(Quick) Swiss Barley Soup

I have been making this delicious Swiss barley soup recipe for over 25 years. I got it from a real Bündner Frau  (a woman from Graubünden) who came from a very small town called Schuders. My husband had been in the Swiss army with her husband. Getting to Schuders is quite an adventure, with winding roads and a very high bridge, the Salginatobelbrücke, to cross. In any case, she and her husband ran the small restaurant/hotel/grocery store/post office there. Over the years I’ve tweaked the recipe, and this is how I now make this soup. I try to use organic (Bio) versions whenever possible of all the ingredients mentioned. The meat can be omitted for a vegetarian version. 

Materials:

Pressure cooker (five-liter size) and a large soup pot that holds at least five liters (like a very large spaghetti pot). Cooking this soup takes about 1½ hours, but remember that the beans and barley need to be put to soak the night before; see below.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium-sized leek (Lauch)
• 2-3 carrots
• 650-700 g. white cabbage (Weisskabis/Weisskohl) Note: do not use Wirz which is  sometimes the same color as white cabbage; the Wirz has more veins in its leaves than the white cabbage. They are stocked separately at supermarkets.
• 1 medium-sized Kohlrabi
• 1 medium-sized celeriac (Knollensellerie) or use half of a very large one
• 50 g. fresh green beans (optional)
• 1 small container freshly-chopped chives (Schnittlauch)
• 2 vegetable stock cubes (Gemüseboullion)
• 300 g. Kochspeck (smoked bacon), in one piece. (Usually found vacuum-packed in the cold-cuts section. Organic also available.)
• 600 g. Siedfleisch, mager (lean) in one piece (boiling beef, similar to brisket)
• 1 beef soup bone (with marrow) – optional
• 100 g. (½ c.) dried white beans (weisse Bohnen)
• 200 g. (1 c.) dried barley (Gerste or Rollgerste)
• Aromat  – a Swiss seasoning mix. In Migros it’s called Mirador. (Both contain MSG.)

Method:

The evening before making the soup, put the beans and barley to soak in a bowl with cold water. The beans and barley must be completely covered with water. This does not have to be refrigerated. Leave them to soak overnight.

The next day: Rinse off the bacon and beef (and soup bone if you have it), with cold water and place in the pressure cooker pot. Fill pot with cold water till it covers the meat.

Add 1 Tbs. salt. Close pot and pressure-cook 40 minutes. The 2^nd indicator ring on the pressure cooker should show.

As the meat is cooking, prepare the vegetables, putting the following into a large bowl:

• Cut most of the top (green) part of the leek off and trim the other end; then cut length-wise and rinse off any grit between the layers. Cut the leek into thin pieces.
• Peel the carrots, Kohlrabi and celeriac and cut into bite-sized cubes – not too small, not too big.
• Remove the outer leaves of the cabbage; rinse and quarter the cabbage. You can then easily cut out and discard the center core. After that, shred the cabbage into thin strips.
• If using green beans (optional), cut off the ends and then cut them in half.

When the 40 minutes are up, place the pressure cooker under cold running water to let out the pressure. Carefully take out the meat, bacon and soup bone and set aside, leaving the meat broth in the cooker. The marrow from the soup bone should be left in the broth; discard the bone.

Put all the vegetables in the pressure cooker pot. Using a fine-meshed sieve, thoroughly rinse the soaked beans and barley under cold running water. Add the drained beans and barley to the vegetables.

The pressure cooker pot should be quite full (but not overflowing) and the ingredients should be covered with the meat broth. Seal the cooker again and heat, bringing the pressure indicator up to the first “ring” only. It should remain that way for 25 minutes.

While the vegetables, etc. are cooking, cut the Siedfleisch into bite-sized cubes. You have to cut against the grain of the meat, or else the meat will fall into shreds. The Siedfleisch also has chewy cartilage-type bits within. Cut those bits away as you see fit.

As for the smoked bacon, cut away the rough-looking, fatty, skin part of the bacon. Try to cut the bacon into small pieces. This is a little messy, since the bacon is very soft and slippery. It doesn’t have to be perfect – it tends to fall apart somewhat. The bacon also has a couple of round cartilage-type bits; cut them out. Leave the rest of the fat, since this is what gives this soup its special flavor. Yes, it’s fattening, but everything that tastes good is fattening, in my opinion! After cutting the meat and bacon, put them into the large soup pot.

When the vegetables are finished, DO NOT place the pressure cooker under cold running water! Take the cooker away from the stove and let the pot cool down slowly by itself. If you place the cooker under cold water to release the pressure this time, the beans will burst. Let the pressure cooker cool down on its own. When the pressure indicator rings disappear, carefully open the pot and transfer (dump) everything into the large soup pot. Heat the soup pot and add the 2 stock cubes and the chives, stirring occasionally. Season with some freshly ground pepper and some Aromat to taste. When the stock cubes dissolve, it’s time to eat!

This recipe makes more than one meal. After cooling, place soup in plastic containers that hold at least one liter of liquid and freeze (do not “top-off” – the soup expands as it freezes). When defrosting a soup portion, you will have to add some water and maybe even another stock cube – the soup loses some of its flavor in the freezing process, so you have to add it back in.

En Guete! Or, as said in Romansch, Bun appetit!

by Susan Straubinger

Susan has lived in Switzerland close to 30 years (more than half her life) and has two grown daughters. Susan did administrative work and layout for Mothering Matters for many years when it was in printed form, and she is still a valued team member.