The signature fish soup of Bergen on Norway's west coast: creamy and rich, yet kept lively by a gentle sweet-and-sour finish. It is built on a well-made fish stock with milk and cream, given a silky body by tempered egg yolks, and seasoned with sugar and vinegar for Bergen fish soup's characteristic sweet-sour edge. Poached white fish, fish balls, and finely cut carrot, leek, and celeriac fill the bowl, often topped with a spoonful of sour cream.
Bergen has been a center of Norway's seafood trade for centuries, where Hanseatic merchants once bought up air-dried cod from the north at the wharf and traded it across Europe, and where the harbor fish market (Fisketorget) remains a landmark to this day. This sweet-and-sour soup is the fish market's signature: stock simmered from the day's catch and fish bones, seasoned with sugar and vinegar into a taste all its own, now a celebrated dish of the city.
The egg-and-cream liaison makes it silky and rich, yet a clean thread of sweet-sour lifts it so no spoonful turns heavy. The fish is tender, the fish balls springy, the root vegetables crisp-tender, the whole bowl tasting of the cold North Sea.
The egg yolks are the key. Hot broth is whisked into the beaten yolks a spoonful at a time to temper them, then returned to the pot off the boil, so the yolks set gently into a smooth liaison rather than curdling. Sugar and vinegar go in at the end, the sweet-sour balance cutting the richness of the dairy and brightening the whole pot.
Variations
with shrimp and mussels added; halibut or cod instead of saithe; finished with dill; or made richer with more cream
On the Palate
Where Bergensk Fiskesuppe sits in the Norwegian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
7 steps · 25 min
- 120 min
Simmer fish bones and trimmings with leek and peppercorns to make a light, clear fish stock, then strain.
- 28 min
Cut carrot, parsnip and leek into fine matchsticks and simmer in the stock until just tender.
- 32 min
Season the broth with a balance of sugar and white wine vinegar to achieve the signature sweet-sour note.
Watch outBalance sugar against the vinegar till one sip reads bright and gently sweet-sour at once — this is the soup's signature, so taste and adjust before the eggs go in.
- 43 min
Whisk egg yolks with cream in a bowl, then temper by adding a ladle of hot broth while whisking.
Watch outTemper slowly — dribble in one ladle of hot broth while whisking hard, so the yolks warm up gradually instead of scrambling.
- 52 min
Pour the tempered egg-cream back into the soup off the boil and stir until silky; do not let it boil.
Watch outReturn it off the boil and keep it just below a simmer — the soup should thicken to a silky, cloak-the-spoon body; one bubble and the yolks curdle into threads.
- 66 min
Gently poach cubes of white fish and small fish balls in the soup until just cooked.
- 72 min
Ladle into bowls, scatter with chopped chives or dill, and serve immediately.
