Canteen classics: Solyanka, Estonian style

Following my recent post on azu, the Tatar meat stew, here is another dish that must have frequently featured in one disguise or another in every single canteen and many households across the former Soviet empire: selyanka/solyanka. A hearty soup originally from Russia and Ukraine that can be just as humble or elegant as you want. If you're a flashy Slav, you use seven types of meat (incl. kidneys) and throw in a handful of black olives and a generous pinch of capers. If you're a more modest Estonian, you stick to sweating onions and a choice of sausages. You can add cabbage or other vegetables, make a vegetarian, fishy or meaty solyanka. Whatever you do, you must use salted cucumbers or mushrooms. In Estonia, we use the former.

You can read more about solyanka at Wikipedia.

Solyanka, Estonian style
(Seljanka eesti moodi )
Serves: 4



3 large onions
4 Tbsp oil
100 ml boiling water
100 grams of concentrated tomato puree
1 litre boiling water
1 Tbsp Marigold stock powder or 3 beef stock cubes
3 bay leaves
10 black peppercorns
3 salted cucumbers, halved lengthwise and sliced
300-400 grams of cooked lean meat products (choose a mixture of Frankfurters, Polish kabanos or Cracow sausages, sliced cooked beef, chorizo sausages etc - 2-3 different types)

To serve:
sour cream or smetana or thick plain yogurt

Quarter the onions and slice thinly crosswise.
Heat oil in a heavy saucepan, add onions and fry gently for 5 minutes. Add 100 ml boiling water and simmer for 15 minutes, until onions have softened.
Add tomato puree and stir until combined.
Add 1 litre of boiling water, bay leaves, peppercorns, stock powder/cubes, sliced cucumbers, and chopped meat products.
Bring slowly to the boil, cover, turn off the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes, so the flavours can develop. The soup is not boiled after addition of those ingredients!
Season (you can add some lemon juice to sharpen the soup).
Serve with a dollop of sour cream and some rye bread.