Vichyssoise Sounds French - But It's All American

Vichyssoise sounds French, doesn't it? And the elegant chilled summertime soup made from leeks, potatoes and cream certainly would be right a home in the most elegant 3 star restaurants of Paris or Burgundy.

But amazingly this regular addition to international tables was invented in 1917 in New York City.

Putting on the Ritz - A Celebration

It actually has a bit of French origin - which explains the name: The soup's inventor was French-born chef Louis Diat. He was charged with creating a signature dish for the opening of the roof garden of the city's original Ritz-Carlton Hotel.

He is said to have drawn inspiration from his mother's potato and leek soup. As a child he would pour cold milk into the hot soup to cool it and make it easier to eat. He refined the concept in 1917 when he created Vichyssoise and named it after the village of Vichy where he grew up.

It is actually a bit of a misnomer to the French, since "Vichy" in French cooking terms usually denotes a dish with carrots.

Peasant Fare Made Elegant

As Anthony Bourdain wisely points out, no all original peasant food is good. Poor people cooked what ever they could get their hands on and often use inferior and mismatched ingredients. But much like the street food of Thailand, the fish and chips of the North Atlantic and the barbecue of the American South, Vichyssoise is peasant food that does rise to culinary heights. The combination of leeks and onions sauteed in butter are magical and the addition of potatoes and cream are only natural. And when it is properly made with the best ingredients, naturally, it is incomparable. It is comfort food and elegant dining in one bowl.

Eighty Years Before "Freedom Fries"

A first the soup was known by the French name Creme Vichyssoise Glacee. But during the Great Depression the Hotel Association of New York City suggested to the Ritz that they may do better with American terms on the menu. So in a move whose effects are still being felt today, the restaurant changed all of the French terms to their American counterparts and the signature soup became Vichyssoise.

Still just as good.