Frequently when you travel you try the typical dishes of the country, after that, if you enjoy new flavours you can incorporate them. As most of you know, last year I spent three months in Brest (Belarus). Among the typical dishes there we can name Dranikis and Borsch Soup. I was told that this soup comes from Ukraine, nevertheless you can find it in every restaurant.
When it is cold, a soup is an appetizing dish. And, although the temperatures in December in Seville have nothing to do with the temperatures in Brest during October and November, this weekend I cooked Borsch soup. The main ingredient is beetroot which gives the characteristic colour to the soup. Thereafter, I think that you can use nearly any vegetable you have at home, because I have found different recipes. It is a pity nobody from Brest taught me how to cook the soup, then I surfed on the internet and chose one, all the same, I followed the advices of Joanna. She is the Poland girl I shared the flat at the student dorm of the Best State University with. Pictures shows the kitchen and soup I cooked during my stay in Brest.
I am going to tell you how I cooked Borsch soup. We need beetroots, cabbage, potatoes, green and red peppers, carrots, onion, tomato, bay leaves and pepper corns, salt and dill if you like it.
First, I heat water and when it was boiling I added lay leaves and pepper corns. After that, and in this order, I put: cabbage, beetroots, carrots, potatoes and peppers, all of them grated. While it was boiling, in a pan I fried onion and tomato slowly to obtain a sauce to add to the soup. When all vegetables are cooked, you can add the sauce and boil it for five or ten minutes, add salt if required and dill. Dill is actually used a lot in Belarusian cuisine.
If you ask for Borsch in Brest you can find that ?smetana? is added. It is sour cream and I don?t like it, then one of the first expression I learnt to say in Russian was: ?please, without Smetana?; ?? ???????.
I cannot do other than tell you that in Warsaw I had the opportunity to enjoy another wonderful soup, as you can see in the picture, it is served inside a piece of bread. If you go to Warsaw you can enjoy it in Manekin restaurant, I strongly recommend it.
Not only did I enjoy borsch soup during my stay in Belarus, furthermore, it was wild mushroom season and I tried them when I visited Bialowieza Forest, but it is a story for another post.
I am sure you can remember those moments, when your mother or grandmother offers you a bowl of hot soup, sometimes with the intention of taking care of a cold. What is your favourite soup? What memories, emotions, come to your mind when you think in soup? It would be a pleasure if you share your emotions here with a comment.
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Dear Gloria, your dishes look great !!
Especially the soup served inside the piece of bread.
I’ve never been very fond of cooking, but after reading your post I’m thinking seriously of spend a bit more time in the kitchen.
I’ll try.
Sergio
Cooking is not my piece of cake, anyway I like vegetables, then this soup is perfect (without fat, of course).
Since neither do I like “smetana,” I as well learnt quite soon to say in Czech “bez smetany, prosim” (without cream, please) together with a bunch of useful words such as the well known “pivo” (beer) or dekuj (gracias).
On the contrary, I love “cesnekov? polevka v chlebu”, that is, garlic soup within the bread. Normally, I found Czech food a bit fatty, however “cesnekov? polevka” is one of my favourites, specially when it is cold (and there, as you know, Gloria, cold might be even in August).
Here, in Spain, I love “caldo blanco” and I’ve got lovely (and tasteful) memories of my grandfather’s “sopa de tomates”, with figs if I can choose. Do you like it? Do yo prefer it with grapes?
(sorry for the Czech spelling, I do not have in my keyboard the proper letters)
Wow “sopa de tomate”, you made an idea to come up to my mind, another post. I enjoy it and other homemade traditional dishes as well. I am fortunate my mother and father cook them for all family