Fiskesuppe — Norwegian Fish Soup with Salmon

Ingredients

• 1½ lb Salmon, cut in large chunks
• 1 leek, sliced and rinsed well
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 tbsp butter
• 4 cups fish or vegetable stock
• 1 cup cream
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 tsp white wine vinegar or lemon juice
• Fresh dill and chives

Method

1. Sweat the leek and carrots in the butter in a soup pot until soft but uncolored, 5–6 minutes — Norwegian soups stay pale and gentle; browning is for other cuisines.
2. Sprinkle in the flour, stir 1 minute, then add the stock gradually. Simmer 10 minutes until the carrots are tender.
3. Add the cream and bring back to a bare simmer. Season with salt, white pepper if you have it, and the vinegar — that whisper of acid is what keeps a cream soup from tasting flat.
4. Slide in the Salmon and poach GENTLY 4–5 minutes, until just opaque and flaking (about 145°F). Boiling now would toughen it; the fish finishes on residual heat.
5. Ladle carefully to keep the chunks whole, and shower with dill and chives. Serve with buttered bread and the smug calm of a Norwegian winter evening.