№ 52[Auksta zupa 5: brūklenes ar vīnu]

Chilled lingonberry soup with wine Serves 4 · 25 minutes, plus chilling · Adapted from the 1796 recipe; not yet tested.

The book gives no quantities, only equal parts of water and wine; the amounts below are ours.

Ingredients

• 500 g lingonberries, fresh or frozen
• 400 ml water
• 400 ml dry white wine
• Pared peel of ½ lemon, in strips without the white pith
• 120–150 g sugar, to taste
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon

Method

1. Wash the lingonberries and pick out any stalks and leaves. 2. Put them in a saucepan with the water, wine and lemon peel. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5–10 minutes, until the berries are soft and have burst. 3. Take out the lemon peel. Rub the berries and liquid through a coarse sieve or food mill into a bowl, leaving the skins behind. 4. Stir in the sugar and cinnamon while the soup is hot. Lingonberries are tart, so taste and add more sugar if needed. 5. Let it cool, then chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours.

Notes

• What the book says vs. what we added: the book boils well-washed lingonberries in half water, half wine with lemon peel. They soften quickly, and are then rubbed through a colander into a bowl, sweetened with sugar and cinnamon to taste and left to cool. Taking the lemon peel out before sieving, the fridge and all the amounts are ours.
• Texture: the sieved berry pulp gives the soup body; it needs no starch.
• Substitute: cranberries work but are sharper, so use more sugar.
• Alcohol: the wine boils only briefly, so most of its alcohol stays in the soup.