Julia Child, one of the world's greatest chefs, is known to have dined on her own French onion soup as her last meal . The relationship between Child and soup cannot be overstated. Her recipes for garlic soup (aigo bouido), cream of watercress, and cucumber soup all share common threads: Simple components and no-nonsense instructions, leaning on competence and technique, cornerstones of French cooking.
Child's favorite soup is no different. She said that the potato and leek soup known as vichyssoise "tasted good and smelled good," according to Taste of Home , which is a strikingly matter-of-fact endorsement. Who could ask for more from a delicious meal? The beauty of vichyssoise is in its startling restraint: It uses a very short list of humble ingredients that, when combined, produce something savory, refreshing, and filling all at the same time.
It is also known as potage parmentier in French. If you are getting a little panicky over which name is less difficult to pronounce, here's a little hint: Vichyssoise is easy to say, like so: Vee-SHE-swahz. Turns out that it isn't all that hard to cook, either.
Child's vichyssoise had only seven ingredients, and each one shined The ingredients for vichyssoise are very simple: Potatoes, leeks, chicken stock, heavy cream, chives, salt, and white pepper. Leeks can admittedly be a little tricky, since you need a solid method to get all the gritty sand out . Once you do, however, you are rewarded with the subtle flavor of onion, albeit n.