MAHAKAM POTATO SOUP

Season of Storms

sour soup with chanterelles and potatoes

‘You ought to know that our womenfolk in Mahakam make the best potato soup, you’ll never eat its like. Made from a thick starter of black bread and rye flour, with mushrooms and well-fried onions…’

The post station potato soup was excellent, rich with chanterelles and fried onions, and if it was inferior to the Mahakam version made by dwarven women then Geralt never found out in what respect, as Addario Bach ate briskly, in silence and without commenting.

Season of Storms
Andrzej Sapkowski

The famous Mahakam potato soup (“zalewajka mahakamska” in Polish) from the book Season of Storms by Andrzej Sapkowski is probably the most recognizable culinary symbol of the Witcher universe. It's all due to the way in which this dish appeared on the pages of the story about a white-haired monster killer.

The author not only introduces the topic of the dish into a dialogue line but also distinguishes the mahakam specialty by posting a complete recipe as a fragment from the cookbook by Eleonora Rhundurin-Pigott entitled: „Perfect Mahakam Cuisine, the Precise Science of Cooking and Making Dishes from Meats, Fishes and Vegetables, also Seasoning Diverse Sauces, Baking Cakes, Making Jam, Preparing Cooked Meats, Preserves, Wines, Spirits, and Various Useful Cooking and Preserving Secrets, Essential for Every Good and Thrifty Housewife”.

This hearty food, which Geralt had the chance to taste, is a soup originating from central Poland. Its basic ingredients are potatoes, forest harvest and a sourdough. Thanks to its simplicity, the soup spread throughout the whole country. It resulted in the development of several varieties of it but the method of preparation remained unchanged. Although, as Addario Bach says, only mahakam women can cook this soup in a proper way, we will try to match the level of their cooking craft!

SERVING: 4 portions

SOURDOUGH:
Remember - the jar and wooden scoop for mixing should be perfectly clean!

Day 1: Put flour into the jar, pour in the lukewarm water and mix well. Add spices (don't peel the garlic) and crust of 1 slice of sourdough rye bread (it will speed up the fermentation, it's optional). Cover with a cloth or gauze. Set aside in a warm and dark place for about 24h. After this time, just mix the sourdough with wooden scoop. Set aside for another day.

Day 2-6: Mix the sourdough once each day with a perfectly clean wooden scoop. The sourdough should start to smell soury after 5-6 days and be ready to use (it's better and stronger after one week).

SOUP:

1. MUSHROOMS
Rinse the chanterelles under running water, put them in a pot, cover with fresh water, add salt (1 teaspoon) and half of the onion; then bring to a boil, turn of the heat and leave covered for 15-20 min. Next, discard the onion, drain the mushrooms (but save the broth for later, and be sure to discard some sand residue!) and chop mushrooms into small chunks.

2. POTATOES
Peel and cube the potatoes, put into a pot, cover with slighlty saletd water, bring to a boil and cook until almost soft.

3. BACON & ONIONS
Cut bacon into small cubes, add in a pan along with a 2 tbsp of cold water, turn on the heat and cook for a few minutes, until bacon is lighlty browned. Add sliced onions, fry until lightly browned and sticky, stirring frequently. Then add the mushrooms and fry for 2 min. Add crushed garlic, mix and fry for 1 min.

4. SOUP
Transfer fried ingredients into a pot, pour in the mushroom broth, add potatoes along with their cooking water and sourdough. Bring to a boil, then cook on a low heat until potatoes are completely soft. Season with salt, pepper and marjoram. Add more water if the soup it too thick. You can also add more sourdough if soup is not sour enough.

5. CREAM
At the end, if you are human, add some cream. It's against dwarven tradition, but humans like to do so.
First, take 2-3 spoons of hot soup into the mug, add cream, mix and then pour into the pot with the rest of the soup - it prevents curdling the cream.

Soup is ready to eat, however, it will be better after a few hours or even at the next day!

The recipe is inspired by the book SEASON OF STORMS written by Andrzej Sapkowski

SEE SEASON OF STORMS ON ORBIT BOOKS

Geralt of Rivia is a Witcher, one of the few capable of hunting the monsters that prey on humanity. A mutant who is tasked with killing unnatural beings. He uses magical signs, potions, and the pride of every Witcher – two swords, steel and silver. But a contract has gone wrong, and Geralt finds himself without his signature weapons. Now he needs them back, because sorcerers are scheming, and across the world clouds are gathering.

The novel features characters well-known to readers, such as the faithful friend of Geralt - the bard and the poet Dandelion - and his beloved, deceptive sorceress Yennefer. Also characters from completely different fairy tales enter the scene literally and figuratively. Humans, non-humans and magically bred beasts. The story begins according to the rules of the genre: from the earthquake, and then the tension increases. The season of storms is coming…