A global embrace of potato soup: From Poland to Macedonia
A simple soup with potatoes and root vegetables is easy and quick to prepare. You only need to cover the vegetables with water. The taste is enhanced by sautéed onions and three tablespoons of butter. Potato soup, associated with Silesian and German cuisine, is popular in many countries. It serves as a base for various traditional soups in Poland, such as peas or cabbage.
Simple potato soup pleasantly warms and fills you up. It is perfect for a regular lunch, and the addition of sweet cream provides a delicate, creamy finish. You can prepare the soup in vegetarian versions or with meat, such as sausage or boiled bacon. The vegetable version also tastes wonderful when blended into a creamy soup.
Potato soup in various national cuisines
In Poland, potato soup is most often served with sliced sausage. In the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, traditional potato soup is made with sausage and smoked bacon. The soup is whitened with cream and seasoned with salt, pepper, mustard, and a touch of sugar. In this region's dish, the flavours of boiled potatoes, fried onions, and smoked meat are well balanced.
In Germany, Kartoffelsuppe is served with sausages; in Romanian cuisine, no cream is added; and in Macedonia, spicy pepper is added to the broth. Potato soup is also known in the Czech Republic as Bramboračka. There, it is cooked with mushrooms.
Is potato soup thickened with roux?
You can thicken potato soup with a roux. How do you do it? Mix 1 tablespoon of flour in a pan with three tablespoons of butter. When the ingredients combine, add the broth from the soup. Mix it, then pour it into a large pot. You can add cream to the soup with roux, but it is unnecessary. Add another tablespoon of flour if you want the potato soup to be thicker.
The simplest potato soup recipe with or without sausage
You don't need broth for traditional potato soup, but aromatic spices and herbs are useful. A few minutes before the end of cooking, add dried marjoram and sprinkle the finished potato soup with chopped fresh herbs.
Ingredients:
- 450 grams of potatoes,
- 2 onions,
- 3 carrots,
- 1 parsley root,
- 950 millilitres of water,
- 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil,
- 3 tablespoons of butter,
- bay leaf, marjoram, salt, pepper, turmeric,
- 3 tablespoons of 30% cream,
- 1 tablespoon of wheat flour,
- parsley, dill,
- optional 200 grams of sausage.
Instructions:
- Pour vegetable oil into a large pot and sauté the finely chopped onion.
- Peel and dice the vegetables. Add them to the onion and cover with water.
- Add a bay leaf and simmer for about 30 minutes. Reduce the heat once it starts boiling.
- When the vegetables are soft, add butter and optionally diced sausage. Season with salt, pepper, marjoram, and turmeric. Cook for another 10 minutes.
- Finally, add cream mixed with a tablespoon of flour. Heat for 5 more minutes on low heat.
- After serving on plates, sprinkle with fresh herbs: dill and parsley.
