Suppe (the soup that opens the meal)
Leberknödelsuppe — Liver Dumpling Soup
EverydayDocumented🧂 🍄moyen1 h
A clear, fragrant beef broth in which tender liver dumplings bound with stale bread and seasoned with marjoram float. The ordinary daily soup, simple, nourishing, and warm, as it was served in Viennese homes.
Why this dish? Mozart, a gourmand and bon vivant, mentioned in his letters his taste for liver dumplings and sauerkraut, hearty everyday Viennese dishes that comforted him between concerts.
Come, sit down without ceremony! When I came home chilled from a rehearsal at the theater, nothing revived me like a good broth with my dear liver dumplings swimming in it — with a heap of sauerkraut on the side, I assure you happiness was complete. The secret, you see, lies in the well-soaked stale bread and a pinch of marjoram, otherwise the dumpling weighs like a wrong note. My dear Constance would make fun of me, but I devoured it with the appetite of a regimental drummer!
Ingredients
- •Calf's liver — a fine piece (heart of the dumpling)
- •Stale rolls (Semmeln) — a few (binder)
- •Eggs — a few (binder)
- •Onion, parsley, marjoram — to taste (aromatics)
- •Lard — a knob (fat)
- •Beef broth — as needed (soup base)
How it was made : Using every part of the animal was a necessity: offal like liver, mixed with stale bread from the day before, made a complete and economical soup. The dumplings were poached directly in the large broth pot simmering on the hearth.
Sources : Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, family correspondence (letters)