Borscht is the national cuisine. Borscht: history of borscht, borscht in national cuisines, borscht recipes. Where does the name “borscht” come from?

In Russian literature, borscht is most often mentioned in the works of Nikolai Gogol, which is not surprising, since this dish is considered Ukrainian. And where, if not in “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” or “Mirgorod”, is the Little Russian flavor better conveyed?

However, in addition to Ukrainians, Russians, Belarusians, Lithuanians, Moldovans and Romanians consider borscht their national dish. It is also prepared in Poland and Bulgaria. Who and when invented borscht is unknown for certain, as is where its name came from. Some say that borscht was cooked in Ukraine back in the 14th century, and the ancient Slavic word “buryak” (beets), which was then converted into “borscht,” is found in manuscripts from the early 18th century. Others claim that the dish was invented by the Cossacks: hungry during the siege of the Turkish fortress of Azov (and this was in the 18th century), they took everything that was edible and cooked soup. By the way, this version, whether it is true or not, is reminiscent of the history of the creation of the Swiss and French fondue dish, which was prepared by Alpine shepherds - also from what was at hand.

In Ukraine, cooking borscht is an art, although it is prepared differently in different regions of the country. You need to prepare borscht with a special mood, as this dish requires concentration and attention. The main ingredient is beets, it is thanks to them that the soup has a red color.

The cooking process is complex and multi-stage, since the remaining ingredients (carrots, parsley, potatoes, onions, cabbage) are processed separately and gradually added to beef broth - this is the basis of real Ukrainian borscht. The dressing is prepared from sautéed flour, tomato paste and lard. The main thing is not to skimp on fat; the borscht should be so thick that, as they say, a spoon could stand in it!

Before use, sour cream is added to it, and traditional pampushki made from yeast dough are served separately, to which, in turn, a special sauce is also prepared. However, every housewife can diversify the recipe: along with the required ingredients, borscht often includes bell peppers, peas, beans, zucchini, turnips and even apples, and beef can be replaced with poultry, such as chicken, or offal.

The soup is usually seasoned with black, red and allspice, celery, and often garlic, bay leaf and more exotic spices.

The main difference between Russian borscht and Ukrainian one is that it is cooked without potatoes and lard. There is an opinion that the very name of the soup comes from hogweed - a plant from which stew was prepared in Rus' before they began to cook borscht, the recipe for which was adopted from the Ukrainians.

Classic borscht

Today, vegetable borscht is quite often prepared - of course, it is popular among those who fast and are on a diet. Borscht can be enjoyed in restaurants serving traditional cuisine. It is especially useful in winter - not only because it contains a lot of vitamins, but also because of its antiseptic and antimicrobial effect, which is very important during epidemics of colds. Like other soups, borscht improves digestion. So there is definitely an incentive to take some time and prepare this soup at home, choosing the ingredients at your discretion.

Classic borscht recipe

500 g beef on the bone
300 g potatoes
200 g beets
200 g cabbage
150 g onion
100 g tomatoes
1 carrot
20 g lard
2 tbsp. tomato paste
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. Sahara
1 tsp flour
parsley
Bay leaf
peppercorns
garlic

In their own opinion, Ukrainians have the greatest right to borscht primogeniture - and they really masterfully prepare beetroot borscht with potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes and hot garlic dumplings. Lithuanians also consider barščiai their national dish.

Their cold borscht made from kefir with salt, fresh cucumbers, beets, green onions and dill (and often with a hard-boiled egg) is really unusually good on a hot summer day. However, the Lithuanians serve it not quite in the summer style - certainly with hot boiled potatoes, and in some decent houses - with juicy cutlets bursting with heat. And Belarusians claim that their borscht is the most ancient, not paying attention to similar statements by Poles, Romanians and even Bulgarians.

Jews also have a couple of excellent and quite original recipes, who not only adopted this dish from their Ukrainian neighbors, but also managed to benefit their new homeland - the USA - with borscht. Naturally, their borscht doesn’t even smell like pork, and if it’s cooked with meat, then there’s no point in looking for sour cream in it. Orthodox Jews often cook borscht exclusively with chicken broth, give it an overtly sweet note, and usually use boiled beets rather than stewed with tomato and vinegar.

