Vichyssoise
Vichyssoise (
/ˌvɪʃiˈswɑːz/ US dict: vish·ē·swäz′) is a thick soup made of puréed leeks, onions, potatoes, cream, and chicken stock. It is traditionally served cold, but can also be eaten hot.[1]
[edit] Origin
The origins of vichyssoise are a subject of debate among culinary historians; Julia Child calls it "an American invention",[2] whereas others observe that "the origin of the soup is questionable in whether it's genuinely French or an American creation".[3]
Louis Diat, a chef at the Ritz-Carlton in New York City, is most often credited with its (re)invention.[4] In 1950, Diat told New Yorker magazine:
In the summer of 1917, when I had been at the Ritz seven years, I reflected upon the potato and leek soup of my childhood which my mother and grandmother used to make. I recalled how during the summer my older brother and I used to cool it off by pouring in cold milk and how delicious it was. I resolved to make something of the sort for the patrons of the Ritz.[5]
The same article explains that the soup was first titled crème vichyssoise glacée - then, after the restaurant's menu changed from French to English in 1930, cream vichyssoise glacée. Diat named it after Vichy, a town not far from his home town of Montmarault, France.
Earlier, French chef Jules Gouffé created a recipe for a hot potato and leek soup, publishing a version in Royal Cookery (1869).[6]
[edit] References
- ^ Some like it hot
- ^ Mastering the Art of French Cooking, p. 39
- ^ Cooknkate.wordpress.com
- ^ Kamp, David. The United States of Arugula, New York: Broadway Books, 2006
- ^ Hellman, Geoffrey T. (1950). "Talk of the Town". The New Yorker (12/02). Archived from the original on 14 November 2006. http://web.archive.org/web/20061114042642/http://www.newyorker.com/archive/content/articles/020819fr_archive03.
- ^ Thenibble.com
