Home recipe kuchnia polska

Moczka śląska

Name: Moczka śląska
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 70 min
Cuisine: kuchnia polska
Ingredients: 100 g dry honey gingerbread (preferably stale); 800 ml compote (from dried fruits, gooseberries, or strawberries); 100 ml dark beer (can be replaced with compote); 100 g almonds (whole); 60 g hazelnuts (shelled, whole); 40 g walnut halves (połówki); 80 g dried plums (with or without pits); 60 g small dried figs; 60 g raisins; 1 tbsp lemon juice; 1 tbsp sugar (or more, to taste); salt (a pinch)

Moczka is a Silesian Christmas dessert: a thick, sweet mixture of gingerbread, almonds, nuts, and dried fruits cooked in compote.

Servings: 4 servings
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Difficulty: Easy

Moczka w szklanej misce z łyżką: ciemna, gęsta masa z migdałami, rodzynkami i suszonymi śliwkami

The story behind the recipe

Moczka is a traditional dish of the Silesian Christmas Eve. As explained by the National Centre for Culture, the name comes from soaking gingerbread and fruit additions in compote, broth, or beer. The Silesian Tourist Organization states that it is hard to imagine a traditional Silesian Christmas Eve without it. On August 31, 2006, the dish was added to the List of Traditional Products as 'Moczka / bryja'. The card describes it as a mixture resembling 'thin plum jam' with pieces of nuts, almonds, and cooked fruits, tasting like 'chocolate gingerbread'.

According to interviews with residents of the Rybnik, Racibórz, and Wodzisław counties, cited on the card, the dish was known as bryja in the 19th century and was eaten during the Christmas Eve dinner. In the past, it was cooked in a broth made from carp and vegetables, giving it a sweet-salty flavor. Today, it is more often prepared with compote, sometimes with dark beer. The National Centre for Culture notes that it can be salty or sweet, warm or cold, thinner or thicker. In German families originating from Silesia, it is served on Christmas Eve as 'Lebkuchensauce' or 'Polnische Sauce'.

The card from the List of Traditional Products emphasizes that every housewife makes moczka differently: more gingerbread-like, chocolatey, fruity, cinnamon-flavored, sweeter, or slightly salty. An average family cooks about 10 liters and serves it in bowls of 0.25 liters. In Silesia, leftover gingerbread from the holidays was also saved to make moczka the following year. Our recipe is based on a version from the collection of regional dishes of the Silesian Voivodeship by the Silesian Tourist Organization, scaled down to 4 servings.

Ingredients

Gingerbread and liquid

100 g dry honey gingerbread (preferably stale)
Abroad: Germany: brauner Lebkuchen ohne Guss or Honigkuchen; elsewhere, bake gingerbread layers yourself
800 ml compote (from dried fruits, gooseberries, or strawberries)
100 ml dark beer (can be replaced with compote)
Abroad: dark beer; Germany: Dunkelbier

Nuts and dried fruits

100 g almonds (whole)
Abroad: blanched almonds; Germany: blanchierte Mandeln
60 g hazelnuts (shelled, whole)
Abroad: hazelnuts; Germany: Haselnüsse
40 g walnut halves (połówki)
Abroad: walnut halves; Germany: Walnusskerne
80 g dried plums (with or without pits)
Abroad: prunes / dried plums; Germany: Trockenpflaumen
60 g small dried figs
Abroad: dried figs; Germany: getrocknete Feigen
60 g raisins
Abroad: raisins; Germany: Rosinen

Seasoning

1 tbsp (15 ml) lemon juice
1 tbsp (about 13 g) sugar (or more, to taste)
salt (a pinch)

