Victor Sack
Diner foodOn Sat, 20 May 2006 05:16:19 +0000 (UTC), in rec.food.cooking, tert in I worked at a fast food Mexican joint (no it wasn't Taco Bell), and one...
I am a native Pole from Krakow, my name is Malgorzata :) However, since Monika is from Warsaw, that may explain the difference. Some recipes and names can vary depending on the region of Poland.
Well, the process is relatively easy. You just put whole meal rye flour (2-3 tablespoons) in the bottle or jug, fill it with water (approx. 0.5l) and wait till it gets sour. It should be placed in the room temperature, because the warmer it is the quicker it ferments. The resulting product is the whitish liquid. During the fermentation, most probably it will develop mould on the top, but you shouldn't worry about it - that is normal. When the fermentation will be over (after about a week) remove it and strain the liquid to remove the flour. The liquid is added at the end of cooking, because it should not be boiled (can be warmed hot though). I never done it myself because it is easily available and cheap, but my grandmother used to do it. I was thinking about the name and I think it can be called differently depending on the part of Poland. We (at my home) call it kiszony bialy barszcz or bialy barszcz, the same as soup, so it might be confusing. I've never heard it beeing refered to as kwas, although it is sour indeed (kwas means acid).
I think it the name comes from times when Lithuania was part of Poland. Many dishes in Krakow region (Galicja) have territorially either eastern (Ukrainian or Lithuanian) or western (Viennese) origins, but it doesn't make them not Polish, since that Poles lived there. So, as you can see, it can be quite complicated :)
Yes, definitely. With sorrel you can make either regular (warm) soup or the cold one. And sour cream with cucumber (sour and fresh) is what I add to chlodnik litewski (among other ingredients). I remember my grand mother making a cold soup from cherries. There is a great book of old Polish recipes but it is in Polish so I don't know if this could be of use for you. The title is 365 dinners (356 obiadow) by Lucyna Cwierciakiewiczowa. I usually use it whenever I want to find the original, proper recipe.
I see you are a connoisseur :) I like podwawelska and slaska (with juniper flavour).
-- erfi
