What is borscht a traditional Russian soup that can be served hot or cold it's base is made from?

Traditional red beetroot borscht is typically made from meat or bone stock, sautéed vegetables, and beet sour (i.e., fermented beetroot juice) . Depending on the recipe, some of these components may be omitted or substituted.

Why is borscht so good?

Red beets: These are essential for the dish's signature color and nutritional value. Vitamin B9 in beets also supports cell function and tissue growth . Potato, cabbage, and lima beans: These hearty vegetables add substance and balance. Vitamin K in cabbage is important for bone health and proper blood clotting.

What is the famous Russia soup made from beetroot?

A Slavic staple, Borscht soup is quintessentially Russian to the extent of being equally popular as any other Russian classic like caviar or vodka. The borscht soup recipe is primarily a beetroot soup recipe that also contains various other vegetables while being heavily flavoured with herbs like thyme and bay leaves.

What is the flavor profile of borscht?

Borscht is a beet soup that's warm, sweet, and sour all in one bowl. It has the umami and complexity of a well-developed chicken soup but the beets add a whole different flavor profile.

What is the difference between Russian and Ukrainian borscht soup?

It's standard for Ukrainian cooks to use pork in their Borscht and top it off with sour cream, whereas Russian cooks are more likely to use beef . Furthermore, Ukrainians will offer buns with their bortsch, and Russians will offer a native bread known as “black bread.”

What's the difference between beet soup and borscht?

The Polish word barszcz means borscht, but this soup is slightly different. Whereas traditional borscht is an opaque purple and commonly includes meat, tomatoes, and cabbage, barszcz is more of a basic beet broth that is somewhat translucent, whether red or white in color .

What is traditional borscht made of?

Borscht is a sour soup that is traditionally made with meat stock and boiled vegetables. The Ukrainian version, which features beets, is perhaps the most well known type — but varieties of borscht can be found throughout Central and Eastern Europe and Northern Asia.

What is Russian borscht made of?

This Russian Borscht Recipe is a traditional Ukrainian/Russian red borscht soup loaded with meat, potatoes, vegetables, cabbage and beets. This hearty soup is so healthy and all the vegetables come together and taste wonderful.

What is traditionally served with borscht?

Serve borscht with bread The relationship between bread and borscht is a long-standing culinary tradition. The bread serves as the ideal complement, enriching the dish and providing balance. Pumpernickel or rye bread : Pumpernickel and rye's darker, dense texture makes them suitable for absorbing the soup's flavors.

Is borscht traditionally served cold?

Borscht can be hot or cold , meaty or light, dairy-laden or broth-based, depending on your mood. According to Bonnie Frumkin Morales, chef and owner of Kachka in Portland, Oregon, the biggest benefit of making borscht at home is that “it's very malleable and riffable.

Victory Borscht: An Easy Oil-Free Wartime Recipe (2024)

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Victory borscht is a winner in more than one way. This jewel coloured beauty of a soup is rich in flavour and completely oil-free. Learn how to make this simple wartime recipe for yourself!

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Let’s rewind back to another era. An era that’s often glamourized for the styles, gallantry and grace.

Where I am in the world, there’s abundance at every turn. There’s also so much waste that our great grandmothers would cringe. Unfortunately, many of us were simply never taught the art of being frugal.

Frugality has a negative connotation to it, doesn’t it? We know it’s a virtue, but we’re scared of how it would cramp our style.

The women who lived and worked through World War II had no choice but to be resourceful. They were self-sufficient and creative, and we can learn those skills again, too.

RELATED: WWII Food Rationing Tips

VICTORY BORSCHT RECIPE VIDEO

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VICTORY VEGETABLES

Winston Churchill, it is said, was once shown the average joe’s rations for the week and replied that it looked like it would make a fine meal.

Can you imagine being allowed only one egg per week? If you had your own chickens, that was a different story, but for everyone else, it was reconstituted eggs.

Enter the victory garden.

Governments everywhere encouraged citizens to grow their own food because it saved precious resources.

These victory gardens, as they were called, were a necessity, because they supplemented and stretched out the rations. Since vegetables took centre stage in people’s diets, the general population was quite healthy for the most part.

I’ve written a whole other post on victory gardens, but in the meantime, let’s look at the vegetables needed for our beet soup.

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ONIONS AND GARLIC

Onions and garlic are the flavour foundations of every good soup. I don’t think I’ve ever made soup without allium. If you’re planning on keeping the borscht chunky, slice the onions and garlic thin. If you’re planning on blending the soup, either slice them or give them a chop.

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CARROTS

Two cups of carrots are needed for this recipe. That’s five medium-sized carrots or two or three large ones.

Peel them and shred them, then move on to the next ingredient.

Remember to keep the carrot peels, because those can be saved to make a homemade broth later down the road. I keep a Ziplock bag in my freezer to preserve my food scraps until I’m ready to whip up a quick batch of stock.

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CELERY

Did you know that onions, carrots and celery form a culinary trinity called mirepoix? It’s a classic flavour base in French cooking, but it’s appropriate for Borscht.

Thinly slice the celery. If you have celery leaves, give them a quick chop, because those can go into the pot, too!

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TOMATOES

Tomatoes add great flavour to a borscht soup. Grab a couple of fresh ones and peel them before chopping them. There’s no need to strain them. Keep those juices for the soup, and toss the peels in your freezer bag of scraps for broth. Waste not, want not!

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BEETS

Beets are at the heart of this recipe and without them, it wouldn’t be borscht.

This earthy root vegetable gives this soup its beautiful ruby colour.

VICTORY BORSCHT FOR THE WIN

This victory borscht is a real winner of a recipe because it only wants produce that comes from the garden.

Since women didn’t have the luxury of the cooking fats we’re accustomed to, like butter and olive oil, they relied heavily on meat drippings, which this victory borscht is free of.

This soup is entirely oil-free, but it’s full of flavour and nutrients. The original recipe, which I adapted from Marguerite Patten’s Victory Cookbook, calls for beef broth, but it can easily be made vegan by substituting vegetable broth.

Moreover, this jewel-red beauty is quite possibly the easiest soup you’re ever going to make.

Women worked long and hard hours during WWII, but they still needed to put food on the table for their families once they got home. They couldn’t very well buy a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store or stop at Taco Bell on the way home from the ammunitions factory, now could they? It didn’t matter how exhausted they were, they still had to eat.

This recipe would have been ideal because once the prep is out of the way, you can walk away and let the soup simmer away while you do other things.

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SHREDDING FOR VICTORY BORSCHT

Did you know that shredding vegetables makes them easier to digest? It also cuts down the cooking time and makes them more uniform.

I love using my Börner julienne slicer for the task. It’s quick, and I don’t need to bring out any hard-to-wash equipment.

HOW TO SERVE VICTORY BORSCHT

Once the soup is seasoned to suit your taste, it’s time to serve it up.

You can either serve it as is in all its chunky glory, or you can blend it. There’s no right or wrong answer here. I like it both ways, but if I want something creamier, I’ll run it through my Vitamix.

The finishing touch is a dollop of sour cream. This is optional, of course, but if you like sour cream, you’ll be happy with the addition.

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WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?

Have you made borscht before? How was it different? What about wartime recipes in general? Is there anything in this post that surprised you? Should I continue to elaborate on wartime rationing and recipes in future posts? Please let me know in the comments below!