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Cream Soups
Appears in
By Anne Willan
Published 1989
Cream soups use many of the same ingredients as puréed soups although they are richer, smoother and more refined in texture. Basic ingredients, such as lettuce or asparagus, tend to be lighter. Cream soups are thickened with flour, which may be added as a roux, as beurre manié or, occasionally, as a simple flour and water paste. Whatever the method, the flour must be thoroughly cooked or the soup will taste of raw flour.
Vegetables such as onion may be softened in butter before adding the flour. More delicate vegetables like mushrooms are cooked directly in the soup stock. As cream soups are characterized by their smoothness, achieving the correct consistency is all-important; a blender or flat sieve gives the smoothest result because ingredients are emulsified and puréed.