Finally, let’s not forget that the word “borscht” appeared in Rus' long before this popular dish. According to Vasmer's dictionary, its original meaning was hogweed, and today's “red beet soup” began to be called that because it used to be cooked from hogweed. Therefore, the combination of the words “Moscow” and “borsch” does not surprise anyone except tourists from Ukraine.

This capital product differs from ordinary borscht in that it is cooked in a broth of beef and “smoked pork.” Before serving, pieces of beef, ham, sliced ​​sausages and herbs are added to Moscow borscht. Separately they serve sour cream and, for some reason, cheesecake with cottage cheese.

Naval borscht itself exists, and in the Black Sea Fleet, no matter who it ultimately belongs to, there is no problem of which borscht to cook - Ukrainian or Moscow. For their favorite dish, sailors and boatswains make beef broth with the addition of smoked pork belly (once they used only corned beef, which they took with them on long voyages). Cabbage is cut into checkers (not sabers, but squares), and potatoes into cubes. Served during heavy rolling - with boiled brisket, sour cream and herbs. Prepared on land, without sea daring and zeal, it carries a clear echo of a quote from “The Golden Calf”: “In this naval borscht float the wreckage of a shipwreck...”

Let us note that in fact, beetroot borscht, the classic recipe of which includes potatoes, which appeared in all of the listed countries a couple of centuries ago, cannot have too ancient a history... And yet we quite rightly consider this dish to be a symbol of Russian cuisine, and This is exactly how it entered world cooking.

Soup with open architecture

There is no absolutely classic recipe for borscht, but there are some tricks to preparing it. Before adding stewed or pre-boiled and chopped beets to the boiling broth, try acidifying it with vinegar - the color of the borscht will be brighter. It will be interesting if, 5 minutes before the dish is ready, you add a few slices of peeled apple or a little mustard to it: the consistency will become thicker, the taste will acquire a piquant note. It’s better not to just sprinkle sugar into borscht, but to add it to the beets before stewing: during the heat treatment, they will absorb sugar and their taste will become richer. Just don’t forget: although borscht is considered a multinational soup with “open architecture,” it’s better not to overdo it with additives.

Aesthetes can tint borscht with beet kvass - pour a little kvass into the already prepared but still slightly boiling dish and immediately remove it from the stove, covering it with a lid.

Kvass is prepared simply: wash the raw beets, peel them, cut them into arbitrary slices, add cold water, place in a warm place, cover with gauze and forget for six to seven days. Then put it in the refrigerator for a few more days. The liquid will acquire a thick color and slightly viscous consistency. Strain the kvass and store in the refrigerator in a tightly sealed container, or even freeze in small plastic serving containers and use as needed. They say that in the old days, in cheap taverns, careless cooks put copper coins into the cauldron when cooking borscht... Surely the result was disgusting, but the color was nowhere redder!

Flipping through the old iPad of the lustrated ataman, I tried in vain to understand why Russians have borscht with sour cream? The answer to this question is not so simple as it is complex. According to some, respected sources in certain circles, borscht came to us from Ukraine. But how could borscht come from Ukraine if it has no legs? We tried to figure this out by conducting a little historical investigation.

So, according to legend, borscht was invented in 1641, when a three hundred thousand strong Turkish-Tatar army under the command of the experienced commander Pasha Huseynov besieged Azov from all sides. The city was defended by about six thousand Cossacks, eight hundred of whom were women. Among the defenders were about a thousand Cossacks who tried to put themselves in a special position. However, after the Don people killed their ataman for their self-will, they became obedient to the army and no longer stood out from it. At first, the Cossacks ate cows and bulls, then switched to horses, and when the animals ran out, they switched to individual dry rations sent by the fraternal ancient American people.

