Funny holidays - Okroshka Day

Cold soup is present in the cuisines of different nations of the world In Spain it is gazpacho made from grated fresh tomatoes, in Bulgaria it is kefir tarator, in Latvia it is vasara, in Uzbekistan it is chalopa, and in Belarus it is beetroot soup One of the most popular first dishes in Russia, served cold, is okroshka It is most often prepared in spring and summer, because with the arrival of warmth, fresh cucumbers, radishes, dill and green onions appear on the table In honor of the popular dish, a gastronomic holiday was invented - Okroshka Day, which is celebrated on May 30 The recipe for cold soup goes back a long way Since ancient times, peasants in Rus' ate simple dishes made from vegetables: radishes with onions on kvass, turyu made from crackers, bread crusts, vegetable oil and onions on sour milk Over time, their recipe began to resemble a modern version of okroshka They began to add turnips, potatoes, eggs, mushrooms, meat or fish to dishes In the book “Russian Cookery,” published in 1816, it is recommended to use “house and wild birds” for cooking: chickens, black grouse, turkey, etc The liquid base was not only kvass, but also whey, cucumber pickle, kefir, beet broth and diluted vinegar To the traditional ingredients, vegetables and meat, salted plums and pickled apples, mushrooms, sturgeon and beluga were sometimes added The dressing was vinegar, horseradish, pepper and vegetable oil Most often, the basis was home-made white kvass In order to make the taste of the drink more rich, it was seasoned with egg yolks, sour cream, mustard, sugar and salt Our ancestors distinguished between meat (with beef), national team (with tongue and ham) and okroshka "kavardak" (with dried and smoked fish) The variety of recipes for this ancient dish is amazing Game okroshka was prepared with the addition of partridge and hazel grouse meat, and seafood - squid and scallops There were recipes according to which cold soup was prepared in a specific area In the Urals, for example, fresh cucumbers were replaced with sauerkraut In “Notes of a rifle hunter of the Orenburg province” ST Aksakov points out that crane meat is suitable for making okroshka Today, traditional cold soup, whose name comes from the verb “to crumble” (finely cut food), is most often prepared from vegetables and meat, ham or sausage The dish, mentioned in Domostroy, a literary monument of the 16th century, is no less popular today than it was hundreds of years ago Therefore, gourmets and connoisseurs of national Russian cuisine annually celebrate Okroshka Day on May 30th