Hungarian Mushroom Soup

Soup of the evening! Beautiful soup!

I’m cold, chilled to the bone. It may be spring, but the days have been overcast, nights are chilly, and heat is a thing of the past until sometime next fall, or a possibly an unwanted guest appearance in August. Our windows, hung sometime in 1930, are drafty and our allergies are in full swing. Even the greenmarket holds little hope, with few growers in attendance, and actual green produce still somewhat sparse and undersized. The season of soup is not yet at an end.

For the moment, at least, soup is the solution to all my woes. Hot soup is always warming, usually soothing, and frequently filling. It can dress up for the most fancy of occasions or provide a hearty meal-in-a-bowl after the longest of days. What I really crave, besides sunshine, is the food of my ancestors: Hungarian Mushroom Soup.

In case you ever wondered (and who hasn’t?) the Hungarian language is more closely related to Finnish than any other. Fortunately, the cuisine of that nation is related to other central European countries, with a few differences in technique and ingredients. Onions play a leading role in Hungarian cooking, and paprika, the dried, ground fruit of capsicum annum (peppers) is ubiquitous. The spice originally made its way to Hungary in the late 16^th century and it’s been a primary seasoning ever since. It comes in sweet and hot varieties and there’s a smoked Spanish variety as well. Some may think that an onion is an onion and interchangeable, although they’d be wrong, but all would agree that the quality of spices varies, and paprika is no exception; it pays to buy the best you can find.

Mushroom soup requires mushrooms. Fortunately, there are tens of thousands of varieties worldwide, thousands that are edible, 70+ varieties traditionally found in the forests of Hungary and several dozen commercially cultivated in this country. What they all have in common is umami, known as the savory flavor, and one of the five basic tastes (along with sweet, salty, bitter and sour) that humans can detect. Umami is also found in steak tomatoes and many other foods, and in all cases, the flavor is enhanced with salt; for those who are health conscious, just a tiny bit will do it. I suspect that my great-grandparents would have used mushrooms I have little access to, like trumpet, hedgehog and bluefoot varieties, but the button, cremini and shitake commonly available in the United States country make a tasty and flavorful soup.

This is a perfect dinner with a loaf of crusty bread, a glass of red wine, and if you like, a green salad.

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

Serves 4-5 for dinner, 8 for a first course, and halve amounts if you’re enjoying a romantic dinner for 2.

The Ingredients:

¼ Cup olive oil, unsalted butter, or a combination

1 large onion, chopped

2 Tablespoons sweet paprika

2 Tablespoons hot paprika (or you can use cayenne)

¼ Cup flour

6 Cups vegetable stock, preferably homemade

2 pounds fresh mushrooms, any kind you like, thickly sliced

1+ teaspoons salt, to taste

Fresh ground pepper, to taste

¼ Cup fresh dill

2 Cups sour cream, room temperature

The Method:

• Melt butter/heat oil over medium heat. Use a large pot, preferably one with a heavy bottom.
• Add the onion and sauté until it become translucent,  about 5 minutes.
• Stir in both paprikas. Stir in flour. Continue stirring to form a paste and cook over a low heat, stirring constantly until the mixture begins to bubble, another 5 minutes, more or less.
• Whisk in vegetable stock, a little at a time, and whisk until smooth.
• Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens and the mushrooms are tender, about 20 minutes.
• At this point, if you want a smoother and thicker consistency, puree half or all in a blender or food processor, or use an immersion blender until you get the consistency you want.
• Add in the dill and stir in sour cream, a half cup or less at a time.
• Garnish with dill, and it’s time for dinner.

Two things to remember:

Use more or less stock. Use whatever mushrooms you like, but the proportion of fat, flour and paprika should not vary.

If you have porcini mushrooms, soak a handful in hot water until tender and chop them up and add to the mushroom mixture. Strain the porcini liquid and use in place of some of the stock.

And here is a happy person enjoying this soup: