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A humble version of Crème Crécy, but in a proud setting

View from the cafe, spiraling down the Pei pyramid into the heart of the old castle

Such a miserable day. Cold rain coming down in buckets. Clearly time to execute my fave rainy lunchtime activity: Dash to the metro at Place Concorde, jump up two stops on Line 1, and worm my way underground to the Carrousel entrance of the Louvre. I’ve got the Bronzes Français exhibit on my mind. But as I start up the escalator to the Richelieu wing, I’m assailed by a tantalyzing aroma …and spot a café just right there on the balcony. No harm in seeing what’s on the menu.

Oh my, Bugs Bunny would be excited:  a steaming cauldron of Crème Crécy for 4,20 euro a shot. I can’t resist. There you see it–carrots times a thousand; piping hot; the first sip so sweet that you think the Louvre must surely be shopping at the local bio farm; a dash of white pepper, undersalted, tiny little sprigs of curly parsley. It’s exactly like so many French household soups: plain, pure, light, yet filling your belly and warming you up.

Carrots in France.  Totally interesting.  The French didn’t love them until well into the Middle Ages (originally from Afghanistan, they came in red, purple, black, yellow, and white varietals and weren’t hybridized to beta-carotene orange til the Dutch got their hands on them).  Then docs prescribed them for everything from sexual maladies to snakebite.  For good eyesight too, of course.  And the best ones were grown in Crécy, which famously gave the name to the classic carrot soup of France.  But Crécy-en-Ponthieu, the site of the English victory in 1346, up near Abbeville…or Crécy-en-Brie, to the east of Paris, in the cheese and sugar-beet district of the Marne?  I wouldn’t dream of chiming in on this enduring controversy.

But the fact is, this soup–evolving from purée to potage to crème–is eloquent, in its own way, and will definitely (according to my English grandmother) improve your eyesight. Why don’t you just drop everything and fly to Paris to take in both this humble purée AND the Louvre?

No? Well, it’s easy enough to put this soup on your table, wherever you are, and quickly, AND in a pumped up Escoffier version that is fabulous:

Crème Crécy for 4 people

2 Tablespoons butter
4 medium carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 onion, diced
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup rice
1 Tablespoon sugar (the sweetness!)
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup cream
salt and white pepper to taste
2 Tablespoons finely minced parsley
1 Tablespoon butter

In a large pot, melt the butter over medium low heat and toss in the carrots and onion. Cover and cook slowly for 15 minutes. Add the stock, rice, sugar, salt, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes. Purée in a blender, add the cream and parsley, and return to a simmer. Season with salt and white pepper to taste. If you want a thinner soup, add hot water to taste. Simmer for 5 minutes then swirl in the butter. Ladle into bowls and top with a parsley leaf.

Bon appetit! And yes, despite what you read in the American press, the French ALWAYS say Bon Appetit before tucking in, and with a great twinkle in their eye, so happy to be eating a fine meal.