Bone Broth Slovak Sunday Soup
This soup makes an appearance every Sunday at my mother in law’s, and now at my house. The clear broth is made with bones, but there is a secret to making sure that the broth stays clear and not cloudy! We call it Sunday soup, although in Slovak it doesn’t really have a name, just ‘soup.’ The broth warms the stomach, aids digestion for the meal to follow, and provides a host of nutrients. It also appears as the first course at weddings and any celebratory occasion when people eat together.
Sitting down and eating together seems like a fading tradition, but is an important part of developing connections with family and friends. I wax nostalgic about getting together with family as a child in Canada, and relate about getting together with my husband’s family as an adult in Slovakia. What are some of the differences? What is the same? Find out, along with the recipe for Sunday soup, at And Here We Are, a lovely blog that writes about real food and travel.
P.S. The tablecloth in the photo was thread pulled by hand. Each of those little holes was hand stitched around the hole. The work involved blows me away; they don’t make tablecloths like that anymore.
Get the recipe: Bone Broth Slovak Sunday Soup
Mar 20, 2015 @ 04:32:05
Naomi, loved the post, and that tablecloth is absolutely gorgeous! I am of Slovak descent, several generations removed, but my father spoke the language as a child. So I absolutely love reconnecting with my heritage through your blog! The hint about getting clear broth by not boiling was not one I’d heard before. Does using the raw bones vs. cooked or roasted also contribute to a clearer broth? I normally use cooked bones (like the Thanksgiving turkey carcass, a roasted chicken, etc.) and find that it’s hit or miss on how clear the broth is. But I admit to bringing it to a boil first, then simmering. I’ve noticed the last couple batches I’ve made, adding a little apple cider vinegar, I’ve not only gotten more of a gelling of the broth, but also a more clear broth.
Mar 20, 2015 @ 09:28:03
Thanks! I’m so glad that you are connecting with your heritage through Almost Bananas!
There is a BIG difference between making broth with raw or cooked bones. Raw bones are much clearer, and have a stronger taste. I use broth from cooked bones only for bases of soups that have other flavours, not for brothy soups. And my husband and MIL laugh at me every time I use carcass bones, it’s not Slovak at all. My husband learned in cooking school that if broth (from raw bones) has become cloudy, to grate some carrot and saute it, and then add it to the broth, and that it will clear it. I’ve never tried it myself, I just serve cloudy soup if it boils. 🙂 The ACV might clear it too, it certainly will bring out the gelatin from poultry bones. Good luck!
May 19, 2015 @ 16:14:37
My Slovak “sister”, Betka, uses a whole chicken for her Sunday soup. Yet she never uses the meat, just the broth, which we have as our first course for the mid-day meal after returning from church.
Mar 20, 2015 @ 06:40:30
Thank you for the bone broth recipe, Naomi. I live in Canada, and am very interested in ‘from scratch’ bone broth recipes, and fermented foods. I follow Fr. Jerabek’s blog, and then looked up your blog when he recommended it.
The dried vegetable flavourings in the recipe see only to be available through Amazon.com, not Amazon.ca. With the exchange rate on the (US to Cdn) dollar, it makes the vegetable flavourings quite expensive. Are there any substitutions you could recommend?
Thanks for your blog.
Mar 20, 2015 @ 09:16:46
Thanks for coming to the blog! I looked on Amazon.ca and couldn’t find an equivalent. A friend made it with dried carrot, parsnip/parsley root, onion, celery, and parsley, salt, and a bit of tumeric for colouring. If you can find something like that, great, if not, just salt will do.
Mar 22, 2015 @ 00:27:51
I love bone broth! I also loved hearing the story behind this Slovak Sunday Soup 🙂 Thanks for sharing, as well as for introducing me to And Here We Are, now I’ve got another blog to follow!
Mar 22, 2015 @ 13:32:29
Thanks! I love bone broth too. And Here We Are is such a great blog, enjoy!
Apr 06, 2015 @ 10:30:47
I made this for Easter dinner for visiting Serbian relatives and they loved it. I used ox tail bones for the broth and the result was great. It just felt so nourishing and old world.
Apr 06, 2015 @ 22:54:50
Oh, I’m so glad! It does feel so nourishing, doesn’t it. Do they make a similar soup at home in Serbia?
Nov 28, 2016 @ 05:52:17
Just getting over the Thanksgiving food coma 🦃, I realized that’s what it is: my Slovak Sunday soup and Sunday family meal is a nice little Thanksgiving on a weekly basis. Good for the soul too!
The Vegeta mix spice really enhances the taste of this soup. Message to Maria: Perhaps you didn’t notice the hyperlink in Naomi’s recipe calls for a Vegeta package that is one pound; that’s enough to last for a year if you truly make this soup weekly. Every Sunday. Because you really need just a pinch on your plate, that makes the cost just few cents a week.
Should you like a smaller package, I found them online in the U.S. @ http://www.slovczechvar.com, and a similar mix once at the gourmet food section at Home Goods in New Jersey.
Thanks for this blog, Naomi.
Regarding the tablecloth, I brought a couple of the ones that my mom and aunt made with me from Slovakia to NJ, and made them a window treatment. Simply beautiful.
Nov 28, 2016 @ 08:59:57
Yes, I love the Slovak tradition of Sunday lunch too. It is like a little Thanksgiving every week!
I actually have a vegeta recipe that I need to get up here!
Great idea to make tablecloths into curtains – they certainly get admired more that way then being put away all the time.
Apr 09, 2017 @ 15:22:07
I am looking for Slovak recipes for Easter especially. My grandmother used to make veal bread for Easter and egg cheese. She also make hren (sp) with beets and horseradish. If you would help with recipes and directions I would really appreciate it. She also made cold dough cookies that I have not been able to replicate
Apr 11, 2017 @ 14:03:55
By veal bread do you mean breaded veal, i.e. deep fried breaded cutlets, or do you mean a bread and meat ‘stuffing’ squares? If the first, I don’t have a recipe up yet but I will eventually but I can send you general instructions, if the second I will be putting that up this week I hope. I think egg cheese is something that is made more in the east, I will have to find someone who knows how to make it. Beet and horseradish is so good, thanks for the reminder! Do you have more of a description of the cold dough cookies? Spices? rolled into a ball and sliced or rolled flat and cut with cookie cutters?1