🇨🇿 Czechia · Czech Republic
ČesnečkaCzech garlic soup
Czech garlic soup: potatoes and plenty of fresh garlic fried in lard or butter, simmered in broth or water with marjoram, bay or caraway, and served with rye croutons and optional grated cheese.
Origin and history
Česnečka, Czech garlic soup, is a home-cooking staple eaten before the main meal and praised as a pick-me-up when you are ill. The sources give no a date or origin for it; a Czech newspaper simply labels its recipe 'česká, tradiční'. Versions with egg, cheese, ham or bacon are common at home.
Make it at home
- Makes
- 4 servings
- Total time
- 40 min
- Hands-on
- 25 min
Ingredients
- 4 medium potatoes, peeled, cut in 1 cm (1/2 in) cubes
- 1 head garlic (8 to 10 cloves), peeled; some sliced, most crushed
- 1 tbsp lard, or butter or oil
- 1.2 l5 cups beef or chicken broth, or water with a stock cube
- 1 tsp dried marjoram
- 1/2 tsp caraway seeds, optional
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- to taste salt
- 3 slices rye bread, cut in cubes, for croutons
- 2 tbsp lard or butter, for the croutons
- 1 small handful grated hard cheese, optional, to serve
Method
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1. Melt 1 tbsp lard in a pot and fry the potato cubes over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring, until lightly golden.
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2. Add half the garlic, sliced thinly, and the bay leaves and fry for only 1 minute; garlic that browns turns bitter.
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3. Pour in the broth, bring to a boil and add pepper, caraway and salt.
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4. Simmer, covered, for 15 to 20 minutes, until the potatoes are soft and some break when pressed.
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5. Meanwhile fry the bread cubes in 2 tbsp lard until crisp, adding a clove of thinly sliced garlic for the last minute. Drain.
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6. Take the soup off the heat. Crush the remaining garlic and stir it in with the marjoram, rubbed between the fingers, so their flavour stays fresh.
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7. Serve at once, with the croutons (and cheese) added at the table so they stay crisp.
Notes
- Česnečka is eaten as a soup before the main meal, and Czechs regard it as a fortifying remedy for colds and, by popular belief, a hangover cure (Cook Like Czechs attributes this to old wives' tales, not evidence).
- Household add-ins include a beaten egg stirred in near the end, diced ham or smoked meat, grated cheese, onion and caraway; none changes it into a different soup. Cook Like Czechs uses chicken broth, a Czech newspaper recipe uses a stock cube and water, and the American Czech cookbook adds ham and cheese.
- Plain water works if you have no broth (Cook Like Czechs says so too), but the soup will be thinner.
- Serve the croutons separately so they do not get soggy. Not a bread soup: here the potatoes and garlic are the base.
- Keeps 3 days in the fridge without the croutons.
Adapted from Cook Like Czechs, Česnečka (Czech garlic soup), Novinky.cz, Recepty na polévky, které v zimě přijdou vhod, and Czech cookbook (catvusa.com), Garlic soup.
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