1.13: Bisques and Cream Soups

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Page ID: 21162

Amelie Zeringue and William R. Thibodeaux
Nicholls State University

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Bisque is a smooth, creamy, highly seasoned soup of French origin, classically based on a strained broth (coulis) of crustaceans. It can be made from lobster, langoustine, crab, shrimp, or crayfish.

Bisque is a method of extracting flavor from imperfect crustaceans not good enough to send to market. In an authentic bisque, the shells are ground to a fine paste and added to thicken the soup. Julia Child even remarked, "Do not wash anything off until the soup is done because you will be using the same utensils repeatedly and you don't want any marvelous tidbits of flavor losing themselves down the drain."[4] Bisques are thickened with rice, which can either be strained out, leaving behind the starch, or pureed during the final stages.

Seafood bisque is traditionally served in a low two-handled cup on a saucer or in a mug.

Bisque is also commonly used to refer to cream-based soups that do not contain seafood, in which the sometimes pre-cooked ingredients are pureed or processed in a food processor or a food mill. Common varieties include squash, tomato, mushroom, and red pepper.

Traditional bisques are shellfish soups and thickened with cooked rice

Today, bisques are prepared using a combination of the cream and puree soup procedures. The word bisque nowadays is sometimes used to describe a thick creamy soup and would not technically mean that it is made from crustacean shells. They are generally made from shrimp, lobster, or crawfish and are thickened with a roux instead of rice for better stability and consistency. (We will prepare both methods in class)

Traditionally would not be garnished with actual seafood.
Traditionally would only use small amounts to no heavy cream.
Crawfish bisque (stuffed crawfish heads or boulettes dropped into soup) (South Louisiana Variation)
Crab and corn (Cream method)
Crawfish and corn (Cream method)
Lobster bisque (traditional method with roux added for flavor and consistency)
Shrimp bisque (traditional method)

Bisque Technique

Caramelize the mirepoix and main flavoring agent in fat
Add tomato product and deglaze with alcohol
Add cooking liquid ( stock )
Incorporate roux if needed
Simmer and skim
Puree and strain
adjust thickness by adding cooked rice and pureeing
simmer and finish with hot cream or cold compound butter

Steps to making Bisques

Sauté
Deglaze
Add liquid and simmer
Puree
Strain
Puree again with white rice
Finish with cream
Garnish

Crawfish Bisque plate up example. Photo Credit: Amelie Zeringue

Lobster bisque plate up example. Photo Credit: Amelie Zeringue