POLISH KRUPNIK . . . BARLEY SOUP

 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.

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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.