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Slavyanka Borscht |
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Wannabebwana ![]() Cook ![]() Joined: 29 January 2019 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 110 |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posted: 01 February 2019 at 13:32 |
As mentioned in my intro, my wife is Ukrainian, but half Russian. Borscht is a staple there, simply because it provides so much nutrition for the historically hard-working Ukrainians and their Cossack forebears.
Slavyanka means "Slavic girl". So that's what I named my beloved's creation. Beef, pork or chicken. Any cut that has a bone in it, about 1/2 kg. Boil the meat for 45 min in 4 liter of water with bay leaf, peppercorns, salt to taste.
While meat is cooking, prepare: 300g of shredded cabbage (optional, substitute 100g of homemade sauerkraut for 100g cabbage) 2 medium sized beets, peeled and shredded, sprinkled with 1/2 tsp. lemon juice (this makes them retain their dark colour) 1 medium carrot, shredded 1 medium onion, chopped 4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced Sauté the onion with carrot for 3-4 min. Add beets, sauté another 2 min. Add 1/2 cup of strained tomatoes. Cook for another 5 min. Remove bones and meat, shredding the meat off the bone. Add the cabbage to the broth. Boil for 5 min. Add sautéed vegetables, cook another 3-4 min. Add potatoes, simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10-15 min. Add a handful chopped parsley just before finishing. When finished, add 2 small cloves of crushed garlic. Remove from heat and let sit covered for 20 min. to absorb garlic flavour. Serve in a bowl with a teaspoon of sour cream. |
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TasunkaWitko ![]() Admin Group ![]() Joined: 25 January 2010 Location: Chinook, MT Status: Offline Points: 9296 |
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It looks very good, and quite easy ~ a great first post, WB! Thank you for sharing your wife's recipe, and please thank her on our behalf!
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Tom Kurth ![]() Cook ![]() Joined: 10 May 2015 Location: Alma, MO Status: Offline Points: 244 |
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Best,
Tom Escape to Missouri |
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Tom Kurth ![]() Cook ![]() Joined: 10 May 2015 Location: Alma, MO Status: Offline Points: 244 |
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Oops! Hit the wrong button. What I meant to post: Never having had borscht I'm kinda stumped. The stereotypical borscht is a beet soup, right? And I know that borscht is not necessarily such. So, I ask, What does define borscht, anyhow? Thanks for enlightening me.
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Best,
Tom Escape to Missouri |
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Wannabebwana ![]() Cook ![]() Joined: 29 January 2019 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 110 |
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Borscht has become commonly associated with beets. However, there are many variations. Slavyanka tells me that they commonly harvest stinging nettles in the spring and summer to make a green borscht.
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TasunkaWitko ![]() Admin Group ![]() Joined: 25 January 2010 Location: Chinook, MT Status: Offline Points: 9296 |
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>>>Slavyanka tells me that they commonly harvest stinging nettles in the spring and summer to make a green borscht.<<<
Indeed - I did a little looking around and found some great information on this. Wikipedia is hardly the ultimate authority on the subject, but it is convenient, so I am providing a bit of information from there:
For further reading on the matter, I'll consult two books which have always been helpful for me, the Russian volumes of the Culinaria series and Time/Life's Foods of the World series: https://www.amazon.com/Culinaria-Russia-Ukraine-Georgia-Azerbaijan/dp/383314081X https://www.amazon.com/Russian-Cooking-Foods-World-Editors/dp/080940043X/ |
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Wannabebwana ![]() Cook ![]() Joined: 29 January 2019 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 110 |
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Thanks, Taz.
Ukrainians are very much into living off the land, picking wild mushrooms, rose petal jam, harvesting wild herbs for medicinal and food uses (I tease her about her "witchcraft" - She is a devout Ukrainian Orthodox, so witches are bad, but "healers" are good.) Last year she spent two weeks at a health resort in the Carpathian Mountains, where there are a lot of mineral waters and hot springs that they use for different ailments, particularly digestive. She also did "bee therapy" and insists that it helped her insomnia for months afterward. https://healthywithhoney.com/sleeping-above-beehives-another-way-of-treating-ourselves-with-bees-help/ She'd like to go again this summer. We're planning 3 weeks vacation there, so we'll see. If I can, I'd love work out a true wild boar hunt and savour some of the meat.
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HistoricFoodie ![]() Admin Group ![]() Joined: 21 February 2012 Location: Kentucky Status: Offline Points: 4759 |
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Most Americans, if they've even heard of it, connote borscht with beets. That stems from the immigrant experience. Eastern European immigrants, particularly of Jewish heritage, brought borscht to New York, where it caught on, even in restaurants. New York borscht is not only beet based, it is combined with sour cream, which gives it a vibrant pinkish color.
The fact is, of course, that borscht (under several spellings) is common throughout eastern Europe, in various forms. There's even a white borscht, made, primarily, in Poland. Even Ukrainian borscht is less ubiquitous than many people realize. Variations abound, and the borscht of eastern Ukraine is not the borscht of the western part of the country. One big difference between real borscht and the Americanized version: Americans think of borscht as a strictly vegetarian soup. The opposite is the case; most European versions contain meat, or are at least based on meat broth. Slavyanka tells me that they commonly harvest stinging nettles in the spring.... Here, again, there are differences. Although I'm intrigued by the nettle borscht, the version of green borscht I make uses sorrel. I have no documentation on this, but suspect it's more a matter of what is available than any hard and fast regional rule. |
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But we hae meat and we can eat
And sae the Lord be thanket |
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HistoricFoodie ![]() Admin Group ![]() Joined: 21 February 2012 Location: Kentucky Status: Offline Points: 4759 |
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BTW, Martin, I've hunted true wild boar. You're going to love it; but the hunting and the eating.
We can talk about this more off-line, if you want. I don't think most members would be interested.
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But we hae meat and we can eat
And sae the Lord be thanket |
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