Fermented cucumber soup with crispy Thummerer Egri Csillag

Fermenting is a super useful method. You can ferment anything (even squirrels…), miracles happen everywhere, so do they in the kitchen – not only in the cellar… Here is a delicious soup for the Indian summer by Macok Bistro in Eger. And if the recipe is from Eger, certainly we should pair it with a wine from Eger, a lovely Egri Csillag!

For the tasting buds and the digestion system

As world top restaurant Noma research and fermenting chef, David Zilber told us in Budapest, fermenting rules: the taste and the texture turn into something else, resulting a healthier and more exciting bit of food. (Noma 2.0 opened in Copenhagen last year February, and one of them new shocking meal is a fermented squirrel in the game degustation menu.)
Fermenting cucumber is popular around the world, but while in many countries some tannin rich leaves are used to ignite fermentation, in Hungary we use some slices of bread. Despite the common belief, sunshine is not necessary, only warm temperature, around 30 Celsius.

How to ferment cucumbers with the Hungarian method

  • Cut one end of the cucumbers into four.
  • Place whole black pepper and dill in a jar.
  • Place the cucumbers with their cut end pointing downwards.
  • Place some more dill and garlic on top.
  • Finally place some slices of bread on top.
  • Dissolve some salt (a spoonful for a jar) in warm water and pour it in the jar.
  • Place a saucer on top and place the jar in a warm place for 30 hours. The water will boil, then replace the missing amount to keep the jar full.
  • When it is ready, place the cucumbers in a box, sieve some salty water on it and keep it in the fridge.

Macok Bistro soup recipe

  • Put part of the fermented cucumber in a mixer and mix it with some vegetable soup, the liquid from the cucumber jar, sour cream, dill and parsley. Put it aside in a cold place.
  • Slice some home made sausage and bake the slices in the oven. Cut half of them into crumbs in a grinder.
  • Mix some sour cream with dill and proespuma (proespuma gives volume and holds to make a light foam from liquid state)place it in a foam siphon to create foam
  • Cut a fresh cucumber into tiny cubes, flavour the cubes with olive oil and salt.
  • For serving place the fresh cucumber cubes in a cold plate. Pour the cold soup over them, decorate with the dill foam, sausage slices and crumbs.
  • If it is not perfect, visit Macok Bistro, here is our previous article about them:

What to drink with the soup?

The fermented cucumber soup has a very complex flavour. It refreshes your taste buds like a summer shower, so you need some refreshing wine as well. Egri Csillag (the ’Star of Eger’),the community white blend of Eger wine region is ideal with this complex soup. It is always a blend of at least 4 grapes and the ratio of Carpathian Basin varieties (eg. Leányka, Királyleányka, Furmint, Hárslevelű, Zengő, Zenit) should be minimum 50% of the blend. The aromatic grapes cannot exceed 30% of the blend.

Thummerer Egri Csillag is made of 50% Királyleányka, 20% Zenit, 15% Sauvignon blanc and 15% Tramini. „Nice greenish tone. Fresh spring meadow full flowers on the nose. Tramini and Zenit give the body while Királyleányka adds the acidity of the wine. A really long lasting wine with lovely finish.”
For more about Thummerer Winery and Thummerer Egri Csillag


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