Buckwheat Kache for Soups

Ingredients

• 7–8 decilitres water, salted and warm
• 1 kilogram buckwheat groats
• 100 grams butter

Instructions

1. Mix the warm salted water into the buckwheat groats to form a compact paste. Pour this paste into a Russian casserole (cast-iron pot) and place in a hot oven for approximately 2 hours.
2. When removed from the oven, carefully extract the inner mass and crumble it into a separate pot, leaving the crust that has formed on the sides and bottom undisturbed.
3. Work the kache (buckwheat mixture) with 100 grams of butter, then spread it under a press in a layer about 1 centimeter thick and allow it to cool completely.
4. Once cooled and set, cut the kache into rounds using a round cutter the size of a 2-franc coin. Color these rounds in clarified butter and serve either in small gratin dishes (raviers) or arranged on a napkin.
5. Note: The kache may also be served unstamped, directly as it emerges from the oven, in which case it is presented in special pots.