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Crayfish Soup (potage bisque d'écrevisses)

Classic bisque made from 75 crayfish: the crayfish are boiled in salted water, the tail meat is cleaned, and the shells and heads are pounded with butter into crayfish butter that lends color and flavor. The soup is thickened with crayfish butter and flour, thinned with stock and the crayfish cooking liquid, seasoned with cream, Madeira, lemon juice and cayenne, and served with fish balls and crayfish tails.

Source: Henriette Schønberg Erken, Stor kokebok, 1914-utg. s. 52 (falt i det fri)

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About the dish

Crayfish soup was the highlight of the crayfish season and a prestigious dinner-party dish. Erken follows the French bisque technique: the shells and heads are pounded with butter to draw out the red crayfish butter, which is used both in the soup and in the fish forcemeat for the balls.

How to make it

  1. 1

    Boil the crayfish

    Wash the crayfish well and drop them into boiling salted water (50 g salt per liter). A sprig of dill may be added to the cooking water. Boil for 15 minutes.

  2. 2

    Cool and clean

    Rinse the crayfish with cold water and let them cool completely. Remove the tail sections, take out all the meat, and remove the intestinal tract.

  3. 3

    Make the crayfish butter

    Pound the heads and the shells from the tails together with 75 g butter into a smooth mass. Set the mass over the heat with boiling stock or water and cook for 30 minutes, until the red butter floats to the top. Skim off the butter and strain the stock.

  4. 4

    Make the soup

    Melt half of the skimmed crayfish butter together with 50 g fresh butter, stir in the flour, and thin with the stock and the strained crayfish cooking liquid. Let the soup simmer for 30 minutes.

  5. 5

    Season

    Add cream, Madeira, lemon juice, cayenne and salt to taste.

  6. 6

    Fish balls

    Stir the other half of the crayfish butter, fully cooled, into fish forcemeat. Shape into small balls, poach them, and add them to the soup.

  7. 7

    Serve

    Place the crayfish tail meat in the soup tureen and pour the boiling soup over it.

Changes from the original

Units modernized (gr. → g, del. → dl, teske → tsp, knivsod → pinch). The method has been divided into numbered steps; the amount of salt in the cooking water has been kept as in the original (50 g per liter).

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Tidsmaskin – hva endret seg?

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Fra19141949Modernisert
Til19141949Modernisert
1914 (korrekturlest, s. 52) → 1949 (korrekturlest, s. 64)~39% av teksten endretfjernetlagt til
(Potage bisque d'écrevisses.) 75 krebs kreps 125 gr. smør 50 gr. hvetemel 2 1. l. kraft (fiske- eller kjøtkraft) kjøttkraft) 1 teske citronsaft teskje sitronsaft 1 del. dd. fløte 2 del. madeira dd. vin 1 knivsod cayenne smaa knivsodd kajenne små fiskeboller. Krebsene Krepsene vaskes godt og haves has i kokende saltet vand, vann, 50 gr. salt til 1 1. vand, l. vann, og koker i 15 minutter. En kvast dill kan haves has i kokevandet. Naar kokevannet. Når de er kokt, overskylles de med koldt vand vann og staar, står til de er kolde. Halestykket tages tas fra, og kjøttet tages tas ut helt; ta væk vekk «strengen». Hoderne Hodene og skallet av halestykket støtes med 75 gr. smør til en jevn masse, sættes settes over ilden varmen med kokende kraft eller vand vann og koker 1/2 time, eller til det røde smør flyter op. Dette avskummes, og kraften siles. Halvparten av det avskummede smør tillikemed 50 gr. friskt smør smeltes sammen, melet røres i, og man spæder sper med kraften og det avsilede krebsekraftavkok; smaakoker 1/2 avsilte krepsekraftavkok; småkoker 3/4 time og tilsættes tilsettes fløte, vin, citronsaft, cayenne sitronsaft, kajenne og salt efter smak. Den anden annen halvpart av det avskummede krebsesmør krepsesmør røres, naar når det er ganske koldt, i fiskefarce; fiskefarse; av denne utstikkes smaa små boller, som kokes og haves paa has på suppen. Kjøttet av krebsehalerne lægges krepsehalene legges i terrinen, og den kokende suppe heldes helles over.

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Frequently asked questions

How long should the crayfish boil?
The crayfish are boiled for 15 minutes in boiling salted water – 50 g salt per liter of water. A sprig of dill in the cooking water is nice. Afterward they are rinsed with cold water and left until cold.
What are the shells used for?
The heads and shells from the tail sections are pounded together with 75 g butter into a smooth mass, set over the fire with boiling stock or water, and cooked for half an hour – until the red crayfish butter floats to the top. The butter is skimmed off and the stock is strained, so that both color and flavor are put to use.
How much crayfish and stock is needed for 8 servings?
The recipe calls for 75 crayfish and 2 liters of stock (fish or meat stock), thickened with 50 g wheat flour and 125 g butter. It is seasoned with 1 dl cream, 2 dl Madeira, 1 tsp lemon juice and a pinch of cayenne, and served with small fish balls.
Where does the recipe come from?
From Henriette Schønberg Erken's "Stor kokebok" (1914), page 52.

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