soup

svekolnik cold beet soup

Svekolnik Cold Beet Soup

Leave a Comment / Russian /

Svekolnik cold beet soup–sometimes erroneously called “cold borscht”–makes a perfect meal for a warm summer day. This refreshing dish of chilled beet-flavored broth and fresh chopped vegetables, attributed to Russian or Polish cuisine, is enjoyed throughout the region. Though often served with a garnish of sliced hard-boiled egg and smetana (sour cream) you can prepare it entirely vegan. Like its cousin okroshka, it is salad in liquid form.

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Svekolnik Cold Beet Soup Read More »

Květáková polévka

Cauliflower soup Květáková polévka

2 Comments / West Slavic /

Czech cauliflower soup (květáková polévka) is simple yet very satisfying. The Slovaks also enjoy this soup (they call it karfiolová polievka). When a single fresh vegetable is in season–or when scarcity provides only one–soup can turn it into an entire meal. Soup can serve as a light dinner on a warm night or after a larger lunch. Or it can serve as a starter to a more substantial meal. Unlike much of Europe, in America we tend to eat our largest meal at suppertime. But cauliflower soup makes a perfect evening supper in a Czech or Slovak household.

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Cauliflower soup Květáková polévka Read More »

ciorbă cu coaste afumate

Romanian smoked ribs soup – Ciorbă cu coaste afumate

Leave a Comment / Romanian /

Ciorbă cu coaste afumate is a Romanian soup (“chorba”) made with smoked pork ribs and tangy, fermented wheat bran juice (borș). The name literally means ‘sour soup with smoked bones.’ In this post I will show you how to make the ciorbă completely from scratch using homemade borș. There are, of course, shortcuts to get a really good result without having to smoke your own ribs and ferment wheat bran yourself. But first let’s explore this whole class of ciorbă, sour soups, in Romania.

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Romanian smoked ribs soup – Ciorbă cu coaste afumate Read More »

gulyás

Gulyás – Hungarian meat goulash

Leave a Comment / Hungarian /

Ask someone to name a Hungarian food and they will probably say, “goulash.”  Gulyás – Hungarian meat goulash – is considered by many to be the national dish of Hungary. It is a chunky soup or stew of tender meat and vegetables heavily seasoned with paprika and other spices.  Gulyás began as food prepared by shepherds and herdsmen as far back as the 9th century (gulyás means “herdsman” or “cowboy”).  Only after the nationalist movements of the 19th century did gulyás gain popularity as a quintessential Hungarian dish.  Before that it was considered peasant food (as I suspect many of the dishes on Feastern Europe were).  Paprika made its appearance in gulyás with the ascendance of that spice in the 18th century when black pepper was very scarce and very expensive.

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Gulyás – Hungarian meat goulash Read More »

Borş

Borş fermented wheat bran gives soup a boost

5 Comments / Romanian /

Borş fermented wheat bran juice forms the basis of many sour soups in Romanian cuisine. The sour soup containing borş (“borsh”) is usually called a ciorbă (“chorba”). Sometimes people call the soup itself borş. Romanians also consume borş outright for its probiotic and antioxidant properties; people also drink it as a hangover cure, probably due to its anti-inflammatory effects and high concentration of Vitamin B. Less pungent and effervescent than kvass, borş nevertheless shares a similar production method and purpose.

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Borş fermented wheat bran gives soup a boost Read More »

Okroshka Russian summer soup with kvass

Okroshka Russian Summer Soup

Leave a Comment / Russian /

Okroshka (окро́шка) is a refreshing soup served cold. I call okroshka Russian summer soup because warm weather is the perfect time to serve it. We can make okroshka in two primary ways. For the first method we use kvass as the liquid instead of a traditional soup broth. In the second method we use kefir, a kind of drinkable yogurt, as the broth. I will dedicate another post to kefir itself; we’ve already explored making kvass. You can find both versions of the okroshka recipe at the end of this post . The preparation techniques and ingredients, save for the “broth,” remain nearly the identical.

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Okroshka Russian Summer Soup Read More »