January 23, 2007

A Lunch Fit For a Kuningas



"What," you may ask, "is a 'kuningas'? And furthermore, what is that delectable-looking luncheon?"

I will tell you. First, a kuningas is a king. It is not any special kind of king, merely a different translation of the same word. The language is Estonian.

"Where," you may ask, if you aren't up on your geography or just aren't the sharpest nuga in the sahtel, "is this wonderful nation of Estonia?"

This I will also tell you. Estonia is the northernmost of the Baltic states (Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia), and lies on the Baltic Sea just across from Finland. Russia neighbors it to the east and Latvia does so to the south. Although its population of 1,324,333 is just slightly larger than New Hampshire's 1,235,786, Estonia's landmass is about twice the size of the Granite State's.

Enough of the geography. My connection to this country is that I am exactly one quarter Estonian by ancestry. My great-grandmother immigrated to New York from Estonia just in time for my grandmother to be born an American citizen. She brought with her the recipe for Glimpy Soup, a photo of which you have just had the honor of viewing. I'm not sure of the spelling of the name (the dictionary I used to translate suggested "klimp" should be the actual root), but it means dumpling soup.

Glimpy soup, as I will continue to call the dish for the sake of tradition and Americanization, is simply superb. It is also simply simple. It is dumplings in a milky broth, seasoned with salt and pepper. Everyone who's anyone who's had it LOVES it (except Kate, who is someone but nevertheless strangely abhors the soup; fortunately, I believe her sister Lisa's opinion is quite the opposite). It has always been a family favorite here and is beyond a doubt the best thing since sliced bread. You should try it sometime! You just might feel more like royalty than ever before.

(Glimpy soup is actually better than sliced bread, so if you want to REALLY compliment something, you should say it's the best thing since glimpy soup.)


Ryan sometimes gets so excited to eat his glimpy soup that he forgets his manners entirely.

8 comments:

Cara said...

My little Glimpy! What a wonderful post! (Or if you prefer, My little Klimpi!)

Anyway, I said "the best thing since sliced bread" in my last post. Guess it's a popular phrase!

Unknown said...

That lunch looks fantastic! Are those cooked carrots? And cornbread? YUMMY!!! I absolutely HAVE to try glimpy soup the next time you guys make it. It sounds good and looks good.

By the by, I already knew where Estonia was before I read your post. Just so you know. :)

lis said...

As the picture was unrolling, I thought,

Is it...is it...glimpy soup? It is!

:O)

Linds said...

Wow - I've certainly never heard of such a thing, but it looks interesting... (at first I thought it was fish chowdah, and was SO happy to find out it wasn't, as I loathe the stuff!) Not that I care if you eat things for lunch that I don't love, but you know... the end.

Booker said...

I'm sorry, but it looks disgusting...

Blue Knight said...

Estonia, hmm...Believe it or not I have postage stamps from when they were their own country last century. I think some are unused. Do you think I could still use them?

Someone told me that I should check out your blog cause it was neat. We'll just say in comparison mine is still prehistoric.

Aaron said...

Melody - The carrots are raw, but the meal was still quite yummy. Maybe we'll invite you over next time we make it...

Lis and Linds - :)

DJ - :P

Blue Knight - That's really cool! Why would you want to use them now? Whenever you're bored for blog ideas, you should scan a stamp (I assume you are a philatelist if you have a stamp that old, unless you meant the nineties by "last century", but even then...) and post the picture of the stamp on your blog! I for one would be intrigued.

Anonymous said...

Have you got the recipe for this soup?