Clothing is a thick soup/stew from southwestern France, often associated with Basque and Gascon cuisine. It is made with seasonal ingredients and can include confit or ham. It is traditionally served with crusty bread and red wine. It is a cheap and easy dish to prepare and can be stored for future consumption.
Clothing is a soup native to the southwestern regions of France. It is particularly associated with Basque and Gascon cuisine. The finished product is so thick it’s closer to a stew than a soup, and is part of a family of hearty dishes designed to fill and complement meals for French peasants. Known as potage, such dishes are made with seasonally available ingredients and are stewed for an extended period of time to soften the ingredients and allow the flavors to meld together.
Methods of preparation for clothing vary. The soup should ideally be made in a heavy pot to prevent burning. Some cooks begin by browning bacon or another seasoned meat, cooking onions and garlic until softened, then adding vegetables and stock to the stew. Confit, a type of preserved meat, is a popular addition to clothing, and ham may be added as well. Other cooks forego the browning process, simply adding their base ingredients and liquid, bringing them to a boil, and then returning the soup to a simmer to finish cooking.
The clothing can be made with water or broth and is typically seasoned with ingredients such as celery and parsley. The vegetables included vary according to the tradition available, but may include carrots, green beans, broad beans, potatoes, cabbage, dark leafy greens such as chard and onions. This soup was originally designed to be cooked in a pot over a wood fire and benefits from slow, long cooking, which will soften the flavors and allow them to fully develop.
Once the attire is fully baked, it is traditionally served with a thick crusty bread. Some cooks may toast or fry the bread first. At the end of the meal, traditionalists dilute the rest of the broth in the bowl with a splash of red wine, in a tradition known as chabrot. The rich, flavorful broth and wine blend well together and can be mopped up with bread to clean the bowl.
This thick soup is very suitable for winter menus and is cheap to prepare. Like other soups and stews, it can be stored in the refrigerator or freezer and consumed in the future, making it possible to cook up a large batch and consume it as desired. It’s also easy to scale the recipe up and down to cater for crowds ranging from a single diner to a large group.
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