The savory beet-based soup claims a true believer
“You never try borscht? Sit, sit, sit…I bring you borscht.”
And so I sat.
As I waited, I recounted the hours spent watching Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons, Catskill comedians and dark WWII documentaries that had painted borscht as part food/part punitive pabulum to my young, impressionable mind.
I imagined borscht to be a watery-thin soup that tasted like someone threw a bunch of unwashed beets into a bucket of tepid bathwater. But the aromas coming from the back of this tiny immigrant market were intensely enticing, familiar, and comforting.
The bedsheet-cum-kitchen door pulled aside and this diminutive but sturdy Ukrainian woman set a bowl of distressingly bright red soup in front of me.
“This is my family’s recipe,” she proudly proclaimed. “Borscht is Ukrainian, but everyone thinks it’s Russian. Borscht,” she said, “is like bird—it does not know boundaries.”
I lifted the spoon to my lips and was instantly baptized in smoky, meaty, sweet, and sour flavors that were astoundingly delicious. The flavor of the beets was balanced with the smokiness of the pork, the complex richness of a half-dozen other vegetables, and the creamy, nutty tang of the smetana (sour cream with caraway seeds). Every bite washed a few more years of borscht stereotypes away, and by the time the bowl was empty I was a full-throated devotee of this ruby-red legend.
There are as many types of borscht as there are cooks, so pick your recipe accordingly. There’s cold borscht, hot borscht; chicken, beef, fish, pork, and even vegetarian borscht. It can be red, white, or green; sour or unctuous; thin or thick. There’s a borscht for every taste, every occasion, for every one of God’s own children.
My favorite recipes are the smoky, meaty versions, like the traditional Ukrainian style recipe I’ve provided below. Go therefore and make disciples, baptizing them in borscht’s glorious, beety goodness.
Broth
- 2 lbs pork ribs
- ½ lb pork trotters, split
- Salt and pepper
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 8 oz onion, roughly diced
- 8 oz carrot, roughly diced
- 4 oz celery, roughly diced
- 6 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1 lb beef marrow bones
- 1 lb smoked ham hock
- 2 sprigs fresh dill
- 1 bay leaf
Borscht
- 12 oz onion, diced small
- 4 oz carrot, diced small
- 2 oz celery diced small
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 6 oz celery root/celeriac, peeled and diced small
- 6 oz parsnip, peeled and diced small
- 2 lbs red beets, peeled and diced small
- 8 oz cabbage, shredded
- 1 14-oz can diced tomato
- 1 lb russet potatoes, diced small
- ½ lb kielbasa, diced
- Balsamic vinegar, to taste
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 teaspoon caraway seeds, toasted and ground
- Minced fresh dill, for garnish
Make the broth: Season pork ribs and trotters liberally with salt and pepper. In a large, heavy-bottomed stockpot, heat oil over medium-high heat until shimmering and brown the pork ribs and trotters on all sides. Remove meat from pot and set aside. Add onion, carrot, celery, and garlic to pot and cook (scraping up any browned bits), until starting to brown.
Stir in tomato paste and cook for two minutes before adding four quarts water, pork ribs, trotters, marrow bones, ham hock, dill, parsley, and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer over med-high heat, then lower heat to a gentle simmer and cook until meat is tender—about 3 hours.
Strain the broth, reserving meats and bones; discard vegetables. You should have about 3 quarts of broth. (If needed, add water to bring it up to three quarts).
Make the borscht: Pick meat from pork ribs and ham hocks, push marrow from bones and discard all bones. Cut the meats into a small dice and set aside. Skim rendered fat from surface of broth and reserve 1/4 cup.
In a large, heavy-bottomed stockpot, heat the 1/4 cup reserved fat over med-high heat, add onion, carrot, celery, and garlic and cook, stirring, until softened. Add three quarts meat broth and bring to a simmer.
Add diced meats, celery root, parsnip, beets, cabbage, and tomatoes to broth, and cook until vegetables are tender—about 20 minutes. Add potatoes and kielbasa and cook until potatoes are tender—about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then add vinegar a tablespoon at a time to achieve a balance between sweet and sour.
Stir toasted caraway seeds into the sour cream and lightly season with salt.
Serve soup hot with a dollop of caraway sour cream and minced fresh dill.
Mike McJunkin is a native Chattanoogan who has traveled abroad extensively, trained chefs, and owned and operated restaurants. Join him on Facebook at facebook.com/SushiAndBiscuits