A cloudy, sharp soup built on zakwas, the fermented rye starter that gives zurek its sourness and cannot be faked with vinegar. White sausage and smoked bacon give it depth, marjoram gives it the smell, and half a boiled egg goes into every bowl. Traditionally Easter food, but good on any cold evening.
7 Steps
Three to four days ahead, whisk the rye flour with the lukewarm water in a scalded jar, drop in the crushed garlic cloves, cover with a cloth and leave at room temperature. Stir once a day; by day three it should smell sharply sour and bready with clear liquid separating on top.
On the day, put the white sausage in a pot with the 2 litres of water, the bay leaves and allspice, bring to just below a simmer and poach for 25 minutes. Lift the sausage out and keep the broth.
Dice the bacon and render it in a frying pan over medium heat for 6 minutes, add the chopped onion and grated garlic and fry until the onion is soft and gold. Scrape all of it into the broth.
Peel and dice the potatoes, add to the broth and simmer for 15 minutes until tender. Slice the poached sausage into rounds and return it to the pot.
Take the pot off the boil. Shake the zakwas and pour in 400 ml through a sieve, stirring, then add the marjoram crushed between your palms and the horseradish.
Loosen the sour cream with a ladle of hot soup, stir it back in, and bring the soup only to a lazy simmer for 5 minutes without letting it boil. Season with salt, pepper and more zakwas if you want it sharper.
Boil the eggs for 9 minutes, cool them under cold water and peel. Serve each bowl with half a hard-boiled egg and an extra pinch of marjoram.
Start the zakwas three to four days ahead; it is ready when it smells sharply sour and slightly bready, not mouldy, and a layer of clear liquid has risen to the top. Shake it before pouring, and always add it off the boil, then bring the soup back gently, or the cream and starter will split.
Comments (2)
added the cream too hot the first time and it curdled. worth reading the step twice
day three my zakwas smelled aggressive. is that normal or did i ruin it?
sharp and bready is right. only worry if you see fuzzy mould or it smells of nail polish.