Carrot Soup à la Cressy is a traditional British recipe, based on Charles Elmé Francatelli's recipe of 1861, for a classic soup of carrots, onions, celery and ham cooked in stock and rendered to a puree that's finished with meat glaze and served with fried bread. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Carrot Soup à la Cressy.
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This is a classic recipe for a Victorian version of Carrot Soup à la Cressy 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. 153. CARROT SOUP A LA CRESSY.
Shave off the red part of twelve large carrots, and put it in a stewpan with four onions, two heads of celery, four ounces of raw ham, and two ounces of butter, a few peppercorns, and a quart of water; put the lid on close, and set this to simmer gently for two hours over a slow fire. At the end of this time the carrots will be done quite soft; the stock must be drained from them, and kept in reserve, while the carrots, &c., are first bruised in a mortar, and being added to their liquor and a quart of stock, must be rubbed through a tammy, poured into a soup-pot, stirred over the fire to boil, and placed by the side to clear itself of all grease, &c., which must be removed with a spoon as it rises to the surface; and when the purée has gently boiled in this way for a quarter of an hour, add a bit of glaze, a dessert-spoonful of sugar, and a little pepper and salt, if necessary, and serve with fried crusts, in a plate. Note—In nearly all cases where glaze is recommended to be added when finishing a soup or a sauce, its use may be dispensed with when extreme economy is the order of the day; yet it must be admitted, that this omission will not tend to improve the soup, &c., unless indeed the stock is very good.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
12 large carrots
4 onions
2 heads of celery
120g raw ham
60g butter
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
1l water
1l stock
2 tsp meat glaze, as made in the economy of second stocks or broth recipe
1 dessert spoon sugar
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste fried bread, to accompany
Method:
Scrape the carrots clean then shave with a potato peeler. Place the carrot shavings in a pan with the onion, celery, ham, butter, black peppercorns and water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a gentle simmer then cover and cook for two hours over low heat.
Take off the heat, pour into a blender and purée until smooth. Pass through a fine-meshed sieve, pressing down with the back of a spoon. Transfer the liquid to a pan, stir in the stock then bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes then skim off any grease from the surface. Stir in the meat glaze and sugar then season to taste.
Serve the soup, accompanied by pieces of fried bread.
