Belarus Zhurek

Welcome to Belarus! First off I have taken a bit of a break as Mack and I did whole 30 I figured this would be too hard to continue. I am happy to say though I am back and have 3 posts to make since I left. I am hoping to get back into the swing of things this month. Soo welcome to Belarus and some tasty Zhurek.

Belarus is in eastern Europe bordering 6 other countries. Belarus is called the lungs of Europe as they have one of the largest intact forests left in Europe. Their national animal is the bison which was just barley saved from exctinction!! It is also has the last remaining European dictator.

Belarus like other eastern countries rely heavily on potatoes. Along with potatoes they love pancakes and celebrate an entire week every year eating them. One of their most popular dishes is called Zhurek which is a white sourbread soup. Thankfully I have plenty of sourdough for this one.

This soup is made from rye flour and is normally celebrated during Easter. I used a recipe from splendid table https://www.splendidtable.org/story/2013/01/18/white-barszcz-zurek-sour-bread-soup.

This meal takes 5 days to make as the flour is fermented just like a sourdough starter.

The meal is very similar to a chicken noodle soup with the chicken being replaced by bacon and sausage. The fermented rye also gives it a very distinct sour flavor that goes well with the Horseradish. I made some homemade sourdough bread to go with it. I had wanted to make a bowl of bread which now I regret not doing but oh well.

Overall I give this a solid 6 out of ten. It was a good hearted soup with an interesting flavor. I'll admit after one bowl though the fermented rye preventing me from wanting seconds. This is probably a cultural thing as they even have a fermented flour drink that is common in Belarus.

Current Rankings:

3rd place Bahrain's Machboos

2nd place Argentina's Asado

1st place Belgium's Steak Frites