When the rations dried up, the Cossacks had no choice but to eat pasture scattered along the demarcation line. In short, whatever they found, they cooked it. And they found mostly beetroot crushed by buckshot, pieces of lard torn off by shrapnel from Zaporozhye fighting boars, bulbs torn out of the ground and other food. And then one day the result of preparing all this crumble exceeded all imaginable expectations. The middle-aged Zaporozhye Cossack who took the sample was so delighted with the brew that he immediately asked the cook what the name of this dish was? And on the Don, any stew boiled over a fire is called “sherba”. That’s what the Cossack woman answered him, Shcherba said. "How how?- asked the Cossack, - Can I write it down?” A Cossack boy sitting nearby, learning to read and write from the village sexton, took a willow twig and drew a “schrba” on the smoke-stained side of a huge cauldron. Due to his poor literacy, he accidentally missed the letter “e” in the word “shcherba”. Moreover, he turned out to be left-handed. And he made the inscription not from left to right, like all Orthodox Christians, but from right to left - it was more convenient for him. The Zaporozhets read, as expected, from left to right. It turned out "abrsch". He even wrote down, for memory, or rather scratched this word with a knife on the scabbard of a captured Turkish saber. But at the same time, the knife slid across the soft black leather, and the letter “a” turned out somehow crooked, and didn’t look like a letter at all.

October has arrived. The Cossacks withstood the siege with honor. On the day of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Turks in a hurry lifted the siege and those who survived went to their home without salt or borscht. Among those who withstood the siege and survived was our curious Cossack. He went to his home on the island of Khortitsa. And one day he surprised his comrades with an unusual brew. He put a little of all the ingredients into a large cauldron, built a frying pan, and also seasoned the stew with sour cream. Everyone ate and praised. And the Don Cossacks, who were in Zaporoghi at that time, were surprised to learn that this, it turns out, was a favorite Ukrainian dish and it was called “borscht”. Where the letter “o” came from in this word is still unknown to science.

However, this is not so important, since the Ukrainian historian of cultivated and non-cultivated plants Grigory Gordienko categorically disagrees with this legend, who considers the birth date of Ukrainian borscht to be 1705, when the word “beet” appeared in literature. However, he also noted that beets, as a product (seukla), were mentioned earlier in the “Izbornik of Svyatoslav” (1073), but a decoction was not prepared from it. But in 1683, during the siege of the Wendish city of Vienna by the Turks, the Zaporozhye Cossacks, helping the besieged, cleared the surrounding gardens where beets grew. They fried it in lard and then boiled it in vegetable broth. This dish was originally called “buri shchi” (red cabbage soup), but over time its name was reduced to the word “borscht”.

Everything would be fine, but according to the answers to the crossword puzzle published in the 18th issue of Kryzhopolskie Vedomosti, “brown” is a shade of brown (remember Sivka-Burka), and cabbage soup is generally a traditional dish of Russian cuisine. So the version of the Ukrainian origin of borscht could have been abandoned if not for the sensational discovery made by employees of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory (UINP). Rummaging through the annals of the burned-out Library of Alexandria, UINP professor Panas Oryzhko purposefully discovered previously unknown works of Herodotus, detailing the history of the appearance of borscht.

As it turned out, Herodotus was fluent in the Ukrainian language and wrote part of his works in it. If you look into the first chapter of the found two-volume book “A Short History of the Ukrainian People,” you will find the following entry: “In the east of our Ancient Greece there live an amazing people. These are the ancient Ukrainians who invented borscht, dug up the gigantic Ukrainian Sea and founded a mighty fleet. With the forces of this fleet, they took all the excavated earth beyond the pillars of Hercules and poured out an entire continent, called Hochlantis. Glory to Ukraine! Glory to heroes!". By the way, Herodotus also noted the rapid trade of Ukraine with the mighty Roman Empire. Trading ships of the proto-Ukrainians began their journey from the peninsula, which was called “To Rome”. Cotton historians have long tried to hide this fact, but, as we know, you can’t hide the truth in a bag.

If we look further at the works of Herodotus, we will find information about Caesar’s repeated trips together with Roman senators to the ancient Ukrainian cooks in the city of Borshchev, which at that time was the world gastronomic capital. It was in this place that borscht was cooked for the first time, for which the city itself received its name. Local residents claim that in ancient times, borscht saved the lives of townspeople more than once. So, in particular, at the end of the 15th century, during the capture of the town by the Tatars, they, like the Romans, wanted to try the world-famous delicacy called “borscht with crushed lard and garlic.” However, for some unknown reason they did not like the pork borscht. The leader of the invaders furiously yelled in his infidel language, replete with interspersed Katsap obscenities, which greatly offended the local cook. Angry, the woman hit him on the head with a ladle and then drowned the brawler in a cauldron of borscht. Left without a leader, the Tatars fled in horror.

