Borsch is a traditional Ukrainian beet soup.

Borsch is a traditional Ukrainian beet soup which is very popular in many Central and Eastern European cuisines.

 As the home country of beetroot borscht, Ukraine boasts great diversity of the soup's regional variants, with virtually every district having its own recipe.

 В Україні борщ здавна вважався символом міцної родини: усі інгредієнти у полив’янім горщику, варяться, бурлять, а потім, мліючи, передають свої аромати і смаки одне одному, стають одним цілим – багатим, наваристим, густим.1. У давнину українці традиційно готували борщ на поминальний обід, вважалося, що з парою від борщу відлітає до раю душа небіжчика.2. Існує понад 70 складених і описаних рецептів червоного борщу, найскладнішим та найдорожчим з яких вважається «Борщ київський». Бульйон для нього варять з яловичини, баранини та свинини, а окрім обов’язкових складників додають натуральний хлібний квас. 

The difference between different types of borsch consists in main ingredient. The main ingredient for the authentic borsch is beetroot. But this course can be also cooked with tomato or cabbage as main ingredients.

Ukrainian borsch can also be hot or cold.

Hot borsch is cooked with a pork or beef or chicken broth. It usually contains beet/tomatoes/cabbage/carrots/potatoes in different combinations.

Cold borsch is often vegetarian borsch (it is cooked without meat broth) and apart from vegetables may contain chopped hard-boiled eggs and different kinds of culinary plants (parsley or dill).

 Differences between particular varieties may regard the type of stock used (meat, bone, or both), the kind of meat (beef, pork, poultry, etc.), the choice of vegetables and the method of cutting and cooking them. For example, although the typical recipe calls for beef and pork, the Kiev variant uses mutton or lamb as well as beef, while in the Poltava region, the stock for borsch is cooked on poultry meat, that is, chicken, duck or goose. The use of zucchini, beans and apples is characteristic of the Chernihiv borsch; in this variant, beetroots are sautéed in vegetable oil rather than lard, and the sour taste comes solely from tomatoes and tart apples. The Lviv borsch is based on bone stock and is served with chunks of Vienna sausages.

Ingredients:

• Meat (chicken I) - 1 kg;
• Potatoes - 300 g;
• Cabbage - 300 g;
• Beetroot - 500 g;
• Carrot - 200 g;
• Onions - 100 g;
• Tomato Paste - 3 tablespoons;
• Sour cream - 50g
• Garlic - 3 cloves;
• Sugar - 20g
• Vinegar - 20 g
• Bay leaf;
• salt;
• pepper;
• Oil;

How to make borscht:

1. Prepare the broth first. Put meat into the saucepan with 3-4 liters of water and boil it for two hours. Take meat out of the saucepan and cut it into pieces or dice. Put them into the broth.

            2. Cut potatoes into dice and boil broth. Put potatoes into boiling borsch, season with salt.

         3.Grate carrot and stew in oil for 10 minutes. Put  into boiling borsch.

         4. Grate beets. Stew pan with tomato sauce and sour cream. Add a little sugar, salt and vinegar.

         5. Cabbage finely chop. Add cabbage in a few minutes and boil for about 10 minutes.

        6. Add beetroot mixed with tomato paste and boil for another 10 minutes.

         7. Add bay leaf, minced garlic, pepper.

         8.Remove from heat, wait for 15-20 minutes and serve borscht with cream sour.

Bon appetit. Смачного.