Polish Soup, as the name suggests, originated in Poland hundreds of years ago but has indeed come a long way from its humble beginnings to become popular in almost all corners of the world. In Poland, soups are vital part of the culinary heritage and food culture. The Polish soups are served at the beginning of the regular and special meal and preceded by appetizers, meat dishes, vegetable dishes and desserts. Polish people enjoy special soups like duck soup during festivals. Beetroot, chicken stock, cucumber, Polish Sorrel, beef, cabbage or sauerkraut and dill pickle are some of the common ingredients mainly used in the preparation of soups.
Ingredients and Method of Preparation of Popular Polish Soup Recipes
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Barszcz czerwony or Red Beetroot Soup: This is one of the popular Polish soups and it is prepared using red beetroot juice. This soup is served with uzka – a type of stuffed dumplings similar to Italian Ravioli. The soup appears like red wine and is mostly served during the Christmas Eve Supper. During Christmas the soup is prepared slightly sweet and otherwise it is made sour and is also not as clear as red wine. The sour variant of soup is served with croquettes. The third variant of Polish beetroot soup is prepared with a lot of cream and potatoes, and other versions include lots of potatoes and meats.
Variants of Braszcz Czerwony are also popular in neighboring countries of Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Belarussia, and Ukraine. Normally, the red beetroot soup is prepared with beetroot, sour cream, radishes, cucumbers, parsley and hard-boiled eggs. The choice of ingredients may largely vary. The beetroot is cooked prior to adding yoghurt and other ingredients.
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Zurek Soup: This soup is a must-have in most of the Polish homes for the traditional Easter dinner. It is exclusively distinguished due to its sour taste. The soup is normally teamed up with a hollow loaf of bread before serving. Polish raw sausage and hard-boiled chopped eggs are the compulsory additions to this soup. Generally, Polish Kielbasa, eggs, smoked bacon, are also served with soup.
The Sourdough used in the preparation of soups is made with rye flour, whole meal bread, garlic, bay leaves and water. The soup is prepared with white sausage, cooked sourdough, parsley, onion, potatoes, thick sour cream, marjoram, salt-pepper, and hard-boiled eggs. The sourdough is prepared by combining all the ingredients and poured to a pot with other soup ingredients. This soup is mostly served hot.
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Rosol or Polish Chicken Broth: Rosol is one of the most popular Polish soups. For many years, the rosol was considered as a noble soup because it was served on Sunday of Lord’s Day. This soup is made with chicken pieces, meat-vegetable stock and beef. It is mostly served with pasta. Sometimes the soup is thickened by the addition of home-made polish pasta. The soup was originally prepared by cooking the dried-spiced meat, and it was known as Stock Rozsol, which means “saltless or less salty”. The soup, prepared with chicken broth and combination of vegetables, is known as wloszczyzna in Poland. The culinary experts believe that this is becoming one of the extinct Polish soups due to its large cooking time.
References: tastingpoland.com