Chef Juliette
Suet Dumpling
Boulettes au suif, poached beside salt beef, turn equal weights of flour and finely chopped suet into tender, rich dumplings. Keep the beef liquor at a bare tremble and the old garnish works beautifully at home.
Culinary Explorer
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Kache de Sarrasin pour Potages
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 2293, Kache de Sarrasin pour Potages, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Buckwheat baked until tender, stripped of its crust, buttered while hot, chilled, stamped into small roundels, and browned in clarified butter: a modest garnish with real spine for the soup bowl.
Side Dishes
French
Make Ahead
Budget Friendly
Comfort Food
25 min
Active Time
2 hr 10 min cook•3 hr 35 min total
YieldAbout 32 one-inch roundels (4 servings as a soup garnish)
Kache de sarrasin pour potages (buckwheat roundels for soups) teaches the discipline of texture. The buckwheat must begin as a stiff paste, not a pourable batter, because everything that follows depends on its holding a clean edge once cold. That is the one true thing to know before touching a pan.
The original stood inside a brigade: a saucier and a stockpot supplied the potage, while another cook filled a large Charlotte-mould, cooled a tray, and stamped a service batch. Your honest equivalent is a 3-cup straight-sided baking dish, one small tray, and three-eighths of the original pound of grain. The large mould and brigade quantity are scaffolding, so they go. The long bake, the sacrificial crust, the butter worked into the hot centre, and the final colouring in clarified butter are the dish, so they stay. One cook, one stove, one evening.
When it is right, each roundel has a nutty, tender middle enclosed by a thin bronze skin, sturdy enough to sit in a potage without immediately surrendering. Guard the stiffness of the first paste; the rest is patient work.
The French name kache preserves a form of the Russian word kasha, the broad family of cooked grain dishes central to Russian and neighboring Slavic tables, with buckwheat among its most characteristic grains. French classical kitchens drew that familiar porridge into the potage repertoire, baking it in a mould and turning the buttered interior into neat fried garnishes. The crust was never the prize: it served as a protective shell, while the tender centre became the refined element placed in the soup bowl.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
concassé buckwheat groats
Quantity
1 cup (240 ml / 170 g)
roughly broken rather than ground
tepid water
Quantity
1¼ to 1½ cups (300 to 360 ml / 300 to 360 g)
fine salt
Quantity
¾ teaspoon (3.75 ml / 4 g)
extra concassé buckwheat groats (optional)
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 20 g)
for correcting a loose paste
softened unsalted butter
Quantity
2 teaspoons (10 ml / 9 g)
for the mould and tray
unsalted butter
Quantity
1½ tablespoons (22.5 ml / 21 g)
for mixing into the hot kache
plain flour
Quantity
¼ cup (60 ml / 30 g)
for rolling
clarified butter
Quantity
3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g)
for colouring
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| concassé buckwheat groatsroughly broken rather than ground | 1 cup (240 ml / 170 g) |
| tepid water | 1¼ to 1½ cups (300 to 360 ml / 300 to 360 g) |
| fine salt | ¾ teaspoon (3.75 ml / 4 g) |
| extra concassé buckwheat groats (optional)for correcting a loose paste | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 20 g) |
| softened unsalted butterfor the mould and tray | 2 teaspoons (10 ml / 9 g) |
| unsalted butterfor mixing into the hot kache | 1½ tablespoons (22.5 ml / 21 g) |
| plain flourfor rolling | ¼ cup (60 ml / 30 g) |
| clarified butterfor colouring | 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •Food processor, only if starting with whole buckwheat groats
- •3-cup (700 to 750 ml) straight-sided baking dish or small Charlotte mould
- •Small rimmed metal tray
- •1-inch (2.5 cm) round cutter
- •Heavy skillet
- •Thin metal spatula
Instructions
- 1
Ready the concassé
Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Examine the concassé, meaning the roughly broken buckwheat: the pieces should resemble coarse grits, with no whole groats and very little powder. If starting with whole groats, pulse them briefly in a food processor, stopping well before they become flour.
- 2
Make the stiff paste
Mix the buckwheat and salt in a bowl. Work in 1¼ cups (300 ml) of the tepid water, then add the remainder a tablespoon at a time only if dry grain remains. The mixture should be thick enough for a spoon drawn through it to leave a trench; it must mound rather than flow. If it loosens too far, let it stand for 10 minutes so the grain can drink, then beat in the extra concassé a spoonful at a time. Ça se rattrape.
- 3
Bake the mould
Use half the softened butter to coat a 3-cup (700 to 750 ml) straight-sided baking dish. Pack in the paste, press out any air pockets, and level the top. Bake on the middle rack for 2 hours. A thick, firm crust should form over the top and around the sides while the centre becomes fully tender; that crust is a shield, not the finished food.
- 4
Lift the crust
Break through the top and remove the entire thick crust, then spoon the tender interior into a warm mixing bowl. Taste a little. If the centre still has a raw crunch, return it to the mould, cover, and bake for another 15 minutes before continuing. Do not confuse the buckwheat's natural graininess with undercooking; it should be textured but yielding.
- 5
Butter and spread
While the kache is still very hot, work in the 1½ tablespoons (21 g) unsalted butter until it disappears and the mixture takes on a gentle sheen. Butter a small rimmed metal tray with the remaining softened butter, then spread the kache into an even layer about ⅜ inch (1 cm) thick. Press firmly enough to remove gaps without crushing it into paste. Cool, then refrigerate for 45 to 60 minutes, until completely firm.
- 6
Cut and flour
Stamp out roundels with a 1-inch (2.5 cm) cutter, dipping the cutter in flour whenever it begins to drag. Gather the scraps, press them together once, and cut again. Roll each roundel lightly in the remaining flour and shake off every loose patch; excess flour burns before the buckwheat colours.
- 7
Colour in butter
Heat the clarified butter in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it runs freely and gleams. Add the roundels in one uncrowded layer and colour them for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until bronze and lightly crisp outside. If they cling, do not scrape: leave them another 20 seconds, because a properly formed crust releases itself. Fry in batches as needed, then set the hot roundels directly into the waiting potage or carry them separately to the table. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Buy cracked buckwheat or buckwheat grits, not buckwheat flour and not toasted whole groats. Concassé describes the cut, and the word carries the technique: coarse pieces provide structure while flour would make a heavy paste.
- •A deep, straight-sided dish preserves enough tender centre beneath the sacrificial crust. A broad casserole exposes too much surface, leaving you with plenty of crust and very little kache.
- •Use clarified butter for the final colouring. Whole butter contains milk solids that burn under the strong heat needed to bronze the flour coating; clarified butter gives you butter flavour and a clean, hot pan.
- •These roundels suit clear or lightly bound potages, where their toasted buckwheat character remains distinct. Add them at service so the bronze exterior keeps some bite.
Advance Preparation
- •Bake, butter, and spread the kache up to 2 days ahead. Cover the chilled slab closely and keep it refrigerated, then cut and colour the roundels shortly before serving.
- •The roundels may be cut and floured up to 6 hours ahead. Arrange them in one layer between sheets of baking paper and refrigerate; flour them again only where damp patches appear.
- •If necessary, colour the roundels earlier in the day and reheat them on a metal tray at 375°F (190°C) for 6 to 8 minutes. They will be a little less crisp than those taken directly from the skillet, but they will still hold properly in the potage.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 135g)
Calories
305 calories
Total Fat
16 g
Saturated Fat
9 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
6 g
Cholesterol
40 mg
Sodium
430 mg
Total Carbohydrates
36 g
Dietary Fiber
5 g
Sugars
0 g
Protein
7 g
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