Chef Juliette
Purée de Carottes, otherwise Crécy
Purée de Carottes, otherwise Crécy, turns carrots, butter, rice, and white consommé into a silken soup. The lesson is simple and absolute: blend for smoothness, then sieve for finesse.
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Potage Fontanges
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 652, Potage Fontanges, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
A silken green pea purée sharpened by sorrel Chiffonade and steadied with tender rice, Potage Fontanges proves that a classical garnish is not decoration, it is the dish’s balance.
Soups & Stews
French
Dinner Party
Comfort Food
30 min
Active Time
35 min cook•1 hr 5 min total
YieldAbout 2 quarts
Potage Fontanges (fresh-pea purée with sorrel and poached rice) teaches balance before richness. The one true thing to know before you touch a pan is that the sorrel must remain clearly tart against the peas’ sweetness. Mute it with cream or a long boil and Fontanges loses its character, however smooth the bowl.
The formula assumes a saucier on staff, a fresh-pea purée already ready for soup, and a stockpot never off the fire. A salamander has no work here. At home, one pale roux, one saucepan, an immersion blender, and a fine sieve give the same intent. The ready-made purée is brigade scaffolding, so we build it ourselves; the measured Chiffonade (No. 215), chervil pluches, and poached rice are the dish, so they stay. For a two-quart home pot, the book’s ratio gives us exactly ¼ cup each of prepared Chiffonade and poached rice. One cook, one stove, one evening.
The soup should arrive satin-green and loose enough to pour, with fine sorrel ribbons and small grains of rice interrupting the silk. The decisive moment comes after the purée is smooth: warm in the Chiffonade and rice without letting the pot boil, then mount the butter off the heat.
Potage Fontanges belongs to the Parisian grand-kitchen repertory of named potages, where a familiar purée gained its identity from a precisely measured garnish. Its grand title can mislead: Fontanges is neither a special pea variety nor a regional style, but the union of fresh-pea purée with sorrel Chiffonade, chervil pluches, and poached rice. Passed from formal service into bourgeois home cookery, it preserves the classical habit of making one base speak differently through garnish and balance.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
water
Quantity
2 cups (480 ml / 480 g)
for poaching the rice
long-grain white rice
Quantity
1½ tablespoons (22 ml / 18 g), to yield ¼ cup (60 ml / 45 g) poached rice
unsalted butter
Quantity
6 tablespoons (90 ml / 85 g)
divided; 4 tablespoons chilled and cubed
pale leek
Quantity
1 cup (240 ml / 100 g)
thinly sliced
all-purpose flour
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 16 g)
light unsalted chicken stock
Quantity
6 cups (1.4 L / 1.4 kg)
divided and kept warm
shelled fresh peas
Quantity
5 cups (1.2 L / 725 g)
prepared tender-sorrel Chiffonade
Quantity
¼ cup (60 ml / 55 g) Chiffonade (No. 215)
fine sea salt
Quantity
2 teaspoons (10 ml / 12 g), plus more as needed
divided
ground white pepper
Quantity
¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml / 0.6 g)
chervil pluches
Quantity
2 generous pinches (about 0.5 g)
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| waterfor poaching the rice | 2 cups (480 ml / 480 g) |
| long-grain white rice | 1½ tablespoons (22 ml / 18 g), to yield ¼ cup (60 ml / 45 g) poached rice |
| unsalted butterdivided; 4 tablespoons chilled and cubed | 6 tablespoons (90 ml / 85 g) |
| pale leekthinly sliced | 1 cup (240 ml / 100 g) |
| all-purpose flour | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 16 g) |
| light unsalted chicken stockdivided and kept warm | 6 cups (1.4 L / 1.4 kg) |
| shelled fresh peas | 5 cups (1.2 L / 725 g) |
| prepared tender-sorrel Chiffonade | ¼ cup (60 ml / 55 g) Chiffonade (No. 215) |
| fine sea saltdivided | 2 teaspoons (10 ml / 12 g), plus more as needed |
| ground white pepper | ¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml / 0.6 g) |
| chervil pluches | 2 generous pinches (about 0.5 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •4-quart heavy saucepan
- •Small saucepan for poaching rice
- •Immersion blender
- •Fine-mesh sieve
- •Ladle
Instructions
- 1
Poach the rice
Bring the water to a lively simmer with ½ teaspoon of the salt. Sprinkle in the rice and poach it uncovered for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the grains are completely tender but still distinct. Drain well and measure ¼ cup (60 ml / 45 g) for the soup. If the rice has burst and turned pasty, rinse it gently under warm water and drain; if it still clumps, begin again with the small quantity. The grains should punctuate the purée, not thicken it.
