Latvian recipe
How to make Cold beetroot soup
aukstā zupa
Eaten across the Baltic region and Latvia in summer
A bright pink soup served cold in spring and summer, made from kefir or soured milk with boiled beetroot, cucumber, radish, hard-boiled egg and plenty of fresh dill.
Ingredients
- 3 medium beetroots, boiled, peeled and cooled (or ready-cooked beetroot)
- 1 litre kefir or buttermilk, well chilled
- 1 cucumber and 4 radishes
- 3 hard-boiled eggs
- A small bunch of dill and a few spring onions
- Salt, a pinch of sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice
- Sour cream and boiled or fried potatoes to serve
Method
- Grate the beetroot coarsely or cut it into thin strips. Dice the cucumber and slice the radishes thinly.
- Finely chop the dill and spring onions. Chop two of the eggs.
- Put the vegetables, herbs and chopped eggs in a large bowl and pour over the cold kefir. Stir until the soup turns pink.
- Season with salt, a pinch of sugar and lemon juice. If it is too thick, add a little cold water. Chill for 30 minutes.
- Serve in bowls with a slice of the last egg and a spoon of sour cream, with warm potatoes on the side.
Made it at home? Tick it off and it goes into your kitchen passport.
Its Latvian name, aukstā zupa, simply means 'cold soup'. Similar soups are loved in Lithuania, Poland, Belarus and Ukraine.
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