Passport & Plate - Cesnecka
Czech Republic | Tuesday, March 4, 2014 | 2 photos
Ingredients
8 cups water or beef/chicken broth
6 cloves garlic
2 large potatoes (diced)
2 Tbs. fresh parsley (chopped)
1 tsp. marjoram
1 tsp. caraway seeds (crushed)
1 tsp. black pepper
1 Tbs. salt
2 Tbs. butter
4 slices rye bread
Optional extras: sour cream, cooked ham, parmesan cheese
How to prepare this recipe1. Mash the garlic with the salt: do this either with a mortar and pestle, or use a garlic press to crush the garlic and then mix in the salt.
2. Place the garlic and salt in a large pot and add the water and/or broth. Slowly bring the water to a boil, reduce heat and keep on a simmer. Add the crushed caraway seeds, potatoes, marjoram, and butter. Simmer, uncovered, till the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Add freshly ground black pepper and some more salt if needed.
3. Fry the slices of bread in bacon drippings or butter till golden brown. Place a slice of bread in each soup bowl and ladle the garlic soup over it. Sprinkle on parsley.
4. For an extra hearty soup, you may serve with sour cream, chopped cooked ham, and parmesan cheese shavings, if desired.
The story behind this recipeMy life's journey brought me to discover this recipe. My late wife, Tina, was my world, and reason for living. Often, she would share her stories with me about her various world travel excursions, before we had met. Having never been outside of my own country except for a couple of short trips to Mexico, her stories were the stuff of dreams for me, and her vivid descriptions would transport me to places that I had never been. So many dreams we had of future world explorations together. However, her struggle with Mulitple Sclerosis had other plans in store, and her condition was such that world travel became all but impossible for us. Yet, having been not completely deterred by such events, we decided that if we could not go see the world, we would bring the world to us. So, with the miracle of the internet, I set out to make friends from around the world via social networking pages. I'd learn about their cultures, about interesting points of interest in their countries, everyday life for them, and of course, about foods and recipes that were signature dishes of their region. One of my very first friends, was a young lady named Marketa, from the Czech Republic. She shared many inspired dishes with me to try, and the very first of these, was a soup called cesnecka! It was such a great, tasty soup, that was very easy to make. This dish was certainly a culinary transporter to another world, for me. After having tried it, and having made friends with Marketa, it was the start of many new culinary world travels for me, without even having to leave my own home. I'd come to make more friends from elsewhere, and as I learned about new dishes to try, I'd make them for Tina and I. So in this way, we got to take a culinary journey around the world together, and we proved, that with a little imagination, anything is possible! Sadly, my wife lost her battle with MS, but little did I know, that through my reaching out to others from around the world, I would find eventual renewal.
