Crème de Laitues, otherwise Judic

Crème de Laitues, dite Judic (cream of lettuce soup), teaches one true thing before you touch a pan: lettuce must lose its raw water before it can give a sauce any flavor. Parboil it, press it dry, then let butter carry it from green and grassy to tender and sweet. Skip that sequence and Béchamel merely hides wet lettuce; keep it and a humble leaf becomes a soup with real poise.

The original assumed a saucier on staff, white consommé never off the fire, a tammy for passing, and another pair of hands shaping the garnish. At home, prepared Béchamel, prepared white consommé, an immersion blender followed by a fine sieve, and one shallow skillet do the same work honestly. The separate garnish station and brigade volume are scaffolding and can go; the 3:2 Béchamel-to-consommé ratio, the butter stew, the passing, the cream finish, and the last-minute poached roundels are the dish and must stay. This batch holds those proportions in one two-quart pot: one cook, one stove, one evening.

Cisel means cutting the lettuce crosswise into narrow, chaff-like strips, so it softens evenly instead of leaving cords in the purée. Before the lettuce meets the butter, squeeze it until no water runs from your fist. That dry handful is the step that decides the soup.