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 Longchamps (Purée de Pois)
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 727, Potage Longchamps, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
One light pea purée, fine vermicelli poached separately in consommé, and chervil at the last instant: Potage Longchamps proves how a precise garnish can carry one classical base across the canon.
Soups & Stews
French
Dinner Party
Comfort Food
10 min
Active Time
20 min cook•30 min total
YieldAbout 2 quarts
Potage Longchamps teaches the reach of a well-made purée. The pea base stays light enough for fine vermicelli to move through it, while chervil gives the last fragrant lift. That is the one true thing to know before touching the pan: “clear” here means flowing and delicate, not transparent, and certainly not thin in flavor.
The original entry assumes a saucier has already prepared Potage Longchamps (No. 654), a consommé pot is never far from the fire, and another pair of hands can poach the garnish while the soup is held for service. Your honest equivalent is two saucepans, a finished batch of the referenced potage, and one cup of clean consommé held back for adjusting its body. Only the scale and choreography have changed: two quarts for the home table, with the book’s full three ounces of vermicelli, exactly one and one-half ounces per quart. One cook, one stove, one evening.
The brigade’s ranks of holding pans are scaffolding and can go. Poaching the vermicelli separately in consommé must stay, because cooking it in the pea purée would release starch, dull the color, and turn a graceful potage heavy. Keep the base at a bare tremble, drain the noodles promptly, and add the chervil only after the heat is off. That separation decides the dish.
Potage Longchamps belongs to the Parisian classical naming system, its name pointing toward Longchamp and the capital’s fashionable table rather than a provincial style of pea soup. Within the derivative potage family, it is Fontange kept somewhat clear, then distinguished at service by vermicelli poached in consommé and tender chervil pluches. The preparation demonstrates how grand kitchens worked economically: one carefully made pea purée could become several distinct soups through proportion, consistency, and garnish.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
Potage Longchamps, finished and kept somewhat clear
Quantity
2 quarts (8 cups / 1.9 L / about 1.9 kg) Potage Longchamps (No. 654)
clear consommé
Quantity
4 cups (960 ml / about 960 g)
divided
fine vermicelli
Quantity
3 ounces, about 1 cup (240 ml / 85 g)
broken into short lengths if necessary
fresh chervil pluches (tender leaves)
Quantity
2 pinches, about 2 loose teaspoons (10 ml / 1 g)
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Potage Longchamps, finished and kept somewhat clear | 2 quarts (8 cups / 1.9 L / about 1.9 kg) Potage Longchamps (No. 654) |
| clear consommédivided | 4 cups (960 ml / about 960 g) |
| fine vermicellibroken into short lengths if necessary | 3 ounces, about 1 cup (240 ml / 85 g) |
| fresh chervil pluches (tender leaves) | 2 pinches, about 2 loose teaspoons (10 ml / 1 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 3-quart saucepan for the pea purée
- •Medium saucepan for poaching the vermicelli
- •Fine-mesh sieve or small colander
- •Whisk and soup ladle
- •Warm soup tureen or individual soup bowls
Instructions
- 1
Divide the consommé
Put 3 cups of the consommé in a medium saucepan for poaching the vermicelli. Keep the remaining cup clean and separate; it is your control over the finished consistency. Bring the poaching consommé to a bare simmer while you warm the pea base.
- 2
Hold the purée light
Put the finished Potage Longchamps (No. 654) in a heavy saucepan and warm it gently, stirring across the bottom so the pea purée never catches. It should flow from the ladle like light cream rather than sit upon itself. If it has tightened in storage, whisk in the reserved clean consommé two tablespoons at a time. If you loosen it too far, hold it uncovered at the barest simmer until its body returns. Ça se rattrape. Never boil it hard, which dulls both flavor and color.
Judge the soup with a ladle, not only a spoon. The vermicelli must be able to drift through the purée rather than gather in a heavy knot. - 3
Poach the vermicelli
Scatter the vermicelli into the simmering consommé and stir gently through the first minute so the strands remain separate. Poach until tender but still distinct, following the packet as a guide and tasting a strand a minute early. If the noodles begin to gather, ease them apart with two forks and a splash of the hot consommé. Drain them immediately and do not rinse. Cooking this garnish separately is not brigade fussiness; it keeps loose starch out of the pea purée.
- 4
Marry soup and garnish
Fold the drained vermicelli into the warm potage and hold it at a bare tremble for 1 to 2 minutes, just long enough for the garnish to take on the soup’s flavor. Do not reduce it further. Vermicelli continues drinking liquid as it waits, so use another spoonful of the reserved consommé if the soup loses its easy flow.
- 5
Finish with chervil
Take the pan off the heat and scatter in the chervil pluches, saving a few for the surface. Stir once, gently. Chervil loses its tender anise fragrance under prolonged heat, so this last-minute finish is part of the formula, not decoration. Ladle the potage into a warm tureen or bowls and serve at once. À table!
Chef Tips
- •The time here begins with the finished Potage Longchamps (No. 654), exactly as the derivative entry intends. Its preparation remains whole in its own formula; this recipe changes its consistency and garnish, not its foundation.
- •Use true fine vermicelli, not broad noodles. Three ounces for two quarts is the book’s proportion, enough to give each spoonful texture without turning the potage into pasta soup.
- •When preparing the green pea base out of season, frozen peas picked at their peak are better than tired fresh ones. Follow the referenced formula faithfully, but let the classical pantry solve the shopping problem.
- •Chervil is fragile. Buy it bright and unwilted, wrap it loosely in a damp towel, and keep it cold until the pan leaves the heat. Parsley is sturdier but changes the character of Longchamps.
- •Serve promptly. If dinner is delayed, hold the potage and vermicelli separately, then combine them shortly before the bowls go out. This prevents the noodles from swelling and stealing the soup’s light body.
Advance Preparation
- •Prepare Potage Longchamps (No. 654) up to one day ahead and chill it promptly. Reheat it gently, then adjust its consistency with clean consommé before adding the garnish.
- •The consommé may be prepared ahead and refrigerated. Bring only the poaching portion to a simmer, keeping the adjustment portion clean and separate.
- •Pick the chervil pluches several hours ahead, wrap them in a barely damp towel, and refrigerate. Poach the vermicelli only when the soup is nearly ready to serve.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 240g)
Calories
205 calories
Total Fat
4 g
Saturated Fat
1 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
2 g
Cholesterol
10 mg
Sodium
850 mg
Total Carbohydrates
31 g
Dietary Fiber
5 g
Sugars
5 g
Protein
11 g
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