Soup's On, Rhineland Onion Soup
There's nothing like some soup to warm ourselves from the bone chilling cold of winter or the chilly dampness of spring. I once had a German-style deli and one of the soups we served was this one from the Rhineland in Germany, "Rheinische Zwiebelsuppe," or "Rhenish Onion Soup." "Rhenish" is not a word used or understood by everyone, so my partner and I listed it as "Rhineland Onion Soup," and it was very popular. I dug out my recipe the other day, which I jotted down in pencil on a piece of paper about the size of an index card years ago in the early part of the 1980s. It's still intact. Hey, I don't throw things away. Hold on while I move my baby shoes out of the way so I can continue. It's really relatively easy to make.
Ingredients:
6 or 7 white or yellow onions (tennis ball size), coarsely chopped
2 medium potatoes, diced
48 ounces of beef stock (and from a carton is fine, but remember the salt in most brands)
2 bay leaves
3 or 4 sausages (see below)
salt to taste (if you use stock with high salt content, you may not need to add salt at all)
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 heaping tablespoon chopped parsley
1-2 tablespoons of cider vinegar
3 tablespoons of oil, butter, or lard (see below)
Germans most often use "Mettwurst" for the sausage content. Mettwurst (literally "chopped meat sausage," and yes, the "mett" part is closely related to English "meat") means different things depending upon region. In south German-speaking areas it is a soft, spreadable sausage, sometimes made from coarsely ground, sometimes finely ground, raw pork, which is cured or smoked to preserve it. Other ingredients vary by region. In the north, the sausage is made similarly, but it is cured (sometimes smoked) for long periods which make it firm like salami. I grew up eating this firm type of Mettwurst and I can't even hear the word without thinking of my grandfather, who loved it, and all of the neighborhood grocers and butcher shops sold it (it was an old German neighborhood). Now, having written all of this, since I sold bratwurst at my deli, that is what I used in the onion soup. These were bratwursts that were already cooked and only needed to be heated through late in the cooking process for the soup, and they should be sliced into bite-sized pieces. I used non smoked bratwurst, as smoked meat naturally alters the flavor, but I'm sure you won't end up in the penitentiary if you use smoked style sausage.
Chop the onions while playing a rendition of "Cry Me A River," and the chopped onions will look like a mountain, but they should be cooked until somewhat softened (not totally, they will cook more with the other ingredients) in some oil, like canola or sunflower oil, which has little flavor, and the onions will cook down a bit. Traditionally, Germans used lard, but in modern times oil or butter can be used, or a combination of oil and butter, which is what I use. Once the onions are somewhat softened, add the potatoes, bay leaves, salt (if needed), pepper and beef stock. The soup should be covered and simmered, not boiled, periodically stirred, and cooked until the potatoes are about done, when the sausage should be added. A few minutes later add the parsley and vinegar. I indicated 1 to 2 tablespoons of vinegar, but you might try one at first, as you don't want the vinegar to overwhelm the flavor or make it too sour; it should be more subtle and the rich broth should be more dominant.
I had knockwurst available, so that's what I used for the sausage part of the recipe for this photo.
WORD HISTORY:
Onion-The ultimate origin of this word is uncertain, but it traces back to Latin "unio," and the derived "unionem," the meaning of which was "onion," seemingly from its other meaning, "pearl." This was inherited by Old French, a Latin-based language, as "oignon," which then was carried to England by the Normans where it became "union," in the French dialect that developed there. Old English already had a form of this same word, borrowed from Latin as "ynneleac," which meant "onion" (the "leac" part is the ancestor of modern "leek," the vegetable that looks something like a large green onion), which died out; the word that is, not the plant.^ The Norman form then entered English where it became "oinyon," before the modern version. Old English also borrowed "cipa" from Latin "cepa," which was another word for "onion." It is closely related to the German word for the same, "Zwiebel," which likewise was borrowed from the Latin, possibly from monastery sources. By the way, in German Oberhessisch (Upper Hessian) dialect the word is "Zwiwel."^^
^ For the history of the word "leek," here is the link to my article containing that history: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2014/11/flemish-beef-and-beer-stew.html
^^ Oberhessisch is also known to some as "Mittelhessisch."
