Magda's Cauldron

Let’s talk about Polish soups. There are many – a vegetable soup, tomato soup with rice or pasta, wild mushroom soup, pea soup, beetroot soup known as borscht, cabbage soup, sour rye soup, sorrel soup and many more. There is one thing that makes them different from an average Irish soup – chunks! All of them are chunky. Even the smoothest tomato soup, which has rice or pasta, and probably carrots, to give you a little bit of body.

I think we may just like to chew, it might be an education factor, because when you have chunks, you know exactly what you eat, and even in early childhood you are familiar with veggies you despise (a root celery, that was always pretending to be a potato!). Yes, of course we sometimes serve cream soups, but they state “cream soup” (Polish: zupa krem). So if you want to surprise your Polish friend with a cucumber soup don’t trust Washington Post, just don’t blend the soup, because it’s not a baby food.

Pickled cucumber soup (Polish: ogórkowa, pronunciation by Washington Post: o-goor-KOV-ah), as the name states is a sour soup. Pickling was a popular food preserving method in Poland, and it is very good for your tummy. I know, it may not be a flavor for everybody, but give it a go if you are adventurous enough.

The soup can be served with or without the sour cream; it’s really a matter of preference. My mom’s soup is the best (obviously!). She usually makes one using beef bones, so the stock is full of flavor. I barely ever make soups, and I never mastered stock skills, so I’ve just linked you to more reliable sources. But if you have the secret stock recipe that you love, just go ahead and use it.

Sour cucumber soup

• 1.5l stock (could be chicken, beef or vegetable)
• 5 potatoes, peeled and diced
• 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 250ml water from sour dill pickles in brine
• 5 sour dill pickles in brine, peeled and grated
• pepper
• salt
• lovage
• 1/4 cup sour cream (optional)
• fresh dill for garnish (optional)

Place the potatoes and carrots in a pot and cover with water.

Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook until just tender, but don’t fall down. Drain.

In a separate pot bring your stock to boiling.

Add potatoes, carrots, water from pickled cucumbers, grated pickled cucumbers and boil for 10 minutes.

Season the soup with salt, pepper and lovage.

Temper sour cream by adding a little hot soup. Pour it into the soup, whisking constantly until it comes to a boil.

Serve sprinkled with some dill.