Used as a culinary base in France, tasted as a main course in Asia, the broth offers a thousand and one gastronomic possibilities, provided you have mastered the basics.

Guest of "La Table des bons vivants", Saturday on Europe 1, chef William Ledeuil, who has made it his specialty, delivers some valuable advice. 

"Every day of the year, it was a broth", remembers William Ledeuil, author of

Bouillons

(Ed. De la Martinière), whose passion dates back to childhood.

"My parents had a butcher's shop and no garden, but all the people who had gardens in the country brought vegetables, it was a bit of barter."

This is how this vegetable-based preparation, different from soup, entered "into the DNA" of the chef, at the head of the Ze Kitchen Galerie, KGB and Kitchen Ter (re) restaurants in Paris.

Guest of

La Table des bons vivant

, Saturday on Europe 1, the specialist gave his advice to sublimate this dish he loves, French or exotic. 

>> Find all of Laurent Mariotte's shows in podcast and replay here 

Choose organic vegetables

"A vegetable broth is the base," says William Ledeuil, who recommends making it with organic vegetables to reduce waste as much as possible.

"We are going to use the peels, the tops, the small trimmings ..." Mushrooms, celery, carrots, cabbage ... All vegetables can be used in the composition of a broth, on condition of going "sparingly", taking care tastes likely to "gain the upper hand". 

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Whatever the ingredients chosen, the chef recommends to fry them upstream, "with a drop of olive oil, to sweat and bring out the juice, the taste of the vegetable".

You can also slip in a little garlic.

Then when the vegetables are back, wet them with hot water.

For seasonal root vegetables, it takes a good hour of cooking. 

Twist her broth ...

The broth obtained is a "formidable support for cooks", according to William Ledeuil.

"We have the essential aromatic garnish that will give the basic broth. But afterwards, we have plenty of elements that will allow it to twist, playing on acids, spices, natural sugars, on acidities" , for example with citrus fruits.

A clever way of giving flavor and putting less salt in its preparations, underlines the chef. 

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... and let it rest

Once the preparation is complete, it is too early to take out his bowl and spoon, warns the chef.

"A broth is always better to let it sit with the elements in it, filter it cold and consume it the next day."

When ready to eat, you can add pasta, like Italian minestrone, or beans. 

Do not stop at the borders of France

Because if "in French cuisine, broth is more of a culinary aid", a little tour of foreign gastronomies allows us to imagine new ways of consuming it.

"When we travel a lot, we realize that in Asian countries, it is the very essence of the meal" underlines William Ledeuil, citing in particular the famous Vietnamese pho, with rice noodles, aromatic herbs and meat.

Recipes inspired by elsewhere that the chef keeps revisiting with seasonal products, such as mushrooms, peas, asparagus or shellfish.

If the experience tempts you, here is a green curry-based broth recipe, to be used endlessly ... 

Tom kha kai of vegetables By William Ledeuil

For about 80 cl

Preparation 20 minutes (+ rest 20 minutes)

Cooking 25 minutes

Ingredients

50 cl of vegetable broth

2 stems of lemongrass

5 lime leaves

1 krachai root

1/4 green bird's eye pepper

40 cl of coconut milk

10g grated horseradish or wasabi

3 sprigs of Thai basil

Recipe steps

Bring the vegetable broth to a boil.

Meanwhile, finely chop the lemongrass and lime leaves.

Peel and slice the krachai

Seed the bird's eye pepper.

Add all these ingredients to the broth and let infuse for 10 minutes over low heat.

Add the coconut milk and horseradish, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook for 10 minutes.

Mix and pass the Kha Kai tom in fine Chinese or in cheesecloth, pressing well to extract all the flavors.

Thin and add the Thai basil. Cover with cling film and let the tom kha kai steep for another 10 minutes. Filter again. Let cool before storing in the fridge until use.