Tyurya

 ( Cold Soups ) 

Tyurya, sometimes known as murtsovka, is a traditional bread soup in the Russian cuisine, sometimes considered a variant of okroshka. It consists of chunks of bread, often stale or semi-stale, or dried/baked into sukhari biscuits/hardtack, soaked in a flavorful liquid or, alternatively, plain water, with some vegetables (chiefly onion, garlic or sauerkraut) and vegetable oil added and flavored with salt and pepper. The base liquid could be anything that can be consumed cold, because unlike most other bread soups, tyurya was prepared and consumed without heat. Kvass was historically the most popular base for tyurya, due to it being cheap, plentiful and flavorful enough. A dairy base, like plain or sour milk, whey or kefir was considered fancy and was generally prepared for children, the elderly or the infirm. It is, along with pokhlyobka, a traditional Lenten soup.

Made with black bread, it was a staple food of the Russian Red Army during World War II.

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Synonyms and etymology The dish has many synonyms, both general Russian and local: tyura, turka,Тюря // Толковый словарь живого великорусского языка : в 4 т. / авт.-сост. В. И. Даль. — 2-е изд. — Санкт-Петербург : Типография М. О. Вольфа, 1880—1882. tubka, tyupka,Тюпка // Толковый словарь живого великорусского языка : в 4 т. / авт.-сост. В. И. Даль. — 2-е изд. — Санкт-Петербург : Типография М. О. Вольфа, 1880—1882. murtsovka, Мурцовка // Исторический словарь галлицизмов русского языка mura, Добродомов И. Г. Этимологические заметки (тюря и мура) ruli,Рули // Толковый словарь живого великорусского языка : в 4 т. / авт.-сост. В. И. Даль. — 2-е изд. — Санкт-Петербург : Типография М. О. Вольфа, 1880—1882. kawardachok. Энгельгардт А. Н. Из деревни. 12 писем. 1872—1887. — М.: Гос. изд-во сельскохозяйственной литературы, 1956

In case the bread is added in the form of (rus. sukhari), it is often called sukharnitsa. Сухарница, она же тюря или мурцовка Словарь русских народных говоров, Том 42. Институт русского языка — М.: Наука, 2010. — 31 с. — С. 328 — ISBN 5020278947, 9785020278943 Рогова В. Н. Словарь русских говоров южных районов Красноярского края. — Красноярск: Изд-во Красноярского университета, 1988. — 444 с. — С. 372

In the Tula Oblast, a tyurya made of bread, onions, kvass and vegetable oil was called uvanchiki.Уванчики // Толковый словарь живого великорусского языка : в 4 т. / авт.-сост. В. И. Даль. — 2-е изд. — Санкт-Петербург : Типография М. О. Вольфа, 1880—1882.

The Russian name "tyurya" occurred from Türkic * tӱ̄r (from tyur, tyir) "crumb": "a meal of crushed bread with water". From the Russian language, the word "tyurya" has penetrated into the Latvian ( – food from water, bread and onions) and Belarusian (, along with other synonyms – мурцоўка, рулі, мочёнки, мочёунки). Добродомов И. Г. Три невыявленных тюркизма русского словаря (тюбяк, тюря, бандура)

"Murtsovka" comes from the French morceaux: "pieces".

"Mura" – from the Finnish muru: "crumb".

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History and preparation In the most popular and probably original variant, tyurya was the cheap, cooling and filling meal for a peasant in the field. Several slices of day-old rye bread, diced onion and some fresh herbs were combined in a bowl and soaked with a liberal amount of kvass, then flavored with salt and optionally pepper. Some vegetable oil was often added, historically linseed oil, mustard oil or cheaper olive oil, as sunflower oil only become popular in Russia in the late nineteenth century. When a family could spare some dairy, or when someone was ill, the festive, dessert tyurya, considered more palatable and easily digestible, was prepared, which was sweetened with honey or, later, white sugar.

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General references

• Tyuryas: William Pokhlyobkin, "Cuisines of our peoples", in Russian

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