And this was by no means the only case when borscht was used as a weapon of mass destruction. Here’s an amazing story that the head of the Borshchevsky Museum of Local Lore, Mikhail Petrovich Sokhatsky, told us over a vodka dance: “Once, when the Turks attacked a wooden fortress and began to climb the walls, the residents of the town collected borscht from all the cauldrons into one cauldron, heated it and began to pour the fatty, hot mass over the Turks. The frightened enemies quickly lifted the siege and for a long time then avoided this place. Glory to Ukraine! Glory to heroes!" .

If you still abstract from Ukrainian dzherel and look into normal sources, then you can find that borscht is not Ukrainian, but a common Slavic dish. At first glance, everything seems to be clear here: the Russians, who originally spoke the Finno-Norman dialect of the Mongol-Tatar language, as is known, inherited their modern language from immigrants from the Volga - the Volgars, who later for some reason began to be called Bulgarians. And therefore, the Russians took the pan-Slavic borscht from the same place. However, this entire harmonious concept was destroyed at one time by Vanga. Her careless words that “Russia is the foremother of all Slavic powers” made us doubt the Bulgarian origin of borscht.

As follows from the miraculously preserved chronicles of the Slavic Kingdom, among all Slavs, including Lithuanians, Moldovans and Romanians, borscht was a favorite first course. They say that even Count Dracula himself did not disdain borscht with donuts, and not without reason considered Romania the birthplace of borscht. Those who did not agree with his point of view were either lustrated by the count or converted to his faith.

And yet, we find the first non-Russian mention of borscht not in ancient Romanian culinary reference books, but in chronicles written in the Rus-Lithuanian language. If you believe the lost texts, then the dish called “shaltibarschai” (not to be confused with humpty dumpty) was prepared from ancient times by the Rus-Lithuanians on the basis of the national fermented milk product called “kefir”. Unfortunately, the chronicler Bogdanis did not consider it necessary to give the exact recipe for the Rus-Lithuanian borscht, but, fortunately for us, it was made by his namesake - the ancient Belarusian Bagdan. Thus, in particular, in the monument of ancient Belarusian literature of the 18th century - "Khatastroye" - he gives a recipe based on two bags of bulba, beetroot and tomato paste brought by Pyatr Pershi. There he also reports that this recipe ended up with the Belarusians after the first partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, as a result of which the Belarusians got red borscht (barszcz czerwony), and the Poles were left with white (barszcz biały).But where did the Poles get two types of borscht at once: red and white?

Let's try to figure it out. Red (proletarian) borscht, as you know, is prepared with beets, while white (noble) borscht is prepared on the basis of zhur without any beetroot, and therefore, borscht did not get its name from the beetroot component. The only thing that these two types of borscht have in common is their sour taste. The actual Polish word "zhur", which arose as a result of problems with diction from the more ancient "sur", used to mean "sour" (compared to Old Saxon sūr, Old Scandal súrr and modern Dutch zuur). But there were no Poles in that very antiquity, but there were glades, who were called Russians in the chronicles. And here we come to a seditious thought: what if borscht was invented by the Russians?

Before continuing our historical investigation, let us summarize the interim results:

• borscht was known long before potatoes and tomatoes appeared in Rus', and people did not yet know such names as Little Russia, Ukraine, and especially “Ukrainian”;
• despite the fact that the word “borscht” is similar to the adjective “broschany” (red), its name has nothing to do with color, since there are many borschts that have a color other than red: mushroom borscht, green borscht, white borscht, etc. .;
• beets in borscht are not a mandatory ingredient, and therefore the name of the dish is not associated with it;
• What unites different types of borscht is that they all have a distinct sourness.

