Vichyssoise
Encyclopedia
Soup
Soup is a generally warm food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables with stock, juice, water, or another liquid. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingredients in liquids in a pot until the flavors are extracted, forming a broth.Traditionally,...
made of purée
Purée
Purée and mash are general terms for cooked food, usually vegetables or legumes, that have been ground, pressed, blended, and/or sieved to the consistency of a soft creamy paste or thick liquid. Purées of specific foods are often known by specific names, e.g., mashed potatoes or apple sauce...
d leeks, onion
Onion
The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...
s, potato
Potato
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
es, cream
Cream
Cream is a dairy product that is composed of the higher-butterfat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, over time, the lighter fat rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream this process is accelerated by using centrifuges called "separators"...
, and chicken stock. It is traditionally served cold, but can also be eaten hot.
Origin
The origins of vichyssoise are a subject of debate among culinary historians; Julia ChildJulia Child
Julia Child was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for introducing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and her subsequent television programs, the most notable of which was The French Chef, which...
calls it "an American invention", whereas others observe that "the origin of the soup is questionable in whether it's genuinely French or an American creation".
Louis Diat
Louis Diat
Louis Felix Diat was a chef and culinary writer who created vichyssoise soup.-Personal life:Diat and his wife Suzanne had a daughter. Between 1916 and 1929, they lived in New Rochelle. Between 1929 and January 1950, they lived in Central Park West. Thereafter, he and his wife lived in...
, a chef at the Ritz-Carlton
Ritz-Carlton
The Ritz-Carlton is a brand of luxury hotels and resorts with 75 properties located in major cities and resorts in 24 countries worldwide...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, is most often credited with its (re)invention. In 1950, Diat told New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
magazine:
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
Vichy
Vichy is a commune in the department of Allier in Auvergne in central France. It belongs to the historic province of Bourbonnais.It is known as a spa and resort town and was the de facto capital of Vichy France during the World War II Nazi German occupation from 1940 to 1944.The town's inhabitants...
, a town not far from his home town of Montmarault
Montmarault
Montmarault is a commune in the Allier department in central France.-Population:-Tourism:The Petite Valette campground has been named the best camping of the Auvergne by the German ADAC....
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Earlier, French chef Jules Gouffé
Jules Gouffé
Jules Gouffé was a renowned French chef and pâtissier. He was nicknamed :l'apôtre de la cuisine décorative ....
created a recipe for a hot potato and leek soup, publishing a version in Royal Cookery (1869).