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Synonyms

vichyssoise

American  
[vish-ee-swahz, vee-shee-swahz] / ˌvɪʃ iˈswɑz, ˈvi ʃiˌswɑz /

noun

  1. a cream soup of potatoes and leeks, usually served chilled and often garnished with chopped chives.

vichyssoise British  
/ viʃiswaz /

noun

  1. a thick soup made from leeks, potatoes, chicken stock, and cream, usually served chilled

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of vichyssoise

1915–20; < French ( crême ) vichyssoise (cream soup) of Vichy

Explanation

Vichyssoise is a creamy, rich potato and leek soup that's usually served cold. If you're hungry for something other than salad on a hot summer day, you should try making some vichyssoise. The history of this soup is uncertain. One story attributes it to the French king Louis XV, who was terrified of being poisoned and ordered so many people to taste his soup that by the time he ate, it had grown cold. The cook Julia Child insisted it was an American invention, and a New York hotel's French-born chef claimed to have created it in 1917, using a name inspired by his hometown of Vichy in France.

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Vocabulary lists containing vichyssoise

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Behold the most luxurious soup in town, a warm vichyssoise buoyed with pureed cauliflower and a hint of truffle oil.

From Washington Post • Dec. 19, 2022

Taste of Home lists some more, such as jicama, radicchio, vichyssoise and pho.

From Salon • Dec. 5, 2022

The most luxurious soup in town might be Joy’s warm vichyssoise.

From Washington Post • Dec. 2, 2022

Leeks are seemingly impossible to clean, which is why I rarely whip up a pot of vichyssoise soup.

From Salon • Nov. 6, 2022

Melinda is sui generis, and so generous too. vichyssoise.

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.