There is a misconception that borscht got its name because it was originally prepared from hogweed. However, not a single historical document says that borscht was a stew made specifically from hogweed, and therefore scientists had to come up with an etymology based solely on the consonance of words. It's a pity that they limited themselves to just borscht. It would be possible to apply this technique to other soups: Kalya, they say, was prepared from feces, shurpa from screws, and ukha from the ears of a defeated enemy. Even more interesting is the attempt of some historians to trace the pedigree of borscht from Ancient Greece and Rome, based on the fact that cabbage and beets were grown there and some soups were made from them, the recipes of which have not survived to this day. The scientists reasoned as they did: they didn’t make it – well, okay, it’s already clear to everyone that it was cabbage soup and borscht. In general, it is not so difficult to understand historians - they, immersed in research work, have no time to delve into the differences between beet soup and borscht, cabbage soup and cabbage soup, fish soup and fish soup. For all others, and especially people who are interested in cooking, the difference exists, and it is significant.

In order to understand what exactly was called borscht in ancient times, let us turn to the period preceding the first mentions of borscht in the national written sources of the peoples claiming to be the author of this famous first dish. Here, for example, is a fragment of the “Edicts on meals of the Trinity Sergius and Tikhvin monasteries”, dated 1590 (i.e. half a century before the Hetmanate was annexed to Russia): “The Forecelebration of the Nativity of Christ: at lunch there were wrestling and lopsha with pepper (if it was Saturday week, Chrysostom's service, at lunch there are ukruhi, a quarter of a kolach, and a little honey." It turns out that borscht is just a type of cabbage soup, which coincides with the data in Dahl's dictionary. Taking into account the fact that all types of national borscht have a distinct sourness , we come to the unequivocal conclusion that this is precisely one of the defining features of borscht. Thus, everything falls into place:

• the popular opinion that borscht is a soup with the obligatory inclusion of beets is wrong;
• the name “borscht” is related to the Russian “fermentation” and, like the words “kvass”, “borsh” (Mold. borş) and “zhur” (Polish. żur), originally meant “sour” and was used in relation to fermentations;
• At first, borscht was prepared from fermented products (cabbage, hogweed, rutabaga, beets, turnips, radishes), this happened mainly in the off-season, when there were no fresh vegetables;
• Over time, borscht began to be cooked from fresh vegetables (including beets), adding kvass (including borsh, surovets, beet kvass) or sourdough (tsezhu, buttermilk, kefir, yogurt) to it for acidity. .

Thus, our investigation led to a curious and heartening conclusion for the descendants of the great Ukrainians, which knocks out with the merciless foot of truth the cornerstone from under the foundations of the Ukrainian contribution to world culture, which includes lard, gorilka, embroidered shirt, Taras Shevchenko, Lesya Ukrainka, Danilko and both Klitschko brothers. It turned out that the world-famous borscht is not of Ukrainian origin at all. Which, however, was already well known to foreigners - after all, they always called borscht Russian. Ukrainians themselves subconsciously understand this, calling their regional variety “Ukrainian borscht,” thereby emphasizing that borscht itself is not a Ukrainian invention.

Sources

1. “The self-defense forces sent the Cossack ataman to the trash can,” Irina Levchenko // newspaper “Facts and Comments”, 09/29/2014.
2. “Three for one. Azov siege” // newspaper “AiF-Rostov”, 02.15.2018.
3. “Azov epic 1637-1641.” and its consequences" // "Military History Journal" No. 9, 2015.
4. “Borscht as part of Cossack history” // Vesti program (Russia-1), 08.20.2006.
5. “The basis of delicious borscht is meat” // newspaper “Facts and Comments”, 08/19/2015.
6. “100 famous symbols of Ukraine”, A.Yu. Khoroshevsky // Kh.: Folio, 2007
7. “The borscht is ours!” // magazine "Ogonyok" No. 2 (5412), 01/18/2016.
8. “The history of Ukraine was written in the 5th century. BC by Herodotus", switch. Spasko S.K. // K.: FOP Stebelyak O.M., 2012.
9. “History of Ukraine. Pidruchnik for 7th grade”, R. Lyakh, N. Temirova // Kiev, “Geneza”, 2005
10. “Killer borscht gathers its fans” // RussianFood.com
11. “In the borscht capital of the world, borscht is used to seduce, make peace and treat” // newspaper “Segodnya”, 09/15/2009.
12. “Borscht”, Tatyana Agapkina // “Slavic Antiquities: Ethnolinguistic Dictionary” (volume 1), 1995.
13. “Non-Russian Russian language”, Vadim Rostov (Deruzhinsky) // analytical newspaper “Secret Research”, 03/15/2009.
14. “Dispute about the Varangians,” Lev Klein // 1960.
15. “Interesting facts about the Tatars” // newspaper “Komsomolskaya Pravda”, 06/15/2017.
16. “Prophecies on Vanga”, Zhenya Kostadinova // Sofia: Trud, 2009.
17. “Slavic Kingdom”, Mavro Orbini // Pesaro, 1601.
18. “Laurentian Chronicle” // Complete collection of Russian chronicles (volume 1), 1846.

