Winter, 6th day
New town, new journal. Tossed the last one in the hearth where it belonged. No need for something so dramatic, but revisiting old wounds isn't healthy for anyone. And firewood is expensive.
Speaking of revisiting old wounds, what a fitting name for this place, isn't it? The Gaping Wound. Which genius thought that up?
So far, the crowd at this place is better than I expected. Boris would have been proud of my handwritten flyers, too, after all the effort he went to teaching me how to read and write our painted signs. I've induldged in a little whiskey too many of these mornings after a long shift, the work is certainly more exhausting in a certain way than the old tavern. But it's cleaner--not just the building, but the customers don't feel quite as slimy either.
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Recipe for "Borsch"
Also known as beet soup
A ciorbe or "sour soup" as the outlanders would call it. Seems like a familiar enough recipe to them, pink food must be popular everywhere.
Ingredients:
Four to five potatoes, diced
If available and preferred, a half stalk of celery and a single parsnip
Two or more carrots, diced
Two onions, diced
Two or three beets, depending on size, diced
If available, red cabbage, preferrably pickled
If lemons and tomatos can be purchased from abroad, a paste and a single lemon
Whatever oil is available on the market
A broth made from vegetables or beef
Sour cream, if available
In the pot, heat the onions until gold and slightly brown.
Add the beets and carrots first along with a little of the broth, covering the pot and allowing them to soften for three minutes.
Add the other vegetables and the bay leaf, everything besides lemon if it is used. Save some of the cabbage as topping. Add the broth. If the potatoes are of weaker stock, add them after the next step.
Boil for thirty minutes. Add the potatoes here instead if preferred.
Add the dill and lemons if they are used. Simmer until all the vegetables are soft and their taste dispersed, about twenty minutes, and taste.
If on a tight budget, the most important ingredients are:
Beets (of course)
Carrots OR potatoes
Onions
Broth (last boss tried to get me to use rat broth...no thank you)
The best to cut from the recipe are:
Celery
Tomato
For sourness, if lemon cannot be acquired, pickled/fermented cabbage and cucumber juices can be slipped into the soup, to impart it the proper sour flavor. More sour cream can also SHOCKINGLY increase the sourness.
To serve:
Add a little pickled or boiled cabbage to the top, along with dill and sour cream if available. If lemon or pickled sours have not been available, a little salt can go a long way. The beets and tsuika will do the rest.
If lemon was available, squeeze the rinds and a little juice over the bowl, and get as much of the rind's oil into the air and into the bowl. It goes a long way.
