Bowl of clear Potage à la Julienne soup with fine matchstick vegetables in golden stock, garnished with parsley on a white tablecloth

Victorian England · England

Soyer's Potage à la Julienne

Name: Soyer's Potage à la Julienne
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: England
Ingredients: 2 carrots, cut into matchsticks; 2 turnips, cut into matchsticks; 2 leeks, cut into matchsticks; 2 celery sticks, cut into matchsticks; 1.5 l beef or chicken stock; 30 g butter; Salt and pepper; 2 tablespoons chopped parsley

From The Modern Housewife · Alexis Soyer · 1849

Verified from original source

A clear vegetable soup with finely cut vegetables in a rich stock.

Historical note: Cut two onions, two turnips, two carrots, one head of celery into strips...

History

Potage à la Julienne is a clear vegetable soup featuring finely shredded vegetables (carrots, turnips, leeks, onions, celery) named after Jean Julien, an 18th-century French chef. Alexis Soyer, the celebrated French-born chef at London's Reform Club, popularised it in Victorian England through his 1849 work 'The Modern Housewife'. The soup represented the French culinary influence on middle-class British cookery, making refined continental techniques accessible to domestic cooks. The julienne cut itself became fundamental to classical French cuisine. Modern versions retain the technique, though home cooks now often use ready-prepared vegetables.

Sources

Alexis Soyer, The Modern Housewife or Ménagère, 1849
Alexis Soyer, The Gastronomic Regenerator, 1846
Ruth Cowen, Relish: The Extraordinary Life of Alexis Soyer, Victorian Celebrity Chef, 2006
Alan Davidson, The Oxford Companion to Food, 1999
Elizabeth David, French Provincial Cooking, 1960

Serves

Prep

20m

Cook

40m

Difficulty

Easy

Ingredients

· 2 carrots, cut into matchsticks
· 2 turnips, cut into matchsticks
· 2 leeks, cut into matchsticks
· 2 celery sticks, cut into matchsticks
· 1.5 l beef or chicken stock
· 30 g butter
· Salt and pepper
· 2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Method

1
Melt butter in a large pan and gently cook all vegetables for 10 minutes without browning.
2
Add stock and bring to a boil.
3
Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes until vegetables are tender.
4
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5
Serve hot garnished with parsley.

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