Where does borscht come from?

Borscht is an original Russian dish.

The history of borscht

The country of origin of borscht is Ancient Rus'. At first, this dish was prepared from fermented products (cabbage, hogweed, rutabaga, beets, turnips, radishes), mainly in the off-season, when there were no fresh vegetables. Over time, they began to cook borscht from fresh vegetables (including beets), adding kvass (including borsh, surovets, beet kvass) or sourdough (tsezhu, buttermilk, kefir, yogurt) to it for acidity. .

Where does the name “borscht” come from?

Despite the fact that the word “borscht” is similar to the adjective “broschany” (red), its name has nothing to do with the color, since there are many borschts that have a color other than red: mushroom borscht, green borscht, white borscht, etc. . The name is not connected with beets either, since, firstly, it is not a mandatory ingredient, and secondly, the first borscht was prepared exclusively without it. In fact, the name “borsch” is related to the Russian “fermentation” and, like the words “kvass”, “borsh” (Moldo borş) and “zhur” (Polish żur), originally meant “sour” and was used in relation to fermentations .

Is borscht Ukrainian or Russian?

Ukrainian borscht is just a regional variety of Russian borscht, which appeared long before potatoes and tomatoes came to Rus', and people did not yet know such names as Little Russia, Ukraine, and especially “Ukrainian”. Along with Ukrainian, there are many other types of borscht, including Moscow, Smolensk, Yaroslavl, Belgorod, Kuban, Rostov, Astrakhan, Siberian, Voronezh, etc.

If the housewife in the kitchen masterfully bakes pies, cooks aromatic borscht and prepares other delicacies, then you can be sure that the woman has a black belt in cooking. I would like to pay special attention to borscht. Where did it all start? Who invented borscht? This will be discussed in this article.

The history of borscht

No one will ever name the exact date and name of the person who cooked borscht for the first time. Moreover, it is also impossible to say which national cuisine this dish belongs to. The Poles take credit for themselves. Hot Lithuanian guys claim that their forefathers did their best. But all over the world they say that this soup is You can come to the conclusion that the history of borscht goes back to such distant centuries that it is almost impossible to look into it. But still, something has survived to this day.

Linguists report that “bor” and “sch” at one point formed into a single word “borsch”. Many believe that the history of borscht begins here. The “boron” part of the word comes from the color brown. A plot of pine trees with red bark was referred to as a “pine forest.” Red used to be called brown. Beets are also red, so they began to call them “buryak”. Hence the first part of the word.

Many centuries ago, in villages they served soup in meat broth with cabbage; it was called “shti”. Some time later, “shti” turned into “cabbage soup.” The dish is similar to borscht, only without beets. Now we connect the “borer” and “cabbage soup” - the result is “borscht”. That is, cabbage soup with beets.

Unlike cabbage, beet cannot be called frost-resistant. Beetroot grows in the southern regions, so borscht, in which beet and cabbage swim, has become widespread here. More cabbage grows to the north, and cabbage soup is served in these regions.

The history of borscht is surrounded by various legends. One of the most popular says that the dish was invented by the Zaporozhye Cossacks. During the capture of the Azov fortress, there was little food. The Cossacks ate what they found edible and cooked their own food. One day, everyone really liked the result of cooking from what was at hand. The brave guys rearranged the letters from the name of the fish soup “sherba” and the result was borscht. A lot of time has passed, but the Cossacks to this day believe that soup with beets owes its origin to them.

Be that as it may, this dish is loved by many people on the planet. But borscht became most widespread in Ukraine. It is prepared in different ways. There were three main cooking options.

1. Red.

2. Green.

3. Cold.

You should stop at each one and find out what this masterpiece is made of.

