Czernina is a traditional Polish soup made with duck blood, meat, spices, and dried fruit. It originated from the scarcity of resources in Poland’s history, using almost every edible part of the duck. The recipe varies widely, and some versions omit the blood or use other meats. The soup is usually served with noodles or dumplings and can be thickened with flour or cream. Blind czernina is a popular alternative version that uses prune juice instead of blood and other meats.
Czernina is a type of Polish soup that incorporates duck blood along with fowl meat, spices, and dried fruit. There are many variations on the recipe in Poland where it is not uncommon for a family to have a unique recipe with a unique list of ingredients. The soup can take several hours to prepare, with most of the time spent boiling the duck meat to extract as much flavor into the liquid as possible. The soup is usually served with egg noodles, regular flour noodles, or potato dumplings cooked in broth. Some versions of czernina are known as blind czernina and don’t include blood in the dish, and some recipes may forgo the duck in favor of other meats.
One factor that helped form the czernina recipe is the scarcity of resources during certain periods in Poland’s history. The soup uses almost every edible part of the duck to create a hearty meal that can be flexibly extended with accompaniments such as pasta, bread or dumplings. This lack of waste means that the traditional recipe calls for a whole duck, its internal organs, blood and bones – virtually every part except the head. The ingredients have been toned down as food has become less scarce, so some versions call for just thighs or legs and no blood.
The traditional dish is made by first mixing duck blood with a little vinegar to prevent it from curdling. Meanwhile, the butchered duck – including its internal organs and parts such as the neck and feet – is placed in water with salt, pepper and a blend of spices wrapped in cheesecloth. The spices traditionally used in czernina vary widely but generally include parsley, rosemary, thyme, allspice and cloves. After simmering the duck and spices for between one and six hours, dried fruits are added.
Dried fruits added to czernina typically include prunes and apricots. Some recipes call for a variety of nuts, including apples, cherries, raisins, and prunes. Not everyone likes the taste of dried fruit in the dish and omit it completely.
When the soup has finished cooking, the fire is turned off, the meat is removed from the pot, and the bones are removed. The duck meat is returned to the soup, along with the flour or slurry of cream and cornstarch, to begin thickening the broth. The blood is then added to the soup along with some sugar if you are not adding the dried fruits. After boiling the entire soup until thickened, the czernina is made.
Some alternative versions, called blind czernina, have gained popularity. These may use prune juice instead of duck blood and pork or beef ribs instead of duck. Some recipes actually call for very little blood, so prune juice is used to approximate the dark color that blood would impart to the dish; the taste of blood was not missed as so little was required to begin with.
The complete soup can be served over egg noodles or pasta. Raw potato dumplings can be dropped into the soup during the last few minutes of cooking. Another option is to serve it with a spoonful of sour cream in the middle of the bowl to accentuate the sweet and sour flavor of the soup.
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