No. 246

Cream of Artichokes, Morlaisian

Creme d'Artichauts Morlaisienne.

Trim well some artichoke bottoms so that all the green part of the leaves be removed; mince up two pounds of this, blanch and drain them. Put two ounces of butter in a saucepan, and when very hot, set in the artichokes and fry them without browning; moisten with two quarts of broth; cover the saucepan, and let boil slowly until the artichokes are done, then drain and mash them in a mortar; and pass the puree through a fine sieve; put it back into a saucepan, and dilute it with its own broth, adding one pint of veloute sauce (No. 415). Set it on the fire and stir conconstantly, bearing on the bottom of the saucepan with a spatula; let boil up once, then remove all the fat; season with salt, sugar, and nutmeg, and thicken the soup with raw egg-yolks, cream and butter. The quantity of liaison for each quart of this soup, is two egg-yolks, one gill of cream, and two ounces of butter. Serve separately some Savarin croutons, a quarter of an inch square, and dried in the oven.

← No. 245 Cream Soups Soups & Broths No. 247 Cream of Asparagus a la St. Vallier →

For the Modern Kitchen

A classic cream soup from Ranhofer's Delmonico kitchen, built on artichoke bottoms and a velouté base and finished with an egg-and-cream liaison. Most of the work is in the trimming; the risk is all in the last minute.

The liaison must not boilOnce the egg yolks, cream and butter go in, keep the soup below about 180F and stir constantly. A single boil after the liaison curdles the yolks and the soup turns grainy. Note that Ranhofer boils the soup up before thickening, not after.
Two pounds of artichoke bottomsThat is two pounds of trimmed, cleaned bottoms, not two pounds of whole globes, so it will take a great many large artichokes to get there. Good-quality frozen or jarred artichoke bottoms are a reasonable substitute; drain and rinse jarred ones well, as the brine will fight the sugar and nutmeg.
Keep them from blackeningRub cut bottoms with lemon and hold them in acidulated water until you blanch. Iron and aluminum pans will darken artichoke purée; use stainless or enameled.
Velouté, No. 415A white roux cooked without color and moistened with veal or chicken stock, simmered and skimmed until it coats a spoon. One pint is the thickening backbone here, so the purée itself should be loose when you add it.
UnitsA gill is half a cup. Per quart of finished soup the liaison is two yolks, half a cup of cream and two ounces (four tablespoons) of butter. Two quarts of broth plus a pint of velouté yields roughly two and a half quarts, so scale the liaison accordingly.
Mortar and sieveA blender or food processor followed by a fine chinois does the same job faster and smoother. The sieving is not optional if you want the texture the recipe intends; artichoke fiber is stubborn.
Savarin croutonsSavarin is a yeast-risen baba dough baked in a ring mold, plain and unsyruped in this use. Any tight-crumbed enriched bread cut into quarter-inch dice and dried at 300F until crisp will serve; keep them separate until the moment of serving.
SeasoningThe sugar is a pinch, meant to lift the artichoke's natural sweetness against the nutmeg, not to make the soup sweet. Season after the velouté goes in, since the stock and sauce both carry salt.
YieldAbout two and a half quarts, or eight to ten servings as a first course.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer published The Epicurean in 1894 after some three decades as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and the book is essentially the codified repertoire of French haute cuisine as an American luxury restaurant practiced it. The name points to Morlaix, the Breton port in Finistère; the surrounding coast, along with nearby Roscoff, is closely associated with French artichoke growing, and shipments from those harbors supplied Paris and, by steamer, the British market. The construction here — vegetable purée let down with its own cooking broth, bound with velouté, then finished off the boil with yolks, cream and butter — is the standard nineteenth-century cream soup, and the same skeleton carries the cream of asparagus recipe that follows it.