106Trahanas soup

Method

Traditional northern Greek sour trahanas. Serve immediately while piping hot with crusty sourdough bread.

You will need

• medium saucepan
• whisk
• wooden spoon
• small butter warmer pan

1. Bring the water and half a teaspoon of salt to a rolling boil in a medium heavy-based saucepan over medium-high heat. 5 min Ready when: rapid rolling boil
2. Rain the trahanas granules steadily into the boiling water while whisking constantly to prevent lumps from settling at the bottom. 2 min Ready when: evenly suspended granules
3. Lower the heat to gentle simmer and cook uncovered for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon until the broth turns thick and creamy and the grains are tender. 13 min Ready when: grains completely soft and soup velvety
4. Stir in half of the crumbled feta and the black pepper, allowing the cheese to melt slightly into the hot soup, then remove from the heat. 2 min Ready when: creamy consistency
5. Melt the butter in a small pan over medium heat until gently foaming and lightly golden, then drizzle directly over individual bowls and garnish with the remaining feta. 3 min Ready when: fragrant foaming butter

Tap a step to tick it off.

Make ahead and storing

Fridge 2 days; soup thickens significantly as it cools, so loosen with a splash of hot water when reheating.

Substitutions

• extra virgin olive oil for butter. Provides a cleaner, fruitier flavour common in southern Greece.
• light chicken broth for water. Adds extra richness in rural households during cold periods.

Common mistakes

• Neglecting to stir frequently. Trahanas releases starch quickly and scorches readily onto the bottom of the pan.
• Over-salting early. The dried sour grain already carries salt from processing and the crumbled feta adds significant salinity.

Regional variants

• Trahanas kokkinistos (simmered with a tablespoon of grated fresh tomato or tomato paste)
• Glykos trahanas (made with sweet unfermented milk, often finished with a splash of fresh milk)

About the dish

Trahanas is an ancient method of preserving summer milk through fermentation with cracked wheat or flour into dried pebbles that sustain families through harsh winters. Eaten throughout the Balkans and the Levant, in northern Greece sour trahanas made with fermented sheep or goat milk remains the quintessential rustic winter breakfast and restorative supper. Traditionally it is boiled simply in water or light broth, finished with fresh butter, and served with generous crumbled sheep feta.

Found in Thrace, Macedonia, Thessaly, Epirus. Cooked for everyday, winter.

Cousins elsewhere

• tarhana çorbası (Turkish). Turkish tarhana is commonly flavoured with vegetables and tomato, whereas northern Greek sour trahanas relies strictly on fermented sheep or goat milk and wheat.
• trahanas (Cypriot). Cypriot trahanas is made into dense rolls dried in goat milk halloumi broth and cooked with halloumi cubes.

Nutrition per serving (estimate)

298 kcal · protein 9 g · fat 16.4 g (saturated 10.8 g) · carbohydrate 28.3 g (sugars 1.7 g) · fibre 0.9 g · sodium 723 mg

An estimate (summed from ingredient estimates) that varies with the exact ingredients. It is not dietary advice.

Written fresh by Epikouria editors from general culinary tradition. Recipe by the Epikouria editors. Following Macedonian and Thracian rural winter tradition of cooking sour wheat trahanas plainly with dairy fat and feta..

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