Monday's Greek Recipe - Soupa Trahanas - Trahanas Soup

Trahanas is known all over Cyprus as well as in many parts of Greece - especially in Macedonia (Northern Greece).It is a delicious and nutritional food. It is soup with wheat kneaded in soured milk. Let’s see how this traditional food is prepared.

After the wheat is thoroughly washed, it is blended in a hand mill. Then it is mixed with soured milk and the mixture is placed in the fire. When it boils well, the mixture coagulates, and then it is moulded into small elongated pieces which lay in the sun where they dry out. These dry pieces are stored and so preserved for long time periods.

Each time the housewife wishes to cook trahana soup, she takes the desired quantity from the stored dry pieces. The pieces are placed into water, where they inflate and open, then they are cooked on fire, usually in meat broth. While the soup cooks, some quantity of fresh milk may be added. Halloumi cheese can also be added chopped into small pieces, which also cooks inside the soup. Trahanas is served hot after some salt, pepper and lemon are added.

TODAY'S RECIPE

SOUPA TRAHANAS - TRAHANAS SOUP

Upon request by my good friends Walid and Lakis here is the recipe for our favourite winter soup.

200g trahanas

1.5ltr stock (meat, chicken or vegetarian)

½ teaspoon salt
125g halloumi cheese cut in small cubes
1 egg (optional)

Place the trahanas in a medium sized bowl and cover it with water.  Let it soak for a few hours.  It should soak up all the water.  (To speed up the process you can cover it with hot water and when it is partially soft put it in a blender)

In a large saucepan bring the stock with the salt to the boil over a high heat, stirring all the time, then add the trahanas. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook for 30-45 minutes, stirring from time to time.  Do not cover the saucepan as it might boil over.  Add more water if you think the soup is too thick and cook for few minutes extra.

Five minutes before you turn the heat off add the halloumi.  The egg can be added at this point too; either beat the egg or just crack the shell and pour it into the soup.  Gently stir until you take the soup off of the cooker.

Serve hot with boiled chicken or on its own.

 This is the soup for all occasions for us Greek-Cypriots. Trahanas is dried in the sun in the summer and is our favourite soup in the winter. Have it on a cold winter night, after a long day or when you are not feeling well or when you have a bad cold. It does wonders and it’s full of goodness!!!!

Comments

[Andy]

This is the most unusual soup I've heard of in years after the ...French bougiabes (sorry for the spelling!), I think. Hope your trahanas is exported in the UK.

[Lisa]

Sounds yummy and very healthy!

[Manos]

Hallo from Rethimno, Crete. In Crete we also make trahanas but is not white soup. Is with fresh tomato, spices from our mountains, onion and a lot of broth. The way we are prepare it is more less the same - dryed in the sun

[Andry]

Anastasia mou, I make one of the best trahanades in Cyprus. The halloumi I am put it after is boiled the soup. Not during. Is not good.

[Jeff]

The perfect option after our thanksgiving feast ! Wow ! dried in the sun !

[Raina]

We have a soup like this in Lebanon . We are call it kishk soup and is a fermented mixture of bulgur wheat and yogurt. It is available at Middle Eastern markets, or you can make your own. But is not whhite like yours. We add carrots, onions and butter. Thank you for sharing your trahanas. I think I will make it. Good wishes

[Haruko]

Good morning Anastasia. Here in Japan we are very proud of our ozoni soup which is our speciality for the Japanese New Year. And of course the real homemade ozoni is made with lot of soy sauce!

[Lakis]

Thank you very much for posting the trahanas recipe. As you know my wife is British and she doesn't know how to cook trahanas. One of my clients from a village in Pafos made some homemade trahanas and send me some. Actually he sent me too much, so I will send some to you as it is not often we find real homemade trahanas.

[Anastasia]

Laki mou, thank you so much for sending me some of your homemade trahanas. I know that the Paphians boast their trahanas - especially the one dried in the small villages of the area.

Haruko, I've heard of the ozoni soup and tasted it once at a Japanese restaurant in my area. Surely, just like with sushi as you once told me, it was not really the authentic ozoni but it was delicious anyway.

