Ingredients
Soup
- 500 gbeetroot, cooked and grated
- 1 litrekefir
- 250 mlsour cream
- 250 mlcold water or beet cooking liquid
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tspsalt
- ½ tspsugar
- black pepper
Fresh
- 2cucumbers, diced
- 4spring onions, sliced
- 1very large bunch dill
To serve
- 4hard-boiled eggs
- hot boiled potatoes
- more dill
Directions
- Boil or roast the beetroot whole with the skins on, then peel and grate or julienne it, keeping some of the cooking water.
- Whisk the kefir and sour cream together until completely smooth.
- Whisk in the beetroot, the reserved cooking water, lemon juice, salt, sugar and pepper.
- The soup should come out a strong clear pink. If it is pale, add more beetroot; if it has gone purple and heavy, thin it with more kefir.
- Fold in the diced cucumber, the spring onions and a very large amount of chopped dill.
- There is no such thing as too much dill in this soup. It is a dominant flavour rather than a garnish, and a timid hand shows immediately.
- Chill for at least 3 hours and preferably overnight, so the flavours settle and the colour evens out.
- Serve ice cold in bowls with half a hard-boiled egg in each and more dill scattered over.
- Serve hot boiled potatoes on a separate plate alongside.
- Hot potatoes with ice-cold soup is not an accident and it is the entire point of the meal. Latvia and Lithuania both serve it this way and both would find it strange to do otherwise.
Technique
- Kefir rather than plain yoghurt. Its thinner body and sharper tang are what the soup is built on.
- Make it the day before. It is one of the few soups that is genuinely better for a night in the refrigerator.
- Serve it colder than seems reasonable, in a chilled bowl, on the hottest day you can find.
Substitutions
- Buttermilk, or thin plain yoghurt let down with water, in place of kefir.
- Vacuum-packed cooked beetroot, which works perfectly and saves an hour.
Variations
- With diced boiled potato stirred in rather than served alongside.
- With radishes added for crunch.
- Šaltibarščiai, the Lithuanian version, which is essentially the same soup.
History
Kefir soured with beetroot, cucumber and egg, eaten ice cold in summer and shared with neighbouring Lithuania.
Frequently asked questions
What is Cold beet soup?
Cold beet soup is a soup & stew from Latvia: chilled pink kefir-beet soup with cucumber, egg, dill. Kefir soured with beetroot, cucumber and egg, eaten ice cold in summer and shared with neighbouring Lithuania.
How long does Cold beet soup take to make?
Cold beet soup takes 25 min plus 3 hr chilling of preparation and 40 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Cold beet soup?
Yes, within limits. Buttermilk, or thin plain yoghurt let down with water, in place of kefir. Vacuum-packed cooked beetroot, which works perfectly and saves an hour.
What is the most important thing to get right in Cold beet soup?
There is no such thing as too much dill in this soup. It is a dominant flavour rather than a garnish, and a timid hand shows immediately.
