However, the 20th century people’s migrations offer only a partial explanation for the żur/barszcz biały conundrum. There is yet another angle to explore – the history of the names held by the dishes in question. Żur’s name came from the German word sauer for sour while originally barszcz was a sour soup made of fermented barszcz. Sounds complicated? Let us explain.
Now, barszcz is a kind of plant, called hogweed or cow parsnip. It used to be popular in old Polish cuisine up until the 16th century when it was still known but rather as a regional delicacy growing in Lithuania and Ruthenia. The sour soup made of it was called barszcz for convenience. Gradually, in a popular sour soup, fermented hogweed has been replaced by fermented beets but the name stayed, creating the original confusion. Looking for a perfect sour soup, the old Polish court cooks did not hesitate to merge recipes and did not care for the names.
Jarosław Dumanowski, Magdalena Kasprzyk-Chevriaux, 'Kapłony i szczeżuje', photo: Czarne It is an explanation given by professor Jarosław Dumanowski from the Mikołaj Kopernik University of Toruń who, after a thorough examination of old Polish recipes, found one such example of a żur-barszcz in a 17th century manuscript. Among the main ingredients were both hogweed and flour, and the whole mix was called ‘barszcz for a fasting day’. The history of old Polish cuisine is full of similarly twisted surprises and you can find more of the deliciously curious tales from the past in Jarosław Dumanowski and Magdalena Kasprzyk-Chevriaux’s book with a self-explanatory title Kapłony i szczeżuje. Opowieść o zapomnianej kuchni polskiej (‘Capons and duck shells. A story of a forgotten Polish cuisine’, available only in Polish).
But let us follow the scent of żur and barszcz to contemporary kitchens, since it’s impossible to get to the bottom of the question by studying cookbooks only. The best approach seems to be a direct one: a proper tasting. Today in Poland you can find two major variations of żur: a vegetarian, ‘fasting’ dish traditionally eaten during Lent, before Easter, and a rich festive version served on holidays and at family functions (especially at weddings!). The fancy żur is more of a one pot dish than just a soup (there are some who even call it the ‘Polish ramen’), and you will find that it may be accompanied by boiled eggs (hence the ramen association) and steamed pork sausages (called biała kiełbasa – white sausage). Every so often it is served in a bowl made of an emptied bread crust, so that it looks more ‘rustic’. Then, you can sample all sorts of barszcz dishes – white, red, maybe even green (that’s how sorrel soup is sometimes called in accordance with the old practical view that barszcz was supposed to be first and foremost sour soup) – and eventually, you can form your own opinion on żur and barszcz and join our Polish national culinary discussion club.
