Sweet rhubarb soup

Apologies. It's likely that from now on there's going to be more talk about food. That's because the lovely summer season with fresh vegetables, berries and all the goodies is about to begin!




Yesterday I got the summer's first bunch of rhubarbs from my mother in law. I decided to make sweet rhubarb soup, kiisseli (I have no idea what's kiisseli in English, I've seen the following options in various lunch menus: kissel, pudding, fool, soup). Kiisseli is an ordinary every-day dessert in Finland, and it's often served at lunch places.

I went for Hans Välimäki's recipe. However, I took the liberty to modify the two-michelin-stars-chef's recipe - because he didn't explain all the kiisseli-tricks that my mother has taught me. And after all, it was Mothers' Day.



According Hans I would have needed 1 liter of chopper rhubarb. However, I barely had 4 dls, so I added some raspberries and lingonberries to compensate.



I cooked them in 7 dls of water and 1 dl of sugar. Hans's recipe said 2 dl of sugar, but I'm not used to that sweet. Cooked them for about 10 minutes. I also added a hint of salt into the pot. Hans didn't advise me to do that, I've learnt it from a mother (not my own, but my friend's mom). Salt enriches the flavors and prevents the flat taste of water.



I mixed 4 tbl spoons (Hans said 5 tbl spoons, but it sounded like too much) of potato flour with 3 tbl spoons of cold water, and poured the white stuff into the hot stuff while mixing.



Then I poured the soup into bowl, and sprinkled some sugar on top of the soup. Again, Hans didn't say anything about the sugar, but my mom has told me it prevents the formation of "skin" on top of the soup.



I let it cool down and served with whipped cream. Hans suggested vanilla ice or milk, but my mom served cream with the dessert soups.

With all due respect, Hans, you may be the champion of fine dining, but when we're talking about everyday food, nobody can beat the moms. I'm sorry, but that's the way it is.