Trahanas Soup - Simple, Healthy & Delicious

Soupa Trahanas

 

We have started the new year with unusually cold weather in the Sacramento area with daily temperatures in the 40's and 30's - yes, that quite cold for someone who grew up in Cyprus.

The first soup I thought of making was trahanas because of it's simplicity, delicious taste and high nutritious value.This is my favorite winter soup. Having this soup always brings me back childhood memories sitting at the table for dinner with my whole family and having the soup along with lots of bread and sometimes boiled chicken on the side or inside the soup. If the chicken was on the side we always ate it with lots of lemon and seasoned it with salt and black pepper. I remember my dad always having two large servings of trahanas soup along with lots of bread.

He always liked to add pieces of the bread in his soup. Greeks love to eat bread with every meal and with any kind of food.

 This is the kind of soup that you either love  or dislike because of its unique flavor. It has a light and yet hearty flavor. A bowl of this soup can easily fill you up and leave you satisfied without eating anything else.  In Cyprus we only serve the sour trahanas made with yogurt while in other parts of Greece a different kind of trahanas is also served that it’s sweeter and made with milk.

I buy my trahana from local International grocery stores.

 

Trahanas is basically made out of wheat and yogurt. Being a yogurt lover is easy for me to like the flavors of this soup. I know it’s a soup that it’s served in many parts of the mainland of Greece but in Cyprus it’s one of our signature winter foods.

 

My aunt Magda in Chicago still makes her own Trahana and halloumi cheese for this. We always add a lot of halloumi in this soup cut into small bite-size square pieces.

Halloumi is a traditional cheese of Cyprus. Nowadays it is sold worldwide and it can be found in a lot of local supermarkets even in the Sacramento area! I still like to bring some special halloumi brands when I go back home. Halloumi can be made with cow's, sheep or goat's milk. My favorite it's the one made with goat's milk.

Halloumi is quite a popular cheese. Part of its popularity is attributed to its versatility. It’s the only cheese that can be fried, grilled, grated, baked, eaten as is and never melts. It’s a wonderful cheese that looks a little bit like mozzarella but it holds it’s consistency without melting. I have never made my own halloumi even though I aspire to do so under the supervision of aunt.

 

Here is my recipe for trahana soup. Please keep in mind that you can add chichen or beef pieces in this soup.

 

4 cups trahana

4 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1/2 Halloumi which is approximately 3/4 of a cup cut in small cubes

1 large tomato - optional

Salt

Black Pepper

 

Soak the trahana in water for a few hours. Transfer into a large deep pot with the water. Put the blanched tomato at the bottom of the pot. Add the broth and let it come to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Let it simmer for 30 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir occasionally. If it's too thick add a little bit more water.

A helpful tip is that when you reheat it the following day add a little bit of more water. The soup might thicken-up a bit because of the wheat content.

Serve hot with bread on the side.

Serves 6-8

Till the next blog post, stay warm :-)