Mittagessen — the hot soup that opens the midday meal
Kartoffelsuppe mit Majoran (Potato Soup with Marjoram)
EverydayReconstruction🧂 🍄facile40 min
A creamy potato soup thickened by fork-mashing, perfumed with marjoram and caraway, and enlivened with a little melted bacon fat. The everyday dish par excellence: few ingredients, much warmth.
Mittagessen — the hot soup that opens the midday meal
A creamy potato soup thickened by fork-mashing, perfumed with marjoram and caraway, and enlivened with a little melted bacon fat. The everyday dish par excellence: few ingredients, much warmth.
Allow me to serve you what my table knew best during my lean years. I measured my expenses then with the same rigor as my resistances, and believe me, a pot of potatoes yields more than it costs. I would toss in a pinch of marjoram and caraway, a hint of bacon when the month allowed, and there I had an honest meal for a man who spent his evenings over his notebooks. Taste it hot: it warms as much as a theorem finally proven.
Ingredients
- •Potatoes — a good full bowl (base of the soup)
- •Onion — one (aromatic)
- •Smoked bacon — a small piece (fat and umami)
- •Dried marjoram — a pinch (perfume)
- •Caraway (Kümmel) — a few grains (signature, digestive)
- •Broth or water — according to the pot (liquid)
How it was made : In a modest household, the soup simmered on the tiled stove and was thickened simply by mashing the potatoes, without cream or flour — rich thickeners were reserved for wealthier tables. Bacon served as the sole source of fat and flavor.
Sources : Henriette Davidis, Praktisches Kochbuch für die gewöhnliche und feinere Küche (1845)