Grünkernsuppe (Grünkernsuppe)
Overview
Grünkernsuppe is a German soup of green spelt, the grain of spelt harvested half ripe and dried over a fire. The coarsely ground grain is roasted in butter until it smells nutty, then cooked in meat or vegetable stock with finely diced carrot, leek and celeriac until soft and creamy. The soup is thickened at the end with egg yolk and cream and seasoned with salt, pepper, nutmeg and lovage. Grünkern has a distinctive smoky, slightly spicy flavour, so the soup tastes rich even though it is simple. It is served with chopped chives, and some versions add little Grünkern dumplings.
History
Grünkern comes from the Bauland, the hilly country between the Odenwald and the Tauber in northern Baden-Württemberg, and especially from around Boxberg. According to tradition, farmers began harvesting spelt early when bad weather threatened their crops, and drying the green grain over beech wood fires to save it. The smoky grain became a speciality of the region, and Grünkernsuppe is its best-known dish.
Main ingredients
Green spelt, butter, carrot, leek, egg yolk, cream. The soup is built on creamy grain broth and is usually served hot. Diet: vegetarian; not usually gluten-free.
Explore: Egg soups · Leek soups · More soups from Germany
Recipe
Method
- 1
Roast the ground spelt in the butter, stirring, until it smells nutty.
- 22 min
Add the vegetables and cook for 2 minutes.
- 320 min
Pour in the stock and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring now and then.
- 4
Whisk the egg yolk with the cream and stir it in off the heat.
- 5
Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and serve with chives.
- ✓
Serve. About 40 min from start to bowl.
Sources
Description, history and recipe written by SoupWiki and checked against the sources above. Calories and times are rough estimates.
