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A course of šči (щи). Salt saffron milk caps are added in the soup

Shchi (Russian: щи, Russian pronunciation: [ɕ:i]) is russian national soup with cabbage as the primary ingredient. Generally it is made with either cabbage or sauerkraut and other winter vegetables, although meat can be added. Shchi made with sauerkraut has a sour taste and is called sour shchi. A summer sorrel soup, also popular in pre-Revolutionary and today's Russia, is known as green shchi (Russian: Зелёные щи, zelyonye shchi). Usually smetana is added into shchi before serving.

Trivia

• The two-letter word щи is transliterated into 5 letters in English. The German word for it is Schtschi, (8 letters, i.e., the word becomes 4 times longer, a feat hardly surpassable for any pair of languages). This was the gist of a joke about Catherine the Great, a tsarina of German descent: it was said that her Russian spelling was so bad that she made up to 8 errors in a 2-letter word.
• There is a Russian saying: Щи да каша - пища наша (shchi da kasha - pishcha nasha): "Shchi and kasha are our staples."

See also

• Borscht
• Russian cuisine
• щ