Garbure — France

Garbure is a thick vegetable soup built around cabbage, white beans and potatoes, simmered until the vegetables begin to break down and the broth turns creamy. A piece of duck or goose confit, or sometimes ham, is added toward the end to give the pot its depth of flavor and richness. The soup is associated with the Gascon countryside of southwestern France, particularly the Béarn and Bigorre areas at the foot of the Pyrenees, where it is known locally as bigourne. It is a dish of the farmhouse kitchen, built to use up whatever vegetables are on hand and to stretch a small amount of preserved meat over a large pot. Cooking begins with a base of white beans, carrots, turnips and potatoes set to simmer in water or light stock, with cabbage added later so it keeps some bite. Herbs such as thyme and bay, a little garlic and sometimes a ham bone flavor the broth as it reduces over one or two hours. The confit is warmed through in the last stretch of cooking, and a slice of stale bread is sometimes placed in the bowl before the soup is ladled over it. What sets this bowl apart within the wider soup and pot-au-feu family is the pairing of cabbage with preserved duck or goose fat, and the practice of finishing the last spoonfuls with a splash of red wine swirled directly into the bowl, a habit locally called faire chabrot. The result sits between a soup and a stew, thick enough to hold a spoon upright.