Potage CORMEILLES
A classic Escoffier puréed soup with green beans and potatoes.
This classic Escoffier-style purée soup is a perfect introduction to the structure of French soup-making. What sets it apart from the way most home cooks make puréed soups is the method: instead of simply boiling vegetables and blitzing them with lots of liquid, we create a thick, flavourful purée first, then gradually dilute it to the perfect consistency. This gives you complete control over texture and prevents that watered-down taste that ruins so many homemade soups. The combination of green beans and potatoes creates something surprisingly fresh and elegant—not a flavour you'd expect, but one you won't forget.
Master this recipe and dozens of Escoffier’s classic soup techniques in our course Soupe du Jour: From Broth to Consommé.
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
350 ml (11¾ fl oz) good-quality homemade beef or chicken broth (or store-bought)
250 ml (8½ fl oz) whole milk
300 g (10½ oz) green beans, ends trimmed
200 g (7 oz) potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
25 g (1 oz) butter, plus 25 g (1 oz) to finish
25 ml (1½ tbsp) heavy cream
Salt and white pepper to season
MISE EN PLACE
Keep the sliced potatoes in cold water until ready to use to prevent browning.
Reserve a small handful of green beans (about 1 tablespoon per person) for the garnish. Cut these into small diamond shapes by slicing on the diagonal.
Heat the broth and milk separately and keep warm until needed.
Have a fine-mesh sieve and a clean bowl ready for passing the purée.
METHOD
Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Add the green beans and blanch for 5 minutes, then drain and rinse under cold water. Roughly chop the blanched beans into manageable pieces for blending.
Drain the potatoes. In a large saucepan over medium-low heat, melt 25 grams of butter. Add the chopped beans and sliced potatoes and stir to coat everything in butter. Cook gently for about 5 minutes, you're not browning anything here, just releasing the flavours.
Add the warm broth to the vegetables. This may seem like less liquid than you're used to, but that's intentional. The goal is to cook the vegetables and create a thick purée, not a soup - yet. Bring to a gentle simmer (no aggressive boiling), cover three-quarters of the way with a lid, and cook for 15 to 20 minutes until the potatoes are completely tender.
Using an immersion blender or food processor, blitz everything until completely smooth. Pass the purée through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean bowl, pressing gently with the back of a spoon. This step refines the texture beautifully.
Return the purée to a clean saucepan and place over low heat. Gradually add the warm milk, stirring constantly, until you reach your desired soup consistency. The soup should coat the back of a spoon but still flow - thick but not heavy.
Taste and season with salt and white pepper. Stir in the cream.
Just before serving, add the remaining 25 grams of butter in small pieces, stirring gently until melted and incorporated. The butter should go in at the very end and never let the soup boil once the butter is added.
For the garnish, Blanch the diamond-cut green beans in boiling salted water for 2 to 3 minutes until just tender. Drain and add a few pieces to each bowl when serving.
Notes
The key to this soup is restraint. Once you've achieved the right consistency, resist the urge to add more liquid. It dilutes the flavour remarkably fast. If you find the soup too thick after resting, add warm milk or cream a tablespoon at a time.
This same method - creating a thick purée base, then gradually diluting to consistency - applies to all classical French purée soups. Master this technique, and you'll understand why Escoffier dedicated pages to what most people dismiss as "simple" soup.
A homemade broth (bouillon) is at the core of all Escoffier style soups as this is necessary for the soup to taste the best it can. You can use a store bought broth or stock like I did in the video but the flavours won’t be as deep and intricate.