Husumer Fischsuppe

Husumer Fischsuppe belongs to the North Sea coast, to Schleswig-Holstein, where the wind is sharp and the fish counter tells you what dinner is. This is weeknight food if you've saved the shells and bones, Sunday food if you bring the tureen to the table with rye bread beside it. Im Norden anders, im Süden anders: the south has dumplings and roasts, the north has fish, vinegar, dill, and broth clear enough to taste the sea without drinking it.

The argument is always over richness. Some coastal cooks finish fish soup with cream, some keep it lean and sour-bright, and around Husum the sweet against sour matters more than making it heavy. I keep it broth-based. A spoon of vinegar, a small pinch of sugar, and the sweetness from shrimp shells do the work. Das ist kein Bierzelt.

The technique that decides the soup is the stock. Simmer the fish bones and shrimp shells gently for twenty-five minutes, no longer, because fish bones give quickly and then turn bitter and chalky. Boil them hard and you've made cloudy punishment. Strain, then cook the vegetables in that stock before the fish goes in, because cod and pollock need minutes, not half an hour.

Weggeworfen wird nichts. The shells, trimmings, leek tops, and parsley stems are the larder here, not rubbish. Add the delicate fish at the end, taste sour, sweet, salt, and dill, then stop. Schön ist, was schmeckt.