The high low

Now that we have the black truffle genome mapped, the time has come to eat it, too. Truffles of all kinds tend to pair well with delicate things. White truffles shaved over fresh pasta or a poached egg, for example. Black truffles stirred into a creamy risotto, or stuffed under the skin of a chicken before it is roasted. And so forth. All of this sort of thing strikes me as restaurant food, though. Very good, but better when someone else makes it for you.

Pairing truffles with leeks and potatoes is another story, however. These latter two are cheap, unfussy ingredients that do belong in a home kitchen, and often make their way into mine. Indeed, it must be said, I ♥ leeks. ♥ them big time. I can literally eat nothing but leeks for days on end. Perhaps that’s not the sort of thing you’re supposed to say out loud. Either way, leeks are particularly good in early spring, when they’re still quite young and thin and very small.

Leek and potato soups make me think of rainy evenings in early March, when you want to eat something warming, but nothing like the heavy stews and roasts on which you’ve been subsisting for the last several months. Shave a bit of black truffle over the top of such a soup and you can call it ‘truffled,’ which will either impress your guests or make them think you’re very frou-frou. Until they taste the soup, at which point they’ll know you’re just amazing. (Please, please, please do not substitute with any product that calls itself ‘truffle oil,’ unless you’ve made it yourself. Bought at a store or served in a restaurant, these products are not sniffed out by expert pigs in Alba or France or wherever. They are chemical substitutes for truffles and come from a lab. This is kind of gross.)

But it is April now, spring seems mostly gone, and truffle season has already passed. You can chill a leek and potato soup and call it vichyssoise. It’s more low low than high low, but even that is hard to tell, since it’s still so very good.

Vichyssoise

I rarely peel potatoes since their skins are so good for health. This soup is supposed to be rustic anyway. But if you would like it to look whiter, by all means peel the potatoes. As for proportions: Use equal quantities (by weight) of leeks and potatoes. Everything else should be done to taste.

Leeks, white and pale green only  |  potatoes  |  butter  |  kosher salt and white pepper, if you have it, black if you don’t  |  bouquet garni: bay leaf, sprig thyme + parsley stems, if you have them  | water  |  fresh or soured cream (heavy cream, light cream, or crème fraîche would all work)

Clean the leeks by splitting vertically, then fanning the layers out and wiggling them around in a big bowl of cold water until all of the sand falls out. Chop roughly. Chop the potatoes roughly, too.

Heat a soup pot over medium-low heat for a minute, add some butter, or a mixture of butter and a neutral oil like grapeseed or canola. When the butter is hot, toss in the leeks, and season liberally with salt and pepper. Cover, turn the heat down, and let these sweat without coloring until they are translucent, maybe 7 minutes. Stir from time to time.

Add the potatoes to the pot, and season these liberally as well. Stir well to coat the potatoes in the butter, and let them do their thing for a few minutes.

Add the bouquet garni and water to cover by a little bit. Bring to a boil, partially cover, and simmer until the potatoes are very soft, about 20-30 minutes. Pluck out the bay leaves, thyme sprigs, and parsley stems. Run the mixture through a blender until very smooth. Add as much or as little cream as you would like. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve warm with a few shavings of black truffle on top, cool with a few chives for garnish, or, if you have neither, at whatever temperature and with no garnish whatsoever.