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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Crème d’Asperges Vertes
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 698, Crème d’Asperges Vertes, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Green asparagus folded into a silken béchamel and finished with cream, deeper and grassier than Crème Argenteuil, with tender tips held back for the bowl and every fibre strained away.
Soups & Stews
French
Dinner Party
Comfort Food
25 min
Active Time
40 min cook•1 hr 5 min total
YieldAbout 2 quarts (8 first-course servings)
Crème d’Asperges Vertes (green asparagus cream soup) teaches the discipline of the crème family: the asparagus may give the soup its character, but a pale, supple béchamel gives it grace. Green spears bring a deeper colour and grassier flavour than Crème Argenteuil, yet they cannot disguise a rough foundation. The silk comes from the roux, the blending, and finally the sieve.
The source entry gives this as a one-line variation on Crème Argenteuil, shorthand suited to a brigade where a saucier kept béchamel ready and a tamis stood within reach. At home, you’ll build a smaller thin béchamel in the soup pot and use an immersion blender with a fine sieve. A stockpot never off the fire and a salamander add nothing here. The brigade’s bulk preparation is scaffolding and goes; the pale roux, restrained cooking, straining, and cream finish are the dish and stay. One cook, one stove, one evening.
Keep the roux ivory and whisk in the warm milk gradually. Lumps can be rescued, and the method tells you how, but a browned roux will muddy both the asparagus and the colour. Cooking that roux through without letting it darken is the step that matters most.
Crème Argenteuil belongs to the classical Paris table and takes its name from Argenteuil, northwest of Paris, whose pale asparagus supplied the capital and made the town’s name shorthand for asparagus preparations. Crème d’Asperges Vertes is the canon’s direct green-speared variation: the béchamel method and cream finish remain, while the colour deepens and the flavour turns grassier. Argenteuil names the parent preparation, not permission to treat white and green asparagus as identical.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
green asparagus
Quantity
2¼ pounds (1.02 kg)
woody ends removed
water
Quantity
2 quarts (1.9 L / 1.9 kg)
for blanching
fine sea salt
Quantity
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons (25 ml / 30 g)
divided
unsalted butter
Quantity
8 tablespoons (120 ml / 113 g)
divided
all-purpose flour
Quantity
¾ cup (180 ml / 90 g)
whole milk
Quantity
7 cups (1.65 L / 1.70 kg)
warmed and divided
heavy cream
Quantity
1 cup (240 ml / 238 g)
ground white pepper
Quantity
¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml / 0.6 g)
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| green asparaguswoody ends removed | 2¼ pounds (1.02 kg) |
| waterfor blanching | 2 quarts (1.9 L / 1.9 kg) |
| fine sea saltdivided | 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons (25 ml / 30 g) |
| unsalted butterdivided | 8 tablespoons (120 ml / 113 g) |
| all-purpose flour | ¾ cup (180 ml / 90 g) |
| whole milkwarmed and divided | 7 cups (1.65 L / 1.70 kg) |
| heavy cream | 1 cup (240 ml / 238 g) |
| ground white pepper | ¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml / 0.6 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •4 to 5-quart heavy saucepan
- •2-quart saucepan or heatproof jug for warming milk
- •Immersion blender
- •Fine-mesh sieve
- •Balloon whisk
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the green spears
Cut the asparagus tips about 2 inches long and reserve them for the garnish. Peel the lower third of any thick stalks, leave slender ones alone, then slice all the stalks into ½-inch pieces. Discard only the dry, woody ends; the tender lower stalk carries plenty of flavour and belongs in the soup.
Bend one spear to find where its woody end breaks naturally, then use that spear as a guide and cut the rest together. Snapping every spear separately wastes good asparagus. - 2
Blanch the tips
Bring the water to a full boil with 1 tablespoon of the salt. Add the reserved tips and cook for 90 seconds to 2 minutes, just until a knife enters with slight resistance and the green looks vivid. Lift them directly into a bowl of iced water, then drain and dry them well. Empty and dry the saucepan so it can become the soup pot.
- 3
Cook the pale roux
Warm 6½ cups of the milk until small bubbles gather at the edge; keep the remaining ½ cup cold for adjusting the soup. Melt 6 tablespoons of the butter in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and stir continuously for 3 minutes, until the roux looks smooth and foamy and no longer smells raw. It must remain ivory. Colour belongs in other sauces, not this one.
- 4
Build the béchamel
Take the roux off the heat and whisk in the warm milk a ladleful at a time, making each addition smooth before adding the next. Return the pan to gentle heat and bring the béchamel to a bare simmer, whisking across the corners, then cook for 10 minutes until it lightly coats a spoon. If lumps appear, don’t pour it out. Ça se rattrape: take the pan off the heat, blend until smooth, and pass the sauce through the sieve before continuing.
- 5
Cook the asparagus
Add the sliced asparagus stalks to the béchamel and hold the soup at the gentlest simmer, uncovered, for 8 to 10 minutes. Stop when a piece crushes easily against the side of the pan. A hard boil or needless extra cooking dulls the green and flattens the fresh flavour; tenderness, not the clock, decides when you move on.
- 6
Blend and strain
Blend the soup thoroughly with an immersion blender until no visible pieces remain. Pass it through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean saucepan, pressing with the back of a ladle but leaving the final dry tangle of fibres behind. This straining is not brigade ceremony. It is what turns asparagus purée into a crème. If the soup resists the sieve, loosen it with a little of the reserved cold milk rather than forcing the fibres through.
- 7
Finish with cream
Return the strained soup to low heat and whisk in the cream, white pepper, and enough of the remaining salt to bring the asparagus forward. Heat until the surface gleams and the soup is just below a simmer, then remove it from the heat and whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons cold butter. Adjust with reserved milk if it sits too heavily on the spoon. If oily beads appear, take the pan off the heat and whisk in a spoonful of cold milk until the emulsion closes again. Warm the asparagus tips in the soup for 30 seconds, divide them among the bowls, and ladle the crème over them. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Choose medium green spears with tightly closed tips and moist cut ends. Pencil-thin asparagus contributes too little flesh, while very thick stalks demand more peeling and carry more fibre into the sieve.
- •If the season has passed, good frozen green asparagus is more honest than tired fresh spears. Use it for the body of the soup, expect a softer colour, and omit the tip garnish unless you can find fresh tips worth serving.
- •An immersion blender makes the purée; the sieve makes the crème. Do not skip the second step. Asparagus fibres are stubborn, and cream cannot hide them.
- •Serve this in modest first-course bowls before roast chicken or a simple fish dish. A dry Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire has enough freshness and green character to meet the asparagus without bullying the cream.
Advance Preparation
- •The soup can be prepared through straining up to one day ahead. Cool it promptly and refrigerate it covered, then reheat gently and add the cream and final butter shortly before serving.
- •The asparagus tips can be blanched up to 4 hours ahead. Dry them well, refrigerate them covered, and warm them in the finished soup for 30 seconds before serving.
- •Do not freeze the finished crème. Béchamel and cream can separate after thawing, and the fresh green character of the asparagus suffers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 245g)
Calories
395 calories
Total Fat
29 g
Saturated Fat
18 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
9 g
Cholesterol
85 mg
Sodium
700 mg
Total Carbohydrates
24 g
Dietary Fiber
2 g
Sugars
13 g
Protein
11 g
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