Harbor Classic · Creamy Fish Soup

Bergen Fiskesuppe

📷 Closely related photo — Photo via Pexels/Unsplash — free for commercial use

Traditional Bergen fish soup is finished with a splash of vinegar and a little sugar, giving it a faint sweet-sour edge that sets it apart from other fish soups.

Fiskesuppe is a creamy soup built from a light fish stock simmered with carrot, leek, and celeriac, then enriched with cream and tempered egg yolk before chunks of cod or salmon are poached directly in the pot. Around Bergen's harborside fish market it's ladled into paper cups so visitors can sip it hot while walking the docks.

Why it's made this way: Bergen has been a fishing and trading port since the Hanseatic era, and this soup evolved as a way to use the day's freshest catch — it's so tied to the city that Norwegians elsewhere simply call it "Bergensk fiskesuppe."