White Soup à la Reine is a traditional British recipe, based on Charles Elmé Francatelli's recipe of 1861, for a classic soup of boiled fowl and rice cooked in a mix of veal stock and chicken broth that's finished with cream. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: White Soup à la Reine.
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This is a classic recipe for a Victorian version of Prawn Soup that's derived from the chef, Charles Elmé Francatelli'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. 174.—WHITE SOUP A LA REINE.
Truss a fowl; put it on the spit, and set it down before the fire to roast; and while the fowl is roasting, wash three-quarters of a pound of rice, and boil it very gently in three pints of white veal stock for about an hour. Remove all the meat from the fowl; chop and pound this in a mortar, with an ounce of butter and a gill of broth; and when it is thoroughly reduced to a smooth pulp, add the rice; pound all together; take this up into a stewpan, moisten with a quart of broth (made with the bones of the fowl and a pound of veal, with carrot, celery, and onion); rub the purée through a tammy, and when this is done, pour the soup into a small soup-pot; stir it over the fire until hot, season with a little pepper and salt, mix in half a pint of cream, and serve with fried crusts on the surface of the soup.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
1 oven-ready fowl, trussed
340g rice
1.8l white veal stock
30g butter
140ml chicken broth
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
300ml cream
fried crusts, to garnish
For the Chicken Broth:
bones and skin of the fowl
450g veal
1 carrot
1 head of celery
1 onion
Method:
Roast the fowl until done. Allow to cool then strip the flesh away from the bones. Combine the bones, skin and any trimmings in a pan with 450g veal, diced, 1 carrot, 1 head of celery and an onion, quartered. Cover with water, bring to a simmer and simmer for 60 minutes.
In the meantime, wash the rice, combine in a pan with the veal stock, bring to a simmer and cook for 60 minutes. Chop the meat from the fowl, pound in a mortar with the butter. When the stock is done, strain the liquid and add 140ml to the mortar. Pound to combine with the meat then strain the rice (reserve the cooking liquid) and add to the mortar. Pound the rice into the other ingredients until you have a smooth paste then pass the purée through a fine-meshed sieve, using the back of a spoon.
Combine the purée with the rice cooking liquid and season to taste. Allow to heat through then stir in the cream. Heat through once more (but do not boil) then ladle into warmed soup bowls, garnish with fried bread crusts and serve.
