Where did borscht come from? Borscht: the history of borscht, borscht in national cuisines, borscht recipes. The history of borscht

It translates as beetroot.

In the old days, hogweed stew was called borscht. Later, borscht was cooked with beet kvass: it was diluted with water, the mixture was poured into an earthenware pot or cast iron and brought to a boil. Chopped beets, cabbage, carrots and other vegetables were placed in boiling water and the pot was placed in the oven. The boiled borscht was salted and seasoned.

The origin of borscht is unknown, most likely, it appeared on the territory previously occupied by Kievan Rus, and now it has become most widespread and diverse.

In Russia, it is mentioned in the monuments of the XVI-XVII centuries. Essays about him can be found in the Novgorod Yamsky books for 1586-1631. Domostroy recommends cooking hogweed and beets in the summer. Interestingly, this dish was very fond of Catherine II, Alexander II, ballerina Anna Pavlova.

In Ukraine, in Belarus, Lithuania, in the south of Russia, in Siberia, borscht is prepared, and in the north of Russia and the Urals - mainly cabbage soup. Today, Poles, Russians, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, Romanians, and Belarusians have their own subtleties and peculiarities of cooking borscht. There are no clear rules.

Varieties [ | ]

There are many regional varieties of borscht. In general, borscht can be divided into two types:

• Hot (red) - this type of borscht is common in the cuisine of different nations, especially popular in Russia and Ukraine;
• Cold borscht, which is prepared mainly in spring/summer.

Red borscht [ | ]

Borscht cooking

A feature of the preparation of borscht is the pre-treatment of vegetables, and again, this primarily applies to beets. Beetroot before laying it in borscht can be cooked in several ways: stewing in crushed form, baking or boiling in a peel. As a rule, when pre-cooking beets, some kind of acid (table vinegar, lemon juice) is added to the cooking medium in order to preserve the color. Sometimes, so that the potatoes in borscht do not turn red, the beets are boiled for 30-40 minutes or a special borscht beet is used (not vinaigrette - red, but striped, or even sugar). Beets are often cooked separately from other vegetables. Also, as a rule, onions, carrots, parsley are sautéed separately, followed by the addition of tomatoes or tomato paste.

As a rule, borscht is cooked in meat, bone or meat-and-bone broth or poultry broth. The broth, in turn, for the best borscht is prepared not on water, but on specially prepared kvass - sirovets. Borsch is a thick soup, and one serving should have no more than one and a half glasses of broth.

After cooking the borscht, it is advisable to let it brew for an hour or two.

Cooking Old Lithuanian borscht is not technologically different from cooking Ukrainian, however, it uses porcini mushrooms, boiled separately, and, as a spice, cumin, as well as apples, turnips, kohlrabi. In addition, the so-called sorcerer is added to the Starolithian borscht - meat and dough products, like small dumplings stuffed with finely chopped bacon with the addition of minced meat or mushrooms.

Data [ | ]

Notes [ | ]

1. BORSCH (indefinite) . 2tq.ru. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
2. // Explanatory dictionary of the living Great Russian language: in 4 volumes / ed. V. I. Dal. - 2nd ed. - St. Petersburg. : Printing house M. O. Wolfa, 1880-1882.
3. , With. 239.
4. Kashin S.P. Your home chef. Cooking of the USSR. The best dishes - M.: Litagent "RIPOL", 2015 - ISBN 978-5-386-08117-1 - S. 264, 265
5. Pominova K. A. Borscht with champignons// Ukrainian, Belarusian, Moldavian cuisines. - M. : RIPOL classic, 2014. - S. 183. - ISBN 978-5-386-07760-0.
6. in particular: M. Vasmer, Etymological sl. Russian language(In 4 volumes). - M .: "Progress", 1986 (ed. 2nd, translated by O. N. Trubachev); P. Ya. Chernykh, Historical and etymological sl. Russian lang.- M., "Russian language", 1994; Etymological dictionary of Ukrainian language(In 7 volumes) / AN URSR. O. S. Melnichuk (head editor) - K .: “Nauk. Dumka, 1982; Etymological sl. Slavic languages. (Proto-Slavic lexical fund), Issue. 3. - M .: "Nauka", 1976. - S. 131 (" bаrsс»).
7. Semenov Academic Dictionary (indefinite) .
8. , With. 120.
9. Rabinovich M. G. Essays on the material culture of a Russian feudal city. - M., 1988.
10. Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages (indefinite) . www.bizslovo.org. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
11. Essays on Russian culture of the 16th century / Ed. A. V. Artsikhovsky. - M., 1976.
12. Sylvester edition. Domostroy (indefinite) .
13. Uzun O. V. Russian people. Russian kitchen . - M. : OLMA Media Group, 2007. - S. 143. - 383 p. - ISBN 978-5-373-00534-0.
14. Tatyana Solomonik. European box. - M. : Olma Media Group, 2006. - S. 231. - ISBN 9785765447215.
15. Malyavko A. A. Technology of preparation of the first, second and sweet dishes. - K .: Head publishing house of the publishing association "Vyshcha Shkola", 1988. - S. 19. - 184 p. - 160,000 copies.
16. Borsch Belarusian (indefinite) . Archived from the original on July 15, 2013.
17. Borscht index (indefinite) . Borscht official fan site GotovimBorsch.ru. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
18. "Borscht-Killer" gathers its fans on RussianFood.com (indefinite) . www.russianfood.com Retrieved April 3, 2019.
19. Google Maps (Russian). Google Maps. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
20. Max Kufman.

