I grew up in Port Huron, Michigan, right across the St. Clair River from Sarnia, Ontario. Growing up, my parents frequently took our family to go out to eat in and around Sarnia. My dad grew up in Port Huron and his family had a summer home in Brights Grove, which is now a neighborhood in Sarnia, so he felt deeply connected to Sarnia. We often went to the Bridge Tavern for Fish and Chips. In those days, it was much quicker to get across the border, so a trip took little to no planning.
Sarnia is part of the English settled Canada. As such, it has an abundance of English and Scottish influenced food. When I was in high school, I frequently went across the border to shop and go to restaurants. There was a small mall called the Eaton Centre. Nearby was a restaurant, whose name I cannot recall but had a homey, British pub atmosphere. It was here I first had Cock-a-Leekie soup. It was warm, fragrant and tasty. Since then I have wanted to learn to make the authentic Scottish soup. I recently came across a video of a Scottish woman making the soup, so I compiled the recipe and tested it.
Cock-a-Leekie Soup
This is a traditional Scottish soup. The honey glaze on the chicken gives it a rich sweetness to complement the onions and leeks.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Pour water into a large pot and add herbs, salt and whole chicken. Push chicken down in pot to release air. Bring to a boil.
- Chop leeks and carefully wash to remove any dirt from leeks. Remove tough outer leaves which are too tough to eat. (You can reserve these to make a vegetable broth.) Quarter leeks and pull apart layers to remove any remaining dirt. Rinse in a colander.
- Reduce heat and remove any fat from the broth that has risen to the top. Add half of the leeks to the broth. Simmer for an hour, keeping pot covered. After 30 minutes, add chopped onion. After 50 minutes add remaining leeks. Adding leeks in two batches makes for two textures for the leeks.
- Remove chicken and place in a roasting pan. Add rice to soup and continue to simmer. If you want to add prunes, put them in at this time.
- Season chicken with salt and pepper. In an oven preheated to 350 degrees, roast chicken for 15 minutes. Pour honey generously over chicken. Reduce oven to warm or 170 degrees. Return chicken to oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Cut a piece of chicken and dice, including skin, removing any bones. Place chicken in a bowl and ladle soup over chicken. Serve immediately.
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