That looks delicious! I love Central and Eastern European soups and stews, I find them so rich and comforting and perfect for winter. I don't know where one could find sour rye flour in southern France but if I ever get a chance, I'd love to try that.
I'm more of a dessert/patisserie cook myself, because I have such a sweet tooth and I was thumbing through some actual, paper cookbooks earlier looking for inspiration when I found one of my all-time favourite desserts. It's super sweet but amazing and the ingredients are easy to find just about everywhere. It's a Peruvian dish called "Suspiro de Limeña", which means "The sighs of a woman from Lima", Lima being the capital of Peru. It sounds better in Spanish... I translated it under the picture. You can find it online but if you can get it straight from the llama's mouth, right? :-P
I spent seven months in Peru in 2008 and I collected a few recipes, it's possibly the most delicious and interesting cuisine in South America, IMO.
This picture isn't mine but it's to give you an idea of what a homemade version looks like.
Suspiro de Limeña (yields 8)
Ingredients:
1 can condensed milk
1 can evaporated milk
6 egg yolks
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup white sugar
4 egg whites
Cinnamon
*this recipe also calls for a little Port wine, "as needed", but if you don't have it or don't want to use alcohol even if it boils off, you can use water. Honestly, I've never had it with the Port meringue but it's what the book says.
Method:
1. In a thick-bottomed saucepan, simmer the two cans of milk mixing constantly with a wooden spoon until it reaches the consistency of "Manjar Blanco" (basically, dark and thick - manjar blanco is what the Peruvians call what is more often known as "Dulce de Leche", look at the picture, it's the bottom layer :))
2. Add the beaten egg yolks and vanilla (Note: the recipe book doesn't say it but I'm pretty sure you either need to let the previous mix cool down or temper the eggs before adding to the mix. They'd cook and curdle otherwise, no? It's kinda a dark, caramelly custard sort of thing, you want it smooth and creamy and rich)
3. In a separate pan, put the sugar and cover it in the Port wine (Or water, you're making a syrup). Let it boil until it thickens to just soft ball stage. Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks while slowly adding the syrup, beating constantly. (Note: Put simply, you're making an Italian Meringue)
4: Put the first mix on the bottom of a serving dish and cover it with the meringue. Sprinkle cinnamon over the top.
Notes: I realised as I typed that the egg yolks are not what I would call fully cooked. This doesn't bother me personally but I don't see why you couldn't, after properly tempering the eggs and adding to the milk caramel base cook them a little longer like you would for a custard.
For a quick version, I think you could probably get some "dulce de leche", mix in some evaporated milk to make it a little softer and lighter, simmer it for a little while before adding the eggs and proceeding from there. The stuff is expensive and hard to find in my area though while condensed milk and evaporated milk are everywhere and cheap. Also, Dulce de Leche is also sweetened so you'd get an even sweeter end product I expect... Hmm... Would require experimentation... Kitchen adventures? Yay!
Anyway, it's so, so delicious! I'm seriously tempted to go and buy the ingredients right now...