Hi Raina and thank you very much for emailing your recipe of kishk soup. As a matter of fact, in Cyprus bulgur wheat is very popular and we use it a lot in various dishes also combined with yogurt but not as a soup, as far as I know.

Jeff, try it if you can find halloumi and trahanas in the usa - you'll love it!

Andry mou, it's so nice to see you back. I know you are a great cook , so no wonder your trahanas is so good. Thanks for the tip about the halloumi.

Manos, thank you very much for stopping by and for sharing the cretan version of trahanas. Must be yummy!

Lisa, it is, indeed, a very tasty and healthy option for the winter

LOL! Andy, you mean ...bouillabaisse. Funnily enough I don't like it however much I love fish! Yes, as far as I know our trahanas is exported in the UK.

[Sophia]

Whenever I try to make trahanas, I always fail. It gets too thick! I will try to add water instead of milk next time it becomes thick as you suggest.

[Lucy]

Anastasia, what a great idea for tonight's dinner! Thanks for sharing the recipe

[Anastasia]

Lucy, I must admit I'm not a great soup lover. Actually, I usually eat soups when I have a cold. The only soup I really enjoy is steaming hot trahanas.

Sophia, I'm not an expert at cooking trahanas - my housekeeper usually cooks it for us - so I've never tried it myself. I'll definitely try this recipe when I have some more free time.

[Andry]

Θα ήθελα να πω στη Σοφία ότι είναι καλύτερα να προσθέσει νερό (χλιαρό) αν της πήξει ο τραχανάς. Το γάλα έχει την ιδιότητα να τον πήζει πιο πολύ αντί να τον αραιώνει.

[Özgür]

Merhaba from Turkey. We also have our version of trahanas soup. A lot of onions, tomatoes and pepper are boiled together into a thick sauce , then mixed with lots of dough, let sit for a couple of days to get sour ( fermented actually) and then spread to clean clothes under the sun to dry. Once it is dried, it is powdered and kept in cloth bags for later uses.

The actual soup is made in slight variations depending from region to region - at least in Turkey-. Where I come from, we saute a few cloves of garlic in oil, add cold water or cold broth to it and then add five or six full spoon-fulls of Tarhana powder( for 4 -5 servings) and stir until it thickens up and boils.

It can be served with cheese or big bread crumbs or with some dried mint "burned' in butter poured on top.

[Emma]

Anastasia, I've never heard of that soup before but it sure sounds yummy AND healthy considering the egg is optional and the meat broth is chicken.

Habebti.
Here is a pay some one may do it from trahanas powder, which will be very easy using powder, no need for soaking rols.
One K G of Tomato, two large onions, Garlic How ever some one stands it.Salt and pepper to taste, One glass of trahanas powder oil may be a glass or more, till the mixture is well holding and smooth two table spoons of water.
In a food processor finely chop the tomato the onion and the garlic .Add the Trahana powder the water some oil and mix adding the oil from the out side while the processer is working, till you feel it is holding together and smooth.
You may put this on a half of a round Doug close it and bake, do it as a pay.or just oppend very small ones,a coffee plate size.God Bless.
With love Walid.

[Walid]

Habebti.
I tried the soup itwas delicious.I will eat it often I love all what it is made of.I will teach the others, how to cook it.In fact two friends eat some while I was eating my lunch today.Thank you once more for the good recipe.
It is Halloween night,a Holly religious night, tonight all the children wearing different clothes and putting on different masks. Some are horror masks and dresses ,some are Just old clothes, or clothes of their parents or relatives, so no one will know them,masks of ordinary people.The words they say are different text between the areas of the country.Some just tels the story of St.Barbara when she went away hiding,how all the wheat are still in the clay Jugs.People offer them sweets made specially or this night, some gives them money.Cooked wheat is the mane sweet for this night,it is offered sweetened, decorated, with walnut, pomegranate seed and raisin.Another kind of sweet is made of special Doug, which will be stuffed with a mixture, of sugar, cracked walnut, flower water.Cinnamon powder and pomegranate seeds.
Fancy dress parties will be going on in Hotels, this is new thing to do. Just as am income to the Hotels and the cafes. God Bless.
With all my true Love Walid.