Murtsovka: recipes for an old cold Russian soup

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Old Russian Murtsovka soup appeared a long time ago. It is difficult to know exactly when, but he went from somewhere in the middle Volga region. It has also found its way into literature. This cold soup from an extremely simple set of products is designed to fill you up in the heat, when you are too lazy to cook and eat something heavy. And here you can freshen up, and you can quench your thirst with hunger.

At different times, Russian people lived differently. Those who were forced to survive from bread to water, and came up with this soup for the poor. You can treat yourself to it in the country on a hot summer day or when the electricity suddenly turned off, because this happens. So let's tell you the most popular Murtsovka recipes.

Currently, Murtsovka is considered a forgotten part of Russian national culture, primarily due to the fact that it appeared on the tables of the then people not from a good and well-fed life. But if we discard the negative component of its origin, then why not try this old Russian dish? Murtsovka recipes with photos are givenin the article.

Necessity for inventions is cunning

At its core, all Russian national cuisine is rather poor. This is mainly dough and vegetables, meat is present in recipes much less. Dumplings, cabbage soup, mushrooms, pickles, sauerkraut, kulebyaka - there is no smell of meat here. It is understandable, because there were few rich people in Russia, and the people had to somehow survive. So he got out as best he could, and even constant wars and regime changes.

The same okroshka that has successfully survived to this day. White kvass on flour and vegetables from the garden - that's all the ingredients. The Murtsovka recipe is very similar to this cold soup, which is so loved in the heat, especially in southern Russia. Only crackers and onions are added to kvass. A kind of waste-free production is obtained. If suddenly the bread is stale, then you can always give it a new life.

Classic Murtsovka Recipe

To prepare an authentic Murtsovka, you will need rye bread crumbs, green onion feathers, a head of red onion, white kvass for okroshka (regular one will do), s alt and pepper.

Finely chop a few green onion feathers and mix with chopped red onion in a ratio of two to one. S alt and begin to knead until juice appears, but not into porridge. Then add rye bread croutons to the plate, broken into smaller pieces (it is better to make the croutons small in advance). Pour the contents of the plate with white kvass, let the crackers soak a little and add black ground pepper. Here, in fact, is the whole recipe for Murtsovka.

What to flavor?

You can spice up the dish with no less traditional additives: a couple of tablespoons of hemp oil, a boiled egg and a few tails of smelt (small dried fish, which was found just in the middle Volga region). A glass of vodka or moonshine will not hurt either.

By the way, in especially famine years, ice-cold well water was used instead of kvass, and nevertheless everyone was relatively satisfied. Anything is better than starving.

Modern recipe

Its distinctive feature is not only in the ingredients, of which there are quite a lot, but also in the base. It uses tomato juice.

To make eight servings of this cold soup you need:

• Three liters of tomato juice.
• Half a kilo of boiled potatoes.
• Six chicken eggs.
• Half a kilo of fresh cucumbers.
• As many pickles.
• Bunch of dill.
• Small onion.
• A few green onions.
• S alt and ground black pepper to taste.

Let's start cooking

Boiled potatoes need to be finely chopped, approximately to the size of each piece about a pea. Pass boiled eggs through an egg cutter, and cucumbers - both fresh and s alted - through a coarse grater. Finely chop the onion and dill and mix all the ingredients in a saucepan, then pour tomato juice to the consistency you need - someone likes a more liquid version, others need it thicker. Then we put the pan in the refrigerator for half an hour, after which you can enjoy it.forgotten primordially Russian dish.

This recipe for cucumbers, other vegetables and tomato juice will come in handy on a hot day and will be an excellent hearty lunch. By the way, it is better to s alt the dish immediately before serving, as cucumbers will give s alt to tomato juice, which is also often quite s alted. Eat soup better with brown bread or garlic croutons - this is the perfect combination.

Starving from the Volga region

Some historians associate the appearance of Murtsovka with a terrible famine that swept the regions of the Volga region at the beginning of the 20th century. It was then that this soup of modest ingredients appeared. After all, everything that came to hand went into food in critical times. Others claim that the murtsovka was invented in Tula by the workers of the arms factory, but the first version is more like the truth.

Then, presumably, a recipe for tomato purée appeared. S alted or pickled tomatoes (about half a kilogram) are peeled and grated - we get a sour-s alty mass. We add a small onion chopped into cubes and finely chopped garlic, crushed with a knife in advance to extract the juice. Then pour a tablespoon of sugar into the container, pepper to taste and pour in three tablespoons of vegetable oil. Mix thoroughly and let steep. After about twenty minutes, the soup can be poured into plates, into which a handful of rye bread crackers should be poured. It turns out a savory sweet and sour dish for all occasions.

Such Murtsovka can be both an independent dish andan excellent addition to fried potatoes and mushrooms. You can also use it as a sauce for meat dishes, including barbecue. Then you just need to add chopped greens to the soup: dill, parsley, cilantro and basil. Murtsovka will sparkle with new flavors.