Palóc Style Soup – Palóc leves
The Palóc were a tribe of people of Slovak origin who settled in North-Eastern Hungary from where this soup originates.
The writer and MP, Kálmán Mikszáth, who is often referred to as the Great Palóc, asked János Gundel, the founder of the most famous dynasty in Hungarian gastronomy, to make him a dish that would be characteristic of the region where the Palóc folks live and with their cuisine. The most widely known village of the Palóc region is Hollókő – Hungary. The village is declared a world heritage site by UNESCO in 1987. The landscape of the village perfectly fits into fairy tale. The venue comprises 58 heritage buildings that are representative of 17th century village architecture.
The origin recept calls for mutton or lamb, yet if prefer can also subsitute for pork or beef. Keep in mind, different meat pieces cook shorter and/or longer. Many people add some fresh dill or some drops of vinegar to it depending on theindividuals taste.
Receipt for 4 people – preparation time 40 to 90 mins.
Ingredients: 900 g pork, beef or mutton, 1 big onion, 250 ml sour cream, 1 handful green fresh or fozen beans … In Hungary green and yellow beans are available. Growing in the season having fresh and if out of it the frozen one are cooked. Two médium size potatoes, 4-5 Bay leaves, sweet red paprika powder, dalt, ground caraway, ground pepper to taste and 1/2 tbs flour. A hint … add as many or as a few potatoes and beans as prefer, but roughly cca 1 medium potatoe and about 150 g beans/person to serve.
Cooking: Chop and fry the onions and season with bay leaf and caraway. Cut the meat in cubes, Wash and place them into a saucepan with the fried onions. Season with red paprika powder and some ground black pepper and stew slowly until about the meat is half tender. Add potatoes, cook and sauté them a little bit longer. Pouring water on it if needed and boil. Add the green or yellow beans and cook on for 10-15 mins more and look afterwards that all parts are cooked well. When the soup is ready, set aside to cool down a bit.
Next to thicken with the sour cream first take a seperate bowl in which add a little flour and mix together. Be careful when addig sour cream. Make sure to have non boiling temperature. Might wish to use a strainer, but addig the sour cream to the less hot soup it will be easy to mix the two.
To read more about traditional Hungarian soups, visit previous receipt @ “Q” & “A” Culinary Heritage Into Hungarian Kitchen.
© Aggie Reiter
Rolling in Budapest 