We recently cruised on the Cezanne on the Rhone River in France, visiting wonderful medieval villages and picturesque towns. Here are the two recipes most often requested by passengers of the 100-passenger Peter Deilmann riverboat and given to us by the boat hotel magager and chef. The Cézanne rich soup recipes are just right for the fall season. Bon Appétit!

CREAMY SOUP OF WHITE AUBERGINES (EGGPLANTS)
4 servings

250 g. white aubergines (eggplants)
2 green onions, ca. 50 g.
1 garlic
40 g. butter
1 dash of curry powder, salt, Cayenne pepper
1 liter chicken essence
100 ml cream
1 tablespoon of whipped cream

Ingredients for garniture:
60 g. chopped, caramelized shallots (with Armagnac and brown sugar), chopped thyme, milk foam and some cinnamon

Peel the eggplants and cut them into the small pieces. Clean the green onions, peel the garlic and cut them both into slices. Melt half of the butter and use to fry the vegetables (they should not get brown). Season with curry and Cayenne pepper, add chicken essence. Let it cook for 5 minutes. Purée the eggplant mixture, pour it then back into the pot, add the cream and cook again, stir occasionally. Mix the rest of the cold butter (in small pieces) into the soup using an electric soup mixer. Fold the whipped cream into the soup. Melt some butter for the garniture, add shallots, sugar and Armagnac and let caramelize. Arrange the caramelized shallots into the soup plate, pour the soup on top of it, add the milk foam and garnish with cinnamon.

PUMPKIN CREAM SOUP
6 servings

250 g. pumpkins
100 g. potatoes
1 middle-size onion
Sweet white wine
1 liter chicken or vegetable stock
1 liter cream
Fresh basil
Vinegar, butter, salt, pepper, sugar and muscat

Peel pumpkin, potatoes, and onions; cut into small cubes, fry lightly in butter, and sauté with some white wine. Add the chicken or vegetable stock. Season and let cook about 20 minutes, then mix with an electric mixer, pass through a sieve. Add the cream and let boil (ca. 10-15 minutes). Add the finely chopped basil, season additionally with a shot of vinegar, salt, pepper, some sugar and muscat, if needed. Serve with some whipped cream and garnishing.

Suggestions for garnishments:
Mandarins, oranges, pumpkin cubes, pumpkinseed oil and/or roasted pumpkin seeds.

[Conversions: 1 liter = 2.11 pints and 100 grams equals 3.5 ounces.]

This is the season for wine river cruises in Europe, and Peter Deilmann will have its October wine cruises on the Princesse de Provence on the Rhône and Saône rivers. The Provence goes roundtrip from Lyon, sailing north to Chalon-sur-Saône and then south on the Rhône to Roman Vienne, Mâcon, Avignon, and Arles in Provence.