Solyanka

Solyanka is a thick, sour-salty Russian soup built on a meat or fish stock with pickled and smoked ingredients. It is one of the classic soups of Russian home and restaurant cooking.

What it really is

Solyanka is a soup, not a stew, although it is thick. The base is a rich stock, usually beef, pork or mixed meats, sometimes chicken or fish. Onion, carrot and tomato or tomato paste are sautéed and added, then sliced pickled cucumbers and their brine, capers, black olives and often smoked sausage or smoked meat. Sour notes come from the brine and sometimes lemon, and the finished soup is seasoned with salt, bay leaf and pepper.

The soup is distinguished from shchi, a cabbage soup, and from rassolnik, which is built on pearl barley and pickled cucumber brine and is a separate dish. Solyanka's defining features are the combination of several salty and sour elements, and the presence of olives and capers. Fish versions, usually with white fish or sturgeon, also exist.

How it's served

• Served hot in a bowl, usually as a first course.
• Commonly finished with a spoonful of sour cream and a lemon wedge or slice.
• Garnished with chopped dill or parsley and sometimes a few olives.
• Eaten with dark rye bread.

How to write it on the menu

• Name the meat or fish base, for example beef solyanka or fish solyanka, and list the main pickled and smoked items: pickled cucumber, olives, capers and smoked sausage.
• Flag dairy if sour cream is served on top, and flag mustard or celery only if they are in the house recipe.
• State whether the soup contains meat or fish stock, since it is not suitable for vegetarian diners in its classic form.
• Specify if lemon is served on the side or in the bowl.