The FIFA World Cup Cooking challenge has officially begun and I've kicked off Group A with a Traditional Russian Soup. Solyanka Soup is a chunky sour soup (it could also be considered as a stew) consisting of smoked sausage (kielbasa), beef stewing steak, chopped tomatoes, vegetables and pickles? Yep, PICKLES! Even though I absolutely love a good gherkin, I don't really cook with them nor pickle brine so that was really new for me. Being completely honest, I was quite intimidated to try this because I hadn't really delved into Eastern European meals and I was worried that my taste buds would have a little freak out. I also think I may have added too much tomato puree because it turned out to be a really rich in flavour and pretty red as you can see. But all in all it was actually pretty delicious- it's deep, rich, smokey and had a satisfying tang; just like a Chinese sweet and sour. Delish!