Borsch

One of the most famous features of the Russian cuisine, borsch is the apple of discord of many foodies, not only because of the dozens of way it can be prepared, but also for its spelling! 

The most common spelling, "borscht", has a yiddish origin. There is no "t" sound in its russian pronounciation; it ends with a soft "sh" sound , as in "sheep" for instance.

Borsch belongs to a more general slavic tradition, many variations of which can be found in Ukranian, Polish, Belorussian, and other traditional kitchens. No need to say that there are as many recipes as there are regions and cooks. The recipe presented below is a very personal choice of various techniques and ingredients, and as such could be severely criticized by borsch purists (who DO exist in large numbers).

It always tastes better on the next day, so borsch is cooked in large pots. It is supposed to be a very rich dish, and Russian soups are quite often very thick, almost as a vegetable ragout with sauce rather than your thin soup.

Usually, borsch is cooked in a meat broth, for which some recipes require porc and beef, or just beef. Chicken is rarely used, although it tastes really good too.

It is always better to have some bones in the broth, whichever meat you choose. You must of course cook the meat first. When it's done, take the meat out of the pot, and leave it to cool on the side. Cut the meat in small pieces and add to the pot or to each plate before serving.

 For 3 liters of broth:

a large pot

a small pan

some vegetable oil

500g shredded cabbage

4 potatoes

2 grated carrots

2 onions 

1 tomato

1 beetroot

1 turnip

2 bay leaves

cloves

salt

Optional : 

1 small dried red chili pepper, garlic, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, tomato pulp, thyme, sour cream (add a dollop on top of each portion before serving) .

#1 Heat the broth. 

#2 Stick some cloves into one onion. You will throw it out once the borsch is done; it simply prevents the cloves from swimming around in your plate - I really hate biting on a clove. Put it in the broth, along with the bay leaves (and the red chili pepper if you're using it).

#3 Peel and cube the potatoes and add them to the broth. Same with turnip and beetroot (if it's raw - I usually buy precooked beetroot and add it much later, or else it will overcook).

#3 Cut one onion and the tomato in small cubes. Heat some oil in the pan, and fry the onion, tomato and grated carrots. You can add some garlic and tomato pulp if you like. When it's nicely fragrant, add it all to the broth.

#4 Last to go into the broth is the cabbage and the beetroot (if it's precooked!).

#5 Let it all cook for about 40 min - or until all the root vegetables are tender.

I add some Worcestershire sauce because I cook without meat, and it adds some sharpness to the taste (absolutely not a Russian thing to do).

My mom adds half a lemon (zest and all), but to my taste the tomato gives enough acidity.

My advice would be to cook your first borsch as simple as possible, and correct the recipe to your taste next time, by adding all the extra ingredients. 

Good luck and bon appetit!

Cream Cheese Pancakes - Oladyi

These are usually eaten for breakfast or teatime.

The texture is a bit different from regular pancakes, oladyi are creamier.

500g cream cheese or yoghurt

1 egg

250g flour

1c. spoon of baking powder

100g sugar

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and spoon small portions on to a hot pan (add some oil or butter before baking if your pan is not a non-stick one).

As soon as tiny bubbles appear on the surface, flip the pancake. It generally takes about a minute and a half for each side to be ready, but it depends on the quality of your pan, the heat of the flame, the thickness of your pancake, etc so you really need to be there the whole time to avoid burning them.

Add a dollop of honey (as in photo), jam, or drizzle with some sweet condensed milk before serving.

Optional ingredients are: cinnamon, lemon zest, vanilla. You can also add some raisins or dice a fresh apple, and add it to the dough before pan frying it.

You can also skip the sugar to make savoury pancakes, and serve them with cream cheese and salmon eggs, or smoked salmon for example.

Korean Carrot Salad

A typically Soviet side dish, this salad isn't really connected to Korean traditional cuisine, since it was invented by "local" Soviet Koreans, who had at some point migrated to the Russian Empire in the 1860's.

Some say the salad dressing derives from a similar hot and sour marinade used in Korean fish dishes.

It is now quite popular among Russians of every other ethnic origin, and quite a common (if not unavoidable) side dish.

2 fresh carrots, grated or shredded (= 200g)

2 teaspoons of vinegar

1 garlic clove

1 table spoon of sunflower seed oil (or any other non fragrant oil)

1 coffee spoon of each:

salt

black pepper

red chili pepper

sugar

soy sauce (optional)

a bowl

a small pan

#1 Put grated carrots in the bowl, add vinegar, salt, sugar and spices.

#2 Heat oil in the pan.

Now you can either crush the garlic, put it on the carrots and pour hot oil over it; or you can fry the garlic clove in the oil to make it more fragrant, throw away the fried clove and pour fragrant oil over carrots (which I find tastier to be honest).

#3 Mix the contents of the bowl gently, and leave to marinate for at least 20 min.

If you're not sure whether the marinade is too spicy or not, mix it in a separate bowl and taste it first before adding it to the carrots.

Adding soy sauce will make the carrots turn an unpleasant shade of brownish, but it will still be delicious!

Other optional ingredients are : fried onions, fresh parsley, cumin powder.