If the hostess in the kitchen skillfully bakes pies, cooks fragrant borscht and cooks other goodies, then you can be sure that the woman has a black belt in cooking. I would like to pay special attention to borscht. How did it all start? Who invented borscht? This will be discussed in this article.

The history of borscht

No one will ever give the exact date and name of the one who cooked borscht for the first time. Moreover, it is also impossible to say which national cuisine this dish belongs to. The Poles take credit for this. Hot Lithuanian guys claim that it was their forefathers who tried. But all over the world they say that this soup is. It can be concluded that the history of borscht goes back to such distant centuries that it is almost impossible to look there. But still, something has come down to our days.

Linguists report that "boron" and "u" at one fine moment formed into a single word "borscht". Many believe that the history of borscht begins here. The part "boron" came into the word from the brown color. A plot with pine trees with red bark was referred to as a "pine forest". Red used to be called brown. Beets are also red, so they began to call her "beet". Hence the first part of the word.

Many centuries ago, in the villages, soup was served at the table in meat broth with cabbage, it was called “shti”. Time later, "shti" turned into "shchi". The dish is similar to borscht, only without beets. Now we connect the “boer” and “shchi” - “borscht” comes out. That is cabbage soup with beets.

Unlike cabbage, beetroot cannot be called frost-resistant. Beets grow in the southern regions, so borscht, in which beetroot and cabbage float, has become widespread here. To the north, cabbage grows more; cabbage soup is served on the table in these regions.

The history of borscht is overgrown with various legends. One of the most popular says that Zaporozhye Cossacks invented the dish. During the capture of the Azov fortress, there was little food. The Cossacks ate what they found edible and cooked their own food. Once, everyone liked the result of cooking from what was at hand. The brave guys rearranged the letters from the name of the fish soup “shcherba”, it turned out to be borscht. A lot of time has passed, but the Cossacks to this day believe that the soup with beets owes its appearance to them.

Be that as it may, this dish is loved by many people on the planet. But the most widespread borscht was in Ukraine. They prepare it in different ways. There were three main cooking options.

1. Red.

2. Green.

3. Cold.

You should stop at each and find out what this masterpiece is made of.

Red borscht

On holidays and weekdays, the soup was prepared in different ways. Festive borscht was cooked in meat broth. On other days, they made a roast of garlic, onions and lard. The dish could not do without a large amount of beets. Serum was added for acid. The history of borscht says that potatoes appeared in Ukrainian cuisine only in the 19th century, until that time fried flour, beans, and cereals were added to borscht. In special cases, when serving, it was seasoned with sour cream.

Green borscht

It is brewed mainly from sorrel. Such borscht is called spring. At this time of the year, you already want vitamins and something like that. Preparation for borscht in those days was very different from the modern one. The hostesses plucked young nettles, quinoa, and very small beet leaves. All this was cut and thrown into the broth. Boiled and chopped eggs, whey to taste, sour cream were added. Lenten soup was cooked without meat, but it was supplemented with mushrooms or fish.

Cold borscht

From the name itself it follows that this borscht was eaten cold. The boiled young beets were cut into strips. The dressing for such a dish was different, for example, kvass or whey. Boiled eggs, parsnips, onions, dill, garlic were crushed and rushed to the dressing, and a little sour cream was added for satiety. On hot days, when there is no time to cook, and there is a battle for the harvest, cold borscht was a salvation. Used this dish with bread.

