This is a so good soup that I did not modify the recipe at all. Take some 600+700 g of chuck stake from beef. Cook it in two liters of water and peel the foam off with a spoon. It stops coming after a while when the water boils. The meat will be cooking for one hour, meanwhile you can chop the vegetables. Throw into to water 20 whole black peppers and 1.5-2 teaspoons of salt and 3 bay leaves (laurel leaves).
Cut two carrot into 0.5-1 cm discs, cut root of celery into small pieces, the same with roots of parsley. Finns actually use swede (=turnip for humans usage) instead of root parsley, but you cannot get it abroad that easily. In most countries one can find a ready package with two-three carrots, root celery, root parsley, leave parsley, 10 cm piece of leek, and so on, for cooking soups, so this is is what you will use, what ever there is in such a package.
After about 1/2 hour of cooking the meat, put in the carrots, celery and parsley. This is a nice time to peel the potatoes, you need 6 rather big potatoes. Peel them and cut to smaller pieces. Cut the leek into small pieces.
Cook still for ½ hour and take off the meat. Add the potatoes and the leek and cook for 25 minutes.
Cut the meat into small pieces. When the potatoes are about ready, add the meat and chopped parsley. The soup is ready.
This of course is just a very traditional meat soup, which in some version must be known in all countries. However, I have noticed some differences. Some add green beans, not good. Some take of the carrots, celery and parsley, not good either, some do not cut the meat. This traditional Finnish variant is just simply the best.
