No. 311

Giblet Soup a la Reglain

Abatis a la Reglain

Prepare the giblets taken from three ducks or two geese, the necks, pinions and gizzards; remove the skin from the necks, cutting them off near the head, pluck the pinions and singe them; make a cut on the side of the gizzards to remove the inside without breaking the pouch, suppress the interior white skin, also the outside tough part, retaining only the soft meat, cut this into quarter inch squares, then divide the neck and pinions into small pieces; as well as the unblanched hearts. Fry slowly in four ounces of butter, the white part of six leeks cut into inch long pieces, then blanch, add the giblets and fry all together for fifteen minutes, then dilute with half a gill of Madeira wine, and one gill of broth, and let fall slowly to a glaze. Moisten again with three quarts of broth and boil, then simmer slowly until thoroughly cooked; strain the liquid through a sieve, and thicken it by working into it two heaping spoonfuls of arrowroot or potato fecula, diluted in a little cold water. Add to the soup, the livers braized and cooled off, cut into quarter of inch squares, and some blanched chervil leaves; season with salt and cayenne pepper and serve with a garnishing of carrots, turnips and celery cut in squares of a quarter of an inch, blanched and cooked separately in white broth.

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For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer assumes a kitchen that breaks down its own poultry and keeps stock on hand. The work is nearly all in the butchery; the cooking itself is a slow simmer and a light starch thickening.

Sourcing the gibletsNecks, wing pinions, gizzards, hearts and livers from three ducks or two geese are hard to buy as a set. Ask a butcher for a bag of duck giblets, or buy whole birds and freeze the giblets until you have enough; supermarket chicken giblet packs work but give a milder soup. Expect roughly 1.5-2 lb of trimmed parts.
Gizzard work is the hingeSplit the gizzard on one side only, lift out the grit sac whole without puncturing it, then peel away both the tough silvery inner lining and the outer membrane. Any lining left behind stays gritty and rubbery no matter how long it cooks.
Liquid measuresA gill is half a cup, so half a gill of Madeira is 1/4 cup and one gill of broth is 1/2 cup. The main moistening is three quarts, about 2.8 liters.
Potato feculaFecula is potato starch. "Two heaping spoonfuls" is unspecified in the text but most likely tablespoons, i.e. roughly 3 to 4 level tablespoons; slake it in cold water and stir it into the simmering strained broth off a hard boil, since potato starch thins if boiled long. Arrowroot behaves much the same way.
Cooking timesNecks, pinions and gizzards need 1.5 to 2 hours of gentle simmering to become tender; hearts are similar. Livers are cooked separately and briefly, since they turn chalky and cloud the soup if simmered with the rest.
"Let fall slowly to a glaze"Reduce the Madeira and small addition of broth until it is syrupy and coats the pan, concentrating flavor before the main liquid goes in. This step, not the wine quantity, is what carries the Madeira through three quarts of soup.
Blanching the leeks and root vegetablesBlanching here means a brief plunge in boiling water to soften and remove harshness; the carrot, turnip and celery dice are then finished separately in light stock so they keep their shape and color rather than muddying the thickened soup.
ChervilChervil is delicate and loses its anise note fast. Add the blanched leaves at the very end; flat parsley plus a pinch of tarragon is the usual substitute if chervil is unavailable.
YieldThree quarts of broth plus garnish serves about ten as a first course, or six as a main-course soup.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer's The Epicurean (1894) collected the repertoire he cooked at Delmonico's in New York, and this recipe shows the thrift that ran underneath even the grandest French service: the necks, wing tips, gizzards, hearts and livers left over from roasting ducks or geese were never thrown out but built into a separate course. Abatis (more often spelled abattis today) is the French kitchen term for exactly that collection of trimmings, and giblet soups and pies were common on both sides of the Atlantic wherever poultry was butchered in quantity. The a la Reglain tag is one of the many personal or fanciful dedications scattered through the book; Ranhofer named dishes after patrons, colleagues and occasions, and the reference behind this one is not documented. The leek base, the Madeira reduction, the potato starch binding rather than a flour roux, and the separately cooked dice of carrot, turnip and celery are all standard nineteenth-century French practice, aimed at a clear, glossy soup with distinct garnish rather than a thick stew.