Borscht

Cooking time —
Complication —

Borscht with pork brisket and veal (it was served with hot aromatic buns) came from Ukraine to stay forever. Russian and French chefs (they worked for Moscow and Petersburg restaurants in the 19th century) brought new details into the recipe of the Ukrainian borscht on lard. They started making borscht on bone meat broths. They added beans, vegetable marrows, turnip and sour apples. Such ingredients as beet, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, parsley, onions and tomatoes remained. Whole peoples and countries argue to be the homeland of borscht. The Ukrainians are believed to have more right for this, but ask the Lithuanians and they will tell you that borscht with dumplings and loin is their national dish. In Poland they assure that "borshchok" with pickled beet was invented there, while the Romanian borscht is pickled bran broth used as a basis for a soup called "chorba". The history of a vegetable soup totals hundreds of years. Even Neanderthals could make a primitive meat soup in a leather bag periodically chilled with water. Then this dish could for a long time be found in a poor man"s cup. It took the soup long to be recognized by aristocrats – in Middle Ages the latter preferred sweets and fruit, while vegetable soups were cooked only by common people.
Our ancestors often cooked "broth with potion" – they called so various vegetable dishes filled with roots and herbs. Beet called "brshch" was the most noticeable among the ingredients. Others consider that the word "borscht" derives from a plant called "borshchevik" which peasants used to eat.

Dense Borscht With Loin

Ingredients:
(for 4 portions)
100g smoked bacon
1 onion
300g carrots, beet and potatoes each
3 stalks leek
2 apples
30ml lemon juice
400g boiled-smoked loin
1/2 bunch marjoram
1L meat broth
30ml vegetable oil
2 bay leaves
salt, pepper

Cooking: Dice bacon. Peel and chop onions. Rinse all vegetables, peel, slice or dice. Rinse leek, peel and slice it into circles. Peel apples, cut into quarters, remove seeds, slice finely and sprinkle with lemon juice at once. Cube the loin. Rinse marjoram sprigs. Fry bacon with onions in vegetable oil. Add to the broth. Add marjoram, bay leaf, carrots, potatoes, beet and leek. Cover with a lid and boil 20 minutes. Three minutes before it is ready add loin and apples. Salt and pepper. Decorate the borscht with marjoram leaves.

Kyiv Borscht

300g beef
300g lamb
600g beet
800g cabbage
700g potatoes
100g beans
100g carrots
50g celery root
50g parsley root
150g onions
800g tomatoes
200g pickled apples
1000ml beet kvass
50g spick bacon
100g melted butter
50g sugar
150g sour cream
Peppercorns
bay leaf
salt, fresh parsley, dill

Cooking: Put the beef into beet kvass, add water and boil until ready. Slice tomatoes, simmer in melted butter and press through a sieve. Stew sliced beet in broth with finely chopped lamb. Julienne onions and roots and brown them in the fat skimmed from the broth. Put diced potatoes and chopped cabbage in the broth and cook 5-7 minutes, then add browned roots, beet stewed with lamb, crushed tomatoes, sliced pickled apples, pre-boiled beans, spick-bacon pounded with raw onions and fresh herbs, bay leaf, peppercorns, sugar, salt, beet kvass. At serving, add sour cream and sprinkle with fresh herbs.

Russian Borscht

(for 4 portions)
1000g beet
600g cabbage
200g carrots
50g parsley
200g onions
150g tomato paste
50g flour
100g table margarine
50g sugar
80g 3% vinegar
100g sour cream
bay leaf, pepper, fresh herbs

Cooking: Stew sliced or julienned beet in a covered pan with addition of fat, tomato paste, and sugar. To preserve the beet colour (depending on its condition) add 2-3g of vinegar. To prevent beet from burning, stir it adding broth or water as required. Stew the beet first at high heat and when the beet starts boiling and drowns, reduce the heat and keep at weak boiling. Stew ripe beet 30-40 minutes, and young 10-15 minutes. Then put fresh cabbage in a pan with boiling water, bring it to boil, add the stewed beet, browned roots and onions and cook 20-30 minutes. 5-10 minutes before the end, dress with white sauce, add spices (bay leaf, pepper) and salt. Borscht with sauerkraut is cooked the same way, but sauerkraut is pre-stewed in fat. Press out sauerkraut, and rinse it in cold water if it is too sour, put in a pan, add fat, a little broth or water so that the sauerkraut does not burn, then cover with a lid and stew 1.5-2.5 hours. To give the borscht the necessary colour, prepare beet brew. For this, slice finely or grate thoroughly rinsed beets, put them in a pan with hot broth (1L/500g beets), add vinegar, sour kvass or brine from pickled vegetables and bring to boil. Then leave the brew to rest 15-20 minutes at the side of the cooker and filter it. Add one table spoon of the brine to each plate before serving or pour the necessary amount into the pan.

Chernigov Borscht

400g beef
600g beet
1200g cabbage
100g beans
700g potatoes
250g vegetable marrows
200g tomatoes
200g apples
50g parsley root
100g carrots
150g onions
100g tomato paste
50g 3% vinegar
50g sugar
100g melted lard
150g sour cream
bay leaf
peppercorns
salt, fresh dill, parsley

Cooking: Stew julienned beet with salt, vinegar, skimmed fat, tomato paste and sugar. Separately boil beans. Add sliced potatoes and chopped cabbage to the boiling broth and cook 15-20 minutes, then add roasted cubed vegetable marrows, boiled beans, stewed beet, browned roots and onions, cubed apples, fresh tomatoes (segments), bay leaf, peppercorns and cook until ready. At serving, put meat and sour cream into each plate and sprinkle with fresh herbs.

