Dish: Beer Soups

Beer has long been the common drink of northern European countries where the grapes for wine would not flourish.

Over the years, amber brew became very important also to everyday life, folklore, and culture. A great deal has been written in Literature about beer. Quite naturally the popular beverage was introduced into the cookery and a number of interesting beer dishes can be found in the various cuisines.

Among these are several beer soups. Most of them have a quite different or strange taste for the uninitiated as they are heavily flavoured with spices or other flavourings. Probably the country with the largest repertoire of them in Belgium. One Belgian cookbook lists 27 consommes, cremes, potages, soups, and veloute. The following is but one version.

Recipe

2 tablespoons butter or margarine.

2 tablespoons flour.

1 and a half quarts beer.

1 to 2 tablespoons sugar, according to taste.

Half teaspoon grated lemon rind.

Half teaspoon each of ground cinnamon and ginger.

Salt, and pepper to taste.

Half cup light cream.

The Cooking

Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the flour. Cook, stirring, for one minute. Add beer and bring to a boil. Add the sugar, lemon rind, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and pepper and lower the heat. Cook slowly, stirring frequently, for about ten minutes. Add the cream and mix well. Remove from the heat and serve.