This is one of the first dishes I ever learned to make. While on holiday in Sri Lanka my sister and I can home to my father’s family home in Sri Lanka to spend the night. My uncle, who had been a chef before becoming ill and subsequently paralysed in his 20’s had gathered on the ingredients to make this soup at home and staged a cooking lesson of sorts. He’s the first Uditha, that our little Callum Uditha is named after.

I still remember the taste of that soup, made all the more delicious by the addition of salty, Sri Lankan, Keels bacon. I’ve changed very little from the recipe he taught us that day, because really, why mess with perfection?

• 1 fat leek stalk sliced (white part only)
• 1/2 white onion chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 rashers bacon chopped
• 500 g potatoes cubed
• 2 cups stock
• 1 cup milk (or more depending on the consistency of the soup you want)
• sour cream or thickened cream to serve

Preparation

In a medium saucepan add the bacon, garlic and onions to the cold pan and place on the heat. Fry until the bacon gets some colour on it.

When the onions are soft and there’s some colour on them add the leeks. Sweat the leeks off until they’re soft too and add the potatoes.

Give the potatoes a stir and add the stock. Pop a lid on the pot when the mixture starts to boil and cook until the potatoes are soft.

When the soup has cooked puree using a stick blender or place the whole mixture in a blender, which will do the job as well. Add extra water at this point if needed.

Put the soup back in the saucepan and add the milk (or cream if you’re feeling particularly indulgent) and bring the soup back to the boil. Master C loves this with lots of cream cheese melted in!

Taste for salt, I find that with the bacon and the salt that’s present in most stocks you don’t need extra salt.  We buy low sodium bacon and low sodium stick (or broth as my American friends would say) so I usually end up adding a bit of salt to taste.