Oftentimes, it’s better to let someone else do the talking about the food. In this case, it’s Anthony Bourdain and he’s talking about the virtues of vichyssoise.

I asked our patient British waiter what this delightfully cool, tasty liquid was.

“Vichyssoise,” came the reply, a word that to this day—even though it’s now a tired old warhorse of a menu selection and one I’ve prepared thousands of times—still has a magical ring to it.

—Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential

In fact, it was this cold, Swiss soup that was his first food revelation, as a fourth grader on a cruise. What was my own? I remember making hand-rolled, deep-fried Filipino spring rolls (lumpia) with our house helper when I was in Kindergarten. We had to hand pick bean sprouts one by one, and all I can remember thinking is that it was worth it.

And similarly, it’s often best to let someone else do the making of the food. So the fact that my brother and sister-in-law decided to recreate this meal—and no doubt make it better—just a few weeks after we had it in Milwaukee on Thanksgiving Eve, is a testament to the familial nature of food for Audrey and the real value of all of these recipes.

On the menu: glazed carrots, boeuf à la cuillère, vichyssoise

My adjustments and shortcomings:

Like almost every other Audrey At Home recipe, I left out the freshly grated nutmeg from the soup. I think this is a staple Italian seasoning that is emblematic of her years there, married to Mr. Dotti. I mostly feel like I can imagine what a dish would taste like if I had added it, and leave it at that.  

Boeuf à la cuillère basically means “beef that you can eat with a spoon.” This recipe is classic rustic French cuisine, in that you put everything (in this case, beef shoulder, onions, carrots, potatoes, broth, and a bouquet garni of thyme, sage, and rosemary) in a pot, stick it in the oven, and let it cook until you barely have to exert any energy chewing when you eat it. I used to say this as a disparaging, 22-year old American, but now, as a slightly older American who does much more of her own cooking, I can now acknowledge its merits.

What’s your vichyssoise?