flipBiersuppe — Morning Beer Soup
Biersuppe — Morning Beer Soup
Why this dish? Before heading to the Thomasschule at dawn, a Saxon cantor would warm his stomach with a hot beer soup, a daily German breakfast where wheat beer was drunk at every table, including the Bach children's.
A blonde, frothy soup made from wheat beer thickened with egg yolk and sweetened with a touch of sugar and spices. Comforting, halfway between broth and grog, it opened the workday.
You see, dear reader, before the service sounds and my schoolboys start their racket, my good wife Anna Magdalena would hand me a bowl of this steaming soup. We heat the wheat beer without letting it boil, blend in the egg yolk with a patient hand — else it curdles, and it is a sin to waste God's work — then a grain of sugar and cinnamon. It warms the blood better than a sermon, and nourishes a man to render his praise. Soli Deo Gloria, even at breakfast.
- •Wheat beer (Weizenbier), lightly hopped — a large pot (liquid base)
- •Fresh egg yolks — two or three (thickener)
- •Sugar — a pinch (sweeten bitterness)
- •Cinnamon and a sliver of ginger — to taste (warm spices)
- •Stale bread (optional) — a few croutons (thickener)
Biersuppe — Morning Beer Soup
A blonde, frothy soup made from wheat beer thickened with egg yolk and sweetened with a touch of sugar and spices. Comforting, halfway between broth and grog, it opened the workday.
Why this dish? Before heading to the Thomasschule at dawn, a Saxon cantor would warm his stomach with a hot beer soup, a daily German breakfast where wheat beer was drunk at every table, including the Bach children's.
You see, dear reader, before the service sounds and my schoolboys start their racket, my good wife Anna Magdalena would hand me a bowl of this steaming soup. We heat the wheat beer without letting it boil, blend in the egg yolk with a patient hand — else it curdles, and it is a sin to waste God's work — then a grain of sugar and cinnamon. It warms the blood better than a sermon, and nourishes a man to render his praise. Soli Deo Gloria, even at breakfast.
Ingredients (period version)
- Wheat beer (Weizenbier), lightly hopped — a large pot (liquid base)
- Fresh egg yolks — two or three (thickener)
- Sugar — a pinch (sweeten bitterness)
- Cinnamon and a sliver of ginger — to taste (warm spices)
- Stale bread (optional) — a few croutons (thickener)
Ingredients
- White beer / Weissbier — 50 cl (liquid base)
- Egg yolks — 2 (thickener)
- Sugar — 1 tsp (sweeten)
- Ground cinnamon — 1 pinch (spice)
- Ground ginger — 1 pinch (spice)
- Cream (optional) — 2 tbsp (richness)
Method
- Pour the beer into a saucepan and gently heat with the sugar, cinnamon, and ginger, without boiling.
- In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks (and cream if using).
- Ladle a little hot beer into the yolks to temper them, then pour the mixture back into the saucepan, whisking constantly.
- Heat over very low heat until slightly thickened, without boiling.
- Serve immediately, frothy, optionally over a few stale bread croutons.
How it was made : Water being often unsafe, weak beer (Dünnbier) was consumed from morning to night in the German-speaking world, children included. Biersuppe, attested in German cookbooks from the 16th to the 18th century, turned this daily beverage into a warm, nourishing meal.
The contemporary twist : Served in an espresso cup as a 'morning shooter,' topped with a cloud of beer foam and a dash of cinnamon, as a baroque wink.
Johann Sebastian Bach · Charactorium
