Tailor Collar Soup (Szabógallér Leves)
Surnames that denote your occupation are some of the most common and characteristic in Hungary. I remember growing up and wondering what my last name translated to and having my uncle take out an old Hungarian-English dictionary to show me. He flipped through the pages and then put his finger on the word ‘tailor’.
Many foods have nothing to do with their name. Some take on the name of their creator, or whom they were created for. However, there are many recipes for which the etymology behind them is lost such as this one.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find anything on the history of this soup (if you know something I’d love to hear). What I do know is that it’s a Transylvanian soup which directly translates to “tailor collar soup”, but some also refer to it as “stain glass soup”.
I’d like to note that many families have their way of making this soup; however, this is the simplest recipe I took from Erdélyi Lakoma, 1980. The one thing I added was the chicken, but you can also add a chopped carrot into the broth and many families also include meat in the raviolis.
Ingredients
Tailor Collar Soup (Szabógallér Leves)
1 L water or chicken broth
1 large egg
150 g flour
1 large onion
50 g lard or sunflower oil
1/2-1 tsp paprika
Salt and pepper, to taste
Parsley, a bunch
300 g chicken (optional)
METHOD
01 FRY UP YOUR ONIONS
Chop your onion and fry it with a little fat or oil in a medium soup pot. Add some pepper & salt and set it aside to cool.
02 MAKE THOSE RAVIOLIS
Prepare the raviolis by mixing your egg into flour with a little salt. Knead the dough considerably, and then use a pasta roller to roll out the dough (thinly). Divide it into 2 equal parts.
Add the onions to the dough and fold them in half to make large or small rectangles. Use a wooden spoon to push the rest of the onion into a cube to prevent the stuffing from coming out of the dough and carefully cut with a knife.
03 GET STARTED ON THE BROTH
Add your broth to the remaining onions in the pot. Place in your chicken and season with salt, pepper, and paprika. Chop up your parsley and let the soup simmer for about 25 minutes or until the chicken has cooked.
04 PULL APART THE CHICKEN
Take out and pull apart the chicken to bite sized pieces. Place them back in the pot.
05 COOK THE RAVIOLIS
Cook your raviolis in the soup about 5-7 minutes before serving.
06 SERVE & ENJOY!
You know what to do! :)
