Romanian cabbage soup with bacon

Ingredients:

• 8 sliced bacon
• 2 onions, sliced
• 2 green peppers, hulled and chopped
• 1 cabbage, cut into slices
• salt and pepper
• several sprigs of dill and savory, chopped
• 1-1/2l. water
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 heavy cream (sweet or sour)
• 1tbsp. vinegar

You will need a large soup pot for this Romanian recipe. Chop up one slice of bacon, and fry it in a heavy stewpan until the fat runs. Fry the onions in the fat until they are golden. Add the peppers and fry them, too. Remove the stewpan from the heat. Layer the cabbage and the rest of the bacon into the soup pot. Season between the layers with salt, pepper, and the herbs.

Pour the water over it all and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer the soup for 40 to 50 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Remove the soup from the heat.

Beat the egg yolks with the cream and the vinegar in a little bowl. Stir in a ladleful of the hot soup. Whisk well and pour the mixture back into the soup to thicken and enrich it.

Serve in deep bowls accompanied with fresh bread. This soup is a meal in itself, and wants only a piece of cheese and fresh fruit to make it complete.

This recipe is published in cookbook: The old world kitchen: The rich tradition of European peasant cooking

Romanian cabbage soup with bacon