Talking About Borscht

A group of us were at a dinner party recently where we sampled Polish sausage.  The conversation then turned to how Polish sausage was used to make borscht.  I was familiar with the traditional Russian beet soup because of my connection to Sergei Kourdakov.  To be honest, borscht was not my favorite dish.  But I remembered that it was Sergei’s favorite.  He had even given his recipe for borscht to my brother Keith.

A few days after the dinner party I decided to email Keith and ask him about the long-ago recipe exchange.  While waiting for his response, I couldn’t help but laugh when I thought about that afternoon when all of us were twenty-something.  The memories of us gathered at my brother’s favorite bar in Washington DC were still clear.  I remember thinking at that time how it seemed so out of character for Sergei and Keith, two strong and muscular weight-lifters, to bond while talking about soup.  But then again, maybe it wasn’t so strange after all.  We had beer mugs in our hands and Keith and Sergei were exchanging all kinds of funny stories.  I was really happy that they got along so well.

In Keith’s email he wrote that the original borscht recipe was typed on a half sheet of paper, “I did some re-write to get it more in line with how recipes look in the U.S.  Sergei said he got this recipe from a Ukrainian friend and it was his favorite...has a little more meat in it.”

Sergei’s Borscht

2 medium onions, minced

½ stick butter

2 pounds beets, chopped

2 medium purple turnips, chopped

1 medium celery root, chopped

2 large parsnips, chopped

2  16-ounce cans tomatoes and liquid

1 small bay leaf

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 teaspoons salt

6 peppercorns

½ cup red wine vinegar

3 quarts beef broth

1 pound potatoes, shredded

1 small green cabbage, shredded

1 Polish sausage, cut into ½ inch slices

2 cups sour cream

1 small bunch dill, snipped

In a large kettle, over medium high heat, sauté the onions in the butter for 8 minutes.  Stir in the beets, turnips, celery root, parsnips, tomatoes, bay, brown sugar, salt, peppercorns, vinegar, and 2 cups of broth.  Stirring constantly, bring to a boil, then cover.  Reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes.  Make sure vegetables don’t run out of liquid.  Add remaining broth and potatoes, and cook 15 minutes.  Add cabbage and cook 15 minutes.  Add sausage and cook 15 minutes.

Serve in soup plate and pass sour cream and dill for toppings.

Best made hours or days ahead.  Freezes well.