Potage 3 Legumes (Three Vegetable Soup)

Potage 3 Legumes (Three Vegetable Soup)

By Charlie Burke

Joanne and I, along with our friends, Nancy and Bob Johnson, returned this week from a great vacation in France. Before leaving for our rented house in the south,* we visited friends Jacques and Allix Fourcade in their beautiful manoir, Le Quenais* in Normandy, near OmahaBeach and the American cemetery. Jacques’mother was captured by German forces as a member of the French Resistance, and General John Eisenhower (son of Gen Dwight Eisenhower) was the Fourcade’s guest for the 50th Anniversary of D Day, so this was the ideal base from which to explore the landing beaches.

We associate French cooking with complicated recipes containing many ingredients, but most restaurants and home cooks actually use simple preparation, relying on the highest quality ingredients to achieve their delicious results. The cold waters of the North Atlantic produce high quality seafood, and we enjoyed a couple excellent meals featuring briny oysters and perfectly cooked fish, but a simple vegetable soup stands out in my memory. On a cool, overcast day we were exploring Bayeux - a perfect Norman town most noted for the tapestry narrating the exploits of native son William the Conqueror in the Battle of Hastings in 1066 - and stopped for lunch in a tiny creperie, La Cassonade. Food here consisted of salads,omelettes, a daily soup and, of course,crepes.I opted for the soup, described on the blackboard as Potage 3 Legumes. The board also named the three vegetables: leeks, potatoes and carrots.

Leek and potato soup is one of my favorites (see recipe in our Food/Recipe archive), but the depth of flavor in this bowl surprised me. In stumbling French, I told Jacqueline, the cook/proprietor, that I write a recipe column and would like the recipe for her marvelous soup. She seemed surprised, saying it was tres simple, not really a recipe at all. She was happy to write it down and laughingly agreed to a photo of her in her restaurant. When we left, she handed us a bottle of Norman cider as a gift! Joanne and I will share the cider the next time we make this soup.

When I saw the simple recipe, I thought she had omitted cheese in the ingredients, but she said there was none, only a little cream. When we got to our house a couple days later, this was the first thing we cooked, and I was disappointed with the lack of depth. We ate it a couple days later, and it then had the flavor I recalled from Jacqueline’s preparation. In our chowder recipe, we noted the flavor intensifies over one or two days, so I suggest you prepare this a couple days before serving. Add the cream before reheating.

Serves 8:

3 large leeks, trimmed, washed and chopped, including tender green leaves

6 medium waxy potatoes, such as Yukon Gold, sliced

6 carrots, peeled and sliced

Sea salt

Freshly ground pepper

¼ cup, or more to taste, heavy cream, crème fraiche or non fat cream

Place all ingredients except cream into 2 liters of water and bring to boil. Lower heat to a simmer and cook until vegetables are soft. Mash vegetables well or puree with an immersion blender or food processor until carrot pieces are less than 1/8 inch in size. Taste and add more salt or pepper if needed and stir in cream to taste before serving. The flavor improves after one or two days, and this also is excellent cold. If serving cold, puree until smooth.

This simple recipe shows that great fresh ingredients will speak for themselves. The leeks, carrots and potatoes we bought at the markets in France were grown locally, were beautifully fresh, and were bought from the growers. Do the same, getting fall leeks, potatoes and carrots from your local farmer – it will make all the difference!

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