A ciorbă is a Romanian soup with a sour edge, and this is one of the heartiest: dried white beans cooked slowly with smoked pork until the broth turns smoky, thick and comforting, with carrots, parsnip and celery root for sweetness and a final hit of sourness to wake it all up. Traditionally that sourness came from borș, a liquid fermented from wheat bran; today plenty of cooks reach for vinegar, lemon or simply a good spoonful of tomato, and nobody calls the police.

In restaurants and village inns it often arrives in a round loaf of bread with the top sliced off and the crumb scooped out, so the bowl becomes the last course. It is winter food, holiday food and, above all, crowd food. The beans need an overnight soak and the pot needs a couple of hours on the stove, but almost all of that time is the pot's work, not yours, which leaves plenty of room for qualifying.

The beans and smoked pork

Ingredients

• 1 lb (450 g) dried white beans
• 1 1/2 lb (700 g) smoked pork hock or smoked pork ribs
• 12 cups (2.8 liters) cold water
• 2 bay leaves

The vegetables and finishing

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) sunflower or vegetable oil
• 1 large yellow onion
• 2 carrots
• 1 parsnip or parsley root
• 1/2 small celery root
• 1 red bell pepper
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 cup (240 ml) tomato passata or crushed tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
• 1 cup (240 ml) borș
• to taste salt and freshly ground black pepper
• a handful fresh lovage or parsley

Bread bowls and the table

Ingredients

• 6 round crusty bread rolls
• 1 red onion
• 1 jar pickled hot peppers or mixed pickles

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