🇫🇷 France
Soupe à l'oseilleFrench sorrel soup
A French soup of sorrel wilted in butter with shallot or onion and simmered in broth, water or milk, with potato in some recipes, finished with cream or egg. Sorrel gives it a clean sourness.
Origin and history
Obviously French says sorrel has grown in French kitchen gardens for centuries and gave sharp acidity before citrus was common, so the soup came from the potager rather than grand kitchens. A French garden site adds that sorrel was once used against winter deficiencies. Richard Olney points to Germiny as the richer, egg-yolk-bound relative.
Make it at home
- Makes
- 4 servings
- Total time
- 45 min
- Hands-on
- 25 min
Ingredients
- 300 g10 oz sorrel (oseille), tough central stalks removed, leaves roughly chopped
- 40 g3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 shallots, finely sliced; a small onion works too
- 500 g1.1 lb floury potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1 litre4 cups light chicken or vegetable stock, or water
- 150 ml2/3 cup crème fraîche or double cream
- 2 egg yolks, optional, for the richer liaison
- salt and black pepper, to taste; the soup needs more salt than expected
- chervil or flat-leaf parsley, to garnish
Method
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1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat and sweat the shallots for about 5 minutes, until soft but without colour.
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2. Add the chopped sorrel and stir; it collapses within minutes into an olive-brown mass, which is normal and does not affect the flavour.
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3. Add the diced potatoes and the stock, season generously and bring to a simmer.
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4. Cook for 20 to 25 minutes, until the potatoes are tender enough to break against the side of the pot and thicken the soup.
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5. Take the pan off the heat. For the richer liaison, whisk the egg yolks with the cream in a bowl, stir in a ladle of hot soup, then stir the mixture back into the pot.
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6. Without the egg, simply stir in the cream.
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7. Warm over low heat, stirring, without letting it boil, until slightly thickened.
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8. Taste for salt and pepper, ladle into bowls and scatter with chervil or parsley.
Notes
- Sorrel gives the clean, lemony sourness; Obviously French says early spring leaves are the most pungent, so start with 250 g and taste. Frozen sorrel works but is less vivid. Spinach or watercress can be added to soften the acidity.
- Other versions: Keith Floyd cooks sorrel in butter with shallot and garlic, simmers it in milk, then thickens with beaten egg and cream. Obviously French garnishes with halved hard-boiled eggs, and a quick version uses onion and a cream cheese. Richard Olney prefers it hot and not puréed; a smooth purée finished with a little cream and served chilled is another form.
- Keep the soup below the boil once cream or egg is in, or it may split.
- Make-ahead: it keeps 3 days refrigerated and freezes up to 2 months before the cream and eggs are added.
Adapted from Obviously French, Sorrel Soup, Keith Floyd, Floyd on France (1987), Soupe à l'oseille à la crème, and Richard Olney, Simple French Food (1974), Sorrel Soup.
At the festivals
No festival we list has printed it on a menu yet.