Chef Klaus
Allgäuer Käsesuppe
The Allgäu's Alpine cheese soup works only if the Bergkäse melts gently off the heat, where it turns smooth instead of stringy.
Culinary Explorer
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Badische Bohnesupp'
Created by
A bowl of Baden carnival: dried beans, smoked bacon, potato, and the patience to cook them soft before the Narren come in hungry.
Soups & Stews
German
Comfort Food
Make Ahead
Budget Friendly
25 min
Active Time
2 hr 15 min cook•P1DT2H40M total
Yield6 servings
Badische Bohnesupp' belongs to Baden and the Black Forest, and it belongs to Fasent, the Alemannic carnival season before Lent. On Schmutziger Dunschdig, the Thursday when the Narren, the carnival fools, take over the streets, this is the pot you want waiting: beans, smoked bacon, potato, broth thick enough to feed people who have been out in the cold.
Im Norden anders, im Süden anders. In the north, beans may mean green beans with pears and bacon, or sour cut beans from the crock. In Baden, this soup is dried white beans from the winter shelf, smoked pork from the larder, and a floury potato cooked until it gives its body to the pot. Das ist kein Bierzelt. It's a working soup with a dialect name and a serious appetite.
The technique is simple, and it decides the whole dish: soak the beans and cook them gently before the acid and final salt go in. Salt too early with hard old beans and vinegar too early with any bean, and the skins stay tough while the inside turns tired. Low heat lets the starch swell evenly, the bacon rind gives gelatine to the broth, and the potato breaks down at the end to thicken without a packet. Nicht aus dem Glas.
Watch the pot, not the clock. The beans are done when a spoon crushes one against the side without grit, and the soup is done when the potatoes have softened the broth but not vanished completely. Würzen, Fett, Salz zum Schluss. A spoon of vinegar wakes it up, and then you stop fussing.
Schmutziger Dunschdig, the Thursday before Ash Wednesday in the Swabian-Alemannic carnival calendar, marks the start of the loud street phase of Fasnet in many towns of Baden and the Black Forest. Bean soups fit that moment because dried legumes, smoked pork, and stored potatoes were winter larder foods, exactly what remained before Lent tightened the table. Baden's Bohnesupp' sits inside a wider German bean-soup family, but it differs from northern dishes such as Bohnen, Birnen und Speck, where green beans, pears, and bacon point to a different season and a different kitchen.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
dried white beans
Quantity
350g
soaked overnight
cold water
Quantity
1.5 litres
plus more for soaking
smoked bacon or smoked pork belly
Quantity
200g
in one piece, rind kept on
smoked pork rib or small smoked ham bone (optional)
Quantity
1
onions
Quantity
2
finely diced
carrots
Quantity
2
diced
leek
Quantity
1
white and pale green parts sliced and washed
floury potatoes
Quantity
500g
peeled and diced
bay leaves
Quantity
2
Bohnenkraut (summer savory)
Quantity
1 teaspoon dried or 2 sprigs fresh
lard or neutral oil
Quantity
1 tablespoon
flour
Quantity
1 tablespoon
cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
Quantity
1 tablespoon
plus more to taste
salt and black pepper
Quantity
to taste
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
2 tablespoons
chopped
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| dried white beanssoaked overnight | 350g |
| cold waterplus more for soaking | 1.5 litres |
| smoked bacon or smoked pork bellyin one piece, rind kept on | 200g |
| smoked pork rib or small smoked ham bone (optional) | 1 |
| onionsfinely diced | 2 |
| carrotsdiced | 2 |
| leekwhite and pale green parts sliced and washed | 1 |
| floury potatoespeeled and diced | 500g |
| bay leaves | 2 |
| Bohnenkraut (summer savory) | 1 teaspoon dried or 2 sprigs fresh |
| lard or neutral oil | 1 tablespoon |
| flour | 1 tablespoon |
| cider vinegar or white wine vinegarplus more to taste | 1 tablespoon |
| salt and black pepper | to taste |
| flat-leaf parsleychopped | 2 tablespoons |
Equipment Needed
- •Large heavy soup pot or Dutch oven, 5 litres
- •Sharp knife
- •Ladle
- •Small frying pan for the vegetable base
Instructions
- 1
Soak the beans
Pick over the beans, rinse them, and soak them overnight in plenty of cold water. Soaking is not ceremony; it lets the beans take up water evenly, so the skins soften before the middles collapse. Drain them before cooking, because the soaking water carries the dusty edge of the dried bean.
