Crème d’Ignames, otherwise Brésilienne

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Rimmed baking sheet
• •Sturdy 8 to 10-inch fine-mesh sieve
• •Metal spoon or flexible bowl scraper for pressing
• •Small heavy saucepan for the thin Béchamel
• •4-quart heavy saucepan
• •Digital kitchen scale
• •Fine strainer for the tapioca pearls

Instructions

1. 1

   Bake the yams

   Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Prick the scrubbed yam in two or three places, leave the skin intact, and set it on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 60 to 90 minutes, depending on its thickness, until a thin knife passes through the center without meeting a chalky core. The skin may darken and the yam may surrender a little syrup at the punctures. That is exactly right. Boiling would fill the flesh with water and flatten its sweetness; baking is the dish, not a convenience.

   True yam must be cooked completely. If the center still feels firm or dry beneath the knife, return it to the oven for another 10 minutes before opening it.
2. 2

   Make thin Béchamel

   During the yam's final 20 minutes, warm the 1½ cups milk in a small saucepan. Melt the 16 g butter in a second saucepan over low heat, whisk in the flour, and cook the pale roux for 2 minutes without letting it color. Add the warm milk in three additions, whisking each one smooth before the next, then hold the Béchamel at a bare simmer for 8 minutes. It should remain very fluid and only lightly veil a spoon. If small lumps form, pass the sauce through the fine-mesh sieve. If the bottom catches, pour the clean sauce into another pan immediately and leave every browned trace behind.

3. 3

   Poach Brazilian pearls

   Bring the consommé to a gentle simmer in a small saucepan. Sprinkle in the tapioca pearls while stirring, then poach them gently until tender and nearly translucent, usually 15 to 20 minutes or according to their package. Stir often enough to keep them separate. Lift them out with a fine strainer and hold them in 2 tablespoons of the consommé so they remain moist; drain them just before serving.

4. 4

   Sieve the hot pulp

   As soon as the yam is tender, protect your hand with a folded towel and cut it lengthwise. Scoop out the flesh at once, weigh 1½ pounds (680 g), and press it through a sturdy fine-mesh sieve while it is still hot, using the back of a metal spoon or a flexible bowl scraper. Do not use a food processor, which works the starch into glue. If the pulp cools and becomes stubborn, set it in a covered heatproof bowl over barely simmering water until warm again. Ça se rattrape. Add no water.

5. 5

   Loosen the purée

   Bring the 3 cups milk just to a boil. Put the sieved yam in a heavy 4-quart saucepan over low heat and whisk in the milk one ladle at a time, smoothing each addition before adding the next. The first ladle will make a stiff paste, then the purée will relax. Whisk in all the thin Béchamel and hold the soup at the barest tremble for 5 minutes, stirring along the pot floor. Do not boil it hard. The finished base should coat a spoon lightly and fall from it in an unbroken ribbon.

6. 6

   Pass the soup again

   Pass the hot soup through the cleaned fine-mesh sieve into a clean saucepan, pressing gently and discarding any fibrous residue. This second pass is the honest home equivalent of the original tammy cloth, and it gives Brésilienne its characteristic fineness. If the soup still seems grainy, warm it and pass it once more. Blending harder only works the starch further.

7. 7

   Finish and garnish

   Reserve 2 tablespoons of the cream, then whisk the remainder into the soup over low heat until the surface is glossy and the soup is thoroughly hot, without letting it boil. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the cold butter one piece at a time. Season with the salt and white pepper. If an oily ring appears, the pan was too hot: move it to a cool surface and whisk in the reserved cream a teaspoon at a time until the soup becomes smooth again. Divide the drained consommé-poached pearls among warmed bowls, ladle over the Brésilienne, and serve at once. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Buy a true yam, a Dioscorea tuber often labeled white yam, African yam, or ñame. An orange sweet potato is sweeter, wetter, and softer; it makes a pleasant soup, but it is not the dry-fleshed igname this formula depends upon.
• •The source ratio is exact: for every 1 pound (454 g) hot yam pulp, use 2 cups (475 ml / 490 g) boiling milk and 1 cup (240 ml / about 245 g) thin Béchamel. Weigh the baked pulp rather than guessing from the size of the raw tuber.
• •Choose the smallest plain white tapioca pearls you can find, not large black drinking pearls or instant tapioca granules. Their job is quiet texture and a little consommé flavor, not spectacle.
• •The source also permits a velouté treatment built on a velouté base instead of this milk and Béchamel route. That is a separate, legitimate branch of the sauce family, not an adjustment to this crème, so keep the two methods distinct.
• •Serve with a dry Loire Chenin Blanc if this opens a dinner. Its acidity keeps the milk and butter lively while respecting the yam's restrained sweetness.

Advance Preparation

• •The soup can be prepared through the second sieving one day ahead. Cool it promptly, cover, and refrigerate; reheat it slowly, then add the cream and cold butter only when you are ready to serve.
• •The thin Béchamel can be made one day ahead. Press parchment directly against its surface, chill it, and whisk over low heat before combining it with the yam.
• •Poach the tapioca pearls no more than 2 hours ahead and keep them moistened with a spoonful of consommé. Held overnight, they continue swelling and lose their neat, pearled texture.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 240g)