No. 278

Puree of Potatoes a la Benton

Puree de Pommes de Terre a la Benton

Mince up three pounds of peeled potatoes; put half a pound of butter into a saucepan, and when warm, add one pound of the white part of leeks minced, and fry them colorless; then add the potatoes, and moisten with six quarts of white broth, and continue to boil until the potatoes are done, and break easily under the pressure of the finger; drain and rub through a sieve with the broth, and some white broth added; season with salt and nutmeg, and put in one pint of veloute (No. 415); return this to the fire, and stir continually till boiling point is reached, then skim and just when ready to serve work into it four ounces of fine butter, stirring well the soup until all the butter is melted. Serve separately round croutons three quarters of an inch, and an eighth of an inch thick, buttered and browned in the oven

← No. 277 Puree of Pigeons or Wild Squabs a la Waleski Soups & Broths No. 279 Puree of Pullet or Guinea Fowl a la Washburn →

For the Modern Kitchen

A leek and potato purée from Delmonico's kitchen, built on the scale of a restaurant service. The technique is sound; the quantities and the equipment are what need translating.

Yield and scalingSix quarts of broth with three pounds of potatoes serves roughly twenty. Quartering the whole recipe — 12 oz potatoes, 4 oz leek whites, 6 cups broth, 2 oz butter for the sweat — gives four to five generous bowls.
White brothBouillon blanc here means an unbrowned veal or poultry stock, pale and lightly seasoned. A good unsalted chicken stock is the closest modern equivalent; avoid anything dark or heavily reduced, since the point of the soup is its whiteness.
Velouté (No. 415)Ranhofer's velouté is a white roux thinned with white stock and simmered down. To replace one pint in the full batch, cook 2 oz butter with 2 oz flour without colouring, whisk in a pint of the same stock, and simmer 20 minutes before adding. In a quartered batch that is half a cup.
The sieve, and why not a blenderThe original drains the solids and forces them through a sieve with some of the broth. A food mill or ricer does the same work. A high-speed blender ruptures the potato starch and turns the soup gluey — this is the one step where modern equipment is worse than the old.
Don't let it boil after the butterThe recipe says only to work in the four ounces of finishing butter just before serving. Do it off the heat, or at most on the gentlest warmth: bring the soup to a boil afterwards and the emulsion breaks, leaving fat on the surface.
Leeks colorless"Fry them colorless" means sweating covered over low heat until soft and translucent, five to eight minutes. Any browning shows in the finished purée as grey flecks and a nutty flavour the dish is not meant to have.
Potato choiceA floury potato — russet or a mealy white — breaks under finger pressure as described and purées smoothly. Waxy potatoes stay firm and give a slick, thin soup.
The croutonsRounds three quarters of an inch across and an eighth thick, cut from a firm white loaf, buttered and, as the recipe puts it, browned in the oven; a moderate oven, around 375°F for about eight minutes, will do it. Serve them alongside so they stay crisp rather than floating them in.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer, chef at Delmonico's in New York for over thirty years, published The Epicurean in 1894 as a complete record of that kitchen, and its soup chapter runs to dozens of numbered purées distinguished chiefly by their garnish and their dedications. Names like " hat that habit: Delmonico's dishes were routinely titled for regular patrons, visiting dignitaries and private-party hosts, and many of the honorees are now untraceable. Underneath the dedication this is the plain French potage parmentier — leeks softened in butter, potatoes cooked in white stock, everything passed through a sieve — a formula that had been standard in professional French cookery for decades. What marks the version as restaurant work rather than domestic is the arithmetic: three quarters of a pound of butter in total, a pint of made velouté as a thickener, and croutons cut to a specified eighth of an inch.