Sauerkraut and dried mushroom soup

Fania Lewando’s sauerkraut and dried mushroom soup

This unusual soup comes from 1930s Lithuania, from a vegetarian cookbook in Yiddish by Fania Lewando. I learnt about it thanks to a Zoom cooking class by food scholar Eve Jochnowitz (who has translated the book into English), and made it after watching her. It is improbably delicious, and improbably good in the middle of a hot Melbourne summer. Eve made a half quantity of the original recipe, and so did I, but found I needed more water than was suggested. In any case, it will serve eight. It keeps for a few days in the refrigerator.

Ingredients:

500 g sauerkraut, 30g dried mushrooms (porcini for preference), 1 carrot, 1 small celeriac OR a stick of celery, 1 onion, 40g (or a bit more) butter, 1 dessertspoon flour, 1 litre (plus) water. Sour cream and chopped dill to finish.

Soak the mushrooms in warm water for 10 minutes or so. Put the sauerkraut (rinsed or not, up to you) in a saucepan over medium heat with a litre of water and the grated carrot and celeriac (or chopped celery). Drain the mushrooms, chop them, and add them and the water in which they were soaked to the pot. When it comes just to the boil, turn down the heat and let the soup simmer. If it seems too thick, add more water. (I used a litre and a half.)

Chop the onion, and cook gently in the butter. When it is golden brown, add the flour, stir well, and then add a ladleful of soup, stirring well. Add that to the soup.

L:et it all cook for about an hour. More won’t hurt.

Serve with sour cream and a generous quantity of chopped fresh dill.

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