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["MAKING THE BARSCZ, 5 to 6 days before making the soup: Stir together the dark rye and hot water in an ample container (ceramic is good) and set it aside in a hot place, covered with a towel.", "I made mine in a big plastic container, covered it with a potholder, and put it on the back of the stove.", "The kitchen counter is also fine.)", "Stir once a day.", "The fermentation and sour smell is a sign which it's getting good.", "After making the soup, you can decant the clear liquid, chill, and use as a flavoring in other soups.", "MAKING THE SOUP: When you're ready to make the soup, bring a qt of water to a simmer on the stove.", "Beat together the egg and lowfat milk, then slowly stir it into the simmering pot.", "Turn up the heat a bit, let thicken, then slowly pour in the barscz.", "Stir till it thickens to the consistency of watery oatmeal or possibly runny pea soup.", "Season well with salt and pepper.", "It should smell sour.", "FINAL ASSEMBLY : When ready to serve, place the bread bits, minced sausage and egg into each bowl which you're serving.", "Ladle the Barscz soup over all, then stir in horseradish to taste.", "Serve warm to 4 to 6 people on Easter morning...or possibly whenever.", "Comments: This authentic Polish recipe was brought to the United States from Krakow in the early 1900s by Agnes Kravitz, who settled in Northeastern Pennsylvania and passed the ""little bit of this, little bit of which"" recipe to her daughter Theodosia (Tess) Burke, who in turn passed the love of it on to her own daughter-in-law, of Italian descent, Maria Burke.", "Maria sent it to me, for that I shall always be grateful.", "It's a rich and unusual soup - thickly white from lowfat milk and dark rye flour; sour from fermenting the flour into traditional barscz kwaszony zytni (the Russian kvass), tart from freshly grated horseradish, and highly textured from minced egg and smoked kielbasa and rye bread.", "Maria says, ""it's something you have to acquire a taste for, but once you do, there's no substitute for it.""