Ingredients:
6 or 7 white or yellow onions (tennis ball size), coarsely chopped
2 medium potatoes, diced
48 ounces of beef stock (and from a carton is fine, but remember the salt in most brands)
2 bay leaves
3 or 4 sausages (see below)
salt to taste (if you use stock with high salt content, you may not need to add salt at all)
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 heaping tablespoon chopped parsley
1-2 tablespoons of cider vinegar
3 tablespoons of oil, butter, or lard (see below)
Germans most often use "Mettwurst" for the sausage content. Mettwurst (literally "chopped meat sausage," and yes, the "mett" part is closely related to English "meat") means different things depending upon region. In south German-speaking areas it is a soft, spreadable sausage, sometimes made from coarsely ground, sometimes finely ground, raw pork, which is cured or smoked to preserve it. Other ingredients vary by region. In the north, the sausage is made similarly, but it is cured (sometimes smoked) for long periods which make it firm like salami. I grew up eating this firm type of Mettwurst and I can't even hear the word without thinking of my grandfather, who loved it, and all of the neighborhood grocers and butcher shops sold it (it was an old German neighborhood). Now, having written all of this, since I sold bratwurst at my deli, that is what I used in the onion soup. These were bratwursts that were already cooked and only needed to be heated through late in the cooking process for the soup, and they should be sliced into bite-sized pieces. I used non smoked bratwurst, as smoked meat naturally alters the flavor, but I'm sure you won't end up in the penitentiary if you use smoked style sausage.
Chop the onions while playing a rendition of "Cry Me A River," and the chopped onions will look like a mountain, but they should be cooked until somewhat softened (not totally, they will cook more with the other ingredients) in some oil, like canola or sunflower oil, which has little flavor, and the onions will cook down a bit. Traditionally, Germans used lard, but in modern times oil or butter can be used, or a combination of oil and butter, which is what I use. Once the onions are somewhat softened, add the potatoes, bay leaves, salt (if needed), pepper and beef stock. The soup should be covered and simmered, not boiled, periodically stirred, and cooked until the potatoes are about done, when the sausage should be added. A few minutes later add the parsley and vinegar. I indicated 1 to 2 tablespoons of vinegar, but you might try one at first, as you don't want the vinegar to overwhelm the flavor or make it too sour; it should be more subtle and the rich broth should be more dominant.
I had knockwurst available, so that's what I used for the sausage part of the recipe for this photo.
Onion-The ultimate origin of this word is uncertain, but it traces back to Latin "unio," and the derived "unionem," the meaning of which was "onion," seemingly from its other meaning, "pearl." This was inherited by Old French, a Latin-based language, as "oignon," which then was carried to England by the Normans where it became "union," in the French dialect that developed there. Old English already had a form of this same word, borrowed from Latin as "ynneleac," which meant "onion" (the "leac" part is the ancestor of modern "leek," the vegetable that looks something like a large green onion), which died out; the word that is, not the plant.^ The Norman form then entered English where it became "oinyon," before the modern version. Old English also borrowed "cipa" from Latin "cepa," which was another word for "onion." It is closely related to the German word for the same, "Zwiebel," which likewise was borrowed from the Latin, possibly from monastery sources. By the way, in German Oberhessisch (Upper Hessian) dialect the word is "Zwiwel."^^
^ For the history of the word "leek," here is the link to my article containing that history: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2014/11/flemish-beef-and-beer-stew.html
^^ Oberhessisch is also known to some as "Mittelhessisch."
Labels: English, etymology, French, German, German recipes, Latin, Mettwurst, onion soup, onions, recipes, Rheinische Zwiebelsuppe, Rhineland, Rhineland Onion Soup, sausages, soup
posted by Randy at 12:54 PM
1 Comments:
Sounds good.
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