Chef Juliette
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Soupe aux Foies de Volaille
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 744, Soupe aux Foies de Volaille, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Soupe aux Foies de Volaille turns modest chicken livers into a peppery, Madeira-scented soup, using brown roux and careful sieving to teach how texture and seasoning carry the deepest classical flavors.
Soups & Stews
French
Comfort Food
Budget Friendly
25 min
Active Time
40 min cook•1 hr 5 min total
YieldAbout 2 quarts (8 cups / 1.9 L), 6 to 8 servings
Soupe aux Foies de Volaille (chicken liver soup) teaches one true thing: liver becomes silken when it is finely sieved and cooked gently, but coarse and mineral when allowed to boil hard. Done properly, the soup is tawny, glossy, and full-bodied without a drop of cream, with butter-browned liver slices under the spoon and Madeira rising at the last moment.
The old kitchen assumed a saucier on staff, consommé or brown stock never off the fire, a tammy ready for two separate passes, and a salamander elsewhere on the line, though this soup never goes beneath it. At home, a heavy saucepan, a whisk, a small food processor, and a fine-mesh sieve do the honest work. The brigade's continuous service becomes one batch of about two quarts, enough for six to eight bowls. One cook, one stove, one evening.
The tammy cloth and the extra hands were scaffolding, so they can go. The light-brown roux, raw liver sieved into the stock, full fifteen-minute cook, second straining, sautéed liver garnish, bold pepper, and last-minute Madeira are the dish, so they stay. Keep the soup at a bare simmer once the liver enters. That is the step that decides everything.
Soupe aux Foies de Volaille belongs less to a single province than to the Parisian classical kitchen and the cuisine bourgeoise table, where poultry giblets were treated as ingredients worthy of exact technique rather than scraps. Household liver soups gained grand-kitchen refinement when raw liver was rubbed into roux-thickened consommé, cooked, and passed through a tammy until silken. Though often grouped with cream soups, this formula contains no cream: liver and brown roux provide its body, while Madeira supplies the final perfume.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
unsalted butter
Quantity
4½ tablespoons (68 ml / 64 g)
all-purpose flour
Quantity
½ cup (120 ml / 64 g)
finished white chicken consommé or finished brown chicken stock
Quantity
6 cups (1.42 L / 1.42 kg)
chicken livers for the soup
Quantity
12 ounces (about 1½ cups / 340 g)
trimmed of connective tissue and any green-stained parts
chicken livers for the garnish
Quantity
6 ounces (about ¾ cup / 170 g)
trimmed and sliced ¼ inch thick
unsalted butter for sautéing
Quantity
1½ tablespoons (22 ml / 21 g)
good Madeira
Quantity
6 tablespoons (90 ml / 90 g)
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
1½ teaspoons (7.5 ml / 3 g), plus more to taste
fine salt (optional)
Quantity
Up to 1 teaspoon (5 ml / 6 g)
use only if the stock requires it
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| unsalted butter | 4½ tablespoons (68 ml / 64 g) |
| all-purpose flour | ½ cup (120 ml / 64 g) |
| finished white chicken consommé or finished brown chicken stock | 6 cups (1.42 L / 1.42 kg) |
| chicken livers for the souptrimmed of connective tissue and any green-stained parts | 12 ounces (about 1½ cups / 340 g) |
| chicken livers for the garnishtrimmed and sliced ¼ inch thick | 6 ounces (about ¾ cup / 170 g) |
| unsalted butter for sautéing | 1½ tablespoons (22 ml / 21 g) |
| good Madeira | 6 tablespoons (90 ml / 90 g) |
| freshly ground black pepper | 1½ teaspoons (7.5 ml / 3 g), plus more to taste |
| fine salt (optional)use only if the stock requires it | Up to 1 teaspoon (5 ml / 6 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 4-quart saucepan
- •10-inch skillet
- •Small food processor
- •Fine-mesh sieve
- •Whisk and flexible spatula
- •Instant-read thermometer
Instructions
- 1
Sieve the raw livers
Keep the two portions of liver separate. Pulse the 12-ounce portion in a small food processor until it becomes a smooth raw paste, then press it through a fine-mesh sieve with a flexible spatula, scraping the underside into a cold bowl. This replaces the labor of rubbing every liver through a tammy, but the sieve itself stays because it catches veins and fibers that would spoil the texture. Cover and keep cold. Wash the processor, sieve, and work surface thoroughly with hot soapy water before they touch the cooked soup.
