Chef Klaus
Ahle Wurst
North Hesse's old sausage is cured, not cooked: coarse pork, pepper, garlic, and cold weeks in a chamber until the slice turns firm enough for rye and cider.
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Hepprumer Bohnesupp
Created by
Heppenheim's bean soup is larder cooking from the Bergstrasse: dried white beans, soup greens, smoked pork, and enough patience that the beans turn creamy without falling apart.
Soups & Stews
German
Weeknight
Budget Friendly
Comfort Food
25 min
Active Time
2 hr cook•P1DT2H25M total
Yield6 servings
Hepprumer Bohnesupp belongs to Heppenheim on the Bergstrasse, where southern Hesse leans toward Baden and the Palatinate. This is winter and shoulder-season food: dried white beans from the cupboard, soup greens from the cellar, smoked pork from the larder. Weeknight enough if you soaked the beans last night, Sunday enough if you bring rye bread and mustard to the table.
Every bean soup in Germany thinks it's the right one. In the north, green beans go with pear and bacon; in Swabia a pot like this may turn thicker and sit beside Spätzle; around the Rhine and Bergstrasse, the white bean, the smoked pork, and a little vinegar at the end make the argument. Im Norden anders, im Süden anders. Das ist kein Bierzelt.
The technique that decides it is simple: soak the beans overnight and don't salt them hard at the start. The soak lets the skins take water evenly, so the beans cook through before the outside splits. Salt and vinegar go in late because acid tightens the skins and salt slows the softening when the beans are still dry inside. Erst verstehen, dann kochen.
I cook the smoked pork gently, not violently. A hard boil throws cloudy fat through the broth and makes the meat dry before the beans are tender. Runter mit der Temperatur. Let the pot murmur, skim when it asks, and finish sharp with vinegar only after the beans have given you their cream.
Heppenheim was recorded in 755 in the Lorsch Abbey documents, and the Bergstrasse was already valued as a mild, sheltered route between the Rhine plain and the Odenwald. The common white bean used in soups like this reached German kitchens after the sixteenth-century arrival of New World beans, replacing older broad-bean habits in many everyday pots. In southern Hesse, Baden, and the Palatinate, dried beans and smoked pork became a practical larder pairing: protein, salt, smoke, and a broth that made cheap ingredients carry a meal.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
dried white beans
Quantity
400g
soaked overnight
smoked pork hock or smoked pork ribs
Quantity
1 hock or 500g ribs
smoked bacon
Quantity
150g
in one piece
onions
Quantity
2
1 halved, 1 finely diced
carrots
Quantity
2
diced
leek
Quantity
1
cleaned and sliced
celeriac
Quantity
150g
diced
bay leaves
Quantity
2
black peppercorns
Quantity
6
dried marjoram
Quantity
1 teaspoon
waxy potatoes
Quantity
500g
peeled and diced
lard or neutral oil
Quantity
1 tablespoon
water
Quantity
1.5 to 2 litres
white wine vinegar
Quantity
1 to 2 tablespoons
salt and black pepper
Quantity
to taste
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
2 tablespoons
chopped
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| dried white beanssoaked overnight | 400g |
| smoked pork hock or smoked pork ribs | 1 hock or 500g ribs |
| smoked baconin one piece | 150g |
| onions1 halved, 1 finely diced | 2 |
| carrotsdiced | 2 |
| leekcleaned and sliced | 1 |
| celeriacdiced | 150g |
| bay leaves | 2 |
| black peppercorns | 6 |
| dried marjoram | 1 teaspoon |
| waxy potatoespeeled and diced | 500g |
| lard or neutral oil | 1 tablespoon |
| water | 1.5 to 2 litres |
| white wine vinegar | 1 to 2 tablespoons |
| salt and black pepper | to taste |
| flat-leaf parsleychopped | 2 tablespoons |
Equipment Needed
- •Large heavy soup pot or Dutch oven, 5 to 6 litres
- •Fine skimmer or large spoon
- •Small frying pan for sweating soup greens
Instructions
- 1
Soak the beans
Rinse the dried white beans, cover them with plenty of cold water, and leave them overnight. The soak is not decoration. It lets the bean skins take up water evenly, so the centre softens before the outside bursts into meal.
If a bean floats and looks shrivelled, throw that one away. Weggeworfen wird nichts is a rule for food with a future, not for a dead bean that will stay hard in the pot. - 2
Start the broth
Drain the beans and put them in a heavy pot with the smoked pork, bacon, halved onion, bay leaves, peppercorns, and 1.5 litres cold water. Bring it slowly to a gentle simmer and skim the grey foam as it rises, because a clean start gives you a clean broth instead of a muddy one.
- 3
Simmer gently
Cook uncovered or half-covered at a quiet simmer for 60 to 75 minutes, until the beans are starting to soften but still hold their shape. Runter mit der Temperatur. A rolling boil breaks the beans before the starch turns creamy and dries the smoked pork before it has given the broth its salt and smoke.
- 4
Sweat the greens
In a small pan, warm the lard and sweat the diced onion, carrots, leek, and celeriac for 8 to 10 minutes without browning. This pulls sweetness out of the soup greens before they meet the broth; raw vegetables thrown straight in taste thin, and browned ones push the soup where it doesn't need to go.
- 5
Add potatoes
Add the sweated vegetables, diced potatoes, and marjoram to the bean pot. Simmer another 25 to 35 minutes, adding a little water if the soup gets too tight, until the potatoes are tender and some beans have started to cloud the broth. That cloud is the body of the soup, not a packet. Nicht aus dem Glas.
- 6
Cut the pork
Lift out the smoked pork and bacon. Pull the meat from the bone, discard only the spent bones and tough rind, and cut the meat into spoon-sized pieces. The bone and rind have already paid their rent in the broth; the meat goes back in because this is supper, not a strained showpiece.
- 7
Season at the end
Return the meat to the pot, then season with salt, black pepper, and 1 tablespoon vinegar. Taste before adding more vinegar, because it should wake up the beans, not pickle the soup. Würzen, Fett, Salz zum Schluss: salt and acid come late, after the beans have softened, or the skins tighten and stay stubborn.
- 8
Finish and serve
Rest the soup off the heat for 10 minutes, then stir in the parsley and ladle it into warm bowls. The rest lets the starch settle into the broth and keeps the parsley green instead of tired. Serve with rye bread and mustard for the pork. Schön ist, was schmeckt.
Chef Tips
- •Use dried white beans, not canned, if you want the broth to taste of the beans themselves. Canned beans are already cooked in someone else's water, and that water is where much of the soup's body should be.
- •Smoked pork ribs, a small hock, or a piece of Kasseler all work. What matters is bone, smoke, and time; a few smoked slices thrown in at the end only season the surface.
- •Salt late and vinegar later. The smoked meat will give salt as it cooks, and the vinegar belongs at the finish where it brightens the pot without toughening the bean skins.
- •The soup is better after an hour's rest and good the next day. Reheat it gently and add a splash of water, because beans keep drinking even after the stove is off.
Advance Preparation
- •Soak the beans 8 to 12 hours ahead in plenty of cold water; this is the planning step that turns the soup from a long job into a weeknight pot.
- •Cook the soup a day ahead if you like. Chill it quickly, keep it covered, and reheat it gently with a little water so the beans loosen without breaking down completely.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 700g)
Calories
580 calories
Total Fat
20 g
Saturated Fat
7 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
12 g
Cholesterol
60 mg
Sodium
1550 mg
Total Carbohydrates
67 g
Dietary Fiber
14 g
Sugars
6 g
Protein
33 g
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