Beetroot soup classic - 2 cooking recipes

The soup under the beautiful name beetroot soup has long and firmly entered into Russian cuisine, where it came from Eastern European cuisines. There it is called differently: hlodnik (Poland), hladnik (Belarus), shaltibarschai (Lithuania). In its classic form, this soup differs from traditional Russian okroshka by the absence of kvass, meat and meat products. In addition, the obligatory beets are absent in okroshka.

What is a classic beetroot soup? Surely in different regions of Eastern Europe you will find recipes for beetroot soup, the composition of which will be very different from the “generally accepted” one. Moreover, each region will claim that its version is the most classic. But still, among the products for this cold soup there should be: beets and kefir. In some cases (depending on the season), beets are replaced with sorrel, and kefir with milk.

All other vegetables and greens are not limited in choice. That is, you can put: potatoes, carrots, cucumbers, radishes, onions and so on. In Russia, by the way, they like to cook hot beetroot soup, with the addition of meat and without kefir. That is, in our country, recipes for classic beetroot soup are not limited to only cold versions. Beetroot soup may differ from borscht (but not necessarily!) in the absence of cabbage. Their cooking technology is the same: the meat and some vegetables are boiled, and onions, carrots, and beets are fried.

You can also add sour cream and half a boiled egg to the finished soup.

The main distinguishing feature of this first dish is its bright, rich burgundy color, which is achieved with the help of beets. By the way, kefir or any other liquid dairy product can be poured into the finished beetroot soup later, and initially cooked in water or broth, vegetable or meat.

However, classic beetroot soup is still a cold summer soup, as mentioned above.