Kwaśnica is a traditional Polish dish originated from the Tatra Mountains in the Podhale region. In the past, highlanders from Podhale ate mostly unprocessed food from their own farms, such as potatoes, cabbage, meats, and others. Today, they are still proud of their traditions and follow the recipe to a T.
Podhale (literally “below the mountains”) is Poland’s southernmost region, sometimes referred to as the “Polish Highlands”. The Podhale is located in the foothills of the Tatra range of the Carpathian mountains. This highlander dish, the kwaśnica soup is quite similar to the kapuśniak soup. Both of them are made of sauerkraut but kapuśniak was traditionally made with pork meat and kwaśnica with mutton. Nowadays, modern recipes for these healthy soups includes pork.
Ingredients:
- 1.1 lbs (0.5kg) of smoked pork ribs
- 11 oz (300g) of smoked bacon
- 2 ½ cups of sauerkraut
- 1 cup of sauerkraut juice
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 6 tbsps of pork lard
- 2 potatoes
- 4 bay leaves
- 2 tbsps of dried marjoram
- 5 allspice berries
- 67.63 us fl oz (2 liters) of water
- 7 crushed black pepper grains
Recipe:
1. Cover the smoked pork ribs with water and add the spices. Then, cook slowly for about 2 hours until the ribs are soft.
2. In the meantime, peel and chop the onion and garlic and then fry it on lard.
3. When the ribs are soft, cool them off, remove the bones and cut into smaller pieces.
4. Add diced potatoes and sauerkraut (with juice). Cook slowly until the potatoes and cabbage are soft.
5. Chop the smoked bacon and fry it for about 10 minutes and add it to the soup.
*Both sauerkraut and sauerkraut juice contain salt. A well-made soup should not need to be seasoned with salt.
Enjoy!