Polish beet soup (BARSZCZ CZERWONY)

Soak the dried cep in a bowl of water.
Peel the onion and cut it in half.
Peel the carrots and the celery and cut them coarsely.
Clean the white part of the leek and cut it also coarsely.
Put all the vegetables in a pan; add the rehydrated cep roughly cut and one liter of water and heat gently in order to make a vegetable broth (around one hour).
When the broth is ready, remove all the vegetables from the pan and add the beetroot juice. Heat it up but don’t boil it because it will lose its colour.
Crush the garlic clove and add it to the broth.
Add the fresh lemon juice according to your taste. You have to end up with a sweet and sour soup.
Season with salt and pepper.
Serve with some chopped fresh dill or some dried marjoram.
KAFKADESK NOTES
It’s better if you prepare the barszcz czerwony one day before to let it rest and allow the flavours to blend.

If you don’t have any beetroot juice, you can make your own juice from a process of lacto-fermentation. Peel two medium-sized beetroots and cut them into rings. Mix one liter of cold boiled water with 2 tsp of salt. Put the beetroots in a jar, add 3 garlic cloves cut in half and the salted water. Cover with a tissue and keep it at room temperature during one week, until the juice ferments and becomes sour. You can then add this juice to the vegetable broth. It should not be necessary to add some lemon juice.

Barszcz is traditionally served with “uszka” a kind of small pierogis (ravioli) stuffed with ceps, or « krokiety » a puff pastry with the same stuffing cooked in oven. When it is with uszka the barszcz is usually served in soup plate and eaten with a spoon. When it is with krokiety it is usually served in a special cup with two handles and drunk directly.