What about making a nice warm soup today?
If you need to buy some uncommon spices, you can go by train straight to Belgrano neighborhood and next to the train station you will find Buenos Aires’ China Town, with a lot of chinese specialized supermarkets. Just nice to do on a cloudy or boring cold winterday and get back to your apartment in Buenos Aires and explore your kitchen! Underneath I suggest the cosmopolitan recipy of the famous Russian red beet soup, called borsch (or borsj).
Enjoy the trip and the meal (with the horseradish you bought in the mentioned neighborhood).
RUSSIAN BORSCH:
- 600 g chopped red beets
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 red onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 400 g chopped root vegetables (traditionally celery root, parsnip, cabbage, carrot)
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- juice of 1 lemon
- salt, black pepper to taste
- vegetable broth
- chopped fresh parsley leaves
- sour cream (to garnish)
- horseradish (to garnish)
Peel the red beets and chop into bite-sized pieces. Heat the oil in a pan and brown sliced onions and garlic. (if you re thinking about the meat version, add the sliced pork/beef cubes at this stage and brown properly). Add the cumin seeds and the chopped vegetables. Coat well and fry over low heat until the veggies are soft, but crispy. Add the broth to cover the vegetables. Bring to boil, cover and let cook until soft. Add the black pepper and salt to taste and squeeze in the lemon juice.
Pure half of the soup (unless there is meat in it) and bring back to the boil. Mix in the parsley leaves and serve.
Shred the horseradish very finely and mix in with the sour cream. Serve the soup with a slice of rye bread and a good dollop of the spicy sour cream dip.
It’s a great soup to to serve with a good Argentine wine. A warm heartening excuse to invite your family or friends in your “own” flat in Buenos Aires and show them how you fill being a local in the city.
