Jean Karsavina tells us that “Polish hospitality is legendary . . .
Happy the squire when his guests are many,
On bended knee he begs them to have seconds . . .”
Nice, but not a problem for him and his rich friends, since Jean says that the rich “lived in feudal splendor on their vast estates”.
Meanwhile, however, there was a sardonic Ukrainian saying that goes like this:
The lord master promises a fur coat,
Warm are his words.
(Mary Stadnyk)
As Jean Karsavina says "the poor were very poor, utilizing “whatever was at hand” including wild honey, wild berries, mushrooms, fish, crayfish, and game.
In particular, Kasza, Jean says, is one of “the mainstays of everyday diet” in Poland. The word kasza “may mean buckwheat groats, pearl barley, or cereal meal”.
(Woman’s Day Encyclopedia of Cookery, Vol. 17)
Krupnik, according to Jean, is Polish for barley and Barley Soup.
***********************
Considering that the poor on many of those Polish estates were Ukrainian peasants, it's not surprising that Barley Soup is something Mom often made.
June 15,
1988: Mom wrote, “I made a pot full of
barley soup.”
and
July 9, 1989
I been resting a lot and made barley soup so I will have
that for two days.
I loved Mom’s Pot Barley Soup, and it’s still one of
my favourites, but Jean Karsavina's recipe looks way different from the soup Mom made, so I can't resist trying it. Today's the day for:
****************
KRUPNIK
½ pound soup bone with meat
½ pound diced mixed raw vegetables
2 dried mushrooms or 8 fresh diced mushrooms
10 cups water
2 teaspoons salt
¼ tsp pepper
3 medium potatoes, pared and diced
½ cup pearl barley cooked in 2 cups
water and 1 tbsp butter (or follow directions on package) I omitted the butter.
1 cup sour cream (optional)
2 raw egg yolks (optional)
1 ½ tbsp butter (optional)
1 tablespoon chopped parsley or dill
or a combination of both
·
Put
water and meat in stock pot. Bring to a
boil and skim.
·
Add
diced vegetables, mushrooms, salt, and pepper.
Reduce heat and simmer for one hour.
·
Chop
the parsley and set aside.
·
Dice
and add potatoes to the soup. Simmer
another 20 minutes.
·
Remove
bones and meat.
·
Cut
up mushrooms and return to soup.
·
Add
the barley.
·
Bring
to a boil.
·
Whisk
some soup into sour cream. Then add all
of the sour cream to the soup. Taste for seasoning.
·
Whisk
some soup into beaten egg yolks.
·
Then
slowly add all of the egg yolks to soup.
Careful or it will curdle.
·
Add
1 ½ tablespoons butter and the parsley.
Then serve. (I omitted the butter.)
Very nice!
(I made it with previously prepared chicken stock so my soup did not have the chopped diced vegetables -- it only had diced potatoes and mushrooms. I also included the sour cream and egg yolks. The result was delicate -- an excellent soup for company.)
Here's my version:
KRUPNIK (4 servings)
4 cups chicken stock
4 mushrooms
Salt to taste
1 medium red potato, pared and diced
¼ tsp dried dillweed
¼ cup pearl barley cooked in 1 cup
water for 35 min
½ cup sour cream
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
·
Dice
and add potatoes and mushrooms to the chicken stock. Add dillweed. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for
10 minutes. Taste the potato to see if
it’s cooked.
·
Taste
for salt.
·
Remove
from heat and set aside until serving.
·
Cook
and add the barley to the soup.
·
Chop
the parsley and set aside.
Serving Time:
·
Bring
the soup to a boil.
·
Whisk
some soup into sour cream. Then add all
of the sour cream to the soup. Taste for seasoning.
·
Whisk
some soup into beaten egg yolk.
·
Then
slowly add all of the egg yolks to soup.
Careful or it will curdle.
·
Add
the parsley. Then serve.
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