Cut away any green-stained patch completely. It comes from the gall bladder and is intensely bitter; no amount of Madeira will conceal it. - 2
Cook the brown roux
Melt the 4½ tablespoons butter in a heavy 4-quart saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and stir constantly with a wooden spoon for 7 to 10 minutes, until the roux reaches a clear light-brown color and smells of toasted nuts. Keep scraping the corners of the pan. Dark specks mean the flour has scorched, and scorched roux must be started again; brown is flavor, black is bitterness.
- 3
Moisten with stock
Take the saucepan briefly off the heat and whisk in about 1 cup of the consommé or brown stock, working until the roux becomes completely smooth. Add the remaining stock in several additions, whisking after each, then return the pan to medium heat. Bring it to a boil while stirring continuously, making certain nothing catches on the floor. If lumps form, stop adding liquid and whisk the thick base smooth before continuing. Ça se rattrape: stubborn small lumps will be caught during the final sieving.
- 4
Cook and strain
Lower the heat before adding the liver. Loosen the cold liver paste with a ladleful of the hot soup, then whisk it steadily back into the saucepan. Bring the soup only to a bare simmer and cook for 15 minutes, stirring often, until the liver is fully cooked and the soup reaches at least 165°F (74°C). Never let it gallop. If the liver turns grainy after a hard boil, remove the pan from the heat at once. Ça se rattrape: pass the soup through the cleaned fine-mesh sieve while warm, pressing gently with a ladle and scraping the silken soup from the underside into a clean saucepan.
- 5
Sauté the garnish livers
While the strained soup waits over very low heat, melt the remaining 1½ tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sliced livers in one uncrowded layer and toss them in the foaming butter until their surfaces are browned and their centers reach 165°F (74°C), about 2 to 3 minutes depending on thickness. Lift them from the pan immediately. Overcooking makes them chalky, and the soup cannot soften them again.
- 6
Finish with Madeira
Warm the strained soup until its surface barely trembles. Grind in the pepper, taste, and add salt only if the stock leaves the soup wanting it; livers want bold pepper, not careless salt. At the last moment, fold in the sautéed liver slices and Madeira. Do not boil again, or the wine's fragrance disappears and the garnish toughens. Ladle into warm bowls or bring the soup to the table in a soupière, making sure each serving receives several liver slices. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Fresh chicken livers should look glossy and burgundy-brown, with no sour smell or dry edges. Modest livers handled carefully will serve you better than expensive ones left too long in the pan.
- •Use the best finished stock you comfortably can. White consommé makes a paler, more delicate soup; brown chicken stock gives a deeper roasted character. Both belong to the source formula, but a salty stock leaves no room to season at the end.
- •There is no cream in this soup. The brown roux and sieved liver make the body, and adding cream would mute the pepper and Madeira that define the finish.
- •A medium-dry Madeira such as Verdelho gives fragrance without making the soup sweet. Add it after the final heating, because its aroma is part of the finish, not something to reduce away.
- •Refrigerate leftovers promptly and use within 2 days. Reheat gently to 165°F (74°C), stirring often; the soup remains good, though the fresh Madeira perfume will be quieter.
Advance Preparation
- •The soup can be prepared through the final sieving up to 1 day ahead. Cool it promptly in a shallow container, cover, and refrigerate. Reheat gently while stirring, then sauté the sliced livers and add them with the Madeira only when you are ready to serve.
- •The livers may be trimmed and divided up to 8 hours ahead, covered separately, and kept below 40°F (4°C). Do not purée the base portion until cooking time, since the paste oxidizes and loses its clean flavor quickly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 240g)
Calories
265 calories
Total Fat
14 g
Saturated Fat
7 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
7 g
Cholesterol
250 mg
Sodium
590 mg
Total Carbohydrates
15 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
4 g
Protein
16 g
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