Potato & Cabbage Soup with Ham and Cheese

A German Mother’s Instructions to Her Son’s Wife — London, 1838

My dear daughter,

Now I shall give you a supper for a cold, damp evening when London is determined to make everyone miserable.

For such weather, you do not need a grand roast upon the table. You need a strong pot of soup, good bread, something salty beside it, and enough warmth in the room that no one begins complaining before the bowls are filled.

Potatoes and cabbage will feed a household well, especially when good chicken broth sits beneath them, and a little cream or butter makes the whole thing respectable.

For a supper of six to eight persons, you will require one good green cabbage, six to eight potatoes, one large onion, two carrots, several cups of chicken broth, cream or butter, garlic, salt, black pepper, and whatever simple household spices you favor.

You have also said you have garlic powder. That will serve perfectly well in a modern kitchen, though in my day I should have simply crushed fresh garlic.

For the table, set aside cooked ground ham and a blend of grated cheeses so each person can add as much or as little as desired.

Preparing the Vegetables

Begin with the potatoes.

Peel them and cut them into pieces no larger than a walnut. Try to keep them roughly the same size, or half will disappear into the broth while the rest remain hard enough to insult your teeth.

Remove the coarse outer leaves from the cabbage.

Cut away the thick heart, slice the cabbage into broad strips, then chop the strips into smaller pieces suitable for a spoon.

Peel the carrots and cut them into small rounds or pieces.

Chop the onion finely.

If using fresh garlic, crush one or two cloves.

If using garlic powder, keep it beside the stove and add it later, since there is no advantage to scorching it on the bottom of the pot.

And prepare everything before you begin.

A cook who starts chopping onions after the potatoes are already boiling is merely creating unnecessary excitement.

Beginning the Soup

Take your heaviest soup pot.

Add a generous spoonful of butter.

Set the pot over moderate heat.

Add the chopped onion and carrots.

Cook slowly until the onion softens and turns pale gold.

Do not burn it.

If you burn the onion, you have not created flavor. You have created evidence.

Now add the potatoes.

Stir them through the butter and onions for several minutes.

Season with salt, black pepper, and a modest amount of garlic powder.

You may also add a little thyme, parsley, or nutmeg if they are already in your cupboard.

You don't need to empty the entire spice shelf into a pot just because spices exist.

Generously cover the potatoes

Adding the Broth

Pour in enough chicken broth to generously cover the potatoes.

For a large family pot, this will likely be six to eight cups.

Slowly bring the broth to a boil.

Then reduce the heat and simmer for about fifteen minutes.

The potatoes should begin to soften, but they don't need to be fully cooked yet.

Now add the cabbage.

At first you will think there is far too much cabbage.

There is not.

Cabbage has great confidence when raw and very little once heated.

Stir it down into the broth.

Cover the pot and simmer for another twenty to thirty minutes, until both potatoes and cabbage are completely tender.

Making the Soup Richer

Once the vegetables are tender, decide how you want to serve the soup.

If you want a hearty country soup, leave most of the potatoes whole.

For a thicker soup, use a wooden spoon or potato masher to crush some of the potatoes against the side of the pot.

Don't turn the whole thing into paste.

You should still be able to identify what you're eating.

Now stir in a good spoonful or two of butter, or about half a cup to one cup of cream, depending on how rich you want the supper to be.

If using cream, lower the heat first.

Do not let the soup boil violently after adding it.

Cream does not appreciate rough treatment.

Taste the broth.

Add more salt, pepper, or garlic if necessary.

Then taste it again.

Only after tasting should you add more seasoning.

This is why we have tongues.

Preparing the Ham

Your ground ham should already be cooked.

Warm it separately in a small pan.

If it is very lean, add only the smallest amount of butter.

Heat it until hot, and perhaps lightly browned in places.

Don't mix all the ham directly into the soup unless you know everyone at the table wants it.

Place the warm ham into a serving bowl.

Then those who wish may spoon it over the soup.

Those who do not may leave it alone.

This arrangement prevents arguments, which is one of the higher purposes of good cooking.

Preparing the Cheese

Place your cheese blend into a separate bowl.

In an 1838 household, I should simply have used whatever good hard or mild cheeses were available and grated them together.

Do not melt the cheese into the whole pot.

Bring it to table separately.

A small handful scattered over hot soup will soften beautifully.

Too much will turn supper into something you'll need to excavate.

Serving the Soup

Bring the soup to table in a large, warmed tureen if you have one.

Otherwise, the cooking pot itself will do.

There is no shame in allowing people to see where supper came from.

Ladle the soup into deep warmed bowls.

Set the ground ham and grated cheese upon the table beside it.

Each person may add a spoonful of ham, a little cheese, or both.

Serve with thick bread.

If you have butter, put that on the table as well.

A proper bowl should contain tender potato, softened cabbage, carrot, onion, rich broth, and enough cream or butter to bring everything together.

The ham gives salt and richness.

The cheese gives another layer of comfort.

If someone complains that the soup isn't a complete supper, give him a larger piece of bread.

The Wine

With a rich potato-and-cabbage soup, especially one served with ham and cheese, I would choose a light German white wine, preferably a dry or only gently sweet Rhine wine.

The wine's freshness balances the cream, butter, ham, and cheese nicely.

A light claret may also be served if that is what you already have.

But don't bring out a heavy bottle suited to roast beef.

This is soup.

It does not need to be challenged to a duel.

Pour the wine modestly.

Serve water as well.

If my son asks why the wine isn't stronger, tell him his mother expects him to taste his supper.

What to Do With What Remains

This soup is often even better on the following day.

Keep it cool overnight.

Reheat gently, especially if you added cream.

If it becomes too thick, add a little more broth.

Stir leftover ham into individual bowls.

Still add the cheese at the table.

If only a little soup remains, crush the potatoes more thoroughly, add broth, and you have another lunch.

Nothing has been wasted.

Remember, daughter:

Potatoes fill the stomach.

Cabbage fills the pot.

Broth makes them supper.

And butter makes everyone stop complaining.

That is all a sensible household requires on a cold London evening.

— From your mother, London, 1838