Home › The Principles of Cookery › Xavier, Potage a La
Xavier, Potage a La
Boil two quarts of white stock with a few fresh vegetables and seasoning, until nicely flavoured, skimming it well. Make a batter by mixing the following ingredients in the order given. Eight ounces Hungarian flour, a teaspoonful of salt, the same of finely-powdered herbs, a fourth as much white pepper, and a good pinch of grated nutmeg; into the centre of this drop three eggs, and, gradually, half a pint of milk, beating all the time from the centre with the back of a large wooden spoon. Beat hard for a few minutes; then, using a ladle perforated like an ordinary colander, put the batter into the boiling soup, stirring as it falls in. The batter should be thin enough to just run through the ladle, but thick enough to just retain its shape in the soup. When boiled for ten to fifteen minutes, remove it from the fire and serve. Grated cheese should be handed round with it. Probable cost, 1s. Y
A clear soup finished with drops of thick batter cooked directly in the broth — the French classical potage Xavier, close kin to Austrian and German Einlauf and to spätzle. The batter's consistency is the whole trick.
- The hinge: batter thicknessIt must run through the holes of the ladle in threads but set into distinct drops the moment it hits the broth. Test with a spoonful first: if it dissolves into cloud, beat in more flour; if it will not fall, thin with a tablespoon of milk at a time.
- Imperial measuresThis is a British book, so the pint is 20 fl oz — half a pint of milk is 1¼ US cups. Two quarts of stock is about 2.3 litres. Eight ounces of flour is roughly 1¾ cups scooped and levelled, but weigh it if you can.
- Hungarian flourLate-Victorian shorthand for the finely milled, strong white flour from Budapest's roller mills, prized for its strength and colour. Modern all-purpose works; bread flour gives firmer drops that hold their shape better.
- Cooking timeTen to fifteen minutes suits substantial drops that need to cook through to the centre. Small threads are done in three or four minutes — taste one rather than watching the clock, or they turn heavy.
- The perforated ladleA spätzle press, a colander held over the pot, or a slotted spoon all do the job. Work in batches so the drops do not mat together, and keep the soup at a steady low boil rather than a rolling one.
- "Finely-powdered herbs"Dried herbs ground to dust — parsley, thyme, marjoram in some combination. A teaspoon of dried mixed herbs pulsed in a spice grinder is the equivalent; fresh herbs will not disperse the same way through a stiff batter.
- The stockWhite stock means veal or chicken bones simmered without browning. It should be well flavoured and clear before the batter goes in, since the flour will cloud it slightly no matter how careful you are.
- YieldTwo quarts of soup plus this quantity of batter serves six to eight as a first course. Hand the grated cheese separately, as directed — Parmesan or a dry Gruyère.
Potage à la Xavier belongs to the family of clear soups finished with a cooked garnish, and it appears in the French classical repertoire as a consommé into which a seasoned batter is dropped through a colander. By the nineteenth century the dish had been absorbed into the standard garnish vocabulary that English kitchens borrowed wholesale from France. What Cassell's records here is really a Central European technique in French dress: the batter dropped through perforations into boiling liquid is the same gesture that produces spätzle in Swabia and Einlaufsuppe in Austria and Hungary — which may be why the recipe specifies Hungarian flour by name. The costing of one shilling is modest for two quarts of soup, a dish that turned good stock and a few pantry staples into something substantial enough to open a dinner.