- 2
Build the roux blanc
Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat. Add the leek with a pinch of salt and sweat it for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring often, until soft and translucent without a trace of browning. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes. This is a roux blanc, a white roux, and its purpose is quiet body rather than toasted flavor.
- 3
Cook the peas
Whisk 4 cups of the warm stock into the roux a little at a time, smoothing each addition before adding the next. Bring it to a gentle simmer and cook for 5 minutes so the flour loses its raw taste. Add the peas, return the liquid just to a simmer, and cook for 5 to 8 minutes, until a pea crushes easily between two fingers but remains bright green. Mature peas may need several minutes more; tenderness matters more than the clock.
- 4
Purée and pass
Take the pan off the heat and blend with an immersion blender until completely smooth. Pass the purée through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean saucepan, pressing firmly with a ladle, then discard the dry skins left behind. Add enough reserved stock to bring the soup to 8 cups, about 2 quarts, with a consistency that pours in a broad ribbon. If it is too thick, add stock by the spoonful; if it is thin, reduce it briefly before the final butter goes in. Ça se rattrape.
- 5
Fold in Fontanges
Return the purée to the gentlest heat. Fold in exactly ¼ cup of the prepared Chiffonade (No. 215) and the ¼ cup of poached rice, then warm them through for 3 minutes at a bare tremble. Do not let the soup boil. The book’s proportion may look modest, but the tart sorrel should cut through the pea without taking possession of the bowl; that balance is the dish.
- 6
Monter au beurre
Take the pan off the heat. Monter au beurre, emulsify with butter, by whisking in the remaining 4 tablespoons of cold butter a few cubes at a time until the surface turns glossy and the soup feels satin-soft on the spoon. Stir in the chervil pluches, white pepper, and enough remaining salt to wake the peas. If the butter separates into greasy specks, stop and whisk in a tablespoon of cold stock away from the heat. Ça se rattrape. Ladle into warmed bowls or a soupière and serve at once. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Young fresh peas should taste sweet and grassy when eaten raw. If the pods yield large, starchy peas, use frozen petits pois picked at their peak; an honest frozen pea serves Fontanges better than a tired fresh one.
- •Prepare the tender-sorrel Chiffonade (No. 215) before beginning this pot and measure it after preparation. It is a finished component in the book, not a handful of raw sorrel dropped casually into the soup.
- •Use a pale, lightly seasoned chicken stock. A dark roasted stock will turn the color muddy and bully the peas; this foundation should support, not announce itself.
- •No cream is needed. The silk comes from the strained peas, the roux blanc, and the final butter emulsion, while cream would soften the tart edge that makes the garnish Fontanges.
- •Pour a dry Loire Sauvignon or another brisk, mineral white. Its acidity follows the sorrel and leaves the sweetness of the peas clear.
Advance Preparation
- •The Chiffonade (No. 215) and poached rice may be prepared a day ahead and chilled separately in covered containers.
- •The strained pea purée may be made earlier the same day. Cool it promptly, chill it, and reheat it gently, adding the Chiffonade, rice, cold butter, and chervil only at serving time.
- •Finished Potage Fontanges keeps for up to 2 days in the cold, but the green color and chervil fragrance are finest on the day it is made. Reheat without boiling and repair the gloss with a small piece of cold butter.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 250g)
Calories
190 calories
Total Fat
9 g
Saturated Fat
6 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
3 g
Cholesterol
25 mg
Sodium
650 mg
Total Carbohydrates
19 g
Dietary Fiber
5 g
Sugars
6 g
Protein
9 g
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