Borscht was approved and found a wonderful distribution in almost all cuisines of different nationalities. They like to cook it in Russia, Belarus, Moldova. And yet Ukrainian is the most famous borscht.

Ukrainian borsch

Previously, preparation for borscht consisted of products that are stored for a long time. For example, sauerkraut, old fat, brisket, beets. The dish turned out hearty and flavorful.

There are a lot of Ukrainian borscht recipes. Each region has contributed something of its own. Kyiv borscht is cooked on beef and lamb broth, beans are also added there. Chernigov differs in that sour apples are added to it. Poltava is boiled in poultry broth, mostly duck or goose. Lvovskiy is cooked with delicious sausages. Each housewife decides for herself how to cook Ukrainian borscht. You can use the recipe below.

Ukrainian borscht recipe

Put about 500 grams of pork in a saucepan, fill it with water, bring to a boil, remove the foam and cook until tender. While the meat is cooking, in a separate bowl, chopped beets are fried in fat with three tablespoons of tomato puree. Beets are taken to taste - the more, the sweeter the borscht. After that, a small amount of broth is added there, a couple of tablespoons of sugar, and continue to simmer until the beets are cooked. Shredded fresh cabbage, about half a head of cabbage, depending on the size, as well as one pepper, five potatoes, grated carrots, salt, and bay leaf are added to a saucepan with ready-made meat. The resulting mixture is brought to a boil and combined with beets. At the end add the fried flour. Last but not least, 4 cloves of garlic are ground with 50 grams of bacon. All this rushes into an almost ready meal. Boiled - the dish is cooked! But what is Ukrainian borscht without donuts?

History of borscht with donuts

The very first mention of this soup was found by historians in ancient Rome. As the Roman army conquered the world, the dish entered Europe. Then Russia was fragmented into some centers of culture - Polotsk, Tmutarakan, Veliky Novgorod, Kyiv. This is where Ukrainian borscht with donuts was born. The history of its origin is ambiguous and there are no clear roots here. Of the above areas, wheat grew only in Kyiv and Tmutarakan, in the rest - oats and rye. In this regard, in the future Ukraine, culinary masterpieces are made precisely from white bread, among which lush wheat donuts with garlic have found their place. They go great with beetroot soup. Now few people imagine Ukrainian borscht without donuts. It is not so difficult, by the way, to cook any kind of borscht with donuts. And for sure it will be very tasty.

In a previous article, I asked the question: why do peoples of different countries consider borscht their national dish?
Most often, borscht is called Ukrainian - it is cooked masterfully there, although if you ask Lithuanians, they will say that borscht (bariai), with ears or loin, was always cooked by their parents, grandfathers and great-grandfathers! And in Belarus, borscht is called their national dish. The Poles also claim to have invented borscht. They say that soup "borszcz, borszcz" (barszcz) with pork tongue is the national Polish dish!
Romanians call borscht an infusion of fermented bran, on which soups are cooked - “chorba”, but if they are cooked with beets, then it will be “Russian-style chorba” or borscht (bor)! In Russia, there is an opinion that borscht is a kind of cabbage soup, in which cabbage is the main component, and on this basis, many people talk about the Russian origin of borscht. And other countries are not far behind!
Europeans claim that ancient Rome is the birthplace of borscht. So figure out where, when and who got borscht?

Is there any relevance to this problem? What difference does it make who invented what, especially borscht! Eat and do not hesitate - if only it was tasty! This point of view exists not only in cooking. Moreover, is it right to attribute the invention of borscht to Ukrainians or pancakes to Russians, and barbecue to Caucasian peoples? Many ancient dishes appeared long before the emergence of modern states and their ambitions.

Still, it is extremely important to know national priorities. It is important because iconic inventions and discoveries are the subject of national pride of the country. They bring up not false leaven, but real patriotism.
Isn't it important for us to know about the achievements of Russia, which glorified our country throughout the world? And this is not only Popov's radio, Sikorsky's helicopter or the Kalashnikov assault rifle and many other inventions, but also simple items that have become a brand of Russia, such as Russian matryoshka, vodka or earflaps*.
But it happens that very recognizable and considered indisputably national things all over the world, for example, samovar, felt boots, dumplings and balalaika, are not purely Russian.

