by Mark
R. Vogel
Cold Soups
The year was 1917 and Louis Diat,
(1885 -1957), was the head chef of the posh Ritz-Carlton Hotel on Madison
Ave. in New York City. The Ritz-Carlton was about to open a new restaurant
and a party to celebrate the historic event was being thrown. In Diat's
repertoire was a potato and leek soup, one of his mother's recipes,
which he planned to serve at the party. Diat says, "I remembered
how mamam used to cool our breakfast soup, on a warm morning, by adding
cold milk to it. A cup of cream, an extra straining, and a sprinkle
of chives, et voila, I had my new soup. I named my version of mamam's
soup after Vichy, the famous spa located not 20 miles from our Bourbonnaise
home, as a tribute to the fine cooking of the region."
Many of my friends and family, unaware
of vichyssoise, and locked into a warm-temperature concept of soup,
look startled when I explain that it is served cold. More than one has
taken the soup, tasted it, made a face, heated it up, and then enjoyed
it. I cannot help but wonder how much the psyche, and not the taste
buds, was controlling their reactions.
Try the soup in the traditional manner but then,
if you must heat it up, (sigh), go ahead.
Cold Soup Recipes:
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