Local name: Chłodnik litewski
A bright pink cold soup of beetroot and kefir, sharpened with dill and lemon, served with a halved boiled egg.
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Photo: Dmitry Dzema, CC BY-SA 4.0
Cold mutes flavour. Season this soup after it comes out of the fridge, never before, and add more lemon at the last moment if it tastes flat.
An estimate computed from the recipe quantities and the USDA food composition database. Real values vary with the products used.
Cold dulls our perception of salt and acidity: a soup seasoned perfectly at room temperature tastes flat once it is ice cold. Taste and adjust the salt and lemon straight from the fridge, just before serving.
Grating releases the juices that stain the kefir deep pink and flavour the whole bowl, whereas dice would just sit as lumps in a white liquid. It also gives a texture you can spoon up without chewing.
The kefir and yogurt mixture is stable as long as it stays cold, but the acidity of the lemon can make it grainy if it is dumped into a lukewarm liquid. Whisk the dairy together cold first, then trickle the lemon juice in.
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