I am half Ukrainian, in terms of my family heritage, and I come from the Ukrainian belt of Canada where there is often borscht on the dinner table in the fall and winter. Borscht is a sort of vegetable soup. The ingredient list includes beets which render the entire concoction the fantastic magenta jewel hue that beets are so well known for. When I was young, the color of this soup terrified me and I refused to eat it when it was set on the table before me. The color was too rich and too wild for the palate of my eyes. To make matters worse, my family grew and tended a huge half acre garden when we were living rurally and the cabbage my mum used in her borscht recipe was home grown. Naturally, this meant that every now and again, an itty bitty cabbage worm would bob to the surface of a bowl of borscht, dyed pink by the beet juices, plump and segmented. It was a true horror to behold. My dad, being the wild Ukrainian man he is, responded to the sight of bobbing, pink cabbage worms with good cheer stating, “Ooh! Extra protein!” Before he slurped them up with the rest of the violent looking soup. It was nearly enough to turn me off of borscht for a lifetime.
I’ve grown up a little since those days and beets are one of my favorite vegetables to grow in my garden and eat! Recently, I made my own batch of borscht in my little farm house kitchen. It was delicious. Want some? You can eat it even if your last name doesn’t end in ‘ski’! I borrowed this recipe from Julia Rothman’s Farm Anatomy (which is sweet and diverting) here’s how you do it!
Ingredientskis:
8 cups of vegetable broth
3 medium potatoes
3-4 medium beets
2 small carrots or 1 big one
1/5 of a small cabbage
1 cup of diced tomatoes
1 onion
3-4 cloves of garlic
a big bunch of parsley
3 bay leaves
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
Directionskis:
Chop up the onion and garlic. Peel and grate the beets and carrots. Peel and cube the potatoes. Finely chop the cabbage.
In a pan, saute the onion and the garlic, then add the beets and the carrots and the diced tomatoes. Saute for another 15-20 minutes on medium heat.
Pour the broth and bay leaves into a large pot and bring to a boil.
Add the potatoes. When it boils again, throw in the cabbage. After five minutes, add the sauteed vegetables, lower the heat and let simmer for five to ten minutes. Add chopped parsley, lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for another minute or two.
Serve with sour cream.
[Generally, I followed these directions but I like a chunkier soup and so didn’t grate any of my veggies. Also, beware if you are living in the tater nation: What is generally considered a medium Idaho spud is more like an large potato in the rest of the world.]
OMG!
BORSHT!!!!!
I love borscht 🙂
(now)
around here we have a lot of Russians, and they make a “borscht” that is never magenta, and very non-beet. not at all the same…..
xoxoxo
Oooh, love the pretty color of it..
Yummm…
I might have to try it, and No Gluten, so this would be a good for me!
Omg,the worms.. that would scare me in to not wanting to eat it.. ha and my Dad would be the same way about it! 🙂
Have a lovely day!
xx Juli~
Are you a Doukhobor!? My grade 4 teacher in Creston, BC was a Doukhobor and borscht always makes me think of him. He loved it.
You have read my taste buds!
I have a bag if beets left from my Dad’s farm~ish garden…I was pondering a borscht…
When I was preteen there was a wee shabby cafe downtown, “Vladimir’s Ruske Cafe” and there they served the most wonderful food, much of it laid out on heavy antique sideboards. The borscht was amazing. The waiters were huge men with giant hands, black bushy eyebrows and heavy accents. My Mother, sister-in-law and I would go there on cold stormy days. Mom would tell us ghost stories as the sleet pounded the steamy windows…The coffee was amazing {my very fist taste}, and I always ordered the apple torte for dessert…Mom would have a dense chocolate cake with sour cream. Some memories taste so good.
I shall make this tomorrow to share with my love. He loves to come home, after working all day in the cold, to a big bowl of homemade soup…A dollop of greek yogurt instead of the sour cream. Perhaps a dark ale and bread too? What do you think?