These brands of Russia have been transformed, improved by our ancestors from things that came to us from the east. Balalaika is an analogue of oriental domra, the samovar suggests a Persian origin, dumplings are Chinese, and the traditional felt boots of the nomads of the Great Steppe were the prototype of felt boots. But these items will forever remain Russian in the minds of people all over the world.

I think the same thing happened with the "Ukrainian" borscht. In cooking, it was not without mixing different cultures. Searching for who invented borscht is like exploring the priority of Tula gingerbread, Khoper fried crucians, Russian kurniks, kulibyak and pies, especially since national characteristics are often expressed not in the use of a certain set of products, but often in cooking technology, tools. For example, in Russian cuisine, food was cooked in the oven - with its slow languishing and special temperature conditions, which gave the dishes a special Russian personality. Some peoples cooked food on an open fire, etc.

However, let's try to figure it out. I'll start with the origin of the word "borscht". There are several versions.

According to the etymological dictionaries of the Slavic languages, the word borsch comes from the name of the plant "hogweed" (lat. Her; cl; um) - a genus of plants of the Umbelliferae family, numbering, according to The Plant List, fifty-two species |1|. On the collage, in front of the text, a photo of hogweed occupies the upper left corner.
In Russian, in the old days, hogweed was called borshch (b'urshch), which has been attested since the 16th century. In ancient times, this word could mean something jagged, bristly. According to one version, this name was given to the plant for the shape of the leaves. Slavic linguists believe that the word borsch is of Germanic origin (Borste, German - "bristle"). This is the name of the cow parsnip in modern German.

Leaves, stems and shoots of many species of hogweed are edible raw, salted, pickled. A stew with vegetables was cooked from the young greens of the Siberian hogweed and was called borscht. There was even a saying: "If there were cow parsnip, we would sleep, and we would be full without bread." Over time, the cow parsnip ceased to be eaten. It was replaced with beets in the same way as in Russian cabbage soup, turnips and rutabaga were replaced with potatoes when they appeared in Russia.
The plant itself in the literary language remained "hogweed". The plant has a similar name in other Slavic languages: Ukrainian - hogweed; Czech - bolevnk, Slovenian - br Polish - barszcz; Lithuanian bartis; Belarusian barshch |1|.

Some researchers believe that the Old Slavonic word "bursh" means beets. The word "buryak" is also translated from the Ukrainian language |2|.
It turns out that in this version, beetroot in Old Slavonic is borscht!
But this meaning is not confirmed by the dictionaries of ancient Slavic dialects, and beet from the Greek language (seukla) is translated into Ukrainian as beetroot. In Old Russian, the translation of the word "seukla" is seukl.
For the first time, the word "seukl" is noted in the Izbornik of Svyatoslav - 1073. The origin of the word in Greek has not yet been clarified. The modernized word "beet" appears later - in the XVI-XVII centuries. (for the first time - in "Domostroy"). Related words are the Bulgarian word "flowered" and the Slovak сvikla |3|.
Thus, the Old Slavic word "bursch" does not mean beetroot and refers exclusively to the plant Hogweed.
This version refers to folk etymology **, which arose under the influence of colloquial speech. That is, the substitution of an obscure, incomprehensible word for a consonant with modern concepts.

According to the Ukrainian version, beets are called beetroot, which means brown, dark, red. Adding burgundy beetroot to Russian cabbage soup resulted in Ukrainian borscht! According to this version, it turns out that borscht is a kind of cabbage soup.

There is another Ukrainian folklore version, according to which the word "borshch" comes from the name of the city of Borshchiv, Ternopil region. The city is Polish, founded in 1456 and was under the rule of Poland until its division in 1772. Later it was ceded to Austria. Since 1939, part of the Ukrainian SSR.

Urban legends say otherwise: the city was named after borscht. Local residents say that in ancient times, during the capture of the town by the Turks, they wanted to taste the local delicacy - borscht, which they did not like. The leader of the Turks yelled and insulted the local woman - the cook. She, angry, hit him on the head with a ladle, and then drowned him in a cauldron of borscht.
The second legend tells that when the fortress was attacked by the Turks, the inhabitants collected borscht from all the houses into a huge cauldron, heated it and began to pour the Turks with fat borscht. They were afraid of new weapons, lifted the siege and left. According to the third legend, the city got its name from the hogweed plant (Ukrainian), which grows here in large numbers. So, it was not borscht that got its name from the city, but, on the contrary, the city began to be called Borschev |4;5|.
Thus, the first version of the origin of the word "borsch" from the name of the plant hogweed is the most substantiated.

