Does anyone make traditional Slovak Christmas soup?

[johnnie]

My grandfather used to make it every year when he was alive and I said I would make it this year. My sister has been making Italian wedding soup for the last few years, but I wanted to bring back the old tradition a bit more.

This soup is a Slovak tradition with dried mushrooms and sauerkraut juice. The problem is, my grandfather used to pick his own mushrooms and then dry them, but I can't figure out what kind of mushrooms he used to get and I want to try to keep with tradition. Anyone know?

[SoxFan]

1. No, but I can Czech around

:P

[johnnie]

2. Ba da duuuuuuu

Dum......


LOL Funny, but no mushroom.

[SammyWinstonJack]

13. .

:spray:

[Chan790]

3. No but some research led me to some mushroom info...

supposedly from the soup cookbook I have, traditionally Slovak-style Christmas soup uses fresh mushrooms while Polish-style uses dried, Borowak (aka. King Bolete) or Cepes mushrooms in either case. In a pinch, the suggested sub for either is Porcini. All three are sub-varieties of the same mushroom (Latin: Boletus Edulis).

edit: Does this help? Any look like the right mushroom?

Pics:

Borowak


Cepes


Porcini

[johnnie]

7. It helps

But I don't trust myself to go pick my own shrooms. I may be tripping for too long

[Chan790]

9. I was thinking that if you knew what you were looking for...

you could buy them. I know that they sell dried mushrooms in most Polish markets and dried porcini can be bought in many gourmet supermarkets. Not cheap though...$30-35/lb.

If I'd known earlier...you could have bought them on Amazon and had them delivered. http://www.amazon.com/Porcini-Mushrooms-Grade-Extra-oz/dp/B0002NVKZ4

[KamaAina]

4. Ask bi_baby

she's the semi-official Slovak Honorary Consul for the Lounge.

[johnnie]

8. Yeah, I was hoping she would answer

She knows her shit

[MrScorpio]

5. Take a couple of traditional Slovaks, put 'em in a hot tub of chicken broth and voila!

It's CHRISTMAS!

[johnnie]

6. THAT'S WHAT I NEED TO KNOW

Now if I can only get them to come here and sit on my pot.

[livetohike]

10. I've made it many times

:-) You can go to an Italian deli/store and ask for their imported dry mushrooms. They should be in a large basket or jar and you'll need 1/4 lb or more depending on how much soup you plan on making. When I bought them last Christmas they were about $18.00/lb. I don't know what they are called, but they are not porcinis. For 16 people, I use 1/2 lb of dried mushrooms.

Good luck :hi:

[hippywife]

11. No, but I am making

Italian wedding soup this weekend. It's a perennial winter favorite in this house.

Enjoy your soup. :hi:

[leftyclimber]

12. My google-fu is not strong

but it looks like porcinis and morels are the serious biggies in Slovakia. I found a recipe on allrecipes.com that said to use "forest mushroom mix." Apparently this is chanterelles, black trumpets, and porcinis if you buy a dried mix online.

Either combination would be a mushroom orgasm. Maybe you could do one batch of each and see which one was closer? :bounce:

[busybl]

14. oh wow

my gramma used to make it every year. Lived in Chicago. It's an interesting dish for sure. Hope it turns out well.

[emilyg]

15. Most grocery stores carry imported dry

mushrooms. I get the ones from Poland.

[HEyHEY]

16. No idea where to even strat n.t