flipPotato Soup with Marjoram (Kartoffelsuppe)
Potato Soup with Marjoram (Kartoffelsuppe)
Why this dish? This is the everyday dish of a Kassel household, frugal and nourishing, which Dortchen would set to simmer while Wilhelm Grimm classified his tales. Marjoram, an apothecary and garden herb, comes from the knowledge of the Wilds, apothecaries from father to daughter.
A thick soup of potatoes melted in vegetable broth, scented with marjoram and bay leaf, bound by its own starch. The foundational dish of Hessian cuisine: few ingredients, much patience.
Draw near your bowl, my friend, and fear not simplicity: it is on such nothings that an honest Kassel household lives. I peel my potatoes in my apron, I let them melt ever so gently with a sprig of marjoram from our garden, and I stir until the soup holds itself, without cream or fuss. While it sings on the fire, Wilhelm blackens his pages and I remember the tales we told each other as children, noses over the pot. Serve it piping hot with a crust of rye bread; that is all that is needed to warm a heart.
- •Storage potatoes — a large basket for the household (nourishing base)
- •Onion and leek from the garden — according to what you have (base aromatics)
- •Carrot and celeriac — a few roots (sweetness and body)
- •Dried marjoram — a good pinch (signature flavor)
- •Bay leaf — one leaf (aromatic)
- •Lard or butter — a knob (fat for sweating vegetables)
- •Salt — to hand (seasoning)
Potato Soup with Marjoram (Kartoffelsuppe)
A thick soup of potatoes melted in vegetable broth, scented with marjoram and bay leaf, bound by its own starch. The foundational dish of Hessian cuisine: few ingredients, much patience.
Why this dish? This is the everyday dish of a Kassel household, frugal and nourishing, which Dortchen would set to simmer while Wilhelm Grimm classified his tales. Marjoram, an apothecary and garden herb, comes from the knowledge of the Wilds, apothecaries from father to daughter.
Draw near your bowl, my friend, and fear not simplicity: it is on such nothings that an honest Kassel household lives. I peel my potatoes in my apron, I let them melt ever so gently with a sprig of marjoram from our garden, and I stir until the soup holds itself, without cream or fuss. While it sings on the fire, Wilhelm blackens his pages and I remember the tales we told each other as children, noses over the pot. Serve it piping hot with a crust of rye bread; that is all that is needed to warm a heart.
Ingredients (period version)
- Storage potatoes — a large basket for the household (nourishing base)
- Onion and leek from the garden — according to what you have (base aromatics)
- Carrot and celeriac — a few roots (sweetness and body)
- Dried marjoram — a good pinch (signature flavor)
- Bay leaf — one leaf (aromatic)
- Lard or butter — a knob (fat for sweating vegetables)
- Salt — to hand (seasoning)
Ingredients
- Floury potatoes — 800 g (nourishing base)
- Onion — 1 large (aromatic)
- Leek — 1 white part (aromatic)
- Carrot — 2 (sweetness)
- Celeriac — 1 small piece (150 g) (body)
- Dried marjoram — 1 tsp (signature flavor)
- Bay leaf — 1 leaf (aromatic)
- Butter — 30 g (fat)
- Vegetable broth — 1.2 L (liquid)
- Salt and pepper — to taste (seasoning)
Method
- Sweat the chopped onion and leek in butter without browning.
- Add diced carrot, celeriac and potatoes; sauté for one minute.
- Pour in the broth, add bay leaf and half the marjoram. Simmer 25–30 minutes until potatoes fall apart.
- Remove bay leaf. Roughly mash with a fork or blend only half to keep some texture.
- Adjust salt, add the remaining marjoram freshly crumbled just before serving with rye bread.
How it was made : At the beginning of the 19th century, the potato became the staple food for Hessian families, especially during the Napoleonic wars and famines. It was simmered over a wood fire in a cast-iron pot, thickened without cream or added starch: simply mashing part of the potatoes sufficed. Meat was the exception, most often absent.
The contemporary twist : A spoonful of beaten quark (Quark) placed in the center and a veil of fresh marjoram: the peasant soup takes on Kaffeetafel airs.
Henriette Dorothea Wild · Charactorium
