Recipe no. 2 from Jean-Baptiste Reboul's La Cuisinière provençale (1909), page 11.
Ingredients
- 2 litres of cold water
- 1 kg of beef, preferably from the rump
- 1 onion studded with 2 cloves
- 2 leeks
- A sprig of celery
- A sprig of chervil
- 2 carrots
- 1 turnip
- 2 cloves of garlic
- Salt as needed
Preparation
- Getting startedPut into a stockpot 2 litres of cold water and a piece of beef, about 1 kg, preferably from the rump.
- SkimmingBring it to a start over moderate heat, which means setting the pot on a burner that is not too fierce; as the liquid heats up and the scum rises to the surface, remove it with a skimmer.
- Slow cookingOnce the boil is well under way, move the pot to the side of the heat, so that the cooking is slow and continuous.
- Vegetables and herbsWhen the scum has stopped rising and has all been carefully removed, add 1 onion studded with 2 cloves, 2 leeks, a sprig of celery, a sprig of chervil, 2 carrots, 1 turnip, 2 cloves of garlic and the necessary salt; cover the pot and take care that it does not stop simmering for at least 3 hours.
Reboul's text
Put into a stockpot 2 litres of cold water and a piece of beef, about 1 kg, taken preferably from the rump.
Bring it to a start over moderate heat, which means setting the pot on a burner that is not too fierce; as the liquid heats up and the scum rises to the surface, remove it with a skimmer.
Once the boil is well under way, move the pot to the side of the heat, so that the cooking is slow and continuous.
When the scum has stopped rising and has all been carefully removed, add 1 onion studded with 2 cloves, 2 leeks, a sprig of celery, a sprig of chervil, 2 carrots, 1 turnip, 2 cloves of garlic and the necessary salt; cover the pot and take care that it does not stop simmering for at least 3 hours.
If the piece of meat happens to be larger, the cooking time should be lengthened accordingly.
This broth will be the base of all the meat soups given hereafter.
Small Provençal glossary for this recipe
Reboul writes in French: no Provençal word appears in this recipe, apart from the dish's name itself. The table below gives the Provençal equivalents of the words used, in mistralian spelling, translated by Lingua Nostra. Each form is attested in our Provençal-English dictionary; click to open the entry.
| Provençal | English |
|---|---|
| oulo | stockpot |
| escumo | scum |
| escumadouiro | skimmer |
| fiò | moderate heat |
| boui | boiling |
| cebo | onion |
| girofle | clove |
| pòrri | leeks |
| àpi | celery |
| cerfuei | chervil |
Source: Jean-Baptiste Reboul, La Cuisinière provençale, Marseille, 1909, recipe no. 2, page 11. Public domain. Transcription, formatting and Provençal glossary by Lingua Nostra.