2 lb fennel bulbs, trim/mince
6 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
4 cup vegetable or chicken broth
1/2 cup whipping cream, opt
1 sea salt, to taste
BOUQUET GARNI
1 fresh rosemary
1 fresh parsley
1 bay leaf
1 fresh thyme
1 tie together with twine
Directions
1. Combine fennel and oil in large, heavy-bottomed stockpot. Stir to
coat fennel with oil. Cook, covered, over low heat 10 minutes,
stirring occasionally. If fennel burns it will give the soup a bitter
taste.
2. Remove lid; continue to cook over low heat. Pieces should gradually
brown and caramelize. Add bouquet garni and broth; simmer; covered, 30
minutes.
3. Discard bouquet garni. Using an immersion blender, roughly puree
soup in stockpot. (Alternatively, pass soup through coarse blade of
food mill or puree coarsely in batches in food processor; and return
to stockpot.) Soup should be creamy but not totally smooth. Stir in
cream, if using; reheat. Taste for seasoning. Serve piping hot in
warmed shallow soup bowls.
NOTE: Fennel has a tough outer skin. It's well worth it to peel it
with a vegetable peeler.
Source: "Patricia Wells at Home in Provence" (printed in the Chicago
Tribune, February 26, 1997)
Servings: 4 servings
Caramelized Fennel Soup Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Candy; Dessert; Soup
The History of Recipes
We can read the history of meal recipes back into antiquity, in fact as far back into recorded history as early Egypt, and possibly even further than that. Interesting though that is, in the main part, these early recipes were just very basic hieroglyphic or cunieform instructions for food preparation.
In fact, the most ancient recipe discovered, according to experts in ancient history are a few ancient tablets in the Sumerian language which describe the making of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made anyone who drank it feel exhilarated. Progressing into The time of the roman empire 25BC a man called Apicius compiled a few documents detailing recipes enjoyed by wealthy Romans. In his scrolls, Apicius describes how the meals of wealthy Romans were separated into starters, main course and dessert, a style of dining still practiced today. Aspicius also recounts how the chefs of Roman times made use of many different aromatic flavors, including some that we all recognise for example thyme, mint and parsley. Later, there are a couple of recipe books from the 1300s : a book called `Forme of Cury`, and another called `Curye on Inglish`. The titles are a little misleading though, they are not about the indian food that is popular today, but rather descriptions of the types of meals prepared by the cooks of the wealthy. Later on in the 1400s, the Crusaders brought back a variety of foods, spices and herbs from the Middle-East, such as coriander, parsley, basil and rosemary. The introduction of these new tastes was responsible for a torrent in recipe publications, many of which still exist in academic collections. The introduction of the TV brought us TV cooks and the spin-off recipe books. Which pretty much brings us to the present day and the internet revolution, allowing everybody to search through massive numbers of recipes like those on sites such as this. |
We hope you enjoy this Caramelized Fennel Soup recipe.
