Chef Juliette
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Potage Choiseul
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 718, Potage Choiseul, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Potage Choiseul turns a smooth Conti lentil purée into something darker and brighter at once, with game fumet beneath, buttered sorrel above, and separate grains of poached rice in every spoon.
Soups & Stews
French
Comfort Food
Dinner Party
15 min
Active Time
30 min cook•45 min total
YieldAbout 2 quarts (6 to 8 servings)
Potage Choiseul (game-scented Conti lentil purée with sorrel and rice) teaches a quiet rule: a garnish must complete a soup, not merely sit on it. The one true thing to know before touching a pan is that the game fumet, the concentrated essence drawn from game, belongs inside the lentil purée from the beginning. Stir it into an ordinary purée at the end and you get dilution, not depth.
The original assumed a saucier on staff, a stockpot that never went cold, and enough hands to pound lentils before rubbing them through a tammy. At home, you prepare the Purée de Lentilles, otherwise Conti (No. 640) with excellent game fumet in place of white consommé; a food mill and fine-mesh sieve replace the pounding and tammy. Holding separate pots through service is brigade scaffolding and may go. The smooth body, the finishing butter, and the exact sorrel-and-rice garnish are the dish and must stay. One cook, one stove, one evening.
When it is right, Choiseul falls from the ladle in a broad tawny ribbon, glossy with butter and punctuated by white rice and dark green sorrel. Lentils tighten as they stand, so judge the consistency before the garnish goes in. If the potage becomes spoon-standing thick, hot fumet brings it back. Ça se rattrape.
Potage Choiseul belongs to the codified table of Parisian classical kitchens, where base potages were organized into families and renamed when their stock or garnish changed. It is a variation of Purée Conti: game fumet replaces white consommé, while buttered sorrel and poached rice replace the base soup's croutons and chervil. Despite its modern placement among cream soups, Choiseul contains no cream by design; its velvet comes from sieved lentils and finishing butter.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
Purée de Lentilles, otherwise Conti
Quantity
About 2 quarts (1.9 L / about 2 kg) Purée de Lentilles, otherwise Conti (No. 640)
prepared with excellent game fumet in place of white consommé and without its usual crouton-and-chervil garnish
poached long-grain white rice
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g), from about 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 12 g) raw rice
raw rice rinsed before poaching
water
Quantity
2 cups (475 ml / 475 g)
for poaching the rice
fresh sorrel leaves
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 12 g)
stems removed and ciselées
unsalted butter
Quantity
1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g)
fine salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon (5 ml / 6 g), divided, plus more only if needed
excellent game fumet (optional)
Quantity
Up to 1/2 cup (120 ml / 120 g)
kept hot for adjusting the consistency
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Purée de Lentilles, otherwise Contiprepared with excellent game fumet in place of white consommé and without its usual crouton-and-chervil garnish | About 2 quarts (1.9 L / about 2 kg) Purée de Lentilles, otherwise Conti (No. 640) |
| poached long-grain white riceraw rice rinsed before poaching | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g), from about 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 12 g) raw rice |
| waterfor poaching the rice | 2 cups (475 ml / 475 g) |
| fresh sorrel leavesstems removed and ciselées | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 12 g) |
| unsalted butter | 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g) |
| fine salt | 1 teaspoon (5 ml / 6 g), divided, plus more only if needed |
| excellent game fumet (optional)kept hot for adjusting the consistency | Up to 1/2 cup (120 ml / 120 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •3-quart heavy saucepan
- •Small saucepan for poaching rice
- •8-inch skillet for the sorrel
- •Fine-mesh sieve or food mill for the linked Conti preparation
- •Flexible ladle
Instructions
- 1
Poach the rice
Rinse the raw rice under cold water until the water runs nearly clear; this removes loose starch so the grains remain distinct in the purée. Bring the water to a steady boil with 3/4 teaspoon of the salt, scatter in the rice, and poach it uncovered for 14 to 16 minutes, until completely tender but still holding its shape. Drain well and measure exactly 2 tablespoons. The garnish should punctuate the soup, not turn it into lentils and rice.
