Name: Gascon Duck and Vegetable Soup (Garbure)
Yield: Makes 10 Main-Course Servings
Ingredients: 1 small head of cabbage, preferably Savoy; 1 turnip, peeled and cut into ¼-inch cubes; 2 pounds boneless pork shoulder, trimmed of fat and cut into ½-inch cubes (it’s often easiest just to take the meat off 3 pounds shoulder pork chops); ¼ pound prosciutto, cut into ¼-inch cubes; 1 medium-size onion, chopped; 2 tablespoons duck or goose fat from the confit; 1 cup dried white navy beans or cannellini, soaked for 3 hours; 8 confit duck thighs or confit of 2 ducks, meat pulled away from the bone and left in large chunks; 1 bouquet garni, including 1 clove; 2 quarts duck or chicken broth or water; salt and pepper; 2 leeks, white part and 1 inch of green, washed and finely sliced 2 medium-size waxy potatoes, cut into ½-inch cubes; 5 garlic cloves, peeled

Preparation info

Makes
10
Main-Course Servings

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Splendid Soups

By James Peterson

Published 2000

About

A garbure is a vegetable soup generously flavored with preserved duck or goose (confit de canard or confit d’oie) that, when well made, represents French country cooking at its best.

A garbure is a winter dish, best served late on a cold Sunday afternoon, preferably in the country—maybe after a day’s skiing. If you don’t want to spend the whole morning cooking, garbure can be made a day or two in advance (or even longer if it’s frozen) and reheated