We'll take cue from a master, and agree with Julia Child that the traditional leek-and-potato vichyssoise "is the mother of the family in all her simplicity." The vegetables combine to a delicate smooth soup, and, wrote Child, "a bit of cream at the end is a nourishing touch, but by no means necessary." But dear Julia, since when were you one to go easy on the fat?
Created by the chef of New York's Ritz, Louis Diat, the soup made an appearance shortly after the restaurant opened in December 1910. Debatably a Franco-American hybrid, the soup was inspired by the cooking of Diat's mother: "One of my earliest food memories is of my mother's good leek and potato soup," he wrote. Although similar French potage recipes predate the chilled Vichyssoise as we know it, the temperature is what differentiates the refreshing dish.
And what better way to celebrate National Vichyssoise Day than with Louis Diat's original recipe from 1941's "Cooking a la Ritz"? Check it out, after the jump.
Happy Raisin Bran Day! Most commonly recognized in the dominant Kellogg's Raisin Bran Crunch these days, the raisin-bran combination has actually been around since 1926, when it started as Skinner's Raisin Bran. The "raisin bran" moniker was once trademarked, but usage limitations fell by the wayside as the term became widespread.
Statistics say that the average raisin-bran box of cereal houses 1,000 raisins -- but we think the cereal is best put to use adding extra texture and flavor in creative baking, like this Apple Raisin Bran Muffin by Proof is in the Pudding.
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Happy National Guacamole Day! The culinary cosmos of guacamole and pickles may infrequently overlap, but at least today's national food holidays both celebrate zesty green condiments.
Though the lusciously creamy avocado mash is most often associated with summertime BBQs and beer, there's no reason you shouldn't be eager to make use of your mortars and pestles year-round. Check out our guacamole primer on Slashfood, or venture to AOL food for Rosa Mexicano's classic Guacamole en Molcajete recipe -- their trick is mashing the onion, jalapeno and cilantro into a paste for evenly distributed flavor -- though some consumers prefer their avocados hefty, and take pleasure in the zesty chunks of jalapeno, tomato, poblano peppers, green onion, etc.
What are your favorite guacamole additions? Share your secret ingredients after the jump.
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Happy National Pickle Day! Though most commonly perceived and popularized as a brined cucumber, the "Food Lover's Companion" defines the pickle as any "food that has been preserved in a seasoned brine or vinegar mixture." According to the guide, the most popular pickling subjects beyond the cucumber typically include pearl onions, cauliflower, watermelon rind, baby corn, herring and pig's feet -- though most any vegetable can be pickled, it need only be firm enough to not dissolve in brine.
Brines range from sweet (Bread-and-Butter Pickles), to sour or hot (Spicy Dill Pickles), or may take on the flavor of whatever additives, from herbs to spices (Rosemary-Garlic Pickles). And the brine itself holds a range of uses too: soup stock, drink base, even hangover remedy! In one of the more surprising uses, a shot of pickle juice follows a shot of Jameson in the "pickle back" drink.
For an unexpected range of recipes, check out ilovepickles.org and get creative!
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Mascha shares his water know-how at the "Cook. Eat. Drink. Live." event. Photo: Alexa Weibel.
In the competitive, volatile market of food trends, one consumable blankets the majority of Earth yet is massively overlooked by epicureans: water. Commonly considered flavorless -- most would scoff to hear there are some 3,000 varieties of bottled water worldwide -- the commodity is getting reexamined as health issues abound and alcohol consumption is on the wane.
At the forefront of the water movement is water sommelier Michael Mascha, who is working to "educate people about premium bottled water" in hopes of "taking bottled water to the next level and making it a luxury item" -- a lofty goal, considering the liquid is most often regarded strictly as a commodity. However, after a private water tasting at New York City's Cook. Eat. Drink. Live. convention last weekend with Mascha -- a retired food anthropology professor at USC and self-proclaimed "authority on the art of water tasting" -- there may be more to water than meets the eye.
More on the art of water tasting and 'fine water etiquette' after the jump.
As Thanksgiving approaches and we're reminded of the initial feast with the Pilgrims and the Indians, one likely dish of the meal has long been overlooked: the traditional Indian pudding. And though the Native American Indian dessert didn't quite stick as a holiday staple, it gets honored today with National Indian Pudding Day.
