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French-Canadian Soups
Versatile French-Canadian Soups On at Chez Mimi
By Gerry Furth
Blazing hot or nippy can used to describe our quirky, coastal California weather- year round. That's why versatile and country French-Canadian soups are perfect in any season.
Georges August Escoffier, who wrote the defining 20th century encyclopedia on French cuisine, may have left out provincial country soups, but it was this very rustic, fare that made the hop, skip and jump over the ocean from the heart of France to Canada to form the base of French-Canadian cuisine, and eventually make its way south of the border.
Early Quebec cuisine was defined by ingredients that could be grown in their rugged terrain and by the hearty sustenance needed during long, cold winters. Thus cooks created new versions of scrumptious fish stews, leek tarts, sugar pies and soups similar to the ones they knew from France. For good measure, they added to this a few original specialties, such as mouth watering tourtières (meat pies), pig leg stew and maple desserts.
Accomplished American-French-Canadian cook, Annie Carson-Tempier, who once lived in France, compared the two this way. "To my mind, French-Canadian dishes are also influenced by English cooking. For example, Quebec cooks make a tourtière or six-pie with game, typically English. We also use corn, as the English do, because we grow so much, though it's not used in French traditional cooking."
Among Quebec's "traditional belly warmers," Soupe aux pois (yellow pea soup) is considered a national treasure. With whole yellow peas, herbs and so much salt pork it can be taken out and served as a separate dish, we know they're not kidding. Other popular versions include diced turnips and carrots, topped with small dumplings.
Wonderful French-Canadian soup recipes can be found in most authentic French-Canadian cookbooks, including Chef Julian Arnstrong's contemporary, A Taste of Quebec.
You can experience the gold standard closer to home, first. Renowned Chef Michelene (Mimi) Herbert has been serving a tasty array of soups for decades among the line up of her acclaimed fare in her beautiful local hideaway, Chez Mimi Restaurant (www.chez-mimirestaurant.com).
Mimi's soups are so delicious that popular demand has kept them on the menu since the early days, and, in fact, like many other customers, I love them so much I often have an all soup meal.
Interested? Start out with the same generous assorted tastes served Mimi's. A Quebec-style silky smooth Bisque de tomato makes anyone forget that tomato soup could ever be acidic. Mimi's inimitable basil infusion adds another lingering layer of unique flavoring to savor on the tongue.
Delicate, broth-like Soupe de concombres (chilled cucumber soup) is so creamy-rich it can be served hot or cold. Regional French-Canadian versions add onion, garlic cloves and butter, even Pernod (an anise liquor), cream, fresh dill or chives.
The famous Vichyssoise (Chilled leek potato soup) is rich and flavorful but startlingly light.
So is Mimi's Soupe de carotte (carrot), which boasts no butter or cream. Carrots are a natural sweetener - think carrot cake - and this healthy, delicious vegetable can handle such exotic, spices as coriander, cumin, curry and ginger.
A traditional thick piece of toasted bread and cheese tops Mimi's Soupe a l'oignon gratinee (French Onion). The soup works to warm on a chilly night or cool down on a hot day.
The sumptuous, thick Bouillabaisse entrée is transformed into a spectacular dish with lobster tail, large shrimp, clams and both an ocean and a lake catch of the day swimming in an herbed fish stock. Other commonly used French-Canadian seasonings to try in the
Bouillabasisse are garlic, orange peel, basil, bay leaf, fennel and saffron.
To be authentically French-Canadian, a roille (a sauce of olive oil with breadcrumbs, garlic, saffron and chile peppers) and toast accompanies Bouillabaisse. For a fuller meal, root vegetables and tomatoes, can be boiled together and added to most soups. French-Canadians often serve the soup and roille in different bowls, pouring the soup over the bread. Some regional cooks substitute Aioli (mayo based sauce) for the rouille.
Most people think that Bouillabaisse was a French creation, but it was actually the ancient Greeks who first created the dish, named "kakavia", when they founded Marseille in 600 BC. Check out any good Greek menu and see for yourself! Bouillabaisse also appears in Roman mythology. It is the soup that Venus fed to Vulcan to lull him to sleep so that she could cavort with the god Mars. After dining in a romantic, candlit room in front of a fireplace at Chez Mimi, this is very easy to believe.