And yet, who invented borscht and what is it? In the Explanatory Dictionary of V.I. Dal determined that borscht is “rod shchi, beet sour soup, beef and pork or with lard”. Sounds old fashioned.
Borscht in general is “a traditional dish of Slavic cuisine; spicy beetroot vegetable soup as the main and taste-determining component; belongs to the number of dressing soups, some of the products of which are preliminarily overcooked or sautéed in a frying pan, and only then are placed in a pre-prepared broth. Beetroot gives a special taste to borscht, which differs from other vegetables in its color and contains a significant amount of sugars, very few organic acids and has a specific taste, and surpasses other vegetables in the content of microelements” |6|.

Whoever claims the priority of the invention of cabbage soup and borscht - both dishes are of Greco-Roman origin |7|.
“Already in the Bronze Age, the Greeks knew and used a large number of vegetables. Usually they were seasoned with spices. Sometimes lamb or beef was added to vegetable dishes. Hunting trophies were widely used - the meat of wild animals and birds, which were then found in abundance. Pork was the most favorite and widespread meat.
The ancient Greeks prepared meat, fish borscht, with seafood or purely vegetable, sometimes seasoned with sour cream or thick Greek yogurt, but the real flowering of popular love for cabbage soup and borscht arose in Ancient Rome. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the Romans idolized the common cabbage, considering it a means of increasing potency and indispensable for maintaining general health. In winter, for their cabbage soup, borscht and other soups, the Romans often took sauerkraut, which they prepared in large quantities” |7|.

Poetry odes to cabbage, cabbage soup and borscht by the Roman poet-epigrammatist Martial, poems by the great poet Virgil, writers Pliny and Cato have come down to us.
Each Roman family had its own borscht recipes. No more than a dozen have come down to us in the form of brief references, but they also give an idea of ​​their diversity. However, there is practically no information about the technology of preparation, since archaeological excavations provide information only about the composition of these dishes.

From Rome, this public soup gradually penetrated into the culinary arts of many peoples of the world and in each of them acquired its own special national features.
These national traits, from the point of view of common sense, can be challenged by Ukrainians, Poles, Lithuanians, Russians and Romanians, without taking credit for the invention of borscht.
But in life it often happens according to the well-known expression: “this cannot be because it can never be!” and the battle for supremacy in the invention of borscht continues.

Ukrainian historian of cultivated plants Grigory Gordienko believes that the date of birth of Ukrainian borscht can be considered 1705, when the word “beetroot” appeared in the literature (Ukrainian name for table beet from its color). However, he also noted that beets, as a product (seukla), were mentioned even earlier in Svyatoslav's Izbornik (1073), but a decoction was not boiled from it. But in 1683, during the siege of Vienna by the Turks, Zaporizhzhya Cossacks, helping the besieged, cleaned the surrounding gardens, where beets grew. They fried it in lard, and then boiled it in vegetable broth |8|. By the way, I tried it: very tasty!
“An interesting belief is connected with borscht. Ukrainians believe that the soul of the deceased flies away with the steam emanating from the hot borscht, so the dead are commemorated with borscht. But at the same time, borscht is also considered a traditional festive and wedding dish.
Borscht was also cooked in the spring, using stocks that had withstood winter storage. So, the recipe for an old spring borscht included beetroot, sauerkraut, smoked brisket and salted lard. The red color of borscht is festive, sacred” |8|.

It is quite obvious that the Poles, unlike the Ukrainians, cannot boast of such a history. They unfairly consider borscht their invention, and my grandmother was wrong when she gave priority to the Polish origin of borscht. The first mention of "borscht" in Poland is known only in the eighteenth century. Thus, the Polish borshchak is around two hundred years old, and the Ukrainian one has “passed” far over three hundred! So, by the method of elimination, Ukrainian borscht won so far in the secondary fight! (his photo with donuts with garlic in the upper right corner of the collage).

