Potato and Leek Potage
Vegetables and butter, basically.
Word of the day: Potage — a thick soup usually made only of vegetables and blended into a purée.
We are beginning the wide world of potages with the simple and homely Potato and Leek.
Leeks can be slimy and bizarre. They are dirty. They need to be stripped down and washed if ever you wish to use them. The jury–aka me and only me–is still out on whether leeks make enough of an impact on recipes to qualify their use. I get it in theory; leeks are a milder and more delicate substitute for onions or shallots. But, I mean, come on. An onion fried in butter blows leeks out of the water every day of the week.
My hierarchy of bulbous herbaceous plants goes as follows: Red Onions > Griselle Shallots > White Onions > Prisma Shallots > Vidalia Onions > Leeks > Bok Choy (yes, I realize Bok Choy is actually a cabbage but it is very bulby and that is good enough for me).
Anyway, this to say that the leek doesn’t usually satisfy my oniony-wants.
This held true in the potato potage. As the recipe was brought to completion (leeks were fried in butter, water was added, potatoes were added, everything boiled and then puréed) I felt a strong confusion at the difference between this and something like herbed mashed potatoes. The flavor was wonderful but painfully one note.
So, I made it again. This time the order of operation included frying lardons in the butter, removing them, frying the leeks in the bacony-buttery goodness, adding water and potatoes, puréeing and adding back in the lardons. It was miraculous and–as this jury might say–perfect.
I know, I know, I am already taking liberties with Robuchon’s recipes. I do promise to always make his original recipe, BUT I also feel responsible to try out and add the things which my food intuition tell me to add.
In total, Robuchon’s original potato and leek potage would suffice as a quick and blissful meal on a cold night–even if he doesn’t agree with my bulb tiers.
Thanks for reading and caring about food.
Question - With the addition of bacon, does this soup no longer exist as a “potage”? Robuchon says potages are traditionally only made with puréed vegetables. If my bacon one is not a potage, what is it? Just a run-of-the-mill soup?