American Indian puddings are a baked custard, made from cornmeal and eggs, sweetened with molasses and flavored by spices. They also often include local, readily available fruit, like apples. The name is derived from "Indian" for its use of cornmeal, once called "Indian meal." Although the dish may not appear the most refined, it's comfort food at its best -- try it yourself, with this recipe adapted from "An Olde Conchord Christmas."
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Happy National Pizza With Everything (Except Anchovies) Day! Anchovy lovers may be tiffed, but they can celebrate their topping the other 364 days of the year.
Whether you enjoy your pizza artisanal (thin-crusted, with scarce but quality ingredients, typically served in trendy restaurants) or classic (pepperoni, loaded with cheese, delivered by teenage pizza boys), today is the day to savor a slice.
Do you prefer pizzas with low-quantity, high-quality ingredients, or fully loaded ones, with toppings overpowering the crust? What are your favorite pizza-topping combinations? Spill your delectable slice secrets in the comments!
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Though true queso lovers don't need a national holiday to celebrate the glorious cheese-chip pairing, we're pleased to announce once again that today is National Nachos Day.
The festive gooey treat was first served 66 years ago by ingenious maitre d' Ignacio "Nacho" Anaya in a Piedras Negras, Mexico, restaurant, located across the Rio Grande from Texas. According to legend, some Americans happened to stumble upon the eatery just as the chef had stepped out, so Nacho cleverly satiated them by piling a platter of tortilla chips high with cheese and topping them with a zesty jalapeno garnish.
And the carb-heavy dish has been improving ever since, with the additions of everything from Rotel to radishes, cilantro to crema, guacamole to Velveeta, pinto beans to pulled pork.
What are your favorite nacho variations? Spill the beans, after the jump!
In the month that houses the nation's premier evening of gluttony -- the average American consumes some 4,500 calories every Thanksgiving Day, not to mention seemingly endless leftovers -- it's no wonder November is a dreaded month for dieters nationwide. But despite its most famous celebration, the month also ironically serves as the healthy host to National Pepper Month, Vegan Month, National Pomegranate Month, and National Peanut Butter Lover's Month.
Excuses for culinary celebrations range from tame (National Sunday Day, Nov. 11), to obvious (National Turkey Day -- you guessed it, Thanksgiving Day), to practical (National Leftovers Day follows Turkey Day), to downright bizarre (Cook Something Bold and Pungent Day, Nov. 9). So get cooking -- if only for the holidays that you can stomach.
Notable national food holidays for the month of November, after the jump...
What do chefs eat when they need a palate cleanser after so much fancy restaurant fare? When they take off their aprons, they reach for the same indulgences we do -- perhaps just with an upgrade. Slashfood asked celebrity chefs to share their favorite cravings.
Mario Batali When orange-clogged chef and television personality Mario Batali isn't reinventing Italian cuisine, he's still got it in the bag -- of Doritos, that is. "I love two things: good gelato and, strangely enough, Doritos and salsa. It has to be Doritos, though. I especially like the lime-flavored ones with chili."
Nigella Lawson Which foods make domestic goddess Nigella Lawson feel sinful? None! Nigella, who is famous for her intimate, relaxed cooking style says, "I don't have any guilty food pleasures. The only thing one should ever feel guilty about is not taking pleasure."
See what snacks Bobby Flay, Tom Colicchio and other celebrity chefs sneak after the jump.
Ancient yet modern at once, Greek cuisine radiates with sunshine and bright, fresh flavors. Succulent lamb enlivened with rosemary and garlic, a classic dish, is as redolent of Greece as it is of springtime. And as is true of anywhere with a shoreline, seafood is center stage. Always present are plates of local feta, stark-white and salty, and olives whose depth of flavor will keep you from ever opening canned olives again. For dessert, honey forms a sinful pact with walnuts and cinnamon, or yogurt made in-house just that morning cozies up to macerated cherries.
A Greek dinner is lovely to prepare and a joy to eat. Many of the ingredients are staples you probably have in your kitchen, such as lemons, herbs, eggs and olive oil. Here are some ingredients you might want to try.
