Vichyssoise

The paternity of this recipe, paradigm of cold soups, is disputed by France, the United States and the Basque Country. For the latter, the Vichyssoise would be the "refined" heir to the porrusalda, while for the Americans the soup was born at the beginning of the 20th century at the Ritz-Carlton in New York created by the French chef Louis Diat. 

What is certain is that due to its characteristics it has an unmistakably French inspiration. It is by far the most popular cold soup in the world, far ahead of gazpacho, although both soups are not comparable. Vichyssoise is a soup that is eaten cold but has been cooked, while gazpacho is obtained only by mixing raw vegetables. For this reason, gazpacho is a very important source of vitamins, equivalent to those obtained from salads, so that its consumption is recommended throughout the year.

INGREDIENTS (4 diners):

• 2 medium potatoes
• 1 large leek
• Half a cup of milk
• Half a cup of cream for cooking
• Half red onion or two French onions (they use to be small)
• 2 butter spoons
• Half a liter (5 cups) of vegetable broth
• Salt
• White pepper

Chop the onion and brown it in a saucepan with the two tablespoons of butter. While it fries, we chop the leek very small and add it to the sauce. It is important to use only the white part of the leek. We sauté for about three minutes. 

Next we add the potato cut into small cubes, the milk and the vegetable broth. When the boil starts, we lower the heat and cover so that the boiling stops if we lift the lid. We keep it like that for 20 minutes, adding salt and pepper to taste. 

After that time we let it cool and we pass everything through the blender until it is smooth and very fine. Then we add the cream (the cream should always be added cold), mix it well, rectify the salt and pepper and refrigerate to always serve very cold.

It is usually served topped with chopped parsley, or with mint or dill.