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Garbure soup with beans, vegetables and meat.

Soups & potages

Garbure

By Anne Lataillade

Garbure is a soup for a proper appetite: white beans, cabbage and winter vegetables in a broth flavoured with Bayonne ham and duck confit. Carrots, leeks and turnips soften in duck fat before their long simmer, bringing sweetness alongside the savoury meats. In this Béarnaise version, the vegetables take the lead and the duck goes in near the end. Serve generous bowls with lightly toasted country bread to soak up the broth.

Prep
30 min
Cook
4 hr 45 min
Published total
5 hr 15 min
Serves8
Jump to recipe ↓Papilles et Pupilles ↗

Ingredients

Garbure

Method

  1. The day before, cover the beans with water and soak for at least 12 hours.
  2. Put ham, peppercorns, piment, clove-studded onion, celery, thyme and bay in a large stockpot. Cover with 4–5 litres of water so everything is immersed. Bring to a boil, reduce to a gentle simmer and cook 90 minutes. Meanwhile wash and cut carrots, turnips and leeks as listed.
  3. Brown the duck confit over high heat in a frying pan. Drain on kitchen paper and reserve. Discard the fat except approximately 4 tablespoons; sweat the carrots, leeks and turnips in it for a few minutes.
  4. After the ham has simmered 90 minutes, remove and reserve about ten ladles of broth. Add the sweated vegetables and drained beans to the pot. Bring back to a boil, then simmer for at least 2 hours.
  5. Add the washed, cored and shredded cabbage. Top up to cover with the reserved broth and cook 30 minutes.
  6. Add the potato chunks and cook another 30 minutes.
  7. Add the confit and cook about 15 minutes to warm it through. Taste, add salt if needed and serve.

Equipment

Large stockpot; Frying pan; Ladle; Bowl for soaking

Notes

  • Pot and lid: a 9-litre pot gives you room for this batch. Leave the lid partly covering the pot to limit evaporation.
  • Beans: Tarbais are ideal; dried lingot beans work well too. Soak them for at least 12 hours. If using beans already cooked in duck fat, remove as much fat as possible and add them at the end.
  • Duck confit: the eight pieces can be smaller cuts such as wings, rather than eight whole legs. The vegetables should take the lead.
  • Broth and salt: keep the broth removed during cooking and use it to cover the cabbage. Taste before salting at the end, as both the ham and confit bring salt.
  • Cabbage and garlic: the cabbage goes straight into the pot without blanching. No garlic is needed in this version.
  • Time: allow at least 12 hours for soaking before the published preparation and cooking time. The bean simmer is at least two hours, so cooking may take longer.
  • Serving: add lightly toasted country bread alongside. This is a generous, thick soup, the sort in which a spoon might stand up.
  • Leftovers: the flavour is even better the next day. Refrigerate and reheat the quantity you need, or freeze in portions for another meal.

Photos

12 photos
IngrédientsIngredientsHam and aromatics for the brothConfitIngredientsDuck confit before browningHaricots TarbaisIngredientsWhite beans for the garbureChouIngredientsCabbage ready for the potCarottes et navetsStep 2Cut carrots and turnipsPoireauxStep 2Prepared leeksVersez l'eauStep 2Cover the ham and aromatics with waterFaites forerStep 3Brown the duck confitPommes de terreStep 6Potatoes simmering in the brothGarbureFinished dishGarbure in its serving bowlGarbure béarnaiseServingThe texture of the finished soupGarbure béarnaiseServingA generous bowl of garbure

Garbure

Recipe photos

About this dish

Garbure belongs to the farmhouse cooking of south-west France, with a strong tradition in Béarn. It makes a meal from garden vegetables, beans and preserved meats, with the pot changing according to the season and the household. Escoffier's 1903 Le Guide Culinaire calls for fresh white beans in season and dried beans at other times, alongside cabbage, root vegetables, pork and goose confit.

Anne Lataillade's version keeps the vegetables at the centre. The ham heel slowly flavours the cooking water, while browning the duck supplies fat for softening the carrots, leeks and turnips. These then simmer with the beans; cabbage and potatoes join later. The confit is already cooked and only needs warming through at the end. The broth gets its flavour from the ingredients themselves.

Garbure has its own celebration in Oloron-Sainte-Marie: the Garburade, with a world championship, great cooking pots, bands and long tables of friends. A farmhouse soup has become a reason to bring a whole town together.

Recipe and cooking notes adapted from Papilles et Pupilles.