Blomkaalssuppe

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy-bottomed pot, 4 litre
• •Stick blender or upright blender
• •Fine mesh sieve (optional, for a silk-smooth finish)
• •Heavy frying pan for the bacon

Instructions

1. 1

   Reserve the best florets

   Before you do anything else, break off a small handful of the smallest, prettiest florets and set them aside. These will go back into the finished soup as little white islands of texture. A pureed soup needs something to bite against, otherwise it goes soft and one-note in the mouth.

   Don't waste the tender stalk. Peel away any tough outer skin and chop the inner core. It blends down sweet and adds body.
2. 2

   Sweat the leek

   Melt the butter in a heavy pot over a gentle heat. Add the sliced leek with a small pinch of salt and stir it through. Put the lid on and let it sweat for about eight minutes. You want it soft and translucent, never browned. Browned leek tastes of caramel and bitterness, and that flavor will fight the cauliflower instead of supporting it. The cauliflower is the voice of this soup. Everything else is the room it sings in.

3. 3

   Add cauliflower and potato

   Add the rest of the cauliflower (keeping your reserved florets aside) along with the diced potato. Stir to coat them in the butter and let them cook with the leek for two or three minutes. The potato is your insurance. It gives the soup body without needing more cream, and it carries the cauliflower flavor instead of muting it the way too much dairy would.

4. 4

   Simmer until tender

   Pour in the stock. Bring everything to a gentle simmer and cook for about twenty minutes, until the cauliflower and potato are completely soft. A knife should pass through a floret with no resistance at all. Any resistance and the soup will be grainy when you blend it. While it simmers, drop the reserved small florets into a separate small pan of salted boiling water and cook them for two minutes, just until tender. Drain them and set aside.

5. 5

   Crisp the bacon

   While the soup simmers, put the bacon lardons into a cold dry frying pan and set it over medium heat. Starting cold lets the fat render slowly, so the bacon ends up crisp all the way through instead of leathery on the outside and limp in the middle. Cook, stirring now and then, until the lardons are deep golden and crackling. Lift them out onto kitchen paper and leave the rendered fat in the pan for now.

6. 6

   Blend until velvet

   Take the soup pot off the heat. Blend everything until completely smooth and velvety. A stick blender works directly in the pot, but if you want a true silk texture, use an upright blender and pass the soup through a fine sieve afterwards. Return it to the pot, stir in the milk and cream, and warm it gently. Don't let it boil after the cream goes in. Boiling cream loses its softness and the soup turns thin.

7. 7

   Season carefully

   Season with salt, white pepper, and the smallest pinch of freshly grated nutmeg. White pepper is the right choice here, not black. Black pepper leaves dark specks across the pale surface and changes the look of the soup. Nutmeg and cauliflower are old friends in the Danish kitchen, but it's a whisper, not a statement. Taste, and adjust. You'll know when it's right. The soup should taste rounded and clean, with the cauliflower clearly out front.

8. 8

   Finish and serve

   Ladle the soup into deep bowls. Drop a few of the reserved cauliflower florets into the centre of each one, so they catch the light against the pale broth. Scatter generously with the crispy bacon and a small heap of the cold North Sea shrimp on top of that. Finish with a shower of finely chopped parsley. Serve at once with rugbrod alongside, and don't forget to say tak for mad when the bowls are empty.

Chef Tips

• •The season decides. Danish cauliflower is at its best from August through October, and that's when this soup is worth making. Out of season, choose another cremesuppe instead. There's always something the calendar is offering you.
• •If you can find genuine North Sea rejer, hand-peeled and sold in small tubs at a good fishmonger, use them. They taste of the cold sea and they're sweet rather than salty. If you can't, the bacon alone is more than enough. Don't substitute warm-water prawns. They're a different animal entirely.
• •Save a small handful of the smallest cauliflower florets, blanch them briefly, and drop them back into the finished soup. A pureed soup needs something to bite against, and these little white islands give the bowl its texture and its visual rhythm.
• •A glass of cold pilsner alongside is the obvious Danish pairing. If you'd rather have wine, choose a dry Riesling. The slight sweetness mirrors the cauliflower and the acidity cuts through the cream.

Advance Preparation

• •The soup base, before the cream goes in, keeps for three days in the fridge. Reheat gently, then stir in the cream and finish with the toppings just before serving.
• •It freezes well without the dairy. Cool the blended soup completely and freeze in portions for up to two months. Add the milk and cream when you reheat.
• •The bacon can be crisped earlier in the day and kept at room temperature on kitchen paper. Don't refrigerate it or it loses its crackle.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 550g)