Polish · soup

Kwaśnica Góralska (Highlander Sauerkraut-Brine Soup)

Kwaśnica Góralska (Highlander Sauerkraut-Brine Soup) reads umami 6.2, sourness 5.9 and richness 5.8 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Polish soup, about 1 hr 46 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 6.2 · Sourness 5.9 · Richness 5.8 · Funk & Ferment 4.8 · Salinity 4.6 · Allium 3.9 · Smoke 2.9 · Warm Spice 2.9 · Sweetness 2.1 · Earthy 2.0 · Bitterness 1.3 · Herbaceous 1.2 · Fruity 0.9 · Floral 0.9 · Heat 0.9 · Nutty 0.7

What's in it (13)

Time & effort: about 1 hr 46 min · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 67.6 kcal, 4.3 g protein, 2.4 g fat, 11.1 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (8 steps)

  1. Put the smoked ribs in a large pot with the water, bay and allspice, bring to a boil, skim, then simmer uncovered for 1 hour until the meat loosens from the bone.
  2. Meanwhile melt the lard in a frying pan over medium heat and cook the onion for 8 minutes, until soft and just beginning to colour at the edges.
  3. Add the garlic and caraway and cook 1 minute more, until you can smell the caraway.
  4. Tip in the chopped sauerkraut and let it stew in the fat for 10 minutes, stirring, so it loses its raw squeak.
  5. Scrape the whole pan into the rib pot and simmer together.
  6. Add the potatoes and cook 20 minutes, until a knife slides in with no resistance.
  7. Now pour in the sauerkraut brine and bring it back to a bare simmer for 2 minutes only. The brine goes in at the end because boiling it hard flattens the sourness that the whole soup is built on.
  8. Season with the pepper and salt. Taste and add more brine if you want it sharper. Kwaśnica is not kapuśniak: there is no flour, no sour cream, no tomato and no root vegetable in it. It is thin, smoky and aggressively sour, the soup the Podhale highlanders ate after a day outside, and it is served with a slab of dark bread and nothing else.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.