ZÜRICH MILK SOUP

SOURCE: MARIANNE KALTENBACH. AUS SCHWEIZER KÜCHEN: ÜBERLIEFERTE AUS DEN 26 KANTONEN DER SCHWEIZ (FROM SWISS KITCHENS: TRADITIONAL RECIPES FROM THE 26 CANTONS OF SWITZERLAND).

Switzerland was the hotspot of armed strife between Reformationists led by Ulrich Zwingli and Habsburg-backed Counter-Reformationists. Most crucial and decisive in their violent theological difference was the two-time conflict at Kappel am Albis, located in the canton of Zürich, which eventually claimed the life of Zwingli in 1531 and briefly secured the Catholics their political and religious victory. The first round of civil war in 1529, however, concluded with no shed nor spill of blood in the battlefield because the mutual love of soup among the Swiss managed to pacify brewing tensions over territorial disputes. Memorably portrayed in the oil canvas painting, The Kappeler Milk Soup, by Swiss national painter Albert Anker in 1869, exhausted infantries from both camps feasted and bonded over a communal pot of Catholic milk and slices of Protestant bread while their commanding superiors successfully negotiated a peace treaty in the background. Since then, the milk soup has become a national icon, thrusting and transcending the reputed neutrality and diplomacy of the Swiss into the global limelight.

Ingredients

6 1/2 cups/1500 mL full-cream milk

4 large egg yolks, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons/20 grams oatmeal, preferably instant or quick-cooking oats OR all-purpose flour OR 2 additional lightly beaten egg yolks

Thinly sliced bread, preferably homemade

Salt and pepper to taste

Specific Equipment

Medium-sized stockpot

Small mixing bowl

Wire whisk

Small baking pan lined with parchment paper

Serves 4

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F/190°C.

2. Pour milk into the stockpot and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to moderate heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

3. Beat the egg yolks and the optional oatmeal or flour in a mixing bowl with a wire whisk until well-blended. Set aside.

4. Place the slices of bread in a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and toast inside the oven for 5 to 7 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside.

5. Ladle the hot milk from the stockpot and pour gradually into the egg yolks, while constantly whisking to prevent curdling. Return the resulting egg-milk mixture into the stockpot and let simmer under low heat for another 5 to 7 minutes or until slightly thickened. Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste.

6. Ladle the soup into individual serving bowls and garnish with toasted bread.