Dish of of Mulgipuder with Garnishes
(click to enlarge)

Mulgipuder


Estonia   -   Mulgipuder (Estonia) | Bukstinbiezputra (Latvia)
Makes:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 4 #
***
1-1/2 hrs+
Yes		 This mash of Potatoes cooked with Barley originated in southern Estonia around 1850, and is practically the "national dish" of Estonia today. See also Comments.

7
1-3/4
1/2
1-1/2


4
5
1/2


ar
ar
oz
#
T
T


oz
oz
T
Barley (1)
Potatoes (2)
Salt
Butter

Topping
Bacon (3)
Onion
Lard or Oil

Serve with
Sour Cream  
Pickles (4)
Do-Ahead:   -   (5 minutes work)
  1. Soak BARLEY. If natural Groats (whole grain, husked barley), soak overnight. If lightly pearled, (light beige color), soak for 3 hours. If heavily pearled (white) soak 1 hr.
Make:   -   (1-1/2 hrs or so for lightly pearled barley, longer for husked, shorter for heavily pearled)
  1. Peel POTATOES and cut into chunks.
  2. In a saucepan, place Potatoes, Barley and Salt. Cover with water by about 1-1/2 inches. Bring to a boil, cover tightly, and simmer for about 40 minutes. Stir and scrape the bottom to make sure nothing is sticking. Continue to simmer, scraping increasingly often until barley is quite tender and just about all water is absorbed. If the water is about gone, and the barley isn't as tender as you want, stir in boiling water .
  3. Add Butter to the pot and crush the Potatoes and Barley together thoroughly. An old fashioned potato masher (no - not the German hand grenade) is very useful here. Do not attempt to use an immersion blender.
  4. Meanwhile:   (1/2 hr from serving time)
    1. Cut BACON into small dice.
    2. Chop ONION medium.
    3. Melt Lard or heat Oil. Fry Bacon, stirring until lightly browned, then stir in Onions and continue to fry stirring until they are golden.
  5. Serve hot. Often this is with a dent in the top of the Mulgipuder filled with the Bacon mix, with Sour Cream and Pickles beside it. Some people stir the Bacon mix in. This dish reheats well in the oven.
NOTES:

  1. Barley:

      This can be had in three conditions. Natural Groats (hulled barley) are the whole grain, simply husked, and are often used for sprouting and production of "barley grass". They are not much found in normal markets here in Southern California. Lightly Pearled Barley is still a beige color, and gives much less trouble with sticking while cooking than heavily pearled. This form is very common in the ethnic markets here in Southern California. Heavily Pearled Barley is the white form found in supermarkets. It cooks faster than lightly pearled, but is a real cooking problem due to sticking to the bottom of the pan. The photo example is made with Lightly Pearled Barley.

  2. Potato:

      I've reviewed at least a dozen recipes for this dish, all of which call for Potatoes, but not one tells what kind. I used White Rose, an "all purpose" potato, and it worked fine. Avoid Yukon Gold type potatoes, they disintegrate into mush if cooked longer than the minimum. For details see our Potatoes page.

  3. Bacon:

      For those wedded to British terminology, "Bacon" on this site is what you folks call "Streaky Bacon". It's from the pig's belly, not its back, and it's salt cured and smoked. The stuff you folks call "Bacon" we call "Canadian Bacon". Eh?

  4. Pickles:

      for the purpose of this recipe, these may be pickled cucumbers, pickled cabbage, or any other vegetable pickles of your choice.

  5. Comments:

      In Estonia, this dish may be served either as a main dish with sides, or as a side dish to other main dishes. It can be made vegetarian, or even vegan. A lady who teaches vegan cooking in Estonia uses fried dice of eggplant instead of bacon, sunflower oil instead of butter, and accompanies it with sunflower seed "sour cream".
  6. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar="as required tt=to taste
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