Volyn Borscht

800g beef
600g beet
1.6 kg cabbage
150g carrots
100g parsley root
150g onions
600g tomatoes
100g melted lard
150g sour cream
bay leaf
peppercorns
salt, fresh parsley, dill

Cooking: Boil peeled beet until half-ready, julienne it, combine with chopped cabbage in the broth and cook 10 minutes. Then add browned roots, onions, roasted and grated fresh tomatoes, bay leaf, peppercorns and cook until ready. At serving, put meat and sour cream into each plate and sprinkle with fresh herbs.

Khmelnitsky Borscht

(for 6 portions)
500g pork
500g bones
600g beet
750g cabbage
1kg potatoes
100g parsley root
200g carrots
150g onions
150g tomato paste
50g flour
100g pork fat
50g sugar
750g beet kvass
100g sour cream
50g 3% vinegar
peppercorns
bay leaf
salt

Cooking: Boil beet in a little soured water until half-ready, julienne it, add salt, vinegar, fat, sugar and stew until ready. Simmer onion half-rings and julienned roots with fat and tomato paste. Put sliced potatoes and chopped cabbage in the broth and cook 10-15 minutes. Then add beet, browned roots and onions, chopped sweet pepper, browned flour, black pepper, bay leaf, salt and cook until ready. Dress the prepared borscht with beet kvass and garlic pounded with bacon. At serving, put sour cream in the borscht, separately serve pies with peas sprinkled with garlic sauce.

Mikhailov Borscht

(for 4 portions)
4 potatoes
4 tbsp sour cream
2 carrots
2 tbsp tomato
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 egg yolk
1L wheaten bran brew
1 onion
1 parsley root
1 small beet
fresh parsley
salt to taste

Cooking: Preliminary boil beet until half-ready, chill down, peel and grate coarsely. Cube vegetables, slice onions and fry in vegetable oil, then add sliced vegetables and beet. Stew together 2-3 minutes. Put the prepared mass in a saucepan and add a little water. Cook 20-25 minutes, then add boiling brew of wheaten bran, dress the borscht with tomato, salt and bring to boil. Separately combine sour cream with yolk and dress every portion with this mix, add finely chopped fresh parsley. Serve either hot or cold.

Rural Borscht

(for 8 portions)
500g pork
300g beets
200g cabbage
200g potatoes
150g tomatoes
100g sour cream
2L water
2 carrots
2 onions
2 cloves garlic
1-2 bay leaves
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp vinegar
fresh dill
caraway seeds, salt to taste

Cooking: Put the prepared meat in a saucepan, add water and cook the broth 1 hour. Filter the prepared broth, slice the meat. Chop cabbage finely, peel vegetables, cube potatoes, grate carrots coarsely, chop onions finely, cut tomatoes into segments. Separately boil beet (unpeeled), peel and julienne. Put potatoes, onions and carrots in a saucepan with hot broth. 5 minutes after the broth begins boiling, add cabbage. Stew tomatoes at low heat 5-6 minutes in a separate pan. Then press them through a sieve and add to the borscht together with sliced beet. Cook 10-15 minutes. Add salt, pepper, bay leaf and caraway seeds and boil thoroughly 5-10 minutes. Then add pounded garlic, stir and leave the borscht to rest for 15-20 minutes. Before serving, add sour cream and sprinkle with finely sliced fresh dill.

Smolensk Borscht

(for 4 portions)
400g beet
200g pork (with bone)
200g beef (with bone)
100ml port
3-4 peppercorns
2 carrots
2 parsley roots
2 onions
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 bay leaf
1L water
salt to taste

Cooking: Put the prepared pork and beef on bones in a saucepan, add cold water and boil the broth for 1.5 hours. Filter the broth, bone the meat and cut into small slices. Peel and dice carrots, parsley and onions and roast in the oven without oil until golden. Put in a saucepan, add hot broth, add pepper, bay leaf, salt, and cook 15-20 minutes. Peel beet and roast in the oven, cube, and put into plates. Pour port and lemon juice in the broth, add meat slices and bring to boil. Pour into plates with beet and serve.

Moscow BorschtIngredients:

(for 8 portions)
500g beef with bone
200g smoked ham with bone
200g beet
200g cabbage
200g potatoes
100g sausages
50g sour cream
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2L water
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp flour
1-2 bay leaves
1 carrot
1 onion
1 celery root
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp vinegar
fresh herbs and salt to taste
ground black pepper

Cooking: Put the prepared beef with a bone and a bone from ham in a saucepan, add water, and boil at medium heat 1.5 hours. Filter the broth, bone and slice beef. Peel, julienne and fry beet, add tomato paste, vinegar, sugar and a little broth. Stew 15-20 minutes. Julienne cabbage and peeled potatoes, add hot broth, and boil thoroughly 10-15 minutes. Add stewed beet and continue cooking at low heat 5 more minutes. Peel and julienne carrots, onions and celery, roll them in flour and fry in oil. Add to the borscht, add salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Boil 3-4 minutes. Put sliced sausages, beef and ham in the prepared borscht, dress with sour cream and sprinkle with chopped fresh herbs.