History

Rosół is the canonical Polish Sunday lunch first course and the broth that anchors every Polish wedding menu. The Greater Poland version uses a free-range or 'wiejska' farm chicken and finishes with hand-poured kluski lane. The dish is the second great Polish soup tradition (the other being zupa pomidorowa), and Poznań milk bars pour it daily under the noon zupa label. The roasted onion is the Wielkopolska signature, deepening colour and flavour.

Common allergens: Gluten, Eggs

Make it at home

Yield 6Hands-on 20 minTotal 3 hrDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 1 free-range chicken (around 1.5kg) plus 500g chicken wings for body
  • 3 carrots, halved
  • 1 large parsnip, halved
  • 100g celeriac, in chunks
  • 1 small leek, cleaned and halved
  • 1 large onion, unpeeled, halved
  • 2 bay leaves, 8 black peppercorns, 4 allspice grains, 2 cloves
  • 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley with stems
  • Salt to taste
  • For kluski lane: 2 eggs whisked with 100g plain flour and a pinch of salt

Method

  1. Hold the onion halves over a gas flame or sear cut-side down in a dry pan until deeply charred and almost black, around 5 minutes.
  2. Place the whole chicken, chicken wings, charred onion, carrots, parsnip, celeriac, leek, bay leaves, peppercorns, allspice and cloves in a large stockpot. Cover with 3.5L cold water.
  3. Bring slowly to a low simmer. Skim the foam off the surface for the first 15 minutes until the broth runs clear.
  4. Simmer uncovered at the gentlest blip for 2.5 hours. Never boil hard.
  5. Lift the chicken out and reserve for the second course. Strain the broth through a fine sieve. Discard the vegetables.
  6. Return the broth to a clean pot, season with salt, and bring back to a gentle simmer.
  7. For the kluski: pour the egg-flour batter in a thin steady stream through the tines of a fork into the simmering broth. It will set into ribbon noodles in 60 seconds.
  8. Ladle into shallow bowls with a sprinkle of parsley. Serve with a wedge of bread.

Tip from the editors. The clearest rosół comes from never boiling the broth. A low blip for the full three hours is the only way to keep the broth crystal.

Where to eat rosół wielkopolski

Rosół wielkopolski in Poznań

Bar Mleczny Pod Arkadami ★ 4.0

Modern Polish$

Bar Mleczny Pod Arkadami on plac Ratajskiego 10 in Poznań is a state-subsidised milk bar with the cheapest sit-down plate of Polish home cooking in the city.

Try: Pierogi, kotlet schabowy, kompot

Tip: Order at the counter then take the receipt to the kitchen window; the queue feels intimidating but moves fast.

plac Cyryla Ratajskiego 10, 61-714 Poznań

Ratuszova ★ 3.9

Modern Polish$$stary-rynek

Ratuszova on Stary Rynek 55 in Poznań is a modern-Polish room in a historic tenement, in business since 1954, with roast duck, czernina and game.

Signature: Kaczka pieczona z jabłkami, Czernina, Dziczyzna

Order: Roast duck with apples and red cabbage.

Tip: Sit in the vaulted cellar room for the proper Stary Rynek atmosphere; the upstairs is brighter but less characterful.

Stary Rynek 55, 61-772 Poznań

More cities are in research. Want rosół wielkopolski covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.

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