Poach the rice in abundant water as you would pasta. A small measured volume of water encourages the grains to cling together, while Choiseul wants them separate. - 2
Warm the Conti base
Put the finished Purée de Lentilles, otherwise Conti (No. 640), prepared with excellent game fumet in place of white consommé, into a heavy saucepan. Warm it slowly over medium-low heat, stirring across the pan floor often. Do not let it boil hard. The proper consistency falls from a ladle in a broad ribbon and levels itself slowly; if it stands like mashed lentils, whisk in hot fumet a tablespoon at a time. If it becomes too loose, simmer it uncovered, stirring gently, until the ribbon returns. Ça se rattrape.
Lentil purée thickens both in the cold and while it waits. Adjust it only after it is fully hot, or you may thin it twice and lose its generous body. - 3
Cook the sorrel
Stack the dry sorrel leaves, cisel them finely, and measure 2 tablespoons without packing. Melt the butter in a small skillet over medium-low heat until it foams without coloring. Add the sorrel and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, then turn it through the butter for 45 to 90 seconds, just until collapsed, glossy, and dark olive green. If liquid gathers in the pan, keep the sorrel moving until the excess evaporates, but do not fry it dry.
Sorrel loses its bright raw green almost at once. That olive color is natural, not a mistake; the signal to watch is texture, tender and glossy rather than browned. - 4
Fold in the garnish
Fold the 2 tablespoons of buttered sorrel and 2 tablespoons of poached rice into the hot potage with two or three broad turns. Do not blend it again. The sorrel should thread through the purée and the rice should remain visible as separate grains. Warm for one minute at the barest simmer, just long enough to bring the garnish and soup to the same temperature.
- 5
Serve without delay
Taste once for salt, then ladle the Choiseul into warmed bowls or bring it to the table in a soupière. Let the rice and sorrel settle naturally at the surface. Add neither cream nor another knob of butter; the linked Conti preparation already carries its finishing butter, and the sorrel brings the exact amount the variation requires. Serve at once. À table!
Chef Tips
- •When preparing the Purée de Lentilles, otherwise Conti (No. 640) for Choiseul, replace its white consommé with excellent game fumet and omit its usual fried bread dice and chervil. The sorrel and rice are not additions to that garnish; they replace it.
- •A good game fumet should taste concentrated, roasted, and clean, with enough gelatin to feel round but no burnt bitterness. Unsalted pheasant, partridge, venison, hare, or wild-duck stock works. Beef stock is too heavy, and ordinary chicken stock returns the soup to Conti rather than Choiseul.
- •Fresh sorrel gives both the sharp green acidity and the fine ribbons specified by the dish. Frozen unsweetened sorrel preserves the flavor when the season fails you, but it dissolves into the purée and changes the appearance. Spinach sharpened with lemon is pleasant, but it is not Choiseul.
- •No cream. The lentils and butter supply the velvet, while cream would mute the game fumet and soften the sorrel's necessary edge.
- •Serve Choiseul as a first course in smaller warmed bowls. A light, savory red Burgundy or a dry Loire red has enough freshness for the sorrel without flattening the game.
Advance Preparation
- •The 45-minute timing begins with the Purée de Lentilles, otherwise Conti (No. 640) already prepared. Make that component with game fumet up to two days ahead, cool it promptly in shallow containers, cover, and refrigerate. Reheat gently and restore its consistency with hot fumet.
- •The rice may be poached earlier the same day. Drain it well, cool it promptly, and refrigerate it covered; measure the required 2 tablespoons before finishing the soup.
- •Wash and dry the sorrel several hours ahead, but cisel and butter it only while the potage warms. Once cut, sorrel wilts quickly and loses its clean acidity.
- •Finished Choiseul keeps for up to three days in the refrigerator, though the rice will swell and the sorrel will soften. Reheat gently and loosen it with hot game fumet rather than water.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 265g)
Calories
275 calories
Total Fat
9 g
Saturated Fat
4 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
4 g
Cholesterol
25 mg
Sodium
720 mg
Total Carbohydrates
34 g
Dietary Fiber
8 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
14 g
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