Consider the Russian trace. From written sources that have come down to us, it is known that cabbage soup, like borscht, is vegetable soup. According to the composition of the ingredients, shchi differs from borscht only in the absence of beets (photo in the lower left corner of the collage). It was cooked in Russia much earlier than borscht - back in the 9th century. In the era of Peter I, cabbage soup already firmly occupied a first-class, special place among Russian national soups.
However, despite the similarity of the composition of cabbage soup and borscht, they are not the same thing! The main difference in the preparation of cabbage soup from borscht is not only the presence of beets, as most gourmets believe, but the laying of products in the soup without preliminary cooking procedures, such as frying or sautéing (excluding sauerkraut, which is stewed separately). Putting all raw foods into the soup at the same time is a characteristic technique of Russian cuisine. In the old days, cabbage soup was cooked in a ceramic (later in a cast-iron) pot in a Russian stove, which made it possible to have a mild temperature regime. That is, cabbage soup was not boiled, but languished! Therefore, the taste of cabbage soup from our grandfathers and great-grandfathers was completely different.

We can talk about the similarity of borscht and cabbage soup only in modern recipes, when the technology of their preparation has leveled off, and modern chefs cook cabbage soup by throwing vegetables into the broth in turn, taking into account the cooking time of vegetables until they are ready. Based on these considerations, I think it is not correct to put an equal sign between cabbage soup and borscht. The common component of Russian cabbage soup and Ukrainian borscht is only Roman vegetable soup!

There are also Cossack claims to primacy in the invention of the borscht recipe among the Don and Zaporozhye Cossacks. During the siege of the Turkish Azak (modern Azov) in 1574, they captured the outskirts of Azov, and in 1625 broke into the fortress. “During the siege, the Cossacks ran out of supplies and the cooks pulled everything they could from the gardens. These were mainly beets, carrots and cabbage. From this they cooked stew. When the Cossacks asked what kind of food it was, the Don cooks answered “Shcherba” inside out! Shcherba - so in the old days the Cossacks called the Don fish soup, but on the contrary (inverted) it turned out to be Abreshch, from which later borscht turned out» |7|.

It is difficult to check this version - it all looks like a fairy tale. If you follow history exactly, then this area, sixteen kilometers from the Don, was part of the Tmutarakan principality of Kievan Rus, and the Greeks founded the city of Tanais at this place. Then it was captured by the Polovtsians, later it became the property of the Golden Horde. And from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century, the rich Italian colony Tana was located here, in the diet of which borscht appeared long before the appearance of the Zaporizhzhya and Don Cossacks and, if we already talk about the Cossack trace, it should be recognized that, most likely, they borrowed borscht from the Italians of Tanais .

Summing up the selection on the history of borscht, I will note that, in my opinion, Ukrainians have the most rights to recipe and technological superiority. They really skillfully cook borscht with potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes and eat it with hot garlic donuts.

Lithuanians, Bulgarians, Romanians and Belarusians stayed away from my story. Avoiding repetition, I note that their prescription inventions have the same roots, but they date back later than Ukrainian ones, and “Lithuanian cold kefir borscht with salt, fresh cucumbers, beets, green onions and dill (and often with a hard-boiled egg) in general It’s hard to even call it borscht, although it’s really extraordinarily good on a hot summer day, but Lithuanians don’t serve it quite in the summer way – without fail with hot boiled potatoes, and sometimes with juicy cutlets bursting with heat” |9|.

Shtetl Jews also have a couple of original recipes, who not only adopted this dish from their Ukrainian neighbors, but also benefited their new homeland, the United States, with borscht. Naturally, their borscht does not even smell of pork. Orthodox Jews cook borscht exclusively in chicken broth, give it a frankly sweet note and usually use boiled beets in it, rather than stewed with tomato and vinegar.

Finally, let's not forget that in Russia the word "borscht" appeared long before this popular dish. According to Fasmer's dictionary, its original meaning is hogweed, and today's "red beet stew" has become so called because it was previously cooked from hogweed. Therefore, the combination of the words "Moscow" and "borscht" does not surprise anyone except tourists from Ukraine.
The capital product differs from the usual borscht in that it is cooked on beef broth and “smoked pork”. Before serving, pieces of beef, ham, sliced ​​sausages and greens are placed in Moscow borscht. Sour cream and, for some reason, a cheesecake with cottage cheese are served separately» |9|.

Thus, not a single national borsch is distinguished by the purity of its pedigree. Borscht is the most typical dish of Eastern European cuisine in general. It would not be a sin for the disputing parties to remember how, in the second half of the first century, the savory spirit of ancient Roman cabbage soup and borscht, including those with pork and lard, which were necessarily included in the diet of Roman legionnaires, first rose over the southern borders of the future Russian Empire!