Red borscht

On holidays and weekdays, the soup was prepared differently. Festive borscht was cooked in meat broth. On other days, they made frying of garlic, onions and lard. The dish would not be complete without a large amount of beets. For acid, whey was added. The history of borscht says that potatoes appeared in Ukrainian cuisine only in the 19th century; before that time, toasted flour, beans, and porridge were added to borscht. On special occasions, when serving, it was seasoned with sour cream.

Green borscht

It is cooked mainly from sorrel. This kind of borscht is called spring borscht. At this time of year you already want vitamins and something like that. Preparation for borscht in those days was very different from modern one. Housewives picked young nettles, quinoa, and still very small beet leaves. All this was cut up and thrown into the broth. Boiled and chopped eggs, whey to taste, and sour cream were added. Lenten soup was cooked without meat, but it was supplemented with mushrooms or fish.

Cold borscht

From the name itself it follows that this borscht was eaten cold. Boiled young beets were cut into strips. The dressing for such a dish was different, for example kvass or whey. Boiled eggs, parsnips, onions, dill, garlic were chopped and added to the dressing, and a little sour cream was added for satiety. On hot days, when there is no time to cook and there is a battle for the harvest, cold borscht was a salvation. We ate this dish with bread.

Borscht was approved and found excellent distribution in almost all kitchens of different nationalities. They love to cook it in Russia, Belarus, and Moldova. And yet, Ukrainian is the most famous borscht.

Ukrainian borsch

Previously, preparations for borscht consisted of products that were stored for a long time. For example, sauerkraut, old lard, brisket, beets. The dish turned out nourishing and flavorful.

There are a lot of recipes for Ukrainian borscht. Each region contributed something of its own to it. Kiev borscht is cooked in beef and lamb broth, and beans are added. Chernigovsky differs in that sour apples are added to it. Poltavsky is cooked in poultry broth, mainly duck or goose. Lvovsky is prepared with delicious sausages. Each housewife decides for herself how to cook Ukrainian borscht. You can use the recipe below.

Ukrainian borscht recipe

Place about 500 grams of pork in a pan, add water, bring to a boil, skim off the foam and cook until tender. While the meat is cooking, in a separate bowl, cut into strips, fry the beets in fat with three tablespoons of tomato puree. Beets are taken to taste - the more, the sweeter the borscht. Then add a small amount of broth, a couple of tablespoons of sugar, and continue to simmer until the beets are cooked. Add shredded fresh cabbage, about half a head of cabbage, depending on the size, as well as one pepper, five potatoes, grated carrots, salt, bay leaf to the pan with the prepared meat. The resulting mixture is brought to a boil and combined with beets. At the end, add fried flour. Lastly, 4 cloves of garlic are ground with 50 grams of bacon. All this is thrown into the almost finished dish. It boils - the dish is cooked! But what would Ukrainian borscht be without donuts?

The history of borscht with pampushki

The very first mentions of this soup were found by historians in Ancient Rome. As the Roman army conquered the world, the dish entered Europe. Then Rus' was fragmented into some centers of culture - Polotsk, Tmutarakan, Veliky Novgorod, Kyiv. This is where Ukrainian borscht with donuts originated. The history of its origin is ambiguous and there are no clear roots here. Of the above areas, wheat grew only in Kyiv and Tmutarakan, in the rest - oats and rye. In this regard, in the future Ukraine, culinary masterpieces are made from white bread, among which fluffy wheat dumplings with garlic have found a place. They went perfectly with beet soup. Nowadays, few people imagine Ukrainian borscht without donuts. By the way, it’s not that difficult to prepare any kind of borscht with donuts. And it will probably be very tasty.

Translated as beetroot.

In the old days, borscht was a soup made from hogweed. Later, borscht was prepared with beet kvass: it was diluted with water, the mixture was poured into a clay pot or cast iron and brought to a boil. Chopped beets, cabbage, carrots and other vegetables were placed in boiling water and the pot was placed in the oven. The cooked borscht was salted and seasoned.

The origin of borscht is unknown; most likely, it appeared in the territory previously occupied by Kievan Rus, and has now become most widespread and diverse.

