Creme Dubarry: elegant by name, simple by ingredients, this recipe for cauliflower soup is a delicious classic
There are few culinary contrasts between a dish’s elegant French name and its common-or-garden contents than Creme Dubarry. I wonder if Louis XV’s lavish mistress would have appreciated her title becoming the moniker of cauliflower soup. Some consider it an allusion to her powdered wigs, whose many layers of curls resembled cauliflower curds.
For all its simplicity, Creme Dubarry is a wonderful, nutritious and subtle soup. It is also worth the effort involved in making it. This soup can also be eaten as a neutral meal by food combiners if vegetable stock cubes are used instead of chicken stock, as well as creme fraiche instead of milk.
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Serves: Four
Ingredients:
20g butter
2 medium leeks (white parts only, finely chopped)
1 head of cauliflower (hard stalks removed and florets finely chopped)
1 clove of garlic (peeled and chopped)
1 vegetable or chicken stock cube
550 ml water
250ml UHT skimmed milk (or 100g creme fraiche and 100ml extra water for food combiners)
Method:
1. Melt the butter in a pan on a low heat
2. Add the leeks to the pan and sweat them with the lid on
3. When the leeks are translucent and soft, add the chopped cauliflower and garlic, and sweat with the lid on for five minutes, stirring occasionally
4. Heat the water in a kettle, measure into a jug and dissolve the stock cube in it
5. Add the warm stock to the pan, then add the milk or creme fraiche
6. Cook on a low heat for 30 minutes until the cauliflower is soft and mushy
7. Liquidise with a hand blender and then pass through a sieve
8. Reheat and season to taste
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