Potaoes – Journey From A Polish Kitchen

Ogórkowa – Gherkin Soup -2

I posted the recipe for ogórkowa – gherkin soup, which is a classic Polish soup, over a year ago.

It is sour, a taste much loved by the Poles!

It is traditionally made from brine fermented gherkins but you can also use pickled gherkins.

I was sorting out my cutting and notes the other day and came across this recipe from my aunt in Białystok and decided it was time I made this version.

Ingredients

250g gherkins
125ml gherkin liquid
1.5 litres of vegetable stock (can be from cubes or powder)
4 medium potatoes, peeled – boiled or steamed
3-4 carrots whole – peeled – boiled
125ml of soured cream
Chopped dill – some to add and some to serve

Method

This is easiest to make if you have some potatoes and carrots boiled already.

Add the gherkin liquid to the vegetable stock and bring to the boil.
Rough chop the gherkins.
Drop the gherkins into the liquid and simmer for around 20 -25 minutes.
Chop the boiled potatoes into rough cubes.
Chop the boiled carrots into circles or half circles (depending on the size)
Add the potatoes and carrots, stir and simmer for around 5 minutes.
Stir in some chopped dill.
Stir in the soured cream.
Serve with extra dill sprinkled on top.

Served in Royal Doulton – Tapestry – 1966 – 1988.

Kapuśniak made with Fresh Cabbage

In the first year of writing this blog, I wrote a post – Poles love to eat cabbage and now that I am writing about soups I am going to look at a Polish classic – kapuśniak – cabbage soup.

Kuchnia Polska – Polish Kitchen or Polish Cookery

FALLING IN LOVE WITH CABBAGE

There are two types – ones made with fresh cabbage and ones made with sauerkraut.

Here I am going to write about ones made with fresh cabbage.

Kapuśniak – Version 1

Ingredients

500g fresh white or sweetheart cabbage (a small head)
100g smoked bacon
1.5 – 2 litres of vegetable stock (can be from powder or cubes)
1 large onion
1 bay leaf
4 or 5 peppercorns
2-3 medium sized potatoes.
Salt & pepper – to taste
Flat-leafed parsley to garnish

Method

With a sharp knife, shred the cabbage and then chop across to get little pieces.
Chop the onion into small pieces.
Chop the bacon into small squares.
Put the vegetable stock into a large pan.
Add the cabbage, onion, bacon, bay leaf and peppercorns.
Bring to the boil and then simmer, with a lid on, until the cabbage is nearly tender.
Peel and chop the potatoes into medium sized chunks.
Add the potatoes to the soup and gently simmer until the potatoes are cooked.
Check for seasoning.
Stir in a handful of chopped flat leaved parsley.
Serve with a little chopped flat leaved parsley on top.

Served here in Royal Doulton – Tapestry – 1966 to 1988

Note – If you want to start this in advance, make it up to adding the potatoes.

Kapuśniak – Version 2

Ingredients

500g fresh white cabbage
A few pork ribs
1.5 – 2 litres of vegetable stock (can be from powder or cubes)
1 large onion
3 tablespoons of tomato purée
Salt & pepper to taste.
Flat -leaved parsley to garnish

Method

Into a large pan put the pork ribs, peppercorns and the vegetable stock.
Bring to the boil, then simmer gently with the lid on until the meat is tender.
With a sharp knife, shred the cabbage and then chop across to get small pieces.
Chop the onion into small pieces.
Add the cabbage and onion to the pan and simmer till the cabbage is tender.
You might have top up with a little hot water.
Remove the pork ribs – these can be eaten later or as a snack for the cook!
Stir in the tomato puree.
Check for seasoning.
Serve with a little chopped flat leaved parsley on top.

Served here in Royal Doulton – Burgundy – 1959 to 1981

Kapuśniak – Version 3

This is made as Version 2, after adding the tomato puree, stir in around 100ml of soured cream and mix well in.

Garnish with flat-leaved parsley.

Served here in Royal Doulton – Carnation – 1982 to 1998

Gypsy Soup

Zupa cygańska is Gypsy soup and is so called because it contains red peppers. I think the smoky meats may also evoke the idea of camp fires.

Ingredients

4 large tomatoes
2 red or orange peppers
1 large onion
4 medium potatoes
100g smoked bacon – chopped into small pieces
200g of Polish sausage – sliced and chopped
2 bay leaves
2-3 grains of allspice
3-4 peppercorns
a little sunflower oil for frying
Chopped flat-leaved parsley to serve

Method

Use boiling water to skin the tomatoes and leave to cool.
Chop the tomatoes into quarters.
De-seed the peppers.
Chop the peppers into small pieces.
Chop the onion into small pieces.
Fry the onion gently for a few minutes in a large frying pan.
Add the chopped tomatoes & peppers.
Fry gently for a couple of minutes.
Add the bacon & sausage and mix.
Cover the mixture with water and cover with a lid.
Cook gently for around 10 minutes.
Transfer the ingredients to a large saucepan.
Add the bay leaves, all-spice and peppercorns.
Add around 1.5 litres of water and bring to the boil.
Cover with a lid and simmer gently for around 30 minutes.
Peel the potatoes and cut them into large “cubes”.
Add the potatoes to the soup and cook gently until the potatoes are cooked.
Serve with chopped flat-leaved parsley.

