My favourite Polish soup

Zurek - sour rye soup. Very specific, I haven´t found this kind of taste anywhere else (maybe except Asian cuisine with lemon grass added to the dishes to make them sour). 

It´s not difficult to make, if you find wholemeal rye flour or concentrate in your shop. Nowadays there is lots of polish shops in every country, so if you don´t have this kind of flour you can buy the concentrate. And trust me - it is worth the effort!

Ingredients: 

  

•  base (zakwas)  
• 75 g wholemeal rye flour  
• 600 ml boiled, cooled water  

• soup  
•  soup vegetables (2 carrots, parsnip, leek)
• 1 cube of beef bouillon
• 100 g smoked bacon (chopped to small cubes)
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic chopped
• 1 spoon of marjoram
• 300 ml sour cream 
• 100 g smoked sausage,or white sausage (I used little german white sausages)
• salt and pepper 
• 2 laurel leaves

To make the ryemeal sour (żur or zakwas): Mix together rye flour with lukewarm water. Pour into a glass jar or ceramic bowl that is large enough for the mixture to expand. Cover with cloth and let stand in a warm place for 4 to 5 days. This should make 2 cups or enough for the soup. If the sour isn't used immediately, it can be stored, covered, in the refrigerator for up to a week.

To make the soup: In a large soup pot, bring soup vegetables and water to a boil. Add bouillon and laurel. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Strain stock through a sieve, pressing on the vegetables to extract as much flavor as possible. 

In the pan fry onion, garlic and bacon. It should be well fried. Add them to the soup. Add sausages, marjoram, salt and pepper.  Pour in zakwas (or concentrate),  return to the boil, reduce heat and cook another 30 minutes.

Whisking constantly, add cream. First pour cream to a mug and add a few spoon of soup to prevent curdling, then add this mixture to the soup. Bring the soup to a boil. Serve in heated bowls with half a hard-cooked egg in each serving (if desired).

 Enjoy with slice of nice bread. Ahhhhhhh the poetry of food! ;-)