Cocky-Leeki Soup

Potage Cocky-Leeki (Cock-a-Leekie Soup) teaches the discipline of a clear broth. One true thing governs the pot before you touch it: the chicken must poach at a tremble, never a boil. Rough heat clouds the stock and tightens the meat before the leeks ever arrive.

Classical service assumed half a fowl, a stockpot of light veal stock never off the fire, and enough hands to strain the liquor, stew the leeks, and cut both garnishes julienne-fashion. This home batch keeps the source ratio exactly while replacing the awkward half bird with one small whole chicken, six leek whites, and three imperial pints of stock. A fine-mesh sieve replaces the stock station, and the separate holding pans go. That separation was brigade scaffolding; the gentle poach, careful straining, butter without coloration, and exact julienne are the dish. One cook, one stove, one evening.

The finished soup is amber-clear and quiet, with pale leek matchsticks, fine chicken, and a faint butter sheen. The prunes wait alongside so each guest chooses the sweet, dark counterpoint. Guard the first poach. Every good thing in the tureen depends on it.