Country Bread Soup (Brotsuppe)

This soup undoubtedly came about as a good way to use up stale bread, as bread would begin to dry out after just a day, and it could get moldy after just a couple of days, in times, generally, now gone by; although we are seeing more breads produced with little or no preservatives today. A second reason for the use of bread, was to make a dish that was filling; something well done by bread. German rye bread is not light and spongy, but rather heavier, and more dense. So it may take some time for the broth to be, "comin' thro' the rye." If you have a German bakery near you, or if your supermarket's bakery makes German-style rye, or sells such bread from another bakery, I recommend you give it a try, especially for this soup.

3 slices rye bread, cubed or torn into small pieces

2 tablespoons butter

2 cloves garlic, chopped

3 cups chicken or vegetable stock

2 heaping tablespoons chopped chives

2 heaping tablespoons chopped parsley

2 heaping tablespoons marjoram leaves 

3 tablespoons cream or milk
pinch of black or white pepper (optional)

4 franks, or 6 small link sausages (already cooked), sliced

In a heavy bottomed pan, lightly toast the bread in melted butter, turning the cubes. After about two minutes, add the garlic, cook one more minute, stirring. Add the broth and marjoram, simmer for 6 to 8 minutes. Add the sausage slices, simmer a further 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the chives, parsley and cream (also, pepper, if using), stir well. Serve. 

I used small link sausages

WORD HISTORY:
Rustic-This word, closely related to "rural," and distantly related to "room," goes back to Indo European "reu/rew/row," with the basic notion of "open space."This gave Latin "rus," with the meaning, "countryside, farmland." This, in combination with the suffix "ticus," ^ gave Latin "rusticus," meaning, "of or from the country;" thus also, "plain, simple, coarse, crude, unsophisticated" (for a person, "a peasant, a farmer," and derogatorily, "a person of little or no culture or formal education"). English borrowed the word as "rustik" in the 1400s, likely with some influence of French "rustique," from the same Latin source (French is a Latin-based language).

^ "(t)icus" goes back to Indo European "ikos," a suffix with the notion, "with characteristics of." The Latin form is related to the ending "y" on many modern English words, with the "y" contracted from, and altered in pronunciation from, "ig," an ending still intact in English cousin, German, although it comes out "similar" to English "y" by "some" German speakers.