Notes:

*There are two versions of the origin of the earflaps. (In English-speaking countries, the most commonly used words are "ushanka", "russian fur hat" and "shapka").
The first is Pomeranian. According to her, the Russian earflap became the heiress of the Pomeranian fashion - cybaki hats. It is the same fur hat-helmet with long ears that can reach the waist. In severe frost and wind, it is convenient to tie them around the neck, like a scarf. It is assumed that the tsibaka passed to the Pomors from the Saami. (Saami - Lapps. Live on the Kola Peninsula).
According to the second version, the hat originated from the Mongolian malakhai. It is possible that the influence could be simultaneous

** Folk etymology is a false etymology, i.e. understanding the composition of the word on the basis of its convergence with known consonant words. (for example, "half-clinic" instead of "polyclinic").

References:

1.https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/
2. 3. 4. Bortstchev-62032/
5. http://myshtetl.org/ternoplskaja/borschev.html
6. https://ru.wiktionary.org/wiki/
7. http://supercook.ru/zz320-ant-roma.html
8. http://old.vdvsn.ru/papers/si/2005/12/06/42098/
9. http://www.7ya.ru/article/Ne-pereborwi/

A tasty word - borsch, of course, is known to all lovers of a nice meal. Gluttons do not even think about the origin of the dish, its origin, what is the history of borscht. How many countries prepare their favorite dish, so many opinions and stories of borscht exist. For many decades, even centuries, there has been an eternal debate about who invented the famous food. The Slavic peoples prove that it is their national, culinary achievement to cook beetroot (and each nation has its own method). Historians put forward versions of the appearance of red stew even among the ancient Romans. For many centuries BC, the Roman inhabitants cooked stew, with the addition of all kinds of edible vegetable crops. The main ingredients were beets and cabbage. Greek sailors gave the red vegetable its current name, delivering it to the shores of the Scythian, Slavic, northern peoples.

Where did the name come from

Linguists believe that the definition of borscht came from the hogweed plant, as the Old Slavic peoples called the burgundy vegetable, using only leaves for cooking. Borschets - was named hogweed stew. There is also an opinion that the pioneers in the creation of red soup are the Cossacks. Among these peoples, food was called "shcherba". In Russia, liquid food was used with the composition of beets and cabbage. "Brown cabbage soup" so called her.

Origin

There are only assumptions about the exact origin of hot beetroot (exactly the one that is popular to this day). In Russia, the countries of the post-Soviet space, a very important, beloved tradition is to cook red cabbage soup, the main dish of the national cuisine. Romanians, Poles, Hungarians use their own methods, subtleties, to prepare this food. Even in different regions of the same republic, cooking methods can differ globally. The championship in cooking red soup, the most revered in many countries of the world, was won by Ukraine.

Peculiarities

In Ukraine, beetroot has been cooked since time immemorial. The history of borscht in the annals of the 14th century mentions such food. Boiling, steaming, vegetable soup had the status of the main dish, at the tables of the dining kings, at the magnificent feasts of those times. He was solemnly carried out in large vats at wedding feasts. For funeral dinners, an important attribute of the memory of the deceased, beetroot soup. It is assumed that along with the steam, the soul of the deceased flies off the hot plate. For the republics - Ukraine, Belarus, the tradition has been preserved to this day. It is impossible to know, let alone remember why red hot cabbage soup is an important attribute of these events.

What to prepare

The number of products involved in the cooking of beetroot cannot be briefly described. A wide range of vegetable crops is used to prepare the famous dish. The main component, of course, beets. Other vegetables or meat products are added according to the recipe. Every self-respecting housewife has her own way of cooking. Be sure to put some irreplaceable ingredient (zest) for this dish. Carrots, potatoes, paprika, onions, tomatoes, garlic. Necessary vegetables, which are certainly part of the famous borscht. Therefore, there is no exact, correct, reliable recipe.