If the beans are very old, they may never soften properly. Buy from a shop that sells through its stock. A bean soup is cheap, but stale beans are not thrift, they're punishment. - 2
Start the broth
Put the drained beans in a heavy pot with 1.5 litres cold water, the smoked bacon, the optional smoked bone, and the bay leaves. Bring it slowly to a bare simmer, skim the grey foam, then keep it low. Runter mit der Temperatur. A hard boil knocks the skins loose and clouds the broth before the beans are tender.
- 3
Cook until tender
Simmer the beans for 60 to 90 minutes, until one crushes easily against the side of the pot. Do not add the vinegar yet, and go carefully with salt because the bacon is already working. Acid tightens bean skins, and salt is easier to add than remove. Erst verstehen, dann kochen.
- 4
Build the vegetables
While the beans soften, warm the lard in a small pan and cook the onions, carrots, and leek with a pinch of salt until they smell sweet and the onion turns glassy. Stir in the flour and cook it one minute, because raw flour tastes flat and dusty. Scrape this into the bean pot; it gives the broth a little body without turning the soup into paste.
- 5
Add potatoes
Add the diced floury potatoes and the Bohnenkraut, then simmer 25 to 30 minutes more. Use a floury potato, the kind that starts to break at the edges, because part of it should melt into the broth and thicken it. A waxy salad potato stays neat and leaves you with thin bean water.
- 6
Cut the bacon
Lift out the bacon and the bone. Pull off the rind, chop the meat into bite-size pieces, and return the meat to the pot. If the rind is soft, mince a little of it and stir it back in; it gives the soup a quiet gloss and body. Weggeworfen wird nichts. Discard only hard bone and bay leaves.
- 7
Finish sharp
Stir in the vinegar, black pepper, and enough salt to make the beans taste like themselves. Mash a ladleful of beans and potatoes against the side of the pot if you want it thicker; that uses what is already there, not a packet. Let the soup stand ten minutes off the heat so the starch settles and the smoked pork runs through the bowl.
- 8
Serve the soup
Ladle the soup into deep bowls and finish with chopped parsley and a final tiny splash of vinegar if the pot tastes sleepy. Serve with rye bread or Bauernbrot, farmer's bread, and mustard on the table for the bacon. Schön ist, was schmeckt.
Chef Tips
- •Bohnenkraut, summer savory, belongs here because it cuts the mealiness of dried beans and gives the soup its Baden smell. If you can't find it, use a little thyme, but know what you've changed.
- •Keep the bacon in one piece while it cooks. Small cubes give up their smoke quickly and turn dry; a whole piece seasons the broth slowly, then slices or dices cleanly for the bowl.
- •Finish with vinegar only after the beans are tender. Put it in early and the skins fight you. Put it in late and the soup wakes up.
- •This is better after a rest. Bean soup thickens as it stands, so loosen leftovers with water or light stock before reheating and correct the salt at the end.
Advance Preparation
- •Soak the beans the night before. That is the real start of the recipe, and skipping it makes the cooking less predictable.
- •Cook the soup one day ahead if you like. Cool it quickly, refrigerate it, then reheat gently with a splash of water because the potatoes and beans will thicken the broth overnight.
- •Chop the vegetables up to one day ahead and keep them covered in the refrigerator. Add the potatoes only when cooking, or they darken and lose their clean starch.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 420g)
Calories
435 calories
Total Fat
13 g
Saturated Fat
4 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
8 g
Cholesterol
25 mg
Sodium
1080 mg
Total Carbohydrates
58 g
Dietary Fiber
15 g
Sugars
6 g
Protein
22 g
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