Classic cauliflower soup from Erken's Stor kokebok (1914): cauliflower is boiled with leek and celeriac, the stalks are boiled down into a stock, the soup is thickened with butter and flour, finished with egg yolks and filled with tender cauliflower florets. Served with parsley.
Source: Henriette Schønberg Erken, Stor kokebok, 1914-utg. s. 40 (falt i det fri)
Be the first to rate
About the dish
Erken adds a longer explanation of how cauliflower is cleaned: "The cauliflower is cleaned in the usual way; what does that mean? Well, cauliflower, which is one of our most valuable vegetables with greater nutritional value and a milder flavor than the other cabbage kinds, should before cooking be placed in vinegar and water — 1 tablespoon vinegar to each liter of water — for about an hour to be cleansed of worms and larvae. Salt water may also be used. The cauliflower looks nicest if given a couple of minutes in boiling water, then doused with cold water and after that into the boiling water in which it is finally to be boiled tender. It also becomes white and tasty by boiling it in sweet milk, though this is only for company use. Salt must be added only at the very end if boiling in milk; if the milk curdles anyway, the cauliflower must be rinsed with boiling water. If you boil the cauliflower in milk, you must use meat stock to prepare the soup."
How to make it
1
Clean the cauliflower
Clean the cauliflower: place it for about an hour in vinegar water (1 tablespoon vinegar per liter of water) or salt water to draw out worms and larvae. Cut a cross in the stalk so that stalk and flower become tender at the same time.
2
Boil the cauliflower
Put the cauliflower in the boiling, salted water together with the leek and celeriac. The cauliflower head can be set on a kitchen fork hung on the edge of the pot, so it is kept under water the whole time. Boil until the cauliflower is well half-cooked.
3
Boil down the stock
Lift out the cauliflower, divide it into small florets and put all the stalks back into the water. Boil until everything is cooked down and press the stock through a colander.
4
Thicken the soup
Melt 75 g butter, stir in the flour and thin with the cauliflower stock. Let the soup simmer for half an hour.
5
Finish
Put the half-cooked cauliflower florets into the soup and continue cooking until they are tender.
6
Thicken with egg
Whisk the egg yolks thick with a pinch of salt, whisk in a little of the hot soup and pour everything into the tureen. Season with salt and stir in the rest of the butter in small pieces. Sprinkle parsley over the top.
Changes from the original
Quantities are kept, but grams and liters are listed in modern units. "Spiseske" is written as tablespoon, "eggeblommer" as egg yolks, and "knivsod" as a pinch. The method is divided into numbered steps in modern Norwegian.
📖1914
Original 1914 recipe
Verbatim from the first edition of the Big Cookbook.
Foto: Faksimile: Nasjonalbiblioteket
ProofreadPage 40
3 blomkaalhoder
1 purre
1 selleri
1 spiseske persille
100 gr. smør
75 gr. hvetemel
2 eggeblommer
3 l. vand
salt.
Kaalen renses paa vanlig maate, sættes over ilden i det kokende, saltede vand, tillike med purren og sellerien. Koker til kaalen er godt halvkokt, da tages denne op, deles op i smaabuketter, og alle stilker haves tilbake i vandet, koker til alt er utkokt, presses gjennem dørslag. 75 gr. smør smeltes, irøres melet, spædes med kaalvandet, koker ½ time. De halvkokte smaabuketter av kaalen haves i, og suppen koker videre, til disse er møre. Eggeblommerne vispes tykke med 1 knivsod salt; litt av suppen vispes heri, og alt haves i terrinen; salt efter smak; resten av smørret, opdelt i smaastykker, haves i.
Skjær et kors i stilken paa kaalen, før den haves i gryten, dampen vil da trænge ind, og stilk og blomst vil være kokt mør til samme tid. Kaalen kan man stikke ind paa en kjøkkengaffel og hænge denne paa grytekanten, herved holdes kaalhodet under vand den hele tid.
📖1949
Revised 1949 recipe
From the revised edition of the Big Cookbook.
Foto: Faksimile: Nasjonalbiblioteket
ProofreadPage 51
2-3 blomkålhoder
1 purre
1 selleri
¼ spiseskje persille
100 gr. smør
75 gr. hvetemel
2 eggeplommer
3 l. vann
salt.
Kålen renses på vanlig måte, settes over varmen i det kokende, saltede vann, tillike med purren og sellerien. Koker til kålen er godt halvkokt, da tas denne op, deles op i småbuketter, og alle stilker has tilbake i vannet, koker til alt er utkokt, presses gjennem dørslag. 75 gr. smør smeltes, irøres melet, spes med kålvannet, koker ¾ time. De halvkokte småbuketter av kålen has i, og suppen koker videre til disse er møre. Eggeplommene vispes tykke med 1 knivsodd salt; litt av suppen vispes heri, og alt has i terrinen; salt efter smak; resten av smøret, opdelt i småstykker, has i.
In stores now
Clean, minimally processed groceries matched to the ingredients — approximate prices.
1914 (korrekturlest, s. 40) → 1949 (korrekturlest, s. 51)~54% av teksten endretfjernetlagt til
3 blomkaalhoder 2-3 blomkålhoder 1 purre 1 selleri 1 spiseske ¼ spiseskje persille 100 gr. smør 75 gr. hvetemel 2 eggeblommer eggeplommer 3 l. vand vann salt. Kaalen Kålen renses paa på vanlig maate, sættes måte, settes over ilden varmen i det kokende, saltede vand, vann, tillike med purren og sellerien. Koker til kaalen kålen er godt halvkokt, da tages tas denne op, deles op i smaabuketter, småbuketter, og alle stilker haves has tilbake i vandet, vannet, koker til alt er utkokt, presses gjennem dørslag. 75 gr. smør smeltes, irøres melet, spædes spes med kaalvandet, kålvannet, koker ½ ¾ time. De halvkokte smaabuketter småbuketter av kaalen haves kålen has i, og suppen koker videre, videre til disse er møre. Eggeblommerne Eggeplommene vispes tykke med 1 knivsod knivsodd salt; litt av suppen vispes heri, og alt haves has i terrinen; salt efter smak; resten av smørret, smøret, opdelt i smaastykker, haves småstykker, has i. Skjær et kors i stilken paa kaalen, før den haves i gryten, dampen vil da trænge ind, og stilk og blomst vil være kokt mør til samme tid. Kaalen kan man stikke ind paa en kjøkkengaffel og hænge denne paa grytekanten, herved holdes kaalhodet under vand den hele tid.
Why is the cauliflower lifted out of the pot half-cooked?
When the cauliflower is half-cooked, the heads are lifted out and divided into small florets, while the stalks are boiled on in the water until cooked down and pressed through a colander. This way you get stock from the stalks, while the florets do not become overcooked – they are put back into the soup and boiled only until tender.
How do I keep the egg yolks from splitting?
Whisk the 2 egg yolks thick with a pinch of salt, whisk in a little of the hot soup first, and then pour everything together into the tureen – do not boil the soup after the egg yolks are added.
What does the thickening consist of?
75 g butter is melted, the wheat flour (75 g) is stirred in and thinned with the cauliflower water. This roux-thickened soup simmers for half an hour before the cauliflower florets are added. The rest of the butter is divided up and added at the end.
Which vegetables flavor the stock?
Besides 3 cauliflower heads, 1 leek and 1 celeriac are used, boiled along in the 3 liters of boiling, salted water, plus 1 tablespoon parsley. The recipe is from Henriette Schønberg Erken's "Stor kokebok" (1914), p. 40.
