chez gorgeoux: beetroot soup at lunchtime

beetroot soup, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

First time I had beetroot soup, it was cooked in Transylvania by some distant relative that served us a seven course Austrian menu. So old school that I couldn't believe she used a soup bowl for the table. We never did. Most of the food was amazing, but the sweet beetroot soup didn't do it for me. I loved beetroot salad and still do. I find it hard to imagine the earthy taste of beetroot in a sweet dish I would also enjoy.

The second beetroot soup I recall was the one served by OTA, the owner of the namesake bar in Bucharest. It was a Ukrainian recipe that added sour cream to the soup and the made it fantastic. So that is, more or less, what I set to cook for lunch today, since my love had brought three beetroots from the Farmers' Market last Sunday.

My plan worked marvelously. Next to the beetroots I boiled a potato, a large red onion, and three celery sticks, the harsher ones of the lot that otherwise got consumed in Bloody Mary and salads. Salt was obviously important, and for spices I looked at mustard seeds and hot, smoked paprika. Once I managed to chill it and then to blend it without turning the whole kitchen pink, the really interesting part followed.

I reheated the soup and added the juice of one full lime. I think there was room for two of those, in fact, since the soup got served with the boring British soured cream, instead of the proper sour cream I've yet to find in a shop. Fresh parsley is a lovely addition, which is rare for parsley, a herb of lesser personality. Next to the soup we had our recent answer to having bread quickly in a house where bread is rarely eaten: flat bread (or wraps) fried with little to no oil in a nonstick pan.

fried flat bread, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

The only two things you could do different about this soup to get an even nicer taste are spending some time to sautee the veggies before adding enough water to see them simmer, and using borscht instead of lime.