Eel soup

Hamburg eel soup, here in the "Alt Helgoländer Fischerstube" restaurant in Hamburg-Altona

Eel soup is a soup or stew used in northern German cuisine made from eel , vegetables and other ingredients such as herbs and dumplings . The particularly rich Hamburg eel soup , which contains baked fruit and thus has a sweet and sour note, is known nationwide. It is served as a main course.

history

Eel soup has been a typical dish of the region since the 18th century. The oldest written mention comes from a kitchen regulation of the Hamburg Heilig-Geist-Hospital from 1756. The oldest known recipe is in a Hamburg cookbook from 1788. The Economic Encyclopedia by Johann Georg Krünitz states in 1782 that eel soup is a dish “for common people "And specifically" in those places where these fish can be found in abundance ". The Landphysikus Rambach wrote in 1801: “This mixture is an extremely tasty dish for Hamburgers and is therefore usually served alone, without any additional food. As varied as its composition is, I have never seen any disadvantage in it, although it is always eaten in excess ”. Johann Friedrich Schützes Holsteinisches Idiotikon from 1801 reports: "Eel soup is the main meal of the eel soup feasts, which are employed by the Holstein urban and rural inns for male guests like picnics."

Hamburger eel soup

It is often said that the Hamburg eel soup traditionally did not contain any eel, but was rather a kind of leftover food in which everything is crumbled (“everything comes in”) that was in the kitchen, hence the name. The eel is a concession to guests of the city so as not to disappoint them. This is a legend with a folk etymological justification for which there is no evidence. However, there is a similarly prepared soup without eel, which is called suur soup (“sour soup”).

preparation

The basis is a strong meat broth , which was cooked from bones from the smoked ham , depending on the recipe also with cured beef . In it, small chopped soup vegetables and peas with baked fruit (plums, apples and pears) are cooked in separate pots , and the peeled eel cut into bite-sized pieces with the addition of a little vinegar . Then both parts are put together, the broth is bound with a little roux if necessary . Finally, the soup with chopped is Aalkruut ( "Aalkraut" a variable mix of fresh herbs such as thyme , marjoram , parsley , sage and savory , and basil , tarragon , purslane , celery leaves , chervil , mint , dill , lemon balm , sorrel and trip Madam ) , cooked through briefly. The soup is often served with Mehlklößchen ( Klüten ) Schwemmklößchen and, if used for the broth, the chopped beef. It is also common to add a little smoked eel.

literature

• Richard Hering : Herings Lexicon of the Kitchen . Internationally recognized reference work for modern and classic cuisine. Ed .: F. Jürgen Herrmann. 24th, expanded edition. Pfanneberg , Haan-Gruiten 2009, ISBN 978-3-8057-0587-5 (anniversary edition with CD-ROM; first edition 1907).
• Erhard Gorys : The new kitchen dictionary . 7th, completely revised and expanded edition. dtv , Munich 2001, ISBN 3-423-36245-6 (first edition 1975).
• Tom Dieck: Pottkieker. 50 classic north German dishes with a history . Koehler, Hamburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-7822-1079-9 , pp. 44-45 .

Web links

Wiktionary: Eel soup  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

1. ^ Franklin Kopitzsch , Daniel Tilgner (ed.): Hamburg Lexikon . 3rd, updated edition. Ellert and Richter, Hamburg 2005, ISBN 3-8319-0179-1 (first edition 1998).