Hmmm. A flood of memories washing over me. Soup is certainly not very impressive when it comes to memories, but the ‘normalness’ of it all keeps it lingering on. Solyanka is a soup from Eastern Europe, easy to make (leftovers if you have those) and it should fit most tastes.

• 100g onions (finely chopped)
• 100g ham
• 100g cold meat
• 100g salami
• 50g gherkins
• 50g sauerkraut
• 50g capers
• 2T tomato puree
• 2 litres of broth
• allspice, bay leaf, pepper, salt, oil, lemon
• lemon, dill and sour cream (smetana)

Fry the chopped onions in a bit of oil, add the meat, ham and salami and stir until you feel like it is exactly how you want it. (just lightly; don’t kill it with fire). Add the chopped up gherkins, the capers and the tomato puree. Move everything about for a few minutes and now add the broth. Add the sauerkraut.

Spice everything up with crushed allspice, pepper, bay leaf, salt and lemon juice. All to your liking. Simmer for some 15-20 minutes (or until you cannot wait any longer).

The soup is served with lemon slices, chopped dill and sour cream.

* On a side note: Some of the tomato puree brands do contain starch (0.1 per 100g). I don’t feel any effect when using it here, but please test it out yourself.