Cook In Polish – Traditional Recipes
Polish Cuisine from an Old Cookbook
Polish Żurek is traditionally prepared for Easter. In some Polish families White Borsch is cooked instead of Żurek, the difference is Kvas/ sourdough that is used. For Żurek- rye sourdough, for Borsch – wheat sour starter.
If you plan to cook traditional polish Żurek, few days before you need to prepare sourdough/Kvas/sour starter: http://cookinpolish.com/sourdough-for-sour-soup-zakwas-na-zurek/.
Sourdough is a basic ingredient of Żurek, traditional Polish soup, prepared for Easter. It can be also called: kvas or sour starter, and is made by fermenting rye (for Żurek) or wheat (for White Borsch) flour. The process is easy, although you need few days to have your own homemade Sour starter.
There is a whole variety kinds of sourdough, that you can prepare and use for soups, it depends on the flour you use. I prefer oatmeal one, because you can get very fresh flour on the spot- all you need to do is to grind oatmeal in an old coffee mill:)
Beets Borscht with Uszka is traditionally prepared for Christmas Eve in many Polish homes. As the opposite to borscht sometimes forest mushrooms soup is prepared, but not in my family house- we love beets borscht:)
One important ingredient of Borscht is a beets kvas/ sourdough which you need to prepare few days before. How to prepare a sourdough you can check here: http://cookinpolish.com/beet-sourdough/.
These amounts of ingredients are set for a big family and there will be enough of Borscht for Christmas Eve and the Christmas as well:)
For Christmas Eve we usually have Beets Borscht with Uszka, while for other occasions we have it for example with Sauerkraut and Wild Mushrooms Buns.
