Fiskesuppe - Norwegian Fish Soup

We are a soup-loving family and one of our favourites is fiskesuppe (fish soup).  I discovered the recipe when we were cooking our way around the world and got to Norway.  Fiskesuppe is a traditional Norwegian chowder made with an assortment of fish and root vegetables (the original recipe called for tilapia, salmon, cod, and shrimp, but I've streamlined the recipe to include one reasonably-priced fish).

I have made it many times so this recipe is definitely tried-and-true.  I posted about it when I first started my blog (here).  I didn't get a very good photo of the soup back then, so I'm re-posting the recipe with new photos.

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups (1 litre) water with 4 teaspoons of chicken bouillon

2 bay leaves

2-3 carrots, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

1/2 celery root, peeled and chopped

1 parsley root, peeled and chopped

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 tablespoon cider vinegar 

1 teaspoon sugar

200-300 gms (about 10 ozs) fish - I used rainbow trout, but any fish would work 

salt and pepper to taste

3 tablespoons flour 

1 1/2 cups (1/3 litre) cream or milk

PREPARATION:

Bring water, bouillon, and bay leaves to boil in stock pot.

Add vegetables and cook for 15 minutes.

Cut fish into smaller pieces and add to pot.

Bring to a boil again and turn down heat to simmer for about 5 minutes or until fish is cooked through.

Add vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper.

Stir flour into cream/milk and add mixture gradually while simmering.

Remove bay leaves and serve.

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I actually spent some time analyzing soup photos from the blog Skinnytaste.com.  I love her photos - she always makes everything look so mouthwatering.  I took lots of photos - learning from her styling and trying different props - so I have a bit of a photo glut happening here.

Here are my takeaways:
1.  If you are taking the photos the day after you made the soup, you should re-heat your soup because otherwise you will be able to see the oil droplets on the surface.  Ooops!
2.  Using a mat with obvious horizontal and vertical lines can drive you crazy trying to get it straight and can't be fixed with photo-editing
3. I love how Skinnytaste styles her photos so I tried to do similar arrangements and for the first time was happy with them.   I especially like the one with the carrots.  I also finally found a good place to take photos in our kitchen which makes me happy because I'm trying to streamline my food photography.  It is hard to think clearly and be creative when everyone wants dinner and you are rushing to take photos.

What do you think?  Which ones are your favourites?

P.S.  I learned something else.  I wasn't able to find parsley roots at the grocery store this time, but saw parsnips and thought they were the same thing with different names so bought them to use for the soup.  However, when I googled parsnips and parsley root it turns out they just look the same, but taste different.  I put them in anyway and guess what?  The soup tasted the same as it always has.  So here is what I learned:  if two vegetables look the same, the difference in taste will not effect the outcome of the recipe (haha) ... or I got lucky!