Borsch as a Symbol
While countries across Eastern Europe (including Russia, Lithuania, Poland, and Romania) all have their own styles and variations of the dish, borsch originated in Ukraine. The soup is considered to be a symbol of a strong family, as all of the ingredients are cooked in a single pot, the flavors combine and the different aspects of the soup become one.
As the Ukrainian people continue to stand against Russia, its critical for the rest of the world to continue to support them. One aspect of support is understanding, we should educate ourselves about Ukrainian culture and lift up Ukrainian voices. While financial & military support is more directly impactful, cultural and moral support still has a role. By making a dish that is extremely popular in Ukraine, we get a better understanding of Ukrainians, demonstrate acceptance, and hopefully become better at welcoming Ukrainian refugees.
As popular as borsch is, and with it’s long history, there is no one way to make borsch. Each country, each region, and sometimes each family has their own version of what to include in the soup—do beans belong in borsch? What kind of stock should be used?
This recipe is from Victoria Belim-Frolova’s website, Bois de Jasmin. Belim-Frolova is a journalist who was born in Ukraine and raised in the U.S. The recipe is her grandmother’s, who is from Poltava, in central Ukraine.
Belim-Frolova’s Borsch Recipe
6-8 servings
The Poltava-style borscht is sweet-savory, rather than aggressively sour. So, it needs no vinegar or lemon juice. My grandmother uses fermented tomatoes, for which I will include a recipe below. You can skip them. The natural acidity from fresh tomatoes should be enough. The classical accompaniment to borscht in Poltava is pampushky, soft garlic buns.
If you don’t eat pork, increase the quantity of chicken or include a piece of beef (shank, bavette, or any other good stewing cut). Skip the salted pork and increase the quantity of oil to 2-3 Tablespoons.
The Pounded Paste can also be made in a larger quantity and used as a spread on bread. It’s addictive.
Vegetarian version: skip the meat and salted pork. Soak 1/3 cup white beans overnight and boil them in 12 cups of water with 1 chopped onion and 2-3 dried mushrooms. Once the beans are soft, proceed with the rest of the recipe (you will need to add extra water in the process of cooking.)
Ingredients:
- 12 cups water
- 2 chicken thighs and 2 drumsticks, separated
- 250g pork ribs, cut along the ribs
- 1 large onion
- 1 medium carrot
- 1 medium beet
- 1/2 red bell pepper
- 1 dried medium-hot red chili, ground black pepper, salt, to taste
- 3-4 floury potatoes
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 T vegetable oil (sunflower, grapeseed, peanut)
- 1 medium slice salted pork fat (unsmoked bacon, pancetta or lardo work well)
- 1 T flour
- 3 medium tomatoes, chopped or 1.5 cups of good quality canned tomatoes
- 1 fermented tomato (optional, see note)
- pinch of sugar (or to taste)
- 1/4 white cabbage
Pounded Paste:
- 1 small slice salted pork fat (unsmoked bacon, pancetta or lardo work well)
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 T of minced dill and parsley
To serve: sour cream and more minced herbs
Rinse your choice of meat well, cover with water and bring to boil. Turn the heat down to simmer, skim off any foam and cook till the meat is tender. Modern chicken cooks very fast, so I remove it after about 40 minutes. If water evaporates too much, add a bit more boiling water. Cook till the pork is soft.
Meanwhile, cut the onion into small cubes. Slice the carrot and beet into medium-thick slices and then cut them into thick julienne. Cut the red bell pepper into medium cubes. Add 1 teaspoon of ground black pepper, mix well and leave to marinate. (You can change the proportion of vegetables to your taste. Whatever you do, borscht needs to be thick. Think of it like a hearty Italian minestrone.)
Peel 3-4 potatoes and cut into large cubes. When the meat is soft, add to the simmering broth. When potatoes are tender, add the marinated vegetables, dried chili pepper, 1 bay leave and 1 teaspoon of salt.
Melt the pork fat in vegetable oil, add 1 T of flour and stir till it becomes beige. Add fresh tomatoes, fermented tomatoes (if using) and a pinch of sugar. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add to the broth. (Return the chicken that you had taken out earlier to the broth.) Add salt and pepper to taste. Slice 1/4 white cabbage into fine julienne and add to the broth. We like our cabbage to have a slight crunch, so we cook it for 5-10 min only.
In a mortar, pound the remaining pork fat, 2 garlic cloves and herbs. The ingredients can also be chopped. Add to the borscht, let it simmer for a minute and remove off the heat. Serve with sour cream and more chopped herbs.
Fermented Tomatoes (for the ambitious cooks among you)
Into a clean, sterilized jar, add tomatoes, garlic slices, dill springs, 1 bay leaf, black peppercorns (in Ukraine, we also use cherry leaves and black currant leaves in pickles.) Top with boiled and cooled water. Weigh tomatoes and water and calculate 4% of that. That’s the quantity of salt you need to add. You can also go by taste–the water should taste as salty as sea water. Leave for 4 days at room temperature to ferment and then store in the fridge or in a cool space. You can eat tomatoes as a side dish as well as use them in cooking. They add a complex tart-fruity flavor to soups, sauces and stews. If the liquid turns cloudy, it’s a good sign that the lactofermentation is under way. If a white film appears, it’s a type of wild yeast and it’s harmless, but it’s best to remove it so that it doesn’t affect the flavor.
(All credit for the images and content goes to Bois de Jasmin, attached above)
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