Solianka

Name: Solianka
Yield: Makes 14 cups (3.5 l) broth and vegetables; 8 main-course servings or 16 first-course servings
Cuisine: Russian
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons pitted and chopped Kalamata olives; 7 sour pickles, chopped (2 cups; 375 g); 4 pounds (1.8 kg) sturgeon or salmon fillet, skinned, pin bones removed, and cut into 10 equal pieces; 2 tablespoons capers, rinsed; 2 tablespoons tomato paste; 2 medium parsnips, peeled and cut into ¼-inch (.5-cm) dice; Kosher salt, to taste; Freshly ground black pepper, to taste; 3 large ribs celery, peeled and cut across on the diagonal into ¼-inch (.5-cm) slices; 3 medium leeks, white and light green parts only, washed well and cut across into very thin slices; 1 ounce (60 g) dried porcini mushrooms (cèpes), optional; 3 medium carrots, peeled and cut across into ¼-inch (5-cm) rounds; ½ pound (225 ml) mushrooms, trimmed, wiped clean, and thinly sliced; 1 large onion, finely chopped; 4 medium shallots, thinly sliced; 4 pounds (1.8 kg) salmon or sturgeon bones and head, well washed to remove any blood; 4 tablespoons (60 g) unsalted butter

Preparation info

Makes 14 cups 3.5 l ) broth and vegetables;
8
main-course servings or 16 first-course servings

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Soup

By Barbara Kafka

Published 1998

About

Oddly, this Russian soup can be made with meat as well as fish; but the very finest version is made with sturgeon, fish that when fresh does not disintegrate with prolonged cooking. The finest solianka of the tsars was made with sterlet sturgeon, also used in the clear soup called ouhka. Sterlet sturgeon is not available any longer, an ecological tragedy.

What may seem like a particularly unlikely group of seasonings, including as it does pickles and olives, makes for a beaut

Ingredients

Europe
Russia
Fish course
Stock
Pescatarian
Spicy
Eastern Europe
Soup
Gluten-free

Ingredients

Method