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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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Time machine – what changed?

Pick two editions and see what Henriette Schønberg Erken added, removed or changed between them.

From19141949Modernised
To19141949Modernised
Modernised → 1949 (proofread, p. 64)~76% of the text changedremovedadded
(Potage bisque d'écrevisses.) 75 stk kreps. kreps 125 g smør (75 g til krepsesmøret, 50 g friskt gr. smør til jevningen). 50 g hvetemel. gr. hvetemel 2 l l. kraft (fiske- eller kjøttkraft). kjøttkraft) 1 ts sitronsaft. teskje sitronsaft 1 dl fløte. dd. fløte 2 dl madeira. dd. vin 1 knivsodd cayennepepper. kajenne små fiskeboller (av fiskefarse blandet med krepsesmør). 50 g salt (per liter kokevann til krepsen). 1 kvast dill (i kokevannet, valgfritt). Vask krepsen fiskeboller. Krepsene vaskes godt og legg den has i kokende saltet vann (50 g vann, 50 gr. salt per liter). til 1 l. vann, og koker i 15 minutter. En kvast dill kan legges has i kokevannet. Kok i 15 minutter.. Skyll krepsen Når de er kokt, overskylles de med kaldt koldt vann og la den bli helt kald. Ta av halestykkene, ta står til de er kolde. Halestykket tas fra, og kjøttet tas ut helt og fjern tarmstrengen.. Støt hodene helt; ta vekk «strengen». Hodene og skallet av halene sammen halestykket støtes med 75 g gr. smør til en jevn masse. Sett massen masse, settes over varmen med kokende kraft eller vann og kok i 30 minutter, koker 1/2 time, eller til det røde smøret smør flyter opp. Skum av smøret op. Dette avskummes, og sil kraften.. Smelt halvparten kraften siles. Halvparten av det avskummede krepsesmøret sammen med smør tillikemed 50 g gr. friskt smør, rør inn smør smeltes sammen, melet røres i, og spe man sper med kraften og det avsilte krepseavkoket. La suppen småkoke i 30 minutter.. Tilsett krepsekraftavkok; småkoker 3/4 time og tilsettes fløte, madeira, vin, sitronsaft, cayenne kajenne og salt etter smak.. Rør den andre halvparten efter smak. Den annen halvpart av krepsesmøret, helt avkjølt, inn det avskummede krepsesmør røres, når det er ganske koldt, i fiskefarse. Stikk ut fiskefarse; av denne utstikkes små boller, kok dem som kokes og legg dem i suppen.. Legg krepsehalekjøttet has på suppen. Kjøttet av krepsehalene legges i suppeterrinen terrinen, og hell den kokende suppen suppe helles over.

Note on Modernised

Enheter modernisert (gr. → g, del. → dl, teske → ts, knivsod → knivsodd). Fremgangsmåten er delt i nummererte trinn; saltmengden i kokevannet er beholdt som i originalen (50 g per liter).

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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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