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Soup

Cold Sweet Borsch

A cold beet soup with sweetened dried fruits, potatoes, and sour cream.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Cold Sweet Borsch

Time20 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fruit

  1. Wash dried fruits carefully.

  2. Pour dried fruits over cold water.

  3. Add sugar to the mixture.

  4. Cook the mixture on medium heat.

Cook the soup

  1. Cut beet into strips.

  2. Pour beet strips over hot water.

  3. Add vinegar and salt to the water.

  4. Cook until beet is soft.

  5. Add cooked fruits with water and cubed potatoes to beet.

  6. Boil for 20 minutes.

  7. Serve cool.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

476Calories
30 gProtein
6 gFat
76 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 10 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Yogurt170g plain Greek100
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Beet1/2 cup (85g)35
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Fruitsnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Vinegar + oniontop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,226 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Beet
Provides the main body, colour and earthy sweetness of the soup.
Potatoes
Add starch and body, thickening the soup and softening its texture.
Dried fruits
Add natural sweetness and a fruity aroma to the soup.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that balances the sweetness and brightens the flavour.
Sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the acidity of the vinegar.

The step that matters

Cook the beet until soft. Beet needs enough time in hot water to become fully tender. Adding vinegar and salt to the water before the beet softens can slow softening, so the beet may stay firm if cooked too briefly.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, vinegar, sugar, pepper, cream, egg):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Mustardfits better
  3. Spinachfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, vinegar, sugar, pepper, cream, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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