To truly understand the beauty of Erdäpfelsuppe, I’m going to run you through a quick language lesson. When Columbus first encountered the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean in the late 15th century, they presented him with the sweet potato–batata in the Taíno language–which he first brought to Europe. But on subsequent trips, explorers returned with the white potato, first cultivated in the Andes mountains–papa in the Quechuan language–and people started confusing the two. In truth, it was a little unfair to introduce two very similar tubers, with similar names, to unsuspecting Europeans. This confusion endures today; the Spanish word patata, and English potato, are the result of compounding both batata and papa.
But as the potato traveled across the continent, filling the bellies of hungry Europeans along the way, people perceived the vegetable differently. For example, the Italians first supposed that the potato looked a lot like a truffle–tartufolo–and the sentiment spread to Eastern Europe (examples include the German kartoffel and the Russian картофель).
Personally, I think the French had the most elegant interpretation. Although they first went the truffle route, with the word cartoufle, they eventually switched to pomme de terre (“earth apple”). You see, the concept of earth apples isn’t new – the phrase had been used throughout history for various vegetables, including cucumbers and melons, as documented in Old High German, Old English, and Middle Dutch. And the French weren’t the only one to make this connection, because the word Erdapfel appears in Switzerland, Austria, and Southern Germany–all used to describe potatoes.
So in reality, today’s Erdäpfelsuppe is not really different from the more famous German Potato Soup (Kartoffelsuppe), but it’s an excellent moment to highlight the connection that many of us shares at the dinner table…no matter which name we use.
Today’s recipe is packed with flavor, mostly thanks to its use of dried porcini mushrooms (although in truth, it’s the liquid you soak the mushrooms). Another tip is to use the more economical bacon ends and pieces in the dish, since you’ll be using chopped bacon anyway.
A couple additions, like celery leaves, caraway seeds, and sour cream, all present a distinct Eastern European feel to this heartwarming stew.
Erdäpfelsuppe - Austrian Potato Soup (Gluten-free, Perfect Health Diet, Paleo, Primal, Whole30 adaptable)
1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms (about 1 handful)
1/2 lb bacon ends and pieces, chopped
1 onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
2 carrots, peeled and diced (about 1.5 cups)
3 stalks celery, diced (about 1.5 cups, retain 1 tbsp chopped celery leaves)
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp marjoram (oregano okay)
1/2 tsp caraway seeds
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups beef broth
2.5 lbs white potatoes, peeled, diced, and rinsed
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp sour cream (coconut milk okay)
1 handful fresh parsley, chopped (about 2 tbsp)
1. Place the mushrooms in a small bowl and cover with warm water; set aside to reconstitute, about 15 minutes. As the mushrooms soak, warm a stockpot over medium/low heat, then add the bacon and saute until crispy, about 10 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove the bacon pieces and set aside.
2. Increase the stockpot heat to medium, then add the onion; saute until softened, about 5 minutes, then add the carrot and celery. Saute until bright in color, about 2 minutes, then add the chopped celery leaves, marjoram, caraway seeds, chicken broth, and beef broth. Remove the mushrooms from their liquid and coarsely chop, then add them to the soup – add the water you soaked the mushrooms in, too, minus any sediment that collected at the bottom of the bowl.
3. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until the carrots are tender, about 8 minutes. Add the diced potatoes; if needed, add water to ensure they are covered by liquid. Return to a boil over med/high heat, then reduce heat and simmer on low until the potatoes are very tender, about 15 minutes.
4. Using a potato masher or immersion blender, partially mash/blend the soup so that it is smooth, it should take just a few pulses. Add salt and pepper to taste, then remove from heat and stir in the sour cream (or coconut milk), reserved bacon, and parsley, then serve.
The Domestic Man 
Funny, the Portuguese stuck to the original: batata is the Portuguese word for potato. And your post shed some light on why potatoes are called papas in Argentina.
Thanks!
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This looks and sounds delicious! I love those flavors and combos!
