In Ukraine, Borscht is considered a symbol of one big, strong family: all ingredients are mixed together in one pot, boiling, simmering, and stewing together, creating a delightful mixture of flavors and aromas. They become one – hearty, genuine, sincere soup – Borscht.
Below are 12 fascinating facts about Borscht that you probably didn’t know:
1. Borscht used to be a traditional funeral repast meal in Ukraine. According to a traditional belief, the soul of the departed either feeds on the puffs of steam or is carried up to heaven by them. These puffs rise from bowls of borscht.
2. There are more than 70 classically established traditional recipes of red borscht. Kyiv Borscht is considered to be the most complicated and expensive one. Broth for this type of borscht is made with beef, lamb and pork. Fermented bread kvass is an obligatory ingredient.
3. There is a quite popular Moscow Borscht recipe. It starts with a broth made of beef and smoked brisket and it is served with hot dogs cut into small rounds.
4. In Zhytomir region there are two popular borscht varieties. Pollissya Borscht is made with cured loaches; Korosten Borscht is made with dried fruits.
5. Transcarpathia is the only region in Ukraine where they don’t have their own specific Borscht. They don’t cook borscht very often and when they do, they make it with just potatoes and beets and call it Lviv Borscht.
6. Sometimes Ukrainian media would use the Borscht index instead of the Big Mac index in order to calculate Ukraine’s purchasing power parity.
7. Crushed cured fat mixed with garlic and dill is the obligatory ingredient in a traditional red Ukrainian Borscht. This mixture is added into a pot when Borscht is almost done. Then the pot is removed from heat and covered with a lid. Borscht is left alone for about 30 minutes and only then served.
8. In the older days Borscht was made sour with the help of unripened apples, buttermilk, sauerkraut or tart berries. Tomatoes and tomato paste became staple borscht ingredients at the end of XIX century when American tomatoes and tomato products became more popular in Ukraine.
9. There is a small city in Ukraine called Borschtiv. It was named after traditional Ukrainian soup – Borscht. Every fall this city becomes a center of a national Borscht festival.
10. There is a geographical region called “Borscht Belt”. Don’t get it confused with Catskill Mountains. This is a region where historically Borscht is considered a prevalent and traditional, national dish. Borscht Belt starts in south-east Poland, stretches through Ukraine and Belarus and goes as far as Baikal lake in Russia.
11. Borscht went into space! Originally, a puréed version of borscht was supplied in tubes. All ingredients for the space borscht (which include beef, beetroots, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, onions, parsley root and tomato paste) were cooked separately, then combined one by one in strictly controlled order, sterilized, packed into tubes, sealed airtight autoclaved. In the 1970s, the tubes were replaced with packages of rehydratable freeze-dried borscht with regular-size bits of cooked vegetables.
12. A bowl of borscht together with its usual ingredients is featured on Ukrainian postage stamps.
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