Creamy potato-mushroom soup with dill, vinegar and a poached egg — the comfort soup of Czech farmhouses.
Kulajda is one of the most distinctive Czech soups: creamy and slightly sour, made with potatoes, wild mushrooms, dill and a splash of vinegar, served topped with a poached egg whose yolk runs into the broth. It comes from the farmhouse kitchens of southern Bohemia, where the combination of foraged mushrooms, dairy and vinegar gave it long shelf life and complex flavour.
Serves 4
Melt butter in a heavy pot. Cook onion 6 min until soft. Add mushrooms and cook 8 min until they release water and brown.
Add caraway, bay leaf and sugar. Stir 1 min.
Add stock and potatoes. Salt. Simmer 18 min until potatoes are tender.
Whisk flour into cold milk. Pour into pot, whisking. Simmer 5 minutes — soup thickens.
Stir in cream. Add vinegar (start with 1/2 tbsp, add more to taste — should be subtly tangy). Stir in dill and pepper. Adjust salt.
Bring a pot of water to a bare simmer. Add a splash of vinegar. Crack eggs into the swirling water one at a time. Poach 3 min for runny yolks.
Ladle soup into bowls. Place a poached egg on top of each. Sprinkle dill. Eat with bread.
The soup must be slightly tangy — that's what distinguishes it from any other mushroom soup.
Always serve with the egg yolk runny so it enriches the soup as you eat.
Add 80g pickled cucumbers diced for extra tang
Use sour cream instead of double cream for sharper flavour
Add 200g cooked, chopped wild mushrooms (chanterelles, morels) for luxe version
Soup refrigerates 4 days. Always poach eggs fresh.
Kulajda comes from the Šumava and Krkonoše mountain regions, where wild mushroom foraging is a national obsession. The vinegar-cream-mushroom combination is unique to Bohemian cooking and dates back centuries.
Dill is essential for authentic flavour. If absolutely necessary, use fresh tarragon — different but pleasant.
It should be subtle — just enough to brighten without screaming sour. Add small amounts to taste.
Per serving · 4 servings total
Ask our AI cooking assistant anything about this recipe — substitutions, techniques, scaling.
Chat with AI Chef →Join the conversation
Sign in to leave a comment and save your favourite recipes