1 lb herbs *
4 tbsp butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 qt water or vegetable stock
1 large potato, peeled and chopped into sma, ll cubes
Directions
Serves 4.
salt and pepper bread cubes for croutons
* at least 3 of these: chervil, watercress, spinach, sorrel
(dandelion and pimpernel for brave souls) Bitter herbs are
traditionally eaten at Easter in Christian countries as a sign of
penitence. This Bavarian soup is served on Easter Thursday, known as
Maundy Thursday. Fresh chervil, easily available in any German
market, is usually the dominating flavor. This is a delicate
fresh-tasting soup for any time of the year.
You will need a large saucepan. Pick over and wash the herbs,
stripping the leaves from those stalks which are too woody. Chop the
rest.
Melt the butter in a deep pan and fry the onion gently until
transparent. Add the herbs and sweat them for a moment before you
pour in the water or broth. Add the potato to the soup. Bring the
soup to a boil, and then turn down the heat. Simmer for 20 minutes.
Mash the potato in the soup to thicken it a little. Taste, and add
salt and freshly milled pepper.
Serve with bread croutons fried in butter or bacon fat (goose fat is
even better). They should be so hot that they sizzle when they are
added to the hot soup at the table.
From: THE OLD WORLD KITCHEN - THE RICH TRADITION OF EUROPEAN PEASANT
COOKING" by Elisabeth Luard, ISBN 0-553-05219-5
Posted by: Karin Brewer, Cooking Echo, 7/92
Servings: 4 servings
Bavarian Herb Soup (Krautlsuppe) Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: German; Soup; Vegetable
The History of Recipes
It is possible to read the history of meal recipes way back into the distant past, in fact as far back into history as the Egyptians, and possibly even further. In practice though, generally, these early records were just very simple pictorial, hieroglyphic or cunieform instructions for preparing meals.
As our culinary historical trip moves to more modern times we find a couple of interesting recipe books which date from the 14th Century - a cookery book entitled `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary named `Curye on Inglish`. Don`t be fooled by the titles though, they are not about the indian food that we all know today, but instead recipes for the types of food on the menus of the rich people of that period. When we get to the 1900s, cook books were in high demand, mostly due to more people being able to read, people having more free time and having more disposable income. |
We hope you enjoy this Bavarian Herb Soup (Krautlsuppe) recipe.