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Can’t wait to try this.
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My husband couldn’t live without potatoes, making this tonight. Really like your interest in world cuisine. Had to share this with you, my husband and I are hooked! Have you heard of this Serbian website, http://www.almazankitchen.com/about-us/. Check out the YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVVAnxQ2YMC_qlc7QfPA2YQ/videos, stunning!
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Wow, thank you for sharing this YouTube channel, it’s awesome!
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Wow, thank you for such an interesting post.
I LOVE potato soup too.
Having come from Singapore whereby we are a multi-racial society, I have tried all kinds of potato soup as appetizers in various restaurants and eating outlets.
Except Austrian of course. That’s why I find it interesting.
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Thank you for new menu.
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Russ, I am brand new to your site(brought here by Michelle Tam,) So the Chicken Marengo Recipe was my first attempt. Very, very good. Thank-you. Your notes said that Chicken Marengo would only take 35 minutes, but looking at the process, I knew I couldn’t do it in that time. The Austrian Potato Soup today looked delicious so I thought I’d try it tonight. Another 35 minute recipe. Well, I thought to myself, I guess if I get everything chopped and soaked and ready it will be 35 minutes. Your notes said that the recipe would serve 4, and I only needed 2 servings so I just halved the ingredients.
Saute the bacon: 10 minutes; saute the onion 5 minutes; saute carrot and celery, 2 minutes. Bring soup to boil (I am about 250 ft above sea level and it wasn’t instantaneous); simmer the carrots until tender, 8 minutes. Return to boil (now this took even longer than the first time–all those potatoes!); simmer for 15 minutes; mash/blend the soup so that it is smooth, maybe 1 minute. Adding up all those minutes equals 41. Which is 6 minutes over your stated time. And that doesn’t include all the time it took to bring the soup to boil twice. My question is: Are all your recipes “35 minutes”? and do all your fans know that 35 minutes is not a real number? I know this will all get clearer as I follow more of your posts, but I was just curious before I go any further. The recipe was very good, by the way, thank-you again for another winner. You also stated that this recipe was for 4 servings. I followed your recipe exactly cutting ingredients in half and I ended up with 7 cups soup. Are all your soup servings 3.5 cups per person? Thanks again for two great dinners this week!
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Hi Laura, I appreciate the comment – when I write a new post, I often copy and paste the header from the previous recipe (there is some HTML formatting in that header code), and then change the title, time, serving size, and difficulty. It looks like I overlooked the time and serving size in my review of the post, but I have now adjusted it. Thanks for the catch!
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Thanks, Russ. Hubby is having leftovers tomorrow night for dinner as it is the cook’s (me) night out. I am sure this soup is tastier than anything he would have thrown together. So it was lucky for him that the recipe cut in half was for three servings. Looking forward to next Tuesday’s offering.
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Interesting recipe! I’ll have to try it sometime.
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Awww, Erdäpfelsuppe, I loved it as I lived in Austria! Thanks for sharing it!
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Excellent soup!! (And new reader 😋)
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I made this tonight. My picky 10 year old loved it! It was so good!
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The erda’ soup looks great. Probably because I eat a lot of soups since 2 years ago I began eating healthily, As I suffered a terrible accident and am now disabled. As a consequence of my accident, I am now in a wheelchair, and so, the lack of activity really made me put on weight. Eating naturally and healthy was the option I chose.
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Hi! Native Spanish speaker here.
The Spanish word used in Spain is patata. In America (the continent) it’s still papa. Which can lead to very funny confusions (papá means daddy).
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Russ, if I can find celery root with the stalks, I may sub the celery root for some of the white potatoes. What do you think?
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Hi Sam, yep, you could definitely replace some of the potatoes with celery root – I would cut down on the amount of celery as well, maybe one stalk instead of three, so that the soup doesn’t taste too overpoweringly like celery!
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Great soup recipe! I love all the seasonings you use and mixing it with beef broth. I’ll be giving this a try!
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