January 17, 2026
Ingredients (for 4 people):
- 1 knob of unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 2 shallots, chopped
- 4 carrots, sliced
- 750ml (11/3 pints) chicken stock
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- 100ml (31/2 fl oz) whipping cream
- 1 litre (13/4 pints) water
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 12 quail eggs
- 12 baby beetroot leaves
- fleur de sel and freshly ground black pepper
Preparation time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 35 minutes
New Year’s resolution: harvest the carrots and shallots in the garden and gather the fresh ginger. In a cycle that’s beginning over again, we collect a dozen small speckled quail eggs.
For the carrot cream:
Begin by heating the butter and oil in a saucepan, then sweat the shallots and carrots. Season with salt and pour in the chicken stock. Add the ginger. Bring to the boil then simmer for 20 minutes.
Add the cream and cook for a further 5 minutes. Blend, then pass the carrot cream through a fine sieve. It’s ready!
For the quail eggs:
Fill a large, shallow pan with water and add a spoonful of vinegar. Break the quail eggs one at a time into a small ramekin. When the water is boiling, lower the heat to a simmer and carefully slide the quail eggs, one at a time, into the water, creating a whirlpool with a spatula so that the whites perfectly cover the yolks. Leave the eggs
in water for just 1 minute so that they remain soft and the nicely orange yolks reveal their maximum creaminess. Plunge the eggs into a bowl of ice-cold water to stop the cooking.
To serve:
Pour the carrot cream into a soup plate. Reheat the quail eggs by immersing them for a few moments in boiling water. Arrange three eggs in each dish and garnish with the baby beetroot leaves.
The 12 days between Christmas and Epiphany predict the weather for the next 12 months, or so they say: we remember the first cold spell and how pleased we were to warm the body and the heart with delicious soups.
Wine-food match:
We recommend that you pair this dish with a BLASON D’ISSAN 2011.
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