In Russia it is mentioned in monuments of the 16th-17th centuries. Essays about him can be found in the Novgorod Yam books for the years 1586-1631. Domostroy recommends cooking hogweed and beets in the summer. Interestingly, this dish was very loved by Catherine II, Alexander II, and ballerina Anna Pavlova.

In Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, in the south of Russia, in Siberia, borscht is prepared, and in the north of Russia and the Urals - mainly cabbage soup. Today, Poles, Russians, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, Romanians, and Belarusians have their own subtleties and peculiarities of preparing borscht. There are no clear canons.

Varieties [ | ]

There are many regional varieties of borscht. In general, borscht can be divided into two types:

• Hot (red) - this type of borscht is common in the cuisine of different nations, especially popular in Russia and Ukraine;
• Cold borscht, which is prepared mainly in spring/summer.

Red borscht [ | ]

Cooking borscht

A special feature of preparing borscht is the pre-processing of vegetables, and again, this primarily applies to beets. Before adding it to borscht, beets can be prepared in several ways: stewing in crushed form, baking or boiling in the peel. As a rule, when pre-cooking beets, some kind of acid (table vinegar, lemon juice) is added to the medium where the cooking takes place in order to preserve the color. Sometimes, to prevent the potatoes in borscht from turning red, the beets are boiled for 30-40 minutes or a special borscht beet is used (not vinaigrette - red, but striped, or even sugar). Beets are often prepared separately from other vegetables. Also, as a rule, onions, carrots, and parsley are sautéed separately, followed by the addition of tomatoes or tomato paste.

As a rule, borscht is prepared with meat, bone or meat and bone broth, or poultry broth. The broth, in turn, for the best borscht is prepared not with water, but with specially prepared sirovets kvass. Borscht is a thick soup, and one serving should contain no more than one and a half glasses of broth.

After finishing cooking, it is advisable to let the borscht brew for an hour or two.

Preparation Starolitovsky borscht is technologically no different from cooking Ukrainian, however, it uses porcini mushrooms, boiled separately, and, as a spice, cumin, as well as apples, turnips, and kohlrabi. In addition, the so-called koldunay is added to Starolitovsky borscht - meat and dough products, like small dumplings stuffed with finely chopped lard with the addition of minced meat or mushrooms.

Data [ | ]

Notes [ | ]

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3. , With. 239.
4. Kashin S. P. Your home cook. Cooking of the USSR. The best dishes - M.: Litagent "RIPOL", 2015 - ISBN 978-5-386-08117-1 - P. 264, 265
5. Pominova K. A. Borscht with champignons// Ukrainian, Belarusian, Moldavian cuisine. - M.: RIPOL classic, 2014. - P. 183. - ISBN 978-5-386-07760-0.
6. in particular: M. Vasmer, Etymological word Russian language(In 4 volumes). - M.: “Progress”, 1986 (2nd edition, translated by O. N. Trubachev); P. Ya. Chernykh, Historical and etymological word. rus. language- M., “Russian language”, 1994; Etymological dictionary of Ukrainian language(In 7 volumes) / AN URSR. O. S. Melnichuk (chief editor) - K.: “Science. Dumka", 1982; Etymological word Slavic languages (Proto-Slavic lexical fund), Vol. 3. - M.: “Science”, 1976. - P. 131 (“ bъrssya»).
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11. Essays on Russian culture of the 16th century / Ed. A. V. Artsikhovsky. - M., 1976.
12. Sylvester's edition. Domostroy (undefined) .
13. Uzun O. V. Russian people. Russian kitchen . - M.: OLMA Media Group, 2007. - P. 143. - 383 p. - ISBN 978-5-373-00534-0.
14. Tatiana Solomonik. European box. - M.: Olma Media Group, 2006. - P. 231. - ISBN 9785765447215.
15. Malyavko A. A. Technology for preparing first, second and sweet courses. - K.: Head publishing house of the publishing association "Vyshcha Shkola", 1988. - P. 19. - 184 p. - 160,000 copies.
16. Belorussian Borscht (undefined) . Archived from the original on July 15, 2013.
17. Borscht index (undefined) . Official borscht fan site GotovimBorsch.ru. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
18. “Borsch Killer” gathers its fans on RussianFood.com (undefined) . www.russianfood.com. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
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20. Max Kufman.