Soups

1 L'AIGA SAOU

L'Eau Salée

Garlic and Sage SoupFor 4

6 cloves garlic
¼ lb/100 g vermicelli
2 leaves sage (see page 13)
salt, pepper
2 tbs olive oil
2 oz/50 g grated Parmesan

1. Put the whole, peeled cloves of garlic into 31/2 pints/2 litres of water and bring to the boil.

2. Lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the vermicelli, crushing it slightly between the fingers. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the sage.

3. Simmer for a further 10 minutes. Remove the cloves of garlic and, placing them individually in a tablespoon, crush them with a fork to the smoothest paste possible.

4. Remove the liquid from heat, and stir in the garlic paste and olive oil. Serve hot with generous pinches of grated Parmesan.

• This soup is equally good when the vermicelli is replaced by tapioca, semolina, or couscous grain.

2 LU CAPOUN ROUT

Les Choux Farcis Cassés

Stuffed-Cabbage SoupFor 6

In the old days, this soup was quite simply the water in which stuffed cabbages (No. 152) had been boiled. During cooking, one or two of the cabbages would become untied, spilling their delicious contents into the water in which they were being boiled. Nowadays, this subtly-flavoured soup is made for its own sake with the ingredients that go into stuffed cabbage.

2 oz/60 g rice
salt
5 sprigs parsley
¼ bay leaf
2 leaves sage
1 sprig thyme
2 medium onions
2 cloves garlic
2 eggs
30 tender cabbage leaves taken from the heart, or 30 broccoli sprouts
5 oz/150 g lean petit salé (see page 15)
2 tbs olive oil
pepper

1. Wash the rice and drain well. Bring 5 pints/3 litres of water to the boil. Let the rice fall into it in a steady rain. Salt slightly.

2. Make a small bouquet garni with the parsley, bay leaf, sage, and thyme, and drop it into the boiling water along with the whole, unpeeled onions and the whole, peeled cloves of garlic.

3. Simmer for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, separate the whites from the yolks of the eggs, and whip until stiff. Cut the cabbage or broccoli into strips, dip in the white of egg, and add to the soup along with the finely diced petit salé.

4. Simmer for a further 10 minutes. Put the egg yolks and olive oil into a soup tureen and mix well. Remove the onions, garlic, and bouquet garni from the soup, then pour it into the tureen, stirring all the time. Season with plenty of pepper.

• The cabbage or broccoli may be replaced by Swiss chard tops or any variety of green salad vegetable; if so, 2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan and a large pinch of grated nutmeg should be mixed in with the egg yolks and olive oil in step 4.

3 LA SOUPA DÉ PEÏ

La Soupe de Poisson

Fish SoupFor 12 or more

There is an infinite variety of fish soups to be found along the northern Mediterranean coast from Genoa, in Italy, to the small French port of Collioure, by the Spanish border. The bourride of Toulon is made with white fish only and is almost milky in appearance. Bouillabaisse is a very liquid soup in which the fish (mainly small ones) should if possible remain whole. The fish soup of Nice is a smooth, creamy purée of rockfish, and owes its consistency to the incomparably tasty flesh of the conger eel. It is eaten with toasted French bread, Parmesan, and rouille (No. 24). Some Niçois prefer spaghetti or coarse vermicelli instead of bread. But in any case the soup is always made the same way. It only really succeeds when made for at least a dozen people. Allow at least 3 hours to prepare it.

13 lb/6 kg very small, fresh rockfish, including, if possible, rascasse (scorpion fish), wrasse, and the small green crabs known as charlatans or charloù in Niçois dialect (shore crabs will do)
2 lb/1 kg conger eel or moray eel, from the head or tail end
7 fl oz/200 ml olive oil
6 large onions, peeled
6 cloves garlic, peeled
4 fl oz/100 ml cognac
4lb/2kg tomatoes
bouquet garni
scant ¼ tsp saffron
salt
cayenne pepper
5oz/150g grated Parmesan
40 slices toast or 2–5 oz/50–150 g coarse vermicelli

1. Wash the fish very carefully to remove all traces of seaweed, sand, etc., but do not gut. Heat the olive oil in a stainless-steel frying pan until it is just beginning to smoke. Fry the fish in it until slightly browned, beginning with the sliced conger eel and larger fish. Remove the fish with a fish-slice and place in the bottom of a very large enamelled or stainless-steel saucepan, which should be kept warm on an asbestos mat or hotplate.

2. When all the fish and crabs have been sealed in the frying pan, cook the sliced onions and finely chopped garlic in the same oil till golden. Add to the fish. Deglaze the pan with the cognac and add to the rest of the ingredients.

3. Place the saucepan over a moderate heat and pour in 7 quarts/8 litres of cold water. Add the peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped tomatoes. Lastly, add the bouquet garni and the saffron.

4. Boil over a moderate heat for 1 hour.

5. Remove the soup from the stove and purée it, a ladleful at a time, until well broken up but not oversmooth. Put through a fairly fine sieve. (By the way, if you or your neighbours have chickens, give the birds the debris in the sieve – and see what gourmets they are!)

6. Put the sieved soup into a large flame-proof pot that can be used to serve the soup, and bring back to the boil. Correct seasoning carefully. Fish soup is the only Niçois dish that needs plenty of salt, though it should not, of course, be oversalted. It should also be quite fiery, so add the necessary amount of cayenne pepper, while remembering that the rouille with which the soup will be served will add plenty of punch.

7. If the soup is not to be served immediately, remove it from the stove and keep it at room temperature (you can even freeze it). Indeed, it will be all the tastier for being reheated gently for 30 minutes. It should be served with rouille (No. 24), grated Parmesan, and toast on the side (the toast can be replaced by vermicelli, which should be added to the soup during the last 20 minutes of cooking).

4 LA SOUPA DÉ L'AIRÉ SAN MICHÉÙ

Le Potage Aire Saint-Michel

Aire Saint-Michel SoupFor 6

This soup was invented by my father when he was a small child: in the district of Nice called the Aire Saint-Michel, he and his brothers and sisters would repair to a hut they had made of branches and play at being chefs. The dish has become something of a...