Garbure

Preparation

It should be noted that garbure is not a child's dish. The garbure is the ultimate Basque-Béarnaise peasant soup. A dish that keeps the body and heart warm. It's a whole meal.

The day before, soak your beans. (at least 12 hours)

On D-Day: In a large pot, put the ham heel, peppercorns, Espelette pepper, onion pricked with cloves, celery, thyme, bay leaf. Cover with 4 to 5 litres of water.

Bring to a boil and when the water boils, lower the heat so that it will "bloblote" quietly. Let's go for an hour and a half of cooking.

Wash the vegetables, cut the carrots and turnips into large coarse pieces and the leeks into small pieces.

In a frying pan, brown the pieces of duck confit over high heat. When they are golden brown, place them on a paper towel and set them aside.

Discard the cooking fat except for about 4 tablespoons in which the vegetables (carrots, leeks, turnips for a few minutes) are sweated.

After an hour and a half of cooking the heel, ham, remove about ten ladles of broth and set aside. Add the freshly sweated vegetables and drained beans to the pot. Return to the boil and simmer for at least 2 hours. After 2 hours, add the cabbage (from which the heart has been removed) washed and cut into strips.

Cover at height with the reserved broth. Leave to cook for half an hour.

Add the washed and cut potatoes into large pieces. Cook for another half an hour more.

And finally, add the confit if you wish. Cook until the confit has cooled down (about 15 minutes). At the end of this time, taste, salt if necessary and serve. This soup is traditionally served with slices of country bread.....

... and when the spoon stands on the plate, it's perfect.

Do not hesitate to anneal, it is better reheated. Be careful however with storage (in a cool place and not too much reheating in large quantities all the same, it contains cabbage, a vegetable that ferments quickly).

The manufacture of garbure is not a matter of jokes. Every year in mid-September in Oloron-Saint-Marie (Béarn - Pyrénées-Atlantiques) a world championship of garbure is held.

And if you think you don't have the time... don't worry! OROCBAT has simmered its Garbure for you. All that remains is to warm it up and enjoy it!