Instructions: Soak the cepes in a little water for 15 minutes, until they soften. Chop all the vegetables finely in 2 batches in the food processor and put them in a pan with the barley and all the water, including the mushroom-soaking water. Chop the softened mushrooms in the food processor, and add them too.

Bring to the boil, remove the scum, season with plenty of salt and pepper, and simmer for 1 hour, or until the barley is very soft and bloated. It gives a jellylike quality to the soup. Add water, if necessary, to thin it.

Serve with sour cream if you like if you have used water.

SERGIOS NOTES:
It looks very unappealing, but it is heartwarming in winter, and the dried cepes with which it is traditionally made give it a unique musty flavor.

Krupnik is important because it was a mainstay in Poland, Lithuania, and the Ukraine, and it has been kept up. There is even a dried soup mix produced in Israel. In Eastern Europe, people went out to pick cepes in season and dried them on the top of the stove. They kept them in jars and built up stocks to last the year. The soup can be very simple, with only onions, barley, and mushrooms, or it can have several vegetables. It can also be made with chicken stock or with a meat bone.

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