Chef Joost
Aspergesoep (Dutch White Asparagus Soup)
White asparagus is Limburg's spring clock, and this soup uses every pale stem and peeling to make wit goud, white gold, taste like the season it refuses to outlive.
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Siepelsoep (Fryske Sipelsop)
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The name means onion soup in the Frisian mouth, and the bowl tells a northern story: winter onions, clear broth, rye bread, and clove cheese shaved over the top.
Soups & Stews
Dutch
Weeknight
Comfort Food
Special Occasion
15 min
Active Time
55 min cook•1 hr 10 min total
Yield4 servings
The north has a way of making humility look deliberate. In Friesland, where the wind comes over the fields with no interest in your plans, a sack of onions in the pantry is not poverty, it is strategy. In my grandmother's second notebook there are several soups like this, not grand, not decorative, just the sort of thing a household makes when the day has been wet and the table needs to steady everyone.
The name already tells you. Sipel is Frisian for onion, so Fryske sipelsop is exactly what it says: Frisian onion soup. No disguise. But let me tell you a secret: the little brilliance here is not the onion, it is the cheese. Friese Nagelkaas, clove cheese, carries the warm bite of kruidnagel, literally spice nail, into a bowl that would otherwise be only brown sweetness and broth.
History and cookery, they cannot be separated. The onions must go slowly, not to blackness and drama, but to softness and amber sweetness. The broth stays clear, the rye bread gives substance, and the grated clove cheese sharpens everything at the table. Hou het altijd simpel, always keep it simple. A patient pan, a modest onion, a northern cheese, and suddenly the plain thing has teeth.
Fryske sipelsop belongs to Friesland's winter pantry cooking, built from storage onions, bread, broth, and dairy rather than expensive fresh produce. Friese Nagelkaas developed in the northern dairy provinces as a skimmed-milk cheese, often flavoured with cumin and cloves after butter-making left households with milk to preserve. The cloves in the cheese show how VOC-era spices entered ordinary Dutch cookery, not only festive baking, but also sober farm food.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
butter
Quantity
60g
yellow onions
Quantity
750g
thinly sliced
fine sea salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon, plus more to taste
plain flour
Quantity
2 teaspoons
beef broth or vegetable broth
Quantity
1.25 liters
bay leaf
Quantity
1
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
Frisian rye bread or dark rye bread
Quantity
4 thick slices
Friese Nagelkaas
Quantity
120g
grated
flat-leaf parsley (optional)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
chopped
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| butter | 60g |
| yellow onionsthinly sliced | 750g |
| fine sea salt | 1 teaspoon, plus more to taste |
| plain flour | 2 teaspoons |
| beef broth or vegetable broth | 1.25 liters |
| bay leaf | 1 |
| freshly ground black pepper | 1/2 teaspoon |
| Frisian rye bread or dark rye bread | 4 thick slices |
| Friese Nagelkaasgrated | 120g |
| flat-leaf parsley (optional)chopped | 1 tablespoon |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy-bottomed soup pot, 3-liter or larger
- •Ovenproof soup bowls
- •Box grater
Instructions
- 1
Soften the onions
Melt the butter in a heavy pot over medium-low heat, then add the sliced onions and the teaspoon of salt. Cook them slowly for about 30 minutes, stirring often, until they are soft, golden, and sweet but not dark. This is where the soup is made; rush it and you get sharp onion water with good intentions.
- 2
Add the flour
Sprinkle the flour over the onions and stir for two minutes, until it disappears into the butter and onion juices. You are not making a thick sauce here. The flour only gives the broth a little body, enough to cling to the bread and cheese.
- 3
Simmer the broth
Pour in the broth a little at a time, stirring as you go, then add the bay leaf and black pepper. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook uncovered for 20 minutes. Taste before salting again, especially if your broth is strong; the Nagelkaas will bring its own salt and spice at the end.
A beef broth gives the deepest old-fashioned bowl, but a good vegetable broth is entirely welcome. Four centuries of Dutch cooks knew how to set a meatless place at the table. - 4
Toast the bread
Toast the rye bread until firm at the edges and dry enough to hold its shape. Ladle the soup into ovenproof bowls, lay a slice of rye on each bowl, and cover generously with grated Friese Nagelkaas.
- 5
Melt the cheese
Set the bowls under a hot grill for 2 to 4 minutes, just until the cheese melts, freckles, and settles into the bread. Serve at once, with a little parsley if you like. I prefer the cheese to remain the point, not to be buried under greenery.
Chef Tips
- •Use real Friese Nagelkaas if you can find it. If not, use a mature Gouda and add the smallest pinch of ground clove to the onions, no more than a whisper, because clove is a scholar with a loud voice.
- •Slice the onions thinly and evenly. Uneven onions give you half-soft ribbons and half-browned scraps, which is not character, only impatience.
- •Dark rye bread is better than white bread here. The soup is Frisian in spirit because the bread has weight, the cheese has bite, and the bowl does not apologize for either.
Advance Preparation
- •The onion soup can be made up to two days ahead and refrigerated without the bread and cheese; reheat gently before serving.
- •Toast the rye and grate the cheese shortly before serving so the bread stays firm and the cheese melts cleanly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 540g)
Calories
415 calories
Total Fat
20 g
Saturated Fat
12 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
7 g
Cholesterol
55 mg
Sodium
2150 mg
Total Carbohydrates
43 g
Dietary Fiber
7 g
Sugars
10 g
Protein
16 g
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