Germany

This recipe apparently started life as the kind of thing you would partake of in the midst of one of the all-night balls that used to be the rage in Germany, Austria and Switzerland around the New Year's holiday. The basic requirements for the soup at that point were that it be a good restorative: something with a major hit of protein and carbs to kickstart the system -- and probably a fair bit of fat to help slow down the absorption of all the alcohol floating around at that time of year.

Now mitternachtsuppe (or sometimes mittenachtsuppe or mitnachtsuppe, if you come across its name in dialect) turns up in all kinds of places and under all kinds of contexts. From a fancy midnight ball dish, it has slid gently down in the world to become something you put together out of those leftover pieces of yummy sausage that tend to pile up in the fridge when you've been shopping at one of the bigger German supermarkets. Most versions of the soup these days seem to be based on a hearty beef stock and chopped tomatoes: after that the ingredients vary widely.

Our favorite take on the theme -- and our favorite mitternachtsuppe recipe -- originally came from the Department of Nuclear Chemistry at the University of Mainz in Germany, where the intelligent students are quick to point out that under certain circumstances, alcohol is used in treatment for radiation poisoning -- and then of course you need something to help you recover from the treatment. Why not a big hot hearty bowl of Midnight Soup? ... Our own recipe takes their basic version and adds some changes in technique and flavoring which have proved to work out well over many simmering potfuls.

Please note: this is one of those soups that is much better the next day. However, the odds of it lasting that long are slight.

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