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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Mille-Fanti
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 747, Mille-Fanti, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Mille-Fanti draws one clear lesson from the stockpot: add the frothy egg mixture gradually, whisk without pause, and a plain white consommé fills with delicate, savory threads.
Soups & Stews
French
Comfort Food
Weeknight
10 min
Active Time
15 min cook•25 min total
YieldAbout 2 quarts (8 first-course servings)
Mille-Fanti (egg-thread consommé) teaches the discipline of gradual addition. A frothy mixture of whole egg, fresh breadcrumb, Parmesan, and nutmeg must meet fully boiling white consommé little by little while the whisk keeps moving. That is the one true thing to know before touching the pan. Feed it steadily and the clear broth fills with hundreds of tender threads; hurry the pour and they gather into a raft.
The original entry assumed a stockpot of clarified white consommé never off the fire and a range with a cooler edge for gentle cooking. At home, begin with finished, well-seasoned consommé and move the saucepan to your smallest burner. Clarifying the broth is separate stock-kitchen scaffolding, so it stays outside this entry; no saucier or salamander belongs in this pot. The proportions here double the compact formula exactly to fill a two-quart family soup pot, while its egg, bread, cheese, and broth ratio remains untouched. One cook, one stove, one evening.
The brisk first whisk, the covered seven-to-eight-minute poach, and the final whisk are the dish itself. Don't abbreviate them. The moment that matters is the addition: boiling broth, small spoonfuls, whisk never still.
Mille-fanti belongs to the Italian domestic soup table, in the same family as stracciatella, where eggs and aged cheese turn clear broth into a quick, sustaining first course. French classical kitchens welcomed it into their consommé repertory under its Italian name, refining the broth while preserving the home method of whisking in egg, bread, Parmesan, and nutmeg. It is an Italian guest in the French canon, not the native soup of any French region.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
finished, well-seasoned white consommé, preferably chicken or veal
Quantity
8 cups (1.9 L / 1.9 kg)
large eggs
Quantity
3
at room temperature
fresh fine breadcrumbs from crustless white bread
Quantity
1½ cups (360 ml / 85 g)
loosely packed
Parmesan
Quantity
½ cup (120 ml / 57 g)
finely grated
nutmeg
Quantity
¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml / 0.5 g)
freshly grated
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| finished, well-seasoned white consommé, preferably chicken or veal | 8 cups (1.9 L / 1.9 kg) |
| large eggsat room temperature | 3 |
| fresh fine breadcrumbs from crustless white breadloosely packed | 1½ cups (360 ml / 85 g) |
| Parmesanfinely grated | ½ cup (120 ml / 57 g) |
| nutmegfreshly grated | ¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml / 0.5 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 4-quart saucepan with lid
- •Long-handled balloon whisk
- •Medium mixing bowl
- •Electric hand mixer, optional
- •Fine grater
Instructions
- 1
Heat the consommé
Pour the finished white consommé into a heavy 4-quart saucepan and bring it to a controlled full boil over medium-high heat. Taste it while it warms. The consommé must already be clear, full-flavored, and properly seasoned, because it carries every other ingredient and there is nowhere for a weak broth to hide.
- 2
Build the egg froth
Beat the whole eggs in a medium bowl until pale, greatly increased in volume, and thick enough that a ribbon falling from the whisk remains visible for a moment. This takes about four minutes with a hand mixer or longer with a balloon whisk. Fold in the fresh breadcrumbs, Parmesan, and nutmeg until evenly combined. The foam will lose some volume and become a thick, aerated batter that falls reluctantly from a spoon. That is exactly right.
- 3
Whisk in gradually
Keep the consommé at an active but controlled boil. Whisk briskly with one hand while feeding in the egg batter with the other, no more than a heaped teaspoon at a time, allowing each addition to disperse before the next enters. Work steadily without splashing. If the batter gathers into a large raft, stop adding and whisk directly through it until it breaks into small curds, then resume with smaller additions. Ça se rattrape.
The broth must be boiling when the first batter enters. Lukewarm consommé dissolves the mixture into a cloudy slurry instead of setting it into distinct threads. - 4
Poach under cover
As soon as all the batter is incorporated, move the saucepan to the smallest burner and lower the heat until the soup barely simmers. Cover and cook gently for seven to eight minutes without stirring. This low burner is the home equivalent of moving the old stewpan to the side of the fire. If the boil begins climbing beneath the lid, pull the pan completely off the heat for thirty seconds, then return it to low; a hard boil toughens the egg and destroys the delicate texture.
- 5
Whisk and serve
Uncover the saucepan and whisk for ten to fifteen seconds, just until the cooked egg mixture separates into fine, irregular threads suspended through the consommé. Whisk a little longer if any pieces remain too large, but stop once the texture is even. Ladle immediately into warmed bowls or bring it to the table in a soupière. Don't let the finished soup continue boiling, because the egg toughens and the breadcrumbs keep swelling. À table!
Chef Tips
- •A clear chicken or veal consommé is the honest home foundation. Ordinary unseasoned stock may be pleasant, but it lacks the concentration this bare soup requires and changes the character of the entry.
- •Use fresh crumb from good white bread with the crust removed, pulsed or rubbed until fine. Dry packaged breadcrumbs absorb too aggressively and make dense pellets instead of tender threads.
- •Grate the Parmesan as finely as possible so it disperses through the egg foam. Coarse shreds remain chewy, while pre-grated cheese often contains starch that muddies the consommé.
- •Serve Mille-Fanti as soon as the final whisk is finished. Holding it over heat makes the egg firmer and allows the bread to drink too much broth.
Advance Preparation
- •The white consommé can be prepared up to three days ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator, or frozen for up to three months. Bring it to a full boil before adding the egg mixture.
- •The breadcrumbs and Parmesan may be measured earlier in the day, but beat and combine the eggs only while the consommé heats. A waiting foam collapses and produces heavier threads.
- •If leftovers remain, chill them promptly and reheat within one day over gentle heat. Bring the soup only to a quiet simmer, never a boil.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 265g)
Calories
100 calories
Total Fat
5 g
Saturated Fat
2 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
2 g
Cholesterol
75 mg
Sodium
940 mg
Total Carbohydrates
7 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
1 g
Protein
8 g
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