This is not just a Dutch recipe; it is a typical dish from the Limburg region. You won’t find it in other parts of the Netherlands and if you do, it will definitely not be called ‘reubesop’.
Reubesop is a thick soup that you eat in the winter. It is quite heavy, so you can have it as a full meal with a few slices of freshly baked bread.
For this soup, you will need ‘reuben’, the Limburg name for what the rest of the Netherlands calls ‘rapen’. In English they are called ‘turnips’. They have white flesh and a purple tinged white skin and you will mostly find them on the weekly market.
Margot loves reubesop. When she and her family lived in Greece for a while, she was thrilled to find wonderful fresh turnips on the market. And on a cold winter night in Greece (because yes, it can get really cold in the North of Greece) she cooked the Limburg reubesop for a group of Greek friends. Some of them never forgot the soup and still prepare it for their friends and families. A Limburg souvenir in Greece.
Ingredients
1 kg of ‘reuben’ (or ‘rapen’)
3 potatoes cut in cubes
½ kg of lamb meat
fresh rosemary
a piece of mutton fat
salt and freshly ground pepper
Preparation
Cook the lamb meat in water and a bit of salt. When the meat is done, add the cubes of ‘reuben’ and potatoes to cook along with the meat. When everything is well-done (soft), take the meat out of the soup, cut it into pieces and put those back in the soup. Cut the piece of mutton fat into small pieces and fry these until all the fat has come out. Add the fried pieces of mutton fat to the soup. Season with fresh rosemary, freshly ground pepper and salt.