Martha Doyle, chef at Thyme of Errichel restaurant, makes a dish from the Czech Republic.
Scotland’s natural larder has opened its doors and this year around here has been a bumper season for mushrooms, especially porcinis and chanterelles.
Foraging for mushrooms can be both relaxing and exciting, but anyone can get carried away once in the woods, so do take your bearings from time to time to make sure you still know where you are!
In our bistro we like to showcase international flavours, so today’s recipe is a hearty soup called Kulajda, from the Czech Republic – after all the Czechs love picking mushrooms.
This thick broth is so easy to make and is a winner in our bistro not only for the vegetarians but for everybody!
You won’t miss the meat in here! You can add a spoon of sour cream in at the end.
Also, we have replaced onion instead of flour that is normally used to made the roux so that the soup is gluten free.
Kulajda
Serves 2
Ingredients
- 1 tsp caraway seeds
- 600ml water
- 2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped into chunks
- ¼ of an onion
- 30g dried mushrooms
- 1 sprig of fresh dill, chopped, plus extra for garnish
- 2 eggs
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Bunch (25g) wild mixed fresh mushrooms
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp sour cream or creme fraiche
Method
- Soak the dried mushrooms for at least an hour, but preferably overnight.
Slightly toast the caraway seeds in a pan on a low heat to increase their aroma and flavour and then set them aside. - In a pan bring the water to the boil, add the potatoes, the onion, the mushrooms together with the water they were soaked in, add a pinch of salt, pepper and caraway seeds, then cook until the mushrooms and potatoes are soft.
- Check the seasoning and add the dill.
- Blend everything together with a hand blender or transfer into a food blender and pass through a sieve.
- Put the soup back into the pan and slowly bring it to the boil until it starts to thicken, then check the seasoning.
- Next, put a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the olive oil and the wild mushrooms, then some salt and pepper.
- Meanwhile, in a separate pan bring some more water to the boil (just enough so that it covers an egg) and carefully break the eggs one by one in the water.
- Poach the eggs until the yolk remains soft and is encased in the egg white.
Serve each portion of soup with the pan-fried mushrooms, a poached egg and a spring of dill
on top. - This soup is very hearty and could be served as starter or as a main with a good chunk of crusty of sourdough.