Today’s instalment is dedicated to a
leafy green very popular in Romania, but which surprisingly is not always
green, but more often than not is the colour of beet root. Garden orache soup,
just like borsht, is very easy to make, and is a wholesome addition to a Lent
diet. There are various way to prepare it, depending on the ingredients and the
area of the country where the recipe comes from. In the south, the orache is
mixed with garden patience, another very popular leafy green in spring,
alongside the green part of spring onions, parsley, and lovage. In Moldavia, in
the east, they use potatoes in the soup. In Transylvania, characteristically
they use tarragon. As a souring agent, in Transylvania they sometime replace fermented
bran water with vinegar. Also there, they sometimes use smoked meat, and is
sometimes treated with beaten egg and sour cream.
To make the soup as they do in the
southern part of Romania, take four bunches of garden orache, about half a kilo, 5
spring onions, one cup of rice, and half a liter of fermented wheat bran water.
Rinse the rice well, set to boil in a large pot with some salt, then add the
greens, finely chopped. Separately boil the fermented wheat bran, then add to
the soup.
To make the soup as they do in
Transylvania, take half a kilo of garden orache, one onion, one carrot, a small piece
of celeriac, a cup of rice, a bunch and fresh parsley and one of fresh
tarragon. To season, use salt, pepper, and vinegar. The root vegetables are
chopped finely. Sweat them in oil, then transfer them to a large pot, add
water, and boil them. Add the rice and the chopped orache. After boiling for
about 20 minutes, you can trickle in beaten egg, along with sour cream and
vinegar. Add chopped tarragon, boil 10 more minutes, season with salt, and
garnish with chopped fresh parsley.