Love the new space Plume. Love your whole website, the gallery is lovely. Well Done!
Chomp! Beets make my heart beat.
I have printed it out and will be making this soon
much to the horror of the boys I feed I am sure!!!
lol
Love and Light
ugh, worms… I have almost given up on growing lettuce because I couldn’t stand touching the little sluggies that hang around the tender leaves… I know, I know, very girlie but… ugh… Can just imagine seeing a worm in my soup!! aaaargh!!
ooh! looks and sounds very goodski!
It’s deliciouski!!!
looks delish! I’ll have to try this recipe sometime.
I only recently learned that real borscht has cabbage in it. (I am not Ukrainian, I am only a German imposter.)
oo that’s so cool you’re half Ukrainian! That soup looks yummy.
sooo… where abouts in Canada is this Ukrainian belt? I loooove beets – just always get scared to cook with them and dye the whole kitchen blood plum! Will you ever return to our country by the way.. maybe for a book-tour?! wink nudge… get on it.
xo
needle and nest design
Just came across your blog…. a fellow Canadian (Winnipeg), jewellery maker and also fellow Ukrainian (I’m totally a Uke – 100%). This is fitting since I just had borcht at my mom’s on the weekend! I do have to ask… where’s the dill in it!!?? 😉 Try it… yummy.
Love the words you say… the pieces you make, and the pics you snap.
A new fan!! Keep it up!
Num num…wormskis! (Reminds me of the huhu grubs my nana would eat…sans cooking. Bleech.)
Have been on the lookout for soup recipes (it’s so damp here I’m actually cold for the first time in forever) so will look forward to trying this one–thank you!
xxx
My Russian grandpa liked borscht. I have memories of the slurping sound. Although there were no worms involved (that I am aware of), I too was somewhat traumatized by the color…and the slurping sound.
Thusfar, I have had no interest in preparing borscht myself (slurping memories), but I have to say after reading the ingredientski list I think I will like it a lot!
okay…..morning coffee officially splarted all over the table, laughing at the description of little you and your borscht adventures…..all I can say is I think we are related! 🙂 🙂 🙂
and
you are a bigger woman than me… I remain traumatized!
OK. reminds me of eating “wilted” lettuce salads, in my young years, on the family farm.
home-grown lettuce etc. wilted by pouring HOT bacon grease [avec bacon] over the lettuce.
once in a while, the occasional garden worm would survive the hot grease procedure, crawling to the top of the lettuce pile, or to the side of the bowl. yum. protein.
hugski to you, dear friend. i would eat magenta borscht with you ANYdayski. xx
My dad used to do the same thing with the green worms that hid in the broccoli we grew!!! Must just be a dad thing ~ haha!
After reading these comments, I have decided to put “ski” on the ends of choice words more often. LAUGHING SO HARD AT YOUR COMMENTS!!!!
You’re all so funny!
Ha! i just finished feeding Evvy some borscht for lunch actually! i make mine with parsnips, dill and double smoked farmer sausage added. and no sour cream unfortunately, though i used to load it on! one of my favourite soups, and the only way i can convince steve that beets are delicious.
WOW!!! Jski, thank you so much! I love borscht and here’s a great recipe right here and now. Perfect psychic timing.
xxx
…AND it’s lovely to behold!
“…Soup of the evening, beautiful soup!
Beautiful soup! Who cares for fish
Game, or any other dish?
Who would not give all else for two
Pennyworth of beautiful soup?”
Lewis Carroll, ‘Alice in Wonderland’
Yum, adding to my list of things to make this week, thank you! Worms totally gross me out too, so I always soak my broccoli, cauliflower & cabbage in a nice cold salt water bath first, then rinse, and cook. Seems to make them want to get out of my groceries quickly, although over the years I’ve had a straggler or two!
Love borscht! 🙂
Have you read “A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian” by Marina Lewycka?
I remembered this fun book reading your post 🙂
xo
My sweet GiGi I also remember the worms and you curling up your nose at the borscht!!!!
Love Papa