Russian Botvinya
Botvinya is one of the most typical cold Russian soups. It almost became extinct because it is difficult to make. It is quite difficult to cut corners as cutting corners tends to diminish much of the authentic taste.
A full botvinya consists of three parts:
1. The soup.
2. Boiled “red” (most prized) fish (salmon, sturgeon, or stellate sturgeon), that is served separately from soup.
3. Crushed ice, served on a separate platter or cup.
The name of the soup comes from the Russian word botva, which means “leafy tops of root vegetables”, and the ingredients are in line with the name: leafy tops of young beet, beetroots, oxalate sorrel, green onions, dill, cucumbers, and two types of kvass, then some mustard, lemon juice, and horseradish as spices.
It is eaten as the first course or right after a hot soup, before the second course as an appetizer. It is eaten using two spoons and a fork: the fork is used to eat the fish, the first spoon to sip the soup and the second spoon to put ice into the soup, so it stays cold for a long time. Botvin’ya is eaten with fresh rye bread.
You can find authentic Russian Botvinya on many Russian Restaurants in Los Angeles.
