| Tomato-Basil soup taste-off We tested La Madeleine's classic soup, a local legend, against upstart Café Patrique 05/30/2001 By Cathy Barber / The Dallas Morning News
Dallas loves its tomato-basil soup – specifically, the soup as served at
La Madeleine since the mid-'80s.
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But when La Mad founder Patrick Esquerre broke off and started another
new deal – Café Patrique – he created a new version of the old favorite.
This one is low-fat, while the La Mad version clogs the arteries with a
cup of whipping cream and half a cup of butter.
We decided to match the two, bowl to bowl. With help from Joe LaBarba,
vice president of retail sales for American Foodservice, and Michael
Zeve, chef and partner at Sevy's Grill, the Texas Taste staff
blind-sampled soups purchased anonymously at Café Patrique and La
Madeleine.
Then we tested soups made from recipes supplied by the restaurants. We
ran the La Mad recipe in 1998, and Café Patrique happily supplied its
new recipe.
It wasn't quite apples and oranges, but the two soups were quite
different. As chef Zeve pointed out, the La Mad soup should rightly be
called cream of tomato-basil (that whipping cream and butter).
This explains the huge disparity in the nutritional analysis. A serving
of the Café Patrique soup has 120 calories and 4 grams of fat, compared
with 237 calories in the La Madeleine soup, and 22 grams of fat.
Still, more people preferred the La Mad soup, although a couple of
people found it too rich.
The results were less clear-cut on the homemade soups; about all the
group could agree on is that the homemade versions weren't as good as
the store-bought. Chef Zeve said it's hard to cut down restaurant
recipes for home use.
Then there's the tomato issue. You have to start with a good tomato or
all is lost. We used hothouse tomatoes.
So now we turn it over to you.
La Madeleine, multiple locations.
Café Patrique, 5331 E. Mockingbird Lane, Suite 170
(Mockingbird Station), Dallas. 214-237-0333. A second location at Preston
Road and Forest Lane is scheduled to open midsummer.
Cathy Barber
Here is a sampling of what tasters had to say about the tomato-basil
soups from La Madeleine and Cafe Patrique
La Madeleine Tomato-Basil Soup
4 cups tomatoes (about 8 to 10 medium-size), peeled, cored and chopped,
or 4 cups canned whole tomatoes, crushed
4 cups tomato juice
12 to
14 fresh basil leaves, chopped, plus additional for garnish
1 cup
whipping cream
1/2 cup sweet unsalted butter, softened
1/4
teaspoon cracked black pepper
Salt to taste
Crusty bread (optional)
Combine tomatoes and juice in saucepan. Simmer for 30 minutes over
medium-low heat. Cool slightly, then place in a blender or food
processor. Add basil and process to purée; this will have to be done in
batches.
Return mixture to saucepan. Add cream and butter. Stir over low heat
until butter and cream are incorporated. Stir in salt and pepper before
serving. Garnish with more fresh basil and serve with fresh, crusty
bread. Makes 8 servings.
PER SERVING: Cal 237 (79% fat) Fat 22 g (13 g sat)
Fiber 1 g Chol 67 mg Sodium 165 mg Carb 10 g
Calcium 45 mg
Tasters' comments
From the restaurant
Nice flavor of herbs.
Like the consistency – not too thin, not too thick; acidic.
Strong tomato flavor; maybe tomato flavor dominates over basil.
Tangy.
Reminds me of puréed Prego spaghetti sauce.
Flavor is good, perhaps too acidic.
Too much spice.
From the recipe
Picante sauce appearance was a turn-off.
Lacks salt; moderately little tomato flavor. Painful to eat.
A little bland – not enough garlic, etc.
Bland.
Could use more spice.
Café Patrique
Tomato-Basil Soup
Low calorie
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced (about 11/2 cups)
3
ounces (about 20 cloves) fresh garlic, minced
1 ounce finely chopped
fresh thyme
5 pounds chopped fresh tomatoes (vine-ripened if possible)
5 tablespoons tomato paste
Sea salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons
sugar
6 cups chicken broth or water
5 ounces fresh basil
Heat olive oil in a large saucepan. Add onions and cook until light
brown. Reduce the heat. Add garlic and thyme and slowly cook for 10
minutes, stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes and cook for 15 minutes or
until they break down. Add all remaining ingredients except basil.
Reduce the mixture slowly for 30 minutes. Check the seasoning and add
some sugar if necessary to correct the acidity. Pour soup into a
blender, add basil and blend until smooth. Makes 8 servings.
PER SERVING: Cal 120 (29% fat) Fat 4 g (1 g sat) Fiber
3 g No chol Sodium 959 mg Carb 15 g Calcium 74
mg
Tasters' comments
From the restaurant
Creamy and rich, a bit sweet.
Tastes like sour cream with tomato mixed in.
Better balance between tomato and spice.
Cheesy tasting, as if there's parmesan cheese in it.
Color is washed out.
Texture and overall consistency is too heavy.
Separation of product is not good.
From the recipe
An almost greasy finish. I can barely eat it.
Good basil presence; weaker tomato taste.
Bland.
Cream overrides the tomato taste.
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