🇵🇱 Poland · Małopolska (Easter)
Horseradish soup (zupa chrzanowa)
A Polish Easter soup of white sausage and smoked meat with grated horseradish, built from the foods of the Easter basket; regional forms are made on soured whey (Sułkowice krzonówka) or on a żurek-like sour starter, and finished with sour cream.
Origin and history
Horseradish soup (chrzanowa, chrzanówka, krzonówka) is a Polish Easter soup, popular especially in Małopolska. Horseradish is one of the foods blessed in the Easter basket, a symbol of strength and health, and the soup puts that basket's sausage, smoked meat and eggs into a sharp, creamy broth. In 2010 the whey-based Sułkowice krzonówka was approved for Poland's official List of Traditional Products.
Make it at home
- Makes
- 4–6 servings
- Total time
- 1 h
- Hands-on
- 25 min
Ingredients
- 500 g1.1 lb raw white sausage (biała kiełbasa)
- 200 g7 oz smoked bacon (boczek) or smoked pork (wędzonka), in one piece
- 1 small onion, peeled, left whole
- 2–3 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 + 4 allspice berries and black peppercorns
- 1.75 L7 1/2 cups water, hot
- 250 ml1 cup thick sour cream (śmietana, 18%)
- 2 egg yolks, or 2 tbsp flour, see notes
- 150 g5 oz (about 2/3 cup) freshly grated horseradish (chrzan), or the same amount of grated horseradish from a jar, well drained
- 1 tsp (optional) dried marjoram
- 100 g (optional)3.5 oz (optional) leftover roast meat or ham from the Easter table, diced
- 4–6 hard-boiled eggs, quartered
- salt, to taste
- rye or country bread, to serve
Method
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1. Put the white sausage, the bacon, the onion, garlic, bay leaf, allspice and peppercorns in a pot and pour over the hot water.
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2. Bring just to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer gently for about 20 minutes, without letting it boil hard so the sausage skins do not split.
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3. Lift out the sausage and bacon, and strain the broth through a sieve into a clean pot; discard the onion and spices.
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4. In a bowl, whisk the sour cream with the egg yolks until smooth.
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5. Whisk a ladle of the hot broth into the cream, then another, and pour the mixture slowly into the pot, stirring all the time.
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6. Heat the soup until it is very hot and slightly thickened, stirring; do not let it boil once the yolks are in, or they will curdle.
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7. Off the heat, stir in the grated horseradish and the marjoram (if using) and season with salt; taste and add more horseradish for a sharper soup.
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8. Slice the sausage and dice the bacon and any roast meat, put them back in the soup and warm through for a minute or two.
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9. Serve in deep plates with quartered hard-boiled eggs and bread.
Notes
- Horseradish loses its heat when boiled: add it at the end, off the heat. Fresh root is much sharper than jarred; start with less and taste.
- Instead of yolks, many home cooks thicken the broth with a spoon or two of flour whisked into the sour cream, then let it bubble briefly; the soup is more stable and less rich.
- Regional bases differ. Around Sułkowice in Małopolska, krzonówka is made on soured whey (serwatka) with cold meats and horseradish; elsewhere the soup is close to żurek or white barszcz, built on a sour rye or wheat starter, with horseradish added. Some versions are cream soups with root vegetables and potato blended in.
- In Małopolska the Easter version, sometimes called strząski, is made largely from the foods of the blessed Easter basket (święconka): eggs, sausage, smoked meat, bread and horseradish.
- It is eaten at Easter breakfast or as the Easter Sunday soup; outside Easter it is a winter soup.
- Make the broth a day ahead if you like, but add the cream and horseradish just before serving.
Adapted from eGłos: Zupa chrzanowa and Polonist: Zupa chrzanowa (Polish horseradish soup).
At the festivals
Served at 1 festival in Poland.
Earlier editions
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May 19, 2007
🇵🇱 Kraków, Poland
6th Soup Festival
On the menu as Horseradish soup
By Farmers' Wives Association from Jastrzebie