Karoflanka – Potato Soup

When I was young and I told my friends that my mother made potato soup, they all thought this sounded rather weird & tasteless.

Whereas, it was one of my favourite soups and like most Polish soups, it is not a purée, it has chucks of potato in it.

This following is based on my memory of my mother’s recipe.

For the best results, I use rosół (chicken bouillon) or homemade chicken stock when I have it.

Ingredients

• 750g – 1 kilo of potatoes
• 2 large onions
• 200g smoked bacon
• 2 litres of chicken stock or rosół
• Large bunch of flat leaved parsley
• 1 bay leaf
• 2-3 grains of allspice
• 4-5 peppercorns
• A little oil for frying
• Chopped flat leaved parsley to garnish
• Extra seasoning may not be necessary because of the bacon and rosół/stock.

Method

• Chop the smoked bacon into small squares.
• Slowly heat the bacon in a heavy bottomed pan or good Teflon red spot non stick pan without oil.
• Let all the fat cook out.
• Chop the onions into small pieces and fry them with the onions.
• You want the onions well browned, even some slightly charred.

 

 

• Peel and chop the potatoes into chunks.
• Fry them lightly in oil so all sides are done.
• Mix the potatoes with the smoked bacon and onions in a large pan.
• Add the chicken stock or rosół.
• Chop the parsley leaves and add them with the allspice, bay leaf and peppercorns.
• Add 1.5 to 2 litres of water and bring this to the boil.
• Reduce the heat, put a lid on the pan and simmer gently for around 15 minutes.
• You are aiming for cooked pieces of potatoes – do not let it disintegrate to a pulp! 
• Garnish with chopped flat leaved parsley when serving.

 

Served here in Royal Stafford – Blossom Time from the 1950s

Creamier Version

Looking through other recipes for this soup, I found that often some soured cream was added at the end just before serving.

So add 3 to 4 tablespoons of soured cream to some slightly cooled soup in a little dish and then mix this into the pan and serve.

 

 

Served here in Royal Doulton –  Burgundy – 1959 to 1981.

Note

Both are super –  but my vote is for my mother’s version!