Titles

Ukrainian is the most noble, revered by lovers of delicious food. It is useless to dispute its popularity. It is easier to list the ingredients that are not in Ukrainian borscht than those that are present. The recipe for cooking is a large number of vegetable, meat products (certainly bacon, lard), as they say, so that the spoon stands.
They also revere Russian borscht. The presence of meat broth from beef or pork is mandatory, as is the presence of a variety of vegetables. Richness is not Ukrainian, however, they love, cook, respect, serve in every home. Lunch without the first is not lunch.
Lithuanian cold red soup is the pride of the nation. Salted kefir, of course, beets, a lot of all kinds of greens, a boiled egg. The meal is ready. On hot summer days, it is unusually good. The name is the same, the dishes are completely different.
About recipes for borscht, its origin briefly, it is impossible to describe. Professional cooks sometimes give it their whole lives. Nevertheless, a noble dish always remains respected and in demand.

Ukrainians, in their own opinion, have the most rights to borscht primogeniture - and they really masterfully cook beetroot borscht with potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes and hot garlic donuts. Lithuanians also consider barščiai their national dish.

Their cold kefir borsch with salt, fresh cucumbers, beets, green onions and dill (and often with a hard-boiled egg) is really unusually good on a hot summer day. However, the Lithuanians serve it not quite in a summer way - without fail with hot boiled potatoes, and in some decent houses - with juicy cutlets bursting with heat. And the Belarusians claim that their borscht is the most ancient, ignoring similar statements of the Poles, Romanians and even Bulgarians.

A couple of excellent and quite original recipes are also found among the Jews, who not only adopted this dish from their Ukrainian neighbors, but also managed to benefit their new homeland, the United States, with borscht. Naturally, their borscht does not even smell of pork, and if it is cooked on meat, then it is pointless to look for sour cream in it. Orthodox Jews often cook borscht exclusively in chicken broth, give it a frankly sweet note and usually use boiled beets in it, rather than stewed with tomato and vinegar.

Finally, let's not forget that in Russia the word "borscht" appeared long before this popular dish. According to Fasmer's dictionary, its original meaning is hogweed, and today's "red beet stew" has become so called because it was previously cooked from hogweed. Therefore, the combination of the words "Moscow" and "borscht" does not surprise anyone except tourists from Ukraine.

This metropolitan product differs from the usual borscht in that it is cooked on beef and "smoked" broth. Before serving, pieces of beef, ham, sliced ​​sausages and greens are placed in Moscow borscht. Sour cream and, for some reason, a cheesecake with cottage cheese are served separately.

By itself, there is naval borscht, and in the Black Sea Fleet, no matter who it ultimately belongs to, there is no problem which borscht to cook - Ukrainian or Moscow - is not. For their favorite dish, sailors and boatswains make beef broth with the addition of smoked pork belly (once they used only corned beef, which they took with them on long voyages). Cabbage is cut into checkers (not sabers, but squares), and potatoes are cut into cubes. Served during a strong pitching - with boiled brisket, sour cream and herbs. Cooked on land, without maritime daring and zeal, it bears a clear echo of a quote from The Golden Calf: "In this naval borscht, shipwreck wreckage floats ..."

It should be noted that, in fact, beetroot borscht, the classic recipe of which includes potatoes that appeared in all of the above countries a couple of centuries ago, cannot have a too ancient history... Nevertheless, we quite rightly consider this dish a symbol of Russian cuisine, and this is how it entered the world of culinary.

Soup with open architecture

There is no absolutely classic recipe for borscht, but there are some tricks to its preparation. Before introducing stewed or pre-boiled and chopped beets into the boiling broth, try acidifying it with vinegar - the color of the borscht will be brighter. It will be interesting if, 5 minutes before the dish is ready, put a few slices of a peeled apple or a little mustard into it: the consistency will become thicker, the taste will acquire a spicy note. It’s better not to pour sugar into borscht just like that, but to add it to the beets before stewing: during the heat treatment, it will absorb sugar and its taste will become more saturated. Just don't forget: although borscht is considered a multinational soup "with open architecture", it's better not to overdo it with additives.

Aesthetes can tint borscht with beetroot kvass - a little kvass is poured into a ready, but still slightly boiling dish and immediately removed from the stove, covered with a lid.

Kvass is prepared simply: wash raw beets, peel, cut into arbitrary slices, pour cold water, put in a warm place, cover with gauze and forget for six or seven days. Then refrigerate for a few more days. The liquid will acquire a thick color and a slightly viscous consistency. Strain kvass and store in the refrigerator in a tightly closed container or even freeze in small plastic serving containers and use as needed. They say that in the old days in cheap taverns, negligent cooks put copper nickels into the cauldron when cooking borscht ... Surely it turned out disgusting, but the color was - nowhere redder!