Serve yourself a cool bowl of soup on Nov. 18

November is a good month for foods, and you don’t have to wait until Thanksgiving to participate. America celebrates National Vichyssoise Day on Nov. 18. You’re invited to dig in. 

Vichyssoise is a French word (VISH-ee-SWAHZ) that is a stumper in spelling bee contests. Vichyssoise is a thick soup made of boiled and puréed leeks, onions, potatoes, cream and chicken stock. It is traditionally served chilled, but it can be room temperature. 

On chilly late fall and winter days, homemaker guru Martha Stewart says it’s OK to give your Vichyssoise a little heat.

 

To the uninitiated, the first question might be: What is a leek?” 

Leeks are a member of the onion family, native to France and the Middle East. Leeks look like scallions but are a lot larger. Their bulbous white flesh is the prize.

 

The late Julia Child, America’s authority on all matters related to foods, said her favorite soup was Vichyssoise. “Smells good, tastes good and is simplicity itself to make.” 

Some food historians suggest that leek and potato soup dates back to King Louis XV of France (1710-74), who was paranoid of being poisoned. He insisted that numerous servants taste the soup before him, and when it finally arrived at his table, it was cold. The King declared that he now preferred his soup cold. 

A more likely, and widely accepted, story credits French chef Louis Diat of New York’s Ritz Carleton Hotel. In the days before air conditioning, diners at the Ritz were served in a Japanese roof garden on sultry summer days, and Diat sought cooling recipes.

“In the summer of 1917, I reflected upon the potato and leek soup of my childhood, which my mother and grandmother used to make,” Diat told reporters. “I resolved to make something of the sort for the patrons of the Ritz.” 

He named it Vichyssoise, after his hometown in central France, Vichy. Known for mud baths and spas, Vichy’s warm mineral-rich sulfurous waters have healing powers to cure rheumatism and other ailments. 

In the development of Vichyssoise, Antoine-Augustin Parmentier of Paris gets an “assist” in the scorebook. 

Writing for Farmers’ Almanac of Lewiston, Maine, Amber Kanuckel reported that potatoes were banned in France by Parliament in 1748, because potatoes were believed to cause leprosy.

Antoine-Augustin Parmentier 

Parmentier, an army pharmacist during the Seven Years’ War (1756-63), was captured and imprisoned by the Prussians. Potato mush was a regular component of his prison rations. Parmentier didn’t die from leprosy or the plague. 

Following the war, he set out “to prove to the French people that potatoes were delicious and good for you, and in 1772, the French government repealed the potato ban because of Parmentier’s pioneering work,” Kanuckel said. 

King Louis XVI granted Parmentier a large plot of land in 1781 to start a potato farm. Parmentier stationed uniformed guards around his field to create the ruse that what he was growing was extremely valuable. Kanuckel said the guards were told to turn a blind eye toward “potato bandits who came to steal the crops.” The initiative helped popularize potatoes around the dinner table.

 

King Louis XVI 

“Today, many French potato dishes are named for Parmentier,” Kanuckel wrote. “There is Hachis Parmentier, which is similar to shepherd’s pie with a mashed potato crust, and Potage Parmentier, which is a hot potato and leek soup.” 

Italian chef Filippo Trapella, a regular food blogger, suggests substituting half and half for cream in the traditional Vichyssoise recipe and topping the dish with chopped chives, toasted croutons and crunchy bacon flakes.