Method, step by step

Grate the dry gingerbread on a coarse grater or crumble it by hand. If it is fresh and soft, cut it into pieces, pour warm boiled water over it, let it sit for 30 minutes, and then squeeze out the excess water.
Pour boiling water over the almonds, wait a few minutes, drain, and slip off the skins with your fingers.
Leave the hazelnuts whole. Set aside the walnut halves, as they will go into the pot at the very end.
Rinse the dried plums. If they have pits and you prefer them without, cut the fruits in half and remove the pits. Cut large plums in half.
Cut the figs in half or quarters, and rinse the raisins in a sieve.
In a large pot with a thick bottom, bring the compote to a boil. Add the peeled almonds and cook them over low heat for 15 minutes, as they need the most time.
Add the hazelnuts, then the plums, raisins, and figs, and finally the walnut halves. Cook over low heat for about 10 minutes, until the fruits soften.
Mix the gingerbread in a bowl with cold beer (or a bit of compote) into a smooth paste without lumps. Pour it into the pot and cook over low heat for another 10–15 minutes, stirring often from the bottom, as the thick mixture easily sticks.
Season with lemon juice, sugar, and a pinch of salt, taste, and bring to a boil again. If the moczka is too thick, add more compote.
Pour the moczka into small bowls. Serve warm or cold: as it cools, it thickens to a pudding-like consistency.

Tips

What gingerbread to use. The Silesian Tourist Organization uses dried honey gingerbread. According to mojegotowanie.pl, the best is gingerbread from the previous year, but fresh will also work. You can bake just the layers from our Christmas gingerbread recipe, without the preserves and icing, and dry them for a few days. Chocolate is not a mistake: the card from the List of Traditional Products describes the taste of moczka as that of chocolate gingerbread.

What compote to use. The recipe from the Silesian Tourist Organization suggests compote from strawberries or gooseberries. Mojegotowanie.pl considers compote from dried plums as the traditional base and recommends mixing dried fruit compote with gooseberry compote. Our dried fruit compote works well here. The card from the List of Traditional Products also shows green gooseberries in moczka.

Avoiding gingerbread lumps. To prevent the gingerbread from clumping, first dissolve it in cold beer or compote, as per the Silesian Tourist Organization's recipe. You can also blend the soaked gingerbread for a smoother moczka.

Too thick or too thin. Moczka thickens as it sits, and when cooled, it has a pudding-like consistency. If it turns out too thick, add more compote. When served as a soup, it should be thinner, with more compote. When reheating, it can be diluted with dark beer.

Sticking to the pot. The mixture is thick and sticky, so cook it over low heat and stir often from the bottom.

Pits. The Silesian Tourist Organization uses plums with pits. If you are serving moczka to children or guests from outside Silesia, warn them or buy pitted plums.

Other versions. Moczka can also include honey, a spoonful of butter, dried apricots, dates, pears, and apples, orange and lemon juice, cloves, cinnamon, chocolate, or cocoa. Without beer, just with compote, moczka comes out sweet.

How to serve. Serve warm or cold, in small bowls, sprinkled with almond flakes. In Silesia, it is eaten as a dessert on Christmas Eve. In the German version 'Polnische Soße', it is sometimes served with white sausage.

Storage. Let the cooked moczka cool in a cool place. The sources we consulted do not specify how long moczka lasts or if it can be frozen.

Abroad. In Germany, buy brauner Lebkuchen ohne Guss or Honigkuchen, which is gingerbread without icing and chocolate. In the USA, UK, Canada, and Australia, we did not find a reliable equivalent in stores, so the easiest way is to bake gingerbread layers yourself. Dried plums are called prunes or dried plums in English, and Trockenpflaumen in German. Buy blanched almonds, hazelnuts, walnut halves, dried figs, and raisins. Dark beer is dark beer in English and Dunkelbier in German.

Photos

Gęsta, czekoladowobrązowa moczka z kawałkami orzechów w kamionkowym garnku

Moczka podana po niemiecku jako Polnische Soße, z dwiema białymi kiełbaskami, na wigilijnym stole

Christmas Eve Cakes and desserts Polish cuisine Silesian cuisine Substitutes abroad

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