Amsterdam: Brown Bean Soup with Cloves

Strangely enough, most Dutch people make this with beans in cans or jars, which does sound very appetising to me.  I’ve eaten the soup from a can and its pretty dull, but when we wandered into a cafe in Weesp on a cold winter day, the chef had made an amazing version with cloves and summer savory that was irresistibly delicious.

image from lonelyplanet.com

I began to research the dish and of course found various versions online, even some with cloves, but none with summer savory.  My Dutch friend shared a cookbook with me that he had found from the Amsterdamse Huishoudschool (Amsterdam Household School), a place where women would learn the noble arts of cooking and keeping house.  I was unable to find the date that it was published, but the photos imply sometime in the 50s or early 60s.

Here is the recipe as printed in the book:

"Eenvoudige bruine bonensoep (als hoofdgerecht)
400 g bruine bonen, 2-1/2 l water, wat zout, 4 preien, 1 bos selderijgroen, 60 g boter, margarine of rundvet
Was de bonen, week ze gedurende 24 uur in het koude water, breng ze hierin aan de kook en laat ze op een zacht vuur 1-1/2 uur koken.  Voeg er de schoongemaakte en gewassen groenten bij en het zout, laat de soep nog 1-1/2 uur langzaam koken.  Wrijf de bonen fijn, zodat de soep gelijkmatig gebonden is en roer er boter, margarine of vet door."

and the English translation from Google translate:

"Simple brown bean soup (main course)
400g kidney beans, 2-1 / 2 l of water, salt, 4 leeks, celery 1 bunch green, 60g butter, margarine or beef tallow
Wash the beans, soak them in cold water for 24 hours, herein bring them to the boil and leave them on a low heat for 1-1 / 2 hours of cooking. Add the cleaned and washed vegetables in the salt, the soup still leaves 1-1 / 2 hours of slow cooking. Rub the beans fine, so that the soup is bound and evenly stir in butter, margarine or fat through."

Sounds pretty tasteless and dull, doesn't it?

And you're probably wondering why I am so interested in finding a recipe that includes the summer savory.  The reason is that it is used in this soup to stop the usual flatulence from beans.  In fact, in Dutch the herb is called bonenkruid, or beans herb.

As we sat eating the soup in the cafe in Weesp, my friend made a joke: "Two bowls of brown bean soup, small car, long drive."  However, we had no issues with passing gas that afternoon after eating the soup.  So I was intrigued, why don't more people know about this miracle herb?

Summer savory has been described as a cross between thyme and mint, with a hint of marjoram. It is the kind of herb that's compatible with a wide array dishes, just the way thyme in. In fact, the two can be easily used interchangeably. It's one of the main ingredients in herb blends like Herbes de Provence, and is commonly paired with beans, vegetables, pork, lamb, stuffing, and sauces.

So finally, I had make a pot of this soup at home and here is my recipe.

Serves 6

Prep and cooking time: Overnight, then 1 hour

Ingredients:

• 2 cups / 500 g dried beans, ideally Dutch brown beans
• 1 large carrot
• 1/2 celery root (celeriac)
• 3 medium potatoes
• 2 large leeks
• 250 g smoked sausage (rookworst in Dutch)
• 120 g butter
• 70 g /2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 cloves
• 1 teaspoon summer savory (bcnenkruid in Dutch)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 4 cups of hot water

Directions:

1. Soak the bean overnight covered in water.
2. Chop the carrots, celery root, and potatoes into cubes.
3. Chop the leeks into thin rings.
4. Cut the smoked sausage into thin slices.
5. Heat half of the butter in a stockpot and sauté the sliced smoked sausage until the edges of the slices are browned, then remove them from the pan.  Put the cooked sausage aside to add to the soup later.
6. Add the other half of the butter and sauté the sliced leeks for 5 minutes.
7. Add the carrots, celery root, and potatoes and sauté for another 5 minutes.
8. Drain the beans.
9. Add the beans, tomato paste, bay leaves, cloves, summer savoury, salt, and pepper.  Also pour in the hot water.
10. Let the soup cook 40 minutes with a lid on the stock pot until the vegetables are soft. 
11. Add the smoked sausage back to the soup and cook an additional 20 minutes before serving.