Note

Do not let the potatoes disintegrate into a pulp.

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

Note

If you do not have the fresh ingredients you could use tinned tomatoes and bottled peppers.

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!

Herring Salads

Salted herrings are very, very popular in Poland, they have been a staple in Northern Europe since Medieval times as this was the way to preserve and transport fish – usually in barrels.

Śledź is the Polish word for herring.

Matjes herrings (matjasy in Polish) are young herrings which are caught throughout May and June before they start spawning in July.

The way that they are prepared originated in The Netherlands and the name comes from the Dutch word maagd which means maiden(because they are young fish).

Often you will see the phrase à la matjas – this means that they are in the style of the matjes herring but they will be a slighty older fish and not as expensive .

Salted herrings need to be soaked, often for up to 24 hours, in water to remove some of the salt.

I have used already prepared à la matjas herrings and I think they are still too salty – so I take the fillets out of the oil they are packed in and put them in milk for 10 to 15 minutes (you can do longer) and then pat them dry and slice them.

These herring salads are often served as an hors d’oeuvre (zakąska in Polish – something to bite after), appetizer, entrée or starter.

They are usually one of the dishes served at Wigilia (Christmas Eve).

Thinly sliced onions are a must to serve with the herrings!

Simple Herrings 1

Ingredients

Thinly sliced herrings
Thinly sliced onion
A little lemon juice

Simple Herrings 2

Ingredients

Thinly sliced herrings,
Thinly sliced onion
Chopped gherkins (ogórki).
A little liquor from the gherkin jar

Simple Herrings 3

Ingredients

Thinly sliced herrings,
Thinly sliced onion and
Sliced (red skinned) apple
A little lemon juice

Herring Salads

The dressings used are: lemon juice, mayonnaise (full fat is best here), soured cream and horseradish – on their own or as a mixture.

I have not given quantities – exact amounts are not critical.

Herring & Apple Salad

Ingredients

Thinly sliced herring
Thinly sliced onions,
Chopped (red skinned) apples
Dressing

Herring & Potato Salads

The following salads are variations on classic Polish potato salads.

Herring, Potato & Gherkin

Ingredients

Thinly sliced herring
Thinly sliced onions
Cold boiled or steamed,chopped potato,
Chopped gherkins
Dressing

Herring, Potato, Gherkin & Hard-boiled Eggs

Ingredients

Thinly sliced herring
Thinly sliced onions
Cold boiled or steamed,chopped potato,
Chopped gherkins
Chopped hard-boiled eggs
Dressing

Herring, Potato & Peas

Ingredients

Thinly sliced herring
Thinly sliced onions
Cold boiled or steamed, chopped potato,
Cooked peas
Chopped hard-boiled eggs
Dressing

Herring, Potato, Peas & Hard-boiled Eggs

Ingredients

Thinly sliced herring
Thinly sliced onions
Cold boiled or steamed, chopped potato,
Cooked peas and dressing
Chopped hard-boiled eggs
Dressing

Herring, Apple, Bean & Hard-boiled Eggs

When I first saw this recipe I was not sure how the beans would go with the rest of the ingredients. Having tried it, I think the taste combination is wonderful!

Ingredients

Thinly sliced herring
Thinly sliced onions
Chopped (red skinned) apples
Haricot beans – tinned beans with the tomato sauce washed off , rinsed and patted dry
Chopped hard-boiled eggs
Dressing

Chopped parsley & chives

All of the salads can have chopped flat-leafed parsley and/or chives sprinkled on top.

Flat Leaved Parsely

Updated April 2020

A Little Caper!

Capparis spinosa is the caper bush. The plant is best known for the edible, unripened flower buds – capers – kapary (in Polish) which are often used as a seasoning and are usually pickled in brine, vinegar or wine.

These perennial plants are native to the Mediterranean and some parts of Asia. Their use dates back to around 2,000 BC where they are mentioned as a food in Sumerian literature.

The caper buds are picked by hand which can make the cost of a small jar expensive.

Pickled nasturtium (Tropaeolum maius) (nasturcja in Polish) seeds – often called poor man’s capers are a good substitute.

Cooking With Capers

Capers have long been used in the Mediterranean region especially in Italian cooking.

Capers are usually added to the dish toward the end of the cooking process, to keep their shape and flavour.

Sos kaparowy – Caper sauce

This is very popular in Poland and is made with chopped capers and mayonnaise and is served with hard-boiled eggs.

Potato Salad with Capers

This is my variation of the classic Polish potato salad with caper sauce.

Ingredients

200g waxy potatoes
100g whole green beans
100g peas
2-3 spring onions – green part
2 tablespoons of capers – drained
2-3 tablespoons mayonnaise – home-made or a good full fat bought variety
1 tablespoon of made up mustard
Salt & pepper
2 – 3 hard-boiled eggs

Method
The potatoes, green beans and the peas all need to be boiled or steamed, drained and then dried as much as possible using a clean tea towel.
I usually use starchy potatoes for potato salad but have found that waxy ones are better for this one.
Chop the beans into small pieces.
Chop the green parts of the onion into fine pieces.