Czech Republic Comfort Food Recipe for Garlic Soup: Heartily Satisfying and Number One Hangover Cure

The stature of garlic soup (Česnečka) as easy and satisfying comfort food is not restricted to its popularity as an effective home remedy for hangovers throughout Eastern Europe. Garlic soup appeals to Czech households as a delicious dish that is easy to prepare and that sparkles with health and vitality.

Czech cuisine honors garlic (Allium sativum) as one of its most popular vegetables. Between 6,500 and 7,000 tons of garlic are consumed annually in the Czech Republic. Also emblematic of the esteem accorded to the bulbous plant is the Garlic Germplasm Collection, one of the world's major collections, with 648 varieties of garlic, carefully maintained in Olomouc, in eastern Czech Republic's historic county of Moravia.

In recent years, nevertheless, the Czech Republic has been facing a challenge confronted by other garlic-loving countries such as France, Germany, and even Spain, one of the world's largest garlic producers. Competition from China's lower priced garlic is steadily eroding domestic garlic production.

• For example, in the 1990s, around 1,300 hectares (3,212 acres) were devoted to garlic plantings in the Czech Republic.
• By 2010, however, domestic garlic holdings had plummeted to less than 6 percent of their former crop grandeur, with a national allotment of only 28 hectares (70 acres).

Fortunately, the emphasis on preservation of garlic varieties offers the hope of a return to domestic production in the near or distant future.

• Garlic preserves well, in storage for hundreds of years, at cryogenic temperatures of around 200 degrees below zero.
• Thawing does not destroy its normal physiological qualities.

Ingredients for 6 servings

Depending upon portion size, yields 4 to 6 servings.

4 cloves garlic, mashed with mortar and pestle

• or:  crushed with garlic press
• or:  diced

1 Tablespoon salt

2 Tablespoons butter or lard or oil (for soup)

1 teaspoon crushed caraway seeds

1 teaspoon marjoram

3 medium potatoes, cubed

6 cups of water or stock (meat, poultry or vegetable)

black pepper to taste

4 slices dark rye bread

Optional:  2 Tablespoons butter (for bread)

Optional:  parsley (for garnish)

1. Crush, dice, or mash garlic and then place in a large pot along with salt.

• Add butter (or oil or lard), caraway seeds, marjoram, and potatoes.
• Cover with 6 cups of water.

2. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

• Reduce heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, for about 20 to 30 minutes, until potatoes are tender.

3. Sprinkle with black pepper and keep on burner for about 5 minutes, while toasting rye bread.

• Toast bread either in toaster or oven or fry in butter until both sides are golden brown.
• Cut bread into cubes.

4. Remove pot from burner and ladle into soup tureen or into individual bowls.

• Garnish with rye cubes and, if desired, parsley.
• Serve hot.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Česnečka: Dezidor, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Česnečka.jpeg

Domácí česnečka: Dezidor, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dom%C3%A1c%C3%AD_%C4%8Desne%C4%8Dka.jpg

Česnekový cop (garlic braid): Matěj Baťha, CC BY SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cesnekovy_cop.jpg

"Czech Republic's garlic in danger of extinction." Fresh Plaza. 7/9/2012. FreshPlaza. Web. www.freshplaza.com

• Available at: http://www.freshplaza.com/article/98285/Czech-Republics-Garlic-in-danger-of-extinction