Vichyssoise soup

Vichyssoise (pronounced /viːʃiːˈswɑːz/) 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 culinary origins of vichyssoise is a subject of debate among culinary historians. Louis Diat chef of the Ritz-Carlton in New York City, is most often credited with its invention.^[2] 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.^[3]"

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.

Others^[who?] contend that French chef Jules Gouffé was first to create the recipe, publishing a version in Royal Cookery (1869). Diat may have borrowed the concept from an older generation of French chefs and added the innovation of serving it cold.

[edit] References