Bonne Femme Soup is a traditional British recipe, based on Charles Elmé Francatelli's recipe of 1861, for a classic soup of cucumber, lettuce, onion and chervil cooked in veal stock and thickened with an egg and cream liaison. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Bonne Femme Soup.
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This is a classic recipe for a Victorian version of Bonne Femme Soup that's derived from the chef, Charles Elmé's 1861 volume, The Cook's Guide and Housekeeper's & Butler's Assistant. Below you will find both the recipe in its original form and a modern redaction.
Original Recipe
No. 161.—BONNE FEMME SOUP.
Shred fine the following ingredients: viz.,—a cucumber, flour lettuces, one onion, and a handful of chervil; place these in a small soup-pot with two pats of butter, a little nutmeg, pepper and salt; simmer over a sow fire for about ten minutes, then add a good spoonful of flour; moisten with three pints of good white veal stock, stir over the fire until the soup boils, and then set it by the side to boil very gently for a quarter of an hour. When about to send the soup to table, make it hot, and stir into it a leason of six yolks of eggs, half a pint of cream, and a dessert-spoonful of sugar.
Modern Redaction
In this recipe, as in others, the term bonne femme, means 'to cook in a simple way', as in the manner of the good wife.
Ingredients:
1 cucumber, peeled, de-seeded and finely shredded
4 lettuces, finely shredded
1 onion, peeled and finely shredded
60g chervil, finely shredded
50g butter
freshly-grated nutmeg, to taste
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
1 tbsp plain flour
2l white veal stock
6 egg yolks
300ml cream
1 dessert spoon granulated sugar
Method:
Combine the cucumber, lettuce, onion and chervil in a pan. Add the butter and season to taste. Cook gently, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes then scatter over the flour. Stir in the flour to form a smooth roux then add the veal stock and stir until smooth. Bring the mixture to a boil then reduce to a simmer, cover and cook gently for 15 minutes.
Just before you serve, whisk together the egg yolks, cream and sugar in a bowl. Whisk in two ladelfuls of the hot stock to temper the eggs. Pour this mixture into the soup and cook gently until thickened (but do not allow the soup to boil, or it will curdle). Serve immediately.
