---
title: "\"Auld Reekie\" Cock-a-Leekie Soup · Rampant Scotland"
description: "Traditional Scottish Recipes - \"Auld Reekie\" Cock-a-Leekie Soup The \"Auld Reekie\" does not refer to the soup being \"smokey\" but to the origins of the recipe in "
canonical: "https://rampant-scotland.pages.dev/recipes/blrecipe_reekie.htm"
last-updated: "2026-11-09"
date-basis: "git-content-change"
---

# "Auld Reekie" Cock-a-Leekie Soup · Rampant Scotland

Recipes

# "Auld Reekie" Cock-a-Leekie Soup

[Original page](https://web.archive.org/web/20250619000157/http://www.rampantscotland.com/recipes/blrecipe_reekie.htm)

*Traditional Scottish Recipes*
 *- "Auld Reekie" Cock-a-Leekie Soup*

*The "Auld Reekie" does not refer to the soup being "smokey" but to the origins of the recipe in Edinburgh which used to be called Auld Reekie in the days of coal fires. Cock-a-Leekie soup makes a regular appearance in Scottish kitchens but this variation has a special ingredient - Scotch whisky! It will, as the say, "stick to your ribs".*

## Ingredients

- 3lb boiling chicken (giblets removed)
- 3 slices of streaky bacon
- 1lb shin of beef
- 2 lb leeks
- 1 large onion
- 5 fluid ounces Scotch whisky
- 4 pints water
- 1 level tablespoon dried tarragon
- Salt and pepper
- 8 pre-soaked prunes (optional but traditional!)

## Method

Mix the whisky, tarragon and sugar in the water. Chop up the bacon and place the chicken, bacon and beef in a large bowl and pour over the whisky marinade. Leave to soak overnight. Place the chicken etc in a large soup pot. Chop up the leeks (reserve one) and onion and add to the pot. Salt and pepper to taste. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for two hors, removing any scum as required. Remove the chicken from the pot, remove skin and bones. Chop the meat into small pieces and return to the pot. Cut up the shin of beef, if required. Add the prunes and the last chopped leek and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. It will serve up to eight people.

## Source

From Rampant Scotland, restored from the page as it stood on 19 June 2025. [Original page](https://web.archive.org/web/20250619000157/http://www.rampantscotland.com/recipes/blrecipe_reekie.htm).

Links to pages not yet restored here lead to the original page or elsewhere on the web.