Fennel Soup

We are currently serving this soup chilled with a smoked fig and little lemon foam.

I love it conceptually because its made of 3 different elements that come together cold. The triad reminds me of bass, mid and treble applied to music. I prepare each element of the soup seperately and mix them like a technician moves levels to create the perfect sound.

Bass:
This is the cooked element. The fennel bulbs are cooked for a long time with butter, water, pernod and fennel seeds. After 5-6 hours or whenever it starts to completely fall apart - puree and strain. The result is a rich, silky fennel puree.

Mid:
This element is nothing but the fresh juice of the fennel bulb with vitamin c to prevent oxidation. This is most mild and pleasant of the three. Light and sweet with an off-white color identical to the bulb itself. I could drink a glass of this with ice on a hot day.

Treble:
This came about because the chef wanted the soup to be green. Originally I planned on blanching the fronds and pureeing them into the soup for color. I found the fresh juice of the stems and fronds is a lot more interesting. This is the most intense and abrasive bit of the soup. It is vibrantly electric green in color and tastes almost sickenly sweet of licorice candy.

Once the three are prepared and chilled, I mix them, taste - too much green, too much cream, etc. The balance is simply beatiful. The only downside is it takes a case of fennel to make a little over 1/2 gallon of soup.