CHEF and blogger Paul James writes for our paper.
Borscht is a Ukrainian beet-based red soup.
This dish is usually made with meat by combining the meat or bone stock with sauteed vegetables – with beetroot being the main ingredient.
But I wanted to make this version accessible to vegetarian lovers. If you do want to add meat, just cook up some beef ribs separately for about four to five hours until the meat is falling off the bone, then shred it into the soup at the end.
The word “borscht” is most often associated with the soup’s variant of Ukrainian origin, made with red beetroots as one of the main ingredients, which gives the dish its distinctive red colour.
The same name, however, is also used for a wide selection of sour-tasting soups without beetroots, such as sorrel-based green borscht, rye-based white borscht, and cabbage borscht.
Its popularity has spread throughout Eastern Europe and by way of migration away from the Russian empire.
Several ethnic groups claim the rights to borscht, in their own local or national dish.
The dish is very popular with Eastern Orthodox, Greek Catholic, Roman Catholic, and Jewish religious traditions.
In 2022, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced it had placed borscht on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding due to the risk that Russia’s invasion posed to the soup’s status as an element of Ukraine’s cultural heritage.
The new status means Ukraine could now apply for special funds to finance projects promoting and protecting the dish.
Now I’m not 100 per cent sure about all of this, but I do know my version of this sour tasting vegetarian dish is definitely a delicious tasting meal especially now as the winter months start to come upon us.
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Borscht
Ingredients
2 onions, thinly sliced
2tbsp sherry vinegar
6 pickled beetroots balls, sliced.
600g of chicken stock
4tbsp red wine
1 x 400g tins Mutti Finely Chopped Tomatoes
Salt and pepper
Dollop of sour cream for dressing
Fresh dill for garnish
Sugar (optional)
Method
1. Turn on your slow cooker or large saucepan.
2. In a frying pan (If you are using a slow cooker) add a tsp of oil and gently fry the onions until they are translucent.
3. Transfer to the slow cooker or large saucepan along with the beetroot, sherrey vinegar, chicken stock and the red wine and cover with the lid.
4. Cook for four or more hours checking at regular intervals.
5. Once the beetroot is soft, you can either liquidise the soup or – like me – just use a potato masher to blend everything together.
6. I prefer the rather chunky textures for the Borscht.
7. Season to taste, add sugar if it’s too sharp for you, but remember this is a traditional sour soup, so be gentle on the sweetness.
8. Pour into a warm bowl, add a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of fresh dill.
