French Pumpkin Soup

Creamy pumpkin soup served in a hollowed out pumpkin

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City/Region: France

Time Period: 1651

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This is one of the first recipes for pumpkin soup where we can be sure that the pumpkin they’re referring to is a new world pumpkin. This cookbook was written by François Pierre de la Varenne, who’s credited with leading the shift away from highly spiced medieval and renaissance foods into what we would call French haute cuisine. He was into showcasing the flavor of the key ingredient in whatever he made, and this soup does it.

The cloves, onion, and pepper are there but subtle, and the pumpkin really shines through. You can use canned pumpkin to make this soup even easier, and serving it in a hollowed out pumpkin adds some festive flair. It’s simple, delicious, and would be a great addition to any holiday or autumnal table.

“Pumpkin Soup with Milk
Cut up a pumpkin and cook it as above [in water and salt], then pass it through a strainer with some milk and boil it with butter, seasoned with salt, pepper, and onion stuck [with cloves], and serve with yolks of eggs thinned [with some broth].”

— Le cuisinier françois by François Pierre de la Varenne, 1651

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Ingredients:

• 3-4 lb (1.5 kg) sugar or pie pumpkin, or 5 cups (1 kg) canned pumpkin puree
• 3 teaspoons salt, divided
• 1 cup (235 ml) cream
• 1 cup (235 ml) milk
• 1 onion
• 8-10 whole cloves, more if desired
• 1 quart (1 L) water or vegetable stock, more or less depending on the consistency that you want
• 4 tablespoons (55 g) butter
• 1 teaspoon black or white pepper, I like white pepper for this recipe
• 2-3 egg yolks
• A few pieces of crusty sourdough or French bread, for serving
• Sugar or pie pumpkins, for serving, optional

Instructions:

1. If you’re using canned pumpkin, skip to step 3. To use a fresh pumpkin, cut off the stem, then cut the pumpkin in half. Peel the pumpkin and remove the seeds and stringy insides. Chop the pumpkin into about 1 to 2 inch (2.5 to 5 cm) pieces and put them in a large pot with 2 teaspoons of the salt, then add water until the pumpkin is just about covered. Bring the pot to a boil and boil for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the pumpkin is very soft and easily mashable.
2. When the pumpkin is done, drain off the water and mash it up with a potato masher. You want to get it as smooth as possible, then pass it through a strainer, pressing the pumpkin through so that you have a smooth puree. Using a wide mesh strainer is much easier for this than a fine mesh strainer.
3. Place the pumpkin puree back in the pot and stir in the cream and milk until it’s thoroughly combined.
4. Leave the onion whole and peel off the papery outer layers. Stick the pointier ends of the cloves into the onion. 8 to 10 cloves will give the soup a hint of clove flavor, so add more if you’d like it to be stronger. Place the onion in the pot. If you have a wide pot and the soup doesn’t cover the onion, cut the onion in half so that it’s completely submerged in the soup.
5. Check the consistency of the soup and add as much or little of the vegetable stock or water until it’s how you’d like it. Keep in mind that the soup will thicken a bit more after you add the egg yolks in step 8. Stir in the remaining teaspoon of salt, the butter, and the pepper.
6. Bring the soup to a gentle simmer and simmer for 20 minutes. You don’t want to go for a full boil, just a nice simmer.
7. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks to break them up. Take a ladleful of the hot soup and slowly pour it into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. This will gently heat the yolks so that they don’t scramble when you add them to the pot.
8. Stir the egg yolk mixture into the soup, then bring it back to a simmer and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes so that the soup can thicken.
9. If you’d like to serve the soup in a pumpkin, cut off the top and scoop out the seeds and scrape out about half of the flesh so that the shell is thinner.
10. Place a few small pieces of bread in the bottom of some bowls or pumpkins if you’re serving the soup in them, and ladle the soup over them and serve it forth. Alternatively, you can serve the bread alongside the soup instead of at the bottom (or both, no one’s watching).

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