 20% fatcold, for finishing | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •Sturdy clean kitchen towel
- •Medium saucepan
- •Small saucepan for heating cream
- •10 to 12-inch (25 to 30 cm) wide sauté pan
- •Slotted spoon or colander
- •Warmed deep serving bowl
Instructions
- 1
Clean the crosnes
Place the crosnes and coarse sea salt in the center of a sturdy, clean kitchen towel. Gather the towel around them and rub briskly for 2 to 3 minutes, rolling the little tubers against one another so the salt loosens soil and papery skin from their rings. Rinse under cold water, trim away any threadlike roots, and inspect the grooves. Do not peel them smooth; their delicate skin and curious shape belong to the dish.
Crosnes hold soil deep in their ridges. If the rinse water remains cloudy, give them a second brief rub with the salt already in the towel, then rinse again. - 2
Parboil them briefly
Bring the water to a full boil in a medium saucepan and add 1½ teaspoons of the fine sea salt. Drop in the crosnes and parboil for 4 to 5 minutes. They should yield slightly at the outside but remain plainly firm at the center. Reserve ½ cup of the cooking water, then drain the crosnes and dry them well on a towel. Wet crosnes dilute the butter instead of cooking in it.
- 3
Cook in butter
Melt the butter in a wide sauté pan over medium-low heat. When it foams, add the crosnes in a single layer and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, rolling and turning them frequently so the butter coats every ridge. Keep them pale. The book's instruction to cook them three-parts means a small knife should enter with resistance only at the center. If the butter begins to color quickly, lift the pan from the heat, lower the flame, and add a teaspoon of the reserved cooking water. The butter should taste sweet, not scorched.
- 4
Reduce with cream
During the final minutes of the butter cooking, bring the heavy cream to a full boil in the small saucepan. Pour the boiling cream over the crosnes and bring the pan to a controlled simmer. Cook uncovered for 5 to 7 minutes, shaking the pan and turning the crosnes gently, until they are tender with a faint bite and the cream is nappant, coating the back of a spoon while still flowing. If the cream tightens before the crosnes are tender, add the reserved cooking water 1 tablespoon at a time and continue gently. Ça se rattrape.
- 5
Loosen and serve
Take the pan from the heat and stir in 1 tablespoon of the cold light cream. Add the second tablespoon if needed, stopping when the sauce gleams, coats each crosne, and pools softly at the bottom of the pan. Taste and use the remaining fine salt only as needed. If the sauce stands stiffly around the crosnes, add a teaspoon of reserved cooking water and shake the pan until the gloss returns. Do not boil after the final cream; its work is to keep the reduction supple. Spoon everything into a warmed deep serving bowl and carry it straight to the table. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Choose crosnes that are firm, pale, and plump in every ring. Shriveled specimens remain fibrous no matter how carefully they're cooked. This is a cold-weather vegetable that genuinely needs freshness; when it isn't at the market, salsifis à la crème is the honest cousin.
- •The salted-towel cleaning is worth keeping. A peeler cannot follow those tight curves without wasting half the tuber, while coarse salt removes the fragile outer skin and the soil together.
- •Use full-fat heavy cream for the reduction and true light cream for the finish. The first withstands boiling; the second loosens the sauce without making it watery. Butter and cream are the structure here, not decoration.
- •Serve the crosnes beside roast chicken, veal, or a simply cooked white fish. Their gentle nuttiness is easily buried, so keep the rest of the plate composed rather than heavily spiced.
Advance Preparation
- •The crosnes may be cleaned and parboiled up to 4 hours ahead. Dry them thoroughly, cover, and refrigerate; let them lose their deep chill before cooking them in butter.
- •For a dinner party, take the crosnes through the three-parts butter cooking up to 30 minutes before serving and leave them covered off the heat. Rewarm gently, then add the boiling heavy cream and complete the reduction. Do not reduce the cream ahead, because it tightens as it waits.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 200g)
Calories
355 calories
Total Fat
27 g
Saturated Fat
17 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
8 g
Cholesterol
75 mg
Sodium
625 mg
Total Carbohydrates
27 g
Dietary Fiber
3 g
Sugars
6 g
Protein
5 g
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