Real Russian okroshka is always an improvisation, a different taste and pleasantfreshness.
Okroshka (a cold soup) in Russia was a staple dish on hot summer days. Every housewife had her own, proven okroshka recipe. The ratio of acidity and spices in each such recipe was chosen depending on the taste preferences of the family. This is a truly traditional dish –old but still very popular.
From the Ancient Times
Speaking about the history of okroshka, researchers point to almost a millennial period of time. It was that many years ago in Russia when the main component of okroshka was invented – kvass. Basically, okroshka is a soup made from vegetables, meat (or fish) and kvass, and is always served cold. Okroshka was mainly cooked in summer. The name of this traditional Russian dish comes from the same Russian word that means “to chop”. All components of okroshka are always cut into small pieces, i.e finely chopped.
What Goes into Okroshka?
The ratio of vegetables and meat (or fish) in okroshka is always 1 to 1. The vegetables that go into it are neutral and spicy, in equal quantities. From neutral vegetables most often people use potatoes, cucumbers, turnips and carrots. From spicy – green onions, celery, parsley, dill, and tarragon. Meat is almost never specifically prepared. Usually it would be the remaining parts from making other meat dishes, such as meat cut off from the bone. Often in one dish combined different kinds of meat. When making fish okroshka, women used mostly perch fillets, walleye or cod.
How Do You Dress It?
The liquid portion of okroshka is always sour. Therefore, in the old days people usually used white kvass, which is sourer than bread kvass. In fish okroshka sometimes added lemon juice.
Spicy dressing was prepared from saturated cucumber brine or a mixture of mustard, black pepper and kvass. In the very end added hard-boiled eggs and sour cream. The last two components are always added to okroshka and almost in all regions of Russia, while some other ingredients could be changed or omitted.
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