Cock-a-leekie soup is a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

soup Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot – though it is sometimes served chilled – made by cooking or otherwise combining meat or vegetables with Stock (food), stock, milk, or water. According to ''The Oxford Compan ...

dish consisting of

leek A leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of ''Allium ampeloprasum'', the broadleaf wild leek (synonym (taxonomy), syn. ''Allium porrum''). The edible part of the plant is a bundle of Leaf sheath, leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a "s ...

s and

pepper Pepper(s) may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plants ** Black pepper ** Long pepper ** Kampot pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanacea ...

ed chicken stock, often thickened with

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

, or sometimes

barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

. The original recipe added

prune A prune is a dried plum, most commonly from the European plum (''Prunus domestica'') tree. Not all plum species or varieties can be dried into prunes. Use of the term ''prune'' for fresh plums is obsolete except when applied to varieties of ...

s during cooking, and traditionalists still garnish with a julienne of prunes. While it is called "Scotland's National Soup", it probably originated as a chicken and onion soup in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. By the late 16th century, it had made its way to Scotland, where the onions were replaced with leeks.Ayto, John. An A to Z of Food & Drink, John Ayto. Oxford:Oxford University Press, 2002 The first recipe was printed in 1598, though the name "cock-a-leekie" did not come into use until the 18th century. Traditionally, the soup is made with broiler fowl and would not contain thickeners, or vegetables other than leeks. It would range from a clear stock to a green leek stock, with little flesh. The original cock a leekie is delicate and refreshing and difficult to make flavoursome whereas the more appetizing modern version which has more chicken, vegetable and thickener is closer to chicken soup or stew. Cock a leekie soup, a chicken and leek

consommé In cooking, a consommé is a type of clear soup made from richly flavoured stock or broth that has been clarified, a process that uses egg whites to remove fat and sediment. Consommé has three English pronunciations: traditionally in the UK ...

with a little flesh and pieces of leek, is a traditional course at Burns’ Suppers. There are

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

versions which has leeks and may include mixed vegetables, chicken flavoured

meat substitute A meat alternative or meat substitute (also called plant-based meat, mock meat, or alternative protein), is a food product made from vegetarian or vegan ingredients, eaten as a replacement for meat. Meat alternatives typically approximate qual ...

and/or prunes.

History

The first known mention of this soup is from the ''Orchtertyre House Book'' (1737), an accounts book that recorded a dinner of 'cockie leekie fowlls in it'". The earliest recipe is from the

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

era cookbook writer

Isabella Beeton Isabella Mary Beeton ( Mayson; 14 March 1836 – 6 February 1865), known as Mrs Beeton, was an English journalist, editor and writer. Her name is particularly associated with her first book, the 1861 work ''Mrs Beeton's Book of Household ...

, and is thickened with "the fine part of

oatmeal Oatmeal is a preparation of oats that have been dehusked, steamed, and flattened, or a coarse flour of hulled oat grains ( groats) that have either been milled (ground), rolled, or steel-cut. Ground oats are also called white oats. Steel- ...

Christian Isobel Johnstone Christian Isobel Johnstone (1781–1857) was a prolific journalist and author in Scotland in the nineteenth century. She was a significant early feminist and an advocate of other liberal causes in her era. She wrote anonymously, and under the pseu ...

(Meg Dods) said the soup "must be very thick of leeks and the first part of them must be boiled down into the soup until it becomes a lubricious compound". "Cockie Leekie" was an offering on the 1st Class passenger luncheon menu of the RMS ''Titanic'' on April 14, 1912.Titanic Facts at https://titanicfacts.net/titanic-menu/

References

Scottish soups Chicken dishes Chicken soups Leek dishes {{Soup-stub

History

See also

References