Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Borsch

New Yorkers think that the disgusting blue stuff they see in bottles in their grocery stores is the real borsch. Maybe in Poland it is. But not in Russia or Ukraine. I am not going to make any disparaging remarks about other people's food. And I actually like beet borsch (when it's cold and has some boiled eggs crumbled into it). But the difference between Russo-Ukrainian borsch and Polish borsch is the difference between Chassidus Chabad and Chassidus Chagas.

Some examples (click on the last image to enlarge and view in full glory):

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__0UeAohx0SM/SwYoKAJ5gsI/AAAAAAAAAFg/3-4eOZfKeI8/s1600/russian-borscht-ck-1696599-l.jpg

http://www.eda-server.ru/gastronom/img/ukrain-borsch.jpg
(garlic is in the picture, because borsch is eaten with garlic dipped in salt and sometimes rubbed onto toasted rye bread)



(presence of meat and sour cream together for demonstration purposes only)

18 comments:

Just like a guy said...

I must say, those actually look quite yummy.

Anarchist Chossid said...

Maybe your wife should instead make them for the tomorrow's l'chayim. Borsch and vodka are not a bad combination.

Anarchist Chossid said...

In Jewish borsch, sometimes the blood of X-ian babies is added. Strictly to enhance the color.

Just like a guy said...

Is it "Borsch" or Borscht"?

Is that the first picture?

Anarchist Chossid said...

One is Russian; the other is Polish.

Both.

Just like a guy said...

Hmm, interesting.

Or "Troth".

e said...

My parents went to Texas to hang out with my sister, new brother-in-law, and his family. My mother loved the mechutaneste's borsch. Of course every Pesach she makes the beet-juice stuff and won't go near it.

Just like a guy said...

What's the difference?

e said...

beet-juice stuff=the water that's left in the pot after you boil beets + salt + sugar + some other junk

the mechutaneste's borsch=something like the food porn depicted above.

Just like a guy said...

Ahh.

Anarchist Chossid said...

Beet borsch is actually very good. Not the disgusting stuff they sell in the supermarkets, though. For most of my life I liked beet borsch more than red borsch, because 1) it was cold, 2) it was made more rarely than the regular borsch, 3) it had eggs added to it. You eat it without garlic, but eggs beat garlic any day.

Anarchist Chossid said...

And it’s not just the juice. It has beets and other veggies.

e said...

not in my family. Ours closely resembles the supermarket stuff.

e said...

the most interesting our borcht ever was, was when one year they put some lumps of beet in the borscht.

Anarchist Chossid said...

You should introduce some real borsch to them.

Is it because it’s a shliach family and all the food is oriented at the Chabad House–style food (i.e., easy to make)? My mother and my grandmother refused to eat the gefilte fish served in a local Chabad House, since it wasn’t up to their standards.

Anarchist Chossid said...

This is how they make gefilte fish in my family, except it’s even more complicated (and nicer). There are onions wraps, more carrots and beats, and the fish looks much yummier.

e said...

nothing chabad-housey about our food. Usually my mother throws out the beet juice. But Pesach time, when the old waste-not-want-not European-born grandparents are around...

Yitzchak said...

I like the beet juice stuff. The closest thing I got the borscht (sue me I'm polish on one side) in this picture is simple beet soup with the beets in.