The Basics: Olives and Feta. Olive oil is central to Greek cooking. The essential Greek olive is kalamata. They should be deep black and packed in an olive oil and vinegar brine; a taste should reveal a distinctive, fruity flavor and a firm bite without mealiness. Here's a great recipe for using these beauties. There are other Greek cheeses beyond feta, but this standard should be available in every cheese case. The cheese should be pure white with a gently pocked surface, lounging in a clean bath of salt-water brine (never buy dry feta).
Yes, you read that right. Thanks to the modern phenomenon of solutions to problems no one has, there exists concept design for a device which, depending on your viewpoint, is genius, preposterous, useless, or somewhere between the three. Please meet the CHOMPr hamburger grasper, which according to the copy is "a conceptual hamburger grasping device for high-end restaurants." Looking like two coffee tables from a dollhouse from the Eames era held together by those pins Ikea gives you to keep your bookshelf from collapsing, the CHOMPr seeks to ameliorate the conflict between the informal process of eating a hamburger and formal surroundings.
To some, whether you need a hamburger grasping device beyond those at the ends of your arms is sort of, well, silly. But it is very interesting as an etiquette question, because it raises the related issues of utensils as a dimension of table manners and hands as a dimension of utensils. For the former, utensils are a mark of civilization precisely because they aren't your hands, and the development of utensils has followed a trajectory more or less complimentary to the Industrial Revolution, culminating in the Victorian era, when a fully outfitted silver trousseau could top out at 500 pieces and counting.
On the one hand, I have to admit that I am a little creeped out by the amount of coverage that the Obama family is getting. There is no reason that I need to know the menu options offered by Sidwell Friends School or the identity of Michelle Obama's favorite clothing designer. These things have no impact on the President's ability to govern or on my day-to-day life.
On the other hand, I, like so many of my fellow Americans, am fascinated by my new President, and the more I learn about the little details of his life, the more human and real he seems. While I admit to being a little disturbed by the nascent cult of personality that seems to be developing around President Obama, I feel like I can trust him to keep a clear head, no matter how hard the country seems to be working on giving him a messiah complex. In fact, the man who emerges from this National Geographic trailer seems as level-headed as they come.
As the ongoing recession/inflation/credit crunch drives the cost of food higher and higher, British chain Sainsbury's has begun working to minimize food wastage. Meanwhile, ever-increasing numbers of consumers are cooking from scratch in an attempt to stretch their food budgets. Clearly, thrift is back!
As you rush around in your search for cheap things to eat, it's worth remembering that, in the kitchen at least, poverty can definitely be the mother of invention. Although cheap gas, greenhouse gardening, and factory farming drove down the price of food for most of the last century, the vast majority of human history has been characterized by the desperate search for sustenance. Keeping that in mind, here's a reminder about a few of the techniques that long-gone chefs once developed to preserve the harvest, get their vitamins, and avoid throwing anything away:
Organ meats: In the days before easy canning and greenhouse gardening, it was incredibly difficult to get the necessary daily allowance of vitamins. Lacking access to fresh fruits and vegetables, medieval farmers turned to organ meats. For example, rich in iron and Vitamin A, the liver was a dietary staple for generations. Similarly, kidneys, sweetbreads, and brains are also great sources of necessary vitamins. Much later, immigrants and the lower classes continued to eat these organs, as they were healthy and relatively inexpensive.
Over the past few years, as wine has undergone repeated studies, it has started to seem like the modern-day fountain of youth. According to its various supporters, it can fight off streptococcus bacteria, reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease, and flush one's system with antioxidants. Still, all of these pale beside wine's greatest claim to fame: the so-called French paradox.
For years, scientists have wondered how the French, who have one of the most saturated-fat rich diets in the world, manage to have such a low incidence of heart disease. While they haven't been able to scientifically determine the mechanism at work, anecdotal evidence has suggested that France's impressive wine consumption might have something to do with the paradox. Recently, scientists at Hebrew University in Jerusalem have confirmed the link and have even determined part of its mechanism.
According to the researchers, when the body digests meat, particularly turkey and red meat, it produces two toxic chemicals, malondialdehyde and hydroperoxide. These compounds can cause cancer, inflammation, and heart disease. However, red wine contains polyphenols, a particular kind of antioxidant, that neutralizes the toxins and prevents their absorbtion into the bloodstream.
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Over the past few years, as wine has undergone repeated studies, it has started to seem like the modern-day 
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