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Sweet Potato and Leek Potage Parmentier Recipe

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Sweet potato and leek soup

On a cold day (of which, lately, there have been many), there are few things more satisfying than Potage Parmentier. The classic potage (thick soup) is made with potatoes and leeks.

Potage Parmentier was named after Auguste-Antoine Parmentier, and is the moniker used for the hot version of the soup sometimes mistakenly called Vichyssoise (named after the spa town of Vichy), a name that should be used for the cold version of the soup. Soup temperature aside, there is another difference between the two soups: vichyssoise is a smooth and creamy soup, whereas parmentier can either be a rustic, chunky broth (with or without milk), or a rich and silky cream soup.

Whenever I think of potatoes and leeks together, I think of France. Ironically, if not for Parmentier, the potato may have never found acclaim there. Here’s a bit more history (Wiki version) about how Parmentier managed to convince France to open their hearts to the humble “pomme de terre” (apple of the earth):

While serving as an army pharmacist for France in the Seven Years’ War, he was captured by the Prussians, and in prison in Prussia was faced with eating potatoes, known to the French only as hog feed. The potato had been introduced to Europe as early as 1640, but (outside of Ireland) was usually used for animal feed. King Frederick II of Prussia had required peasants to cultivate the plants under severe penalties and had provided them cuttings. In 1748 the French Parliament had actually forbidden the cultivation of the potato (on the ground that it was thought to cause leprosy among other things), and this law remained on the books in Parmentier’s time.

From his return to Paris in 1763 he pursued his pioneering studies in nutritional chemistry. His prison experience came to mind in 1772 when he proposed (in a contest sponsored by the Academy of Besançon) use of the potato as a source of nourishment for dysenteric patients. He won the prize on behalf of the potato in 1773.

Thanks largely to Parmentier’s efforts, the Paris Faculty of Medicine declared potatoes edible in 1772. Still, resistance continued, and Parmentier was prevented from using his test garden at the Invalides hospital, where he was pharmacist, by the religious community that owned the land, whose complaints resulted in the suppression of Parmentier’s post at the Invalides.

Parmentier therefore began a series of publicity stunts for which he remains notable today, hosting dinners at which potato dishes featured prominently and guests included luminaries such as Benjamin Franklin and Antoine Lavoisier, giving bouquets of potato blossoms to the King and Queen, and surrounding his potato patch at Sablons with armed guards to suggest valuable goods — then instructed them to accept any and all bribes from civilians and withdrawing them at night so the greedy crowd could “steal” the potatoes. (These 54 arpents of impoverished ground near Neuilly, west of Paris, had been allotted him by order of Louis XVI in 1787).

The first step in the acceptance of the potato in French society was a year of bad harvests, 1785, when the scorned potatoes staved off famine in the north of France. The final step may have been the siege of the first Paris Commune in 1795, during which potatoes were grown on a large scale, even in the Tuileries Gardens, to reduce the famine caused by the siege.
My Sweet Potato and Leek Potage Parmentier is a riff on the timeless class. Aside from their delicious, slightly sweet flavor, sweet potatoes have many health benefits. They are high in vitamin B-6, calcium, vitamin D, iron and magnesium. And, did I mention how easy this soup is to make? Five ingredients (including the stock, salt and cream).

 

Fresh sweet potatos and leeks

Sweet Potato Leek Potage Parmentier Recipe

Serves: 6 – 8
Adapted from Julia Child’s Potato Leek Potage Parmentier
Ingredients
  • 3 to 4 cups, or 1 lb, peeled, sweet potatoes, sliced or diced (you could substitute yams, but the soup will be sweeter)
  • 3 cups or 1 lb thinly sliced leeks including the tender green; or yellow onions (but leeks are SO much better)
  • 2 quarts of water or stock
  • 1 T salt
  • 4 to 6 T whipping cream, half-and-half, milk (depending on how rich you want your soup); or, 2 to 3 Tb softened butter
  • 2 to 3 T minced thyme (the classic herbs used are chives or parsley)
Instructions
  1. Clean and dry leeks (which are famous for hiding bits of dirt and sand).
  2. Simmer the sweet potatoes, leeks, water, and salt together, partially covered, for 40 to 50 minutes until the vegetables are tender; or, cook in a pressure cooker, under 15 pounds pressure for 5 minutes, release pressure, and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.
  3. Mash the vegetables in the soup with a fork, or pass the soup through a food mill (you can also use a blender or a hand blender, but the soup will turn out smoother with a food mill).
  4. Set aside uncovered until just before serving, then reheat to the simmer.
  5. Turn off heat and, just before serving, stir in the cream or butter by spoonfuls.
  6. Pour into a tureen or soup cups and decorate with the herbs.

Take the road less traveled, Beth