Solyanka. Soup.

There are three basic types of solyanka:
- with the main ingredient being either meat,
- fish,
- or mushrooms.
All of them contain pickled cucumbers with brine, and often cabbage, salted mushrooms, smetana (sour cream), and dill.
The soup is prepared by cooking the cucumbers with brine before adding the other ingredients to the broth.
For meat solyanka, ingredients like beef, ham, sausages, chicken breast together with cucumber pickles, tomatoes, onions, olives, capers, allspice, parsley, and dill are all cut fine and mixed in a pot.
The broth is added, and heated for a short time on the stove, without boiling.
Fish solyanka is prepared similarly, but soup vegetables are cooked in the broth.
The meat is replaced with fish such as sturgeon, salmon, and freshwater crayfish.
Finally, some lemon juice is added to the soup.
For mushroom solyanka, cut cabbage is heated in butter together with vinegar, tomatoes, cucumber pickles, and a little brine.
Separately, mushrooms and onions are heated, and grated lemon zest is added.
Cabbage and mushrooms are added in layers, breadcrumbs and butter are added, and the soup is briefly baked.

Ingredients:
500 g. bones
200 g. meat
100 g. cooked ham (or veal with skin)
70 g. sausage
120 g. cooked kidney
70 g. chicken

200 g. onions
100 g. pickles
180 g. capers
80 g. olives
80 g. tomato paste
50 g. butter
Black pepper kernels
Bay leaf
100 g. sour cream
Parsley and dill

Preparation:
Make broth by boiling the meat and bones.
Remove the meat and bones and place to one side.
String-cut the onions and fry them in butter (without letting them brown).
Add them to the broth along with the tomato paste.
Remove the skin from the pickles, slice into cubes, and add to the broth. Cook 4-5 minutes.
Add the pepper kernels and bay leaf.
Next, add all the various boiled meats, finely sliced into pieces about 2-3 mm thick and 2-2.5 cm long, along with the capers, and a few pitted olives.
When serving, add olives, sour cream, and a slice of peeled lemon.
You may also cook solyanka with chicken broth and smoked meats instead.
But remember: the greater the variety of meat, the tastier your solyanka will be!