Any self-respecting Burns Supper begins with a proper Scottish soup - either Scotch Broth or Cock-a-Leekie. As the latter is a) considerably cheaper and b) considerably easier, then that's what I made for our Burns Supper last weekend. Amazingly, so few ingredients (a chicken, some leeks and some juicy prunes) can result in such a flavoursome soup. I did dig out my Marigold bouillon powder - you know, just in case - but didn't have to touch it after all.The amounts given below are the ones I used. If you want to follow the exact amounts given by the Scottish foodwriter Sue Lawrence, then click on the photo above.
Cock-a-leekie
(Cock-a-leekie supp ehk šotlaste kana-porrusupp)
Adapted from Scots Cooking: The Best Traditional and Contemporary Scottish Recipes
by Sue LawrenceServes 10 as a starter
1 chicken (1.5 kg)
3-4 large leeks (1 kg)
20 black peppercorns
about 2 litres water
20 juicy prunes, stoned
fresh parsley, chopped
Place the chicken in a large saucepan. Halve the leeks lengthwise, wash them well, then cut off the green parts. Chop these roughly and add to the pan with the peppercorns and enough water just to cover. Bring slowly to the boil, then cover and simmer for about 30 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover tightly and leave for about an hour.
After an hour, take out the chicken and remove the leeks, either with a slotted spoon or by draining the soup through a colander. Discard the cooked leeks. Now chop the white part of the leeks, add to the pan with the prunes and bring to the boil again. Simmer for about 10 minutes, until the leeks are just done.Remove the chicken flesh from the bones, chop it into pieces and add these to the soup. Season with plenty of salt and pepper and serve with chopped parsley on top.
7 comments:
Pille your cock a leekie soup looks wonderful. A true taste of back home!
Sounds like you had a wonderful Burns supper!
OK, now I've learnt something - I never knoew cock a leekie had prunes in it! Looks great - and so easy :)
Oh Pille, I want a BIG bowl of this soup right now - looks so lovely! PS let me know about your trip to London ;)
Pamela - I really enjoyed the clean flavours of the soup, and will be definitely making it again soon. And yes, Burns supper was great!
Jeanne - I used Sue Lawrence's recipe for this, and she specifies that "Interestingly some recipes exclude the prunes, but I think they are essential for their contrasting sweetness" (Scots Cooking, p 32). Janet Warren's "A Feast of Scotland" also uses prunes (as well as bay leaves and rice). I was totally won over by this unusual combination, for sure:)
Keiko - thanks:) And I'll definitely let you know about my April visit!
Prunes?!? When I was growing up we never had prunes in it. My gran always used the whole flag (green part) of the leek as well - for colour, as well as flavour.
Hopeless making this soup nowadays, unless you can find a decent chook. What type did you use?
Zak - I've got few Scottish cookbooks at home, and both Sue Lawrence and Janet Warren include prunes in their cock-a-leekie recipes. Even Alastair Little's & Richard Whittington's "Modern British Cookbook" includes prunes. The fact that your gran didn't include prunes in her version of cock-a-leekie doesn't mean that other versions are wrong. Janet Warren does quote a 1826 cookbook by Meg Dod, who claimed that the addition of prunes to the soup was going out of fashion. I'm pleased they're in again, as they are a wonderful addition to the soup.
Thanks for the use-whole-leeks tip - I'll keep that in mind.
And as far as the chook is concerned, I used a nice fat chicken found from the chiller cabinet in a local supermarket. Worked like a dream, i.e. gave plenty of flavour to the soup:)
During a visit to Scotland, Fynes Morrison wrote in 1598 that he 'was at a knight's house, who had many servants to attend him, that brought in his meat with their heads covered with blue caps, the table being more than half furnished with great platters of porridge, each having a little piece of sodden meat. And when the table was served, the servants did sit down with us; but the upper mess, instead of porridge, had a pullet, with some prunes in the broth.'
Sir Walter Scott mentions Morrison's observations in his footnotes to Waverley — but neglects to mention the next sentence, which acerbically states "And I observed no art of cookery, or furniture of
household stuff, but rather rude neglect of both, though myself and my companion, sent by the Governor of Berwick upon bordering affairs, were entertained in the best manner."
So much for Scots cuisine in the 16th century, but that is the earliest mention I've come across of something like cock-a-leekie and it does have prunes.
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