Blueberry Soup (blåbær)

About the dish

From the chapter on wine and fruit soups in Stor kokebok (1914). Erken emphasizes that fruit soups must not be boiled in an iron pot or copper vessel, because the fruit acids dissolve the metals; nickel, silver, brightly scoured brass, or fully enameled saucepans are recommended.

How to make it

1. 1

   Boil the berries

   Rinse the blueberries and put them on to boil in the cold water. Let the soup boil until the berries are tender enough to be pressed through a colander or strained through a fine-mesh sieve. A little whole cinnamon or a piece of lemon peel can be boiled with it.

2. 2

   Strain the soup

   Press the berries through a colander or strain the soup through a fine-mesh sieve, and return it to the heat.

3. 3

   Thicken the soup

   Stir the potato starch into 1 dl cold water. When the soup is boiling, pour in the thickening in a thin stream while stirring. When the soup returns to a boil and is clear, it is done. Season to taste with sugar.

4. 4

   Variation with butter thickening

   Instead of potato starch, you can lightly brown 1 tablespoon of butter with 1 tablespoon of wheat flour, thin it with 1 liter of the soup, and pour the boiling thickening into the rest of the soup, which should also boil.

5. 5

   Serving

   Serve the soup with flour dumplings in it, or with small rusks or fried bread alongside.

6. 6

   From dried berries

   If you use dried blueberries, take 500 g of berries to 3.5 liters of water. Soak the berries overnight in half of the water, boil them in the soaking water together with the rest of the water for about 1 hour, and otherwise make the soup as described.