The Best Soup for Entertaining – Vichyssoise

Vichyssoise {vee-shee-SWAHZ} is basically a potato leek soup, but since it’s served cold it makes it a great choice for entertaining. Come see why, and how, and when I make it, and why you should consider sharing it with your friends and family too.

The history of Vichyssoise

First let me give you some background on what I consider the best soup for entertaining. Although there’s some controversy as to the origin of the soup, I believe it most probably originated from a chef at the Ritz-Carlton in New York City. There has been debate whether the soup was created in France or America. Julia Child called it an American invention so I’m sticking with Julia.

Louis Diat, who grew up near the spa resort town of Vichy in France, was the chef at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in New York City for most of the first half of the 20th century. Louis is quoted as saying to The New Yorker magazine in 1950 “In the summer of 1917, when I had been at the Ritz seven years, I reflected upon the potato and leek soup of my childhood which my mother and grandmother used to make. I recalled how during the summer my older brother and I used to cool it off by pouring in cold milk and how delicious it was. I resolved to make something of the sort for the patrons of the Ritz”.

And voila! Vichyssoise was born. So although it has French roots, the soup was born in America. There is much history before and after this, regarding this delicious soup, but this is the most accepted and relevant story.

Why is Vichyssoise the best soup for entertaining ?

Let me give you some background of myself with Vichyssoise. First of all, I love soup. Second of all, I love potatoes. Therefore, this soup is already a shoe-in, but it’s more than that. I grew up with this soup. My mother was a big entertainer. This was her appetizer of choice for sit down dinners. I grew up appreciating the silkiness and depth of flavor in this soup.

Advantages of Vichyssoise for gatherings

⚜️Great make ahead soup

⚜️Served cold or room temperature

⚜️Offers a great presentation

⚜️Tastes delicious & decadent

⚜️It has a cool name

⚜️It’s easy to prepare

Since vichyssoise is served cold, it relieves the stress of getting it to the table on time. It actually can be served at everyone’s place settings before the guests even sit down without concern of timing. I actually prefer to serve it at room temperature rather than chilled. I find that the flavors meld together and come forth once the bite of chill is removed. The flavors are truly decadent and it elevates any menu you put together. Any dinner party you kick-off with this soup is sure to wow your guests and set the tone for the rest of the meal.

How to make Vichyssoise

Although the flavors are truly decadent, the soup is merely comprised of some simple vegetables that are sautéed, simmered and pureed together. I use my Fannie Farmer cookbook recipe, which was actually my mother’s cookbook.

Here’s the recipe right from the page of “The Fannie Farmer Cookbook”. It’s my most used cookbook and I absolutely love it. It’s definitely a “go to” resource for many classic recipes.

This is one of the few recipes I actually follow to the T. Most recipes I adapt to conform to my cooking style or to suit my family’s taste.

Ingredients:

4 T unsalted butter

1 chopped onion

4 finely sliced leeks (mostly white and light green)

2 chopped stalks celery

2 peeled & chopped medium potatoes

few sprigs parsley

4 C chicken broth

1 C heavy cream

1 T finely chopped chives

S & P to taste

Directions:

Melt butter in a large pot and saute the onions, leeks, and celery until soften about 10-15 minutes. Stir in the potatoes, parsley and broth. Bring to a soft boil and cook partially covered for about 20 minutes until potatoes are fork tender. Remove from heat. Puree with desired appliance. I use an immersion blender in the same pot, but a blender or food processor can be used as well. When silky smooth consistency is reached pour into a separate bowl and add cream and chives. Salt and pepper to taste and chill in refrigerator. Or you can leave on the counter covered for room temperature if desired.

I usually prepare it the night before or early the morning of the day I will be serving it. Instead of serving it chilled, I leave it on the counter to come to room temperature. An immersion blender is my tool of choice to puree the soup. I find it to be the easiest and less messy technique. Simply puree the soup in the same pot you cooked all the vegetable and then just pour into a bowl to mix in the heavy cream and chives.

When to make Vichyssoise

The answer is truly anytime you want a delicious soup. In our family it’s actually part of our Easter menu every year. You can read more about that here {Easter menu ideas}. These are menus from past Easter celebrations.

Whenever we have a larger sized dinner party, I tend to lean on this soup to impress our guests out of the box. The soup is smooth, creamy, silky with a punch of fresh, clean flavor. I love that it comes from my mother’s entertaining habits, which I have appropriated into my own repertoire, and Miss M is aspiring to follow.

If you have not tried this soup yet I encourage you to do so. I promise you, your guests will also fully appreciate the scrumptious treat.

“The dishes that were meant to be hot were never quite as warm as those that were meant to be chilled.”

Renata Adler