Graupensuppe (German Barley Soup)

Graupensuppe (German Barley Soup)

Fall is soup time and nothing quite hits the spot like a hardy barley soup. In Germany barley soup is an "Eintopf" - a one-pot meal. It uses the classic "Suppengrün" mixture (mirepoix) of leek, celery root and carrot, plus potatoes and bacon for substance. This recipe is adapted from Klaus Weiler, the chef at Weinhaus Weiler in Oberwesel, Germany. It appeared in the Saveur November 2011 issue on The Art of Soup.

INGREDIENTS

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
1 cup pearl barley
8 cups vegetable or chicken stock
½ cup white wine

½ cup finely chopped peeled russet potato
½ cup finely chopped carrot
½ cup finely chopped celery root
½ cup finely chopped leek
2 cups chopped Swiss chard
1 cup sliced button mushrooms
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. dried marjoram
2 German sausages, like bockwurst or bratwurst
Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
¼ cup thinly sliced flat-leaf parsley leaves

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat butter in a 6-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat; add onion, and cook, stirring, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add barley, and cook, stirring, until lightly toasted, about 5 minutes. Add stock, potato, carrot, celery root, leek, marjoram, Swiss chard, button mushrooms, bay leaf, whole sausages, and bacon, and cook, stirring occasionally, until sausages are tender, about 35 minutes. Remove sausages and bacon from saucepan, thinly slice sausages, and discard bacon. Season soup with nutmeg, salt, and pepper. To serve, ladle soup into 8 serving bowls, and garnish with parsley and sliced sausage.

Try to find ‘real’ German sausages – bockwurst or bratwurst – freshly made. The 100-year-entombed, cryrovac-packed silicon casing tubes offered in supermarkets just don’t make the cut. You should be able to easily ‘tear’ the sausage into chunks.