"national vichyssoise day" news and stories

Happy National Vichyssoise Day!

According to legend, vichyssoise is an accidental creation resulting from French King Louis XV's paranoia. History has it that the king was eternally convinced that his meal was poisoned, and, as a precaution, would regularly insist that his servants sample his soup before him. By the time his beloved potato-leek soup would reach the table it was usually cold -- and the French followed the trend, embracing vichyssoise below room temperature.

More than 200 years later, chef Louis Diat of New York City's prominent Ritz-Carlton would attempt to lay claim to the creation -- named after the town of Vichy, near his birthplace -- insisting that he was inspired by his childhood habit of cooling down his mother's potato soup with cold milk.

The soup's origins may be uncertain, but its recipes are pretty standard, using minimal ingredients beyond potatos, leeks, stock and cream. The New York Times, however, adjusts the recipe with green garlic for extra flavor, in a rendition so successful that you may find yourself hard-pressed to find the patience to let the soup cool before devouring it.

Become a member of the Slashfood Flickr pool to get a shot at having your photos featured on the site.

Happy National Vichyssoise Day!

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.