Veal and Barley Soup“Krupnik”

Barley, a staple food in the Middle East, is known to Canadians mainly as a soup ingredient. It has a somewhat sweet taste that makes it an interesting addition to casseroles and salads.

This traditional soup is famous in Poland as well as in Scotland. It is sustaining and warming. Delicious and fully satisfying on a cold and rainy day. The longer it sits in your fridge the better is gets, the flavour is improving all the time. In Scotland is called Scotch Broth and in Poland is named Krupnik (pronounced: kroop-nick). The difference between these two soups is the kind of meat being used to make the soup stock. In Scotland, the soup stock is made from the lamb and in Poland is made from chicken or other meats or just simple vegetable broth.

Veal and Barley Soup “Krupnik”Recipe

Date: March 18, 2023

Preparation Time: soaking barley for 2 hours + cutting vegetables 15 minutes

Cook Time:2.5 hrs

Yield: 20 serving or 5 liters of soup

Ingredients:

• 1 cup pearl barley

• 1/4 cup dry mushrooms

• 1 kg Veal shank and veal bones

• 5 liter filtered water

• 1 medium onion, finely chopped

• 2 parsley roots, peeled and diced

• 2 carrots, peeled and diced

• 5 medium potatoes, peeled and diced

• 1/2 small leek, finely chopped

• 1 celery stalk, diced

• 1 sweet potato, peeled and diced

• 1 tsp dry lovage

• 1 tsp dry marjoram

• 1 tsp fresh parsley, chopped

• make a bouquet garni: 2 bay leaves, 3 peppercorns, 2 garlic cloves, all peels from vegetables, parsley stems, celery leaves and a cheesecloth with a string

• salt and pepper to taste

• extra fresh parsley for garnish

Instructions:

1. Soak dry mushrooms over night in sufficient water to cover. Chopped finely and set aside.

2. Soak barley for 2 hours in sufficient water to cover. Rinse well and set aside.

3. Peel and dice all vegetables. Set aside.

4. Place the veal in a large 5 liter stockpot and cover with water. Add 3 tablespoons of sea salt. The soup can have the bouillon cubes(dehydrated broth) added instead of salt. Heat over medium temperature and gently bring to the boil. Skim off the scum with a spoon. Add chopped mushrooms. Simmer until meat is tender, approximately 1.5 hours

5. Make a bouquet garni.

6. Pull out meat from the liquid. Remove any bones. Cut the meat in bite-size pieces. Put the meat back into the soup along with pearl barley.

7. Add to soup all diced vegetables and bouquet garni. Add more water if necessary. Bring to boil, partly cover again and simmer for an 1 hour or until barley is cooked.

8. Remove and strain the bouquet garni sachet. Season soup with salt and pepper. Remove the extra fat accumulated on the top with a spoon.

9. Serve the soup hot, garnished with chopped parsley and a chunk of freshly baked bread.

Soak barley for 2 hrs sufficiently covered with water

Cook veal shank for 2 hours until meat is tender

Cut the meat in bite-size pieces

Peel and dice all vegetables

Make bouquet garni

Bouquet garni

Add to soup barley, all veggies & bouquet garni

Cook for an hour until barley is cooked

Remove bouquet garni and well strain over the soup

Perfect soup for university students. Keeps well up to a week!