Borscht, Borsch or Borshch?

Borscht, Borsch or Borshch? | All Things Good
Mystery seems to roll across the vast Russian landscape like a Siberian blanket of snow, spreading a dusting of enigma on nearly every aspect of life – including food. Or so is the case with Borshch, one of the great soups of the world that serves up its own culinary mystery in its seemingly endless varieties and different spellings.

Borscht. Borsch. Bortsch. Borstch. Borshtch. Borsh. Borshch.

But, what exactly is Borsch?

While “cultured” Americans are likely to spell it with a ‘t’ (Borscht) and describe it as “a beet soup served chilled”, with a little detective work we learned that during the long Russian winters, Borshch is served piping hot and is spelled without the ‘t’ (Borshch).

According to Darra Goldstein in her book, A Taste of Russia, there are well over a hundred varieties of the soup with as many as twenty different ingredients – the common ingredient, nevertheless, being beets.

“As a general rule,” she writes, “the farther west one goes, the more beets are added to the soup.”

Here at ATG, “around our culinary table”, our favorite version of Borshch is a Muscovite-style, which is tomato based with a little bit of beef.

There are many variations of borscht!
...for example: Dr. Zhivago Borscht Recipe on Food52:

Borsch (borscht).

Karelian Borscht Recipe on Food52
Author Notes:
The ingredient list looks long but the steps to making a really good, heartwarming soup are short.
It comes together in no time.
I have never met a soup yet that didn't go well with the proverbial crusty bread and this soup doesn't buck that pairing.
This recipe is adapted from The Finnish Cookbook by Beatrice A. Ojakangas.

Serves 6 to 8

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1,5 cups beets, peeled and grated
4 cups chopped red or green cabbage
2/3 cup carrots, medium dice
1/2 cup fennel bulb, small dice
2 teaspoons garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
8 cups broth, beef or vegetable
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 pound sausage, your choice, Italian and Wiesswurst are nice choices
Lemon slices and sour cream for garnish

Melt the butter in an enameled 4-quart Dutch oven set over medium heat.
Add the grated beets.
Cook the beets until they are tender.
Add the fennel, garlic, carrots and cabbage.
Stir a few times then add the broth, sugar, bay leaf and vinegar.
Cook until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.
If the sausage is raw, cook it whole in a separate pan being sure to brown the casings nicely.
Once they are cooked, remove them from the pan, slice them and add them to the soup towards the end of cooking, and likewise, if the sausages were precooked, slice and add them toward the end of cooking as well.
Once the sausage is warm, the veggies tender, serve the soup hot with sour cream and lemon slices on the side.

More Borsch recipe: Search 39,000+ Recipes - Food52

Ukrainian beetroot broth (borsch).

Eight delicious, rich and nourishing recipes from Ukraine and beyond | Life and style | The Guardian
Olia Hercules. Her favourite childhood dishes from Ukraine.
Stock is very important here, and the meat should be well marbled, or it will never become meltingly soft.

Serves 4
beetroot 200g, peeled and cut into matchsticks
potatoes 200g, peeled and chopped
sunflower oil 2 tbsp
onion 1, finely chopped
carrot 1, peeled and roughly grated
red pepper 1, cored, deseeded, chopped
tomato puree 1 tbsp
beef tomato 1 (skin discarded), roughly grated
white cabbage ½ small, shredded
red kidney beans 400g tin, drained and rinsed

For the stock
oxtail or fatty beef short ribs 500g
onion 1, peeled but kept whole
bay leaf 1
cold water 2.5 litres

To serve
soured cream 100ml
dill ½ bunch, chopped

To make the stock, simply place the meat, whole onion, bay leaf and water in a large saucepan.
Season the water lightly and cook over a low heat for 1 hour.
Skim off the scum with a spoon from time to time.

Remove the onion and bay leaf then add the beetroot and potatoes to the stock, season well with salt and pepper and cook over a low heat for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the sunflower oil in a frying pan.
Add the onion and carrot and cook over a medium heat, stirring, for about 5-7 minutes until the carrot is meltingly soft and is about to start caramelising.

Add the red pepper and tomato purée to the onion and carrot and cook it out for 2 minutes, then add the grated fresh tomato, stir and reduce slightly before adding all of this to the broth.
Finally, add the shredded cabbage and beans to the broth and cook for about 7 minutes until cooked through.

Serve with a dollop of soured cream and chopped dill.

Beet & Black Lentil Borsch.

Beet & Black Lentil Borscht + A Book | My New Roots:
Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
knob ghee
3 leeks
4 cloves garlic
pinch salt
4 bay leaves
4 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 Tbsp. dried, plus more for garnish if desired
4 medium beets
3 medium carrots
2 cups shredded cabbage of your choice
3 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. dried juniper berries (about 12)
1 tsp. caraway seeds
8-10 cups / 2+ liters vegetable broth
1 cup dried black lentils (Du Put lentils would also work)
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
cracked black pepper to taste
olive oil for garnish

Directions:
1. If possible, soak lentils overnight or for up to 8 hours in pure water.
Drain and rinse well.

2. Prepare all vegetables.
Wash and slice the leeks into rounds.
Mince garlic.
Peel beets and grate using a food processor or julienne by hand (the beets break down too much when grated by hand).
Slice unpeeled carrots into rounds.
Shred cabbage.

3. In a large stockpot over medium heat, melt a knob of coconut oil or ghee.
Add leeks and salt and cook until tender, about five minutes.
Add garlic, cook 2 minutes until fragrant.
Add bay leaves, thyme, juniper berries, caraway, tomato paste, and mustard, stirring to coat the leeks and garlic.
Add remaining ingredients: beets, carrots, vegetable broth (start with 8 cups and add as needd), and lentils (reserve cabbage).
Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook until the lentils are tender, about 15-20 minutes.
Add cabbage and vinegar, stir, and let cook for another 5 minutes.

4. Ladle soup into bowls, garnish with fresh thyme and plenty of cracked black pepper.
Drizzle with olive oil and serve. Enjoy.
'via Blog this'

My Borsch recipe.

Borsch Soup.
Put the kettle on, 800ml boiled water,
1/2 Veg stock cube + 1/2 Beef stock cube.
2 small potatoes: 1 cut into cubes, 1 whole, put in simmering bulion for 10 min.
Meanwhile:
1 onion, 1 carrot, 1 beetroot shredded in food processor.
Fry vegetables in a pan with a tablespoon of oil or butter.
Put in simmering bulion for another 10 min.
Add any processed or fresh tomato: 2-3 full tablespoons.
Add 1/4 small white cabbage shredded in processor - simmering another 5min.
In a small saucer put 3-4 chopped cloves of garlic + 1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika + 1 Bay leaf and add in soup after test potato for readiness.
After 5 seconds switch off heat and do not open lid for 15min.
After 15min soup is ready to eat!
Add a little dill to garnish when serving.