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A Spoonful for Mom, a Spoonful for Dad: How to Make Soup According to a Pre-Revolutionary Recipe
In Russia alone in the mid-19th century, there were up to 60 different types of shchi, including meat, fish, mushroom and nettle. In winter, this soup was frozen for travelers. Even in high society, it was not shameful to put it on the table. But this applies not only to shchi. For example, at the coronation of Alexander III, guests were served both borscht and pearl barley soup. It is very important whether the soup is served with boiled meat, as is customary, for example, with pickles. Then you need boneless thighs. This will make the dish especially rich and aromatic. If you are preparing broth for sour and fatty Russian soups (for example, borscht), you will need brisket with spongy bones soaked in red bone marrow. According to the recommendations of a 1916 book, this will give the dish a special sweet taste. "In Moscow, meat soup is rarely cooked. Firstly, meat was expensive, so not everyone could afford it. “Secondly, the residents of the capital are still Orthodox Christians, so they observed fasts and ate chastely throughout the year,” the podcast host said.
Solyanka, also called "selyanka", can be meat, fish and lean (mushroom broth). To prepare meat solyanka, you will need white beef broth. Add raw veal bones to the pan. The leftovers of various types of roast are ideal for dressing. For example, our recipe uses veal and hazel grouse. All meat should be fried separately. The juice from the pan should be poured into the broth. Veal, like hazel grouse, should be cooled and then cut up. All the poultry bones, except for the spine, should also be added to the pan. Pickled mushrooms, olives and gherkins should be cut into thin slices. Fry all this with the marinade in oil. When everything is ready, you will need to add tomato puree. Sliced ham or tongue should be added to the veal and a hot white sauté should be prepared. Then the mixture is diluted with strained broth and boiled several times, adding the marinade. Sometimes, to save money, I replaced ham with corned beef and veal with beef.
In addition to brine and pickles, this dish requires cereals, root vegetables, spices and greens. Beef kidneys, liver, stomach and heart, as well as chicken or fish intestines are added to meat pickles. But we will have Lenten recipes. First, you need to cook mushroom broth with cucumber trimmings. Then pour hot sauté, diluted brine. After that, you need to prepare broth, adding separately boiled pickled cucumber pulp, roots and stewed potatoes, semolina or pearl barley and sliced mushrooms. Mushrooms must first be fried in vegetable oil. As soon as all the side dishes are in the broth, it will need to be boiled several times. For better taste and color, you can add tomato puree to the soup when cooking vegetables.