Borscht, a deep red beet and cabbage soup, is popular all around Ukraine. The recipe might slightly differ by regions, but the main ingredients still remain the same – cabbage, beets, potatoes, onions, garlic, sour cream, and dill. Depending on a season, borscht can be served hot and cold, with cold varieties often being light or vegetarian.

Hot borscht is a staple hearty lunch meal in the cold months of Ukrainian autumn and winter. It is usually a meal by itself and is accompanied by a few slices of dark and dense rye bread. In order to make it, you will first need to cook a stock. Beef bone marrow, meaty pork bones, or chicken, with an addition of root vegetables, such as onions, carrots, and parsley stalks, should be simmered for at least three hours. After that, the stock is filtered, and the cooked meat is separated from the bones and returned to the pot, while the bones and vegetables are thrown away. Meanwhile, thinly shred 1 medium-size cabbage and a few small beets, and cube about 4-5 peeled potatoes. Shredded beets have to be sprinkled with lemon juice not to lose their deep colour. Add potatoes, beets and cabbage to the pot, and simmer for about 15-20 minutes, until potatoes are soft. While the vegetables are being cooked, prepare “zapravka”: in a heavy skillet, sauté in lard or goose fat 1 thinly sliced onion and 1 chopped carrot. Add about 2 tbsp tomato paste, salt, sugar and pepper to taste, and sauté for about 10 minutes more. Add to the pot and simmer for additional 5 minutes. When the borscht is almost ready, check again for the spices, and add a bunch of chopped dill and a few cloves of minced garlic. Remove from the heat and let stand for about 10-15 minutes.

Serve borscht hot with “smetana” (home-made sour cream), sourdough bread or “pampushki” (hot rounds buns with chopped garlic), and a tiny glass of “horilka z pertsem” (Ukrainian vodka brewed with hot pepper). For the Ukrainians, a pot of borsht usually lasts a couple of days, and it is especially delicious on the following day.

Related posts:

1. 5 Most Important Products of Ukrainian Cuisine
2. Ukrainian cuisine
3. Beat the bland!

But just because there’s still a whole month to go until Easter doesn’t mean that followers of Orthodox religious traditions should stay home and eat porridge. In fact, eating out during Post is more popular in Kyiv than ever, judging from the number of Lenten menu offers found at most restaurants throughout the city. Thanks to their efforts, Post becomes not so much a reason to reject things you like, but a possibility to try out something new.

Fasting Ukrainian style

One of the most full and varied Lenten menus can be found at Za Dvoma Zaytsyamy (or “After Two Hares,” 34 Andriyivsky, 279-7972). Its Lenten special consists of 17 dishes, the most notable among them being shchi (cabbage soup) “Monastery” style; a puree of green peas with broccoli; potato zrazy (fried potato pastries) served with soy sour cream; deruny (potato pancakes) with champignons; fried potatoes with chanterelles; piquant pumpkin with garlic and coriander; and zucchini stuffed with vegetables. For dessert don’t miss traditional varenycks with cherries; apple baked with raisins and nuts with cognac; and pumpkin baked with raisins and honey.

Another Ukrainian eatery, O’Panas (Shevchenko park, 235-2132), offers traditional Lenten dishes such as Lenten borsht with white mushrooms; vegetable salad with radish, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, sweet pepper and olive oil; soy sprouts with vegetables and couscous, tomatoes and sweet pepper; mixed salad leaves and marinated celery; soy meat baked in tomato sauce; potato zrazy stuffed with mushrooms under mushroom sauce; boiled buckwheat with mushrooms and onions; and desserts – apple with honey and nuts; and halva with almonds.

No meat, only veggies

Steakhouse Soho (82 Artema, 484-0351), though being essentially a spot for meat-lovers, has a number of seasonal Lenten offers on its list as well. Check out the puree of lentils with tomatoes; puree of potatoes with black truffle flavor; lentil salad with tomatoes and asparagus seasoned with Balsamic sauce; salad of broccoli, cauliflower, celery and carrot under piquant sauce; eggplant rolls stuffed with tofu, cedar nuts and juicy vegetables; Thai style samosas; and green asparagus with fried tofu and baked tomatoes.

At the club-restaurant Penthouse (58 Velyka Vasylkivska, 289-4394) you’ll find such Lenten menu items as salad with carrot, celery, apple and walnuts; Peking cabbage with soya sprouts, rice and Chinese mushrooms; a vinaigrette with chanterelles and sea cabbage; kidney beans stewed in tomato sauce with vegetables; and grilled corn with garlic sauce.

Fusion Lent

Fans of Japanese cuisine should head to Asahi (1G Saksahanskoho, 244-2237) to taste its vegetarian rolls with onion, marinated daikon (pickled Oriental radish) and kampio. Also try sushi with Japanese algae; spinach Goma-Ae (boiled spinach under sesame sauce); the Kaiso special salad of Japanese algae under sweet-and-sour sauce; and spring salad with three kinds of algae.

Tampopo (55 Saksahanskoho, 428-0448), famous for its creative food experiments, offers a range of dishes to keep you happy during Post: vegetable salad with cedar nuts; slices of tofu with basil and tomatoes; a salad of sweet pepper with nut sauce; soy-cream pumpkin soup; mushroom soup with rice noodles; kidney bean soup with soy meat; wild rice with vegetables on banana leaves; vegetable spaghetti with tofu; spinach leafs with soy meat and dried tomatoes; and a dessert of assorted dried fruits.

Healthy Picnic

Those who like to get out of Kyiv from time to time can take advantage of the Lenten menu at Chabany (7 km down the Kyiv-Odessa highway, 526-4023). Its Great Lent special reproduces the Lenten assortment of dishes of 1806: vinaigrette of different vegetables with anchovy and oil; a snack of salmon and green kidney beans under a sauce of “foreign” orange; boiled potatoes with slices of herring and marinated white mushrooms; varenycks with potatoes and cabbage with fried onion; mushroom soup with small pancakes of boiled buckwheat with onion; cabbage stuffed with rice and mushrooms under tomato sauce; and the jelly of pink flowers with cherry for dessert.
by Alexandra Matoshko, Kyiv Post Staff Writer

Related posts:

1. The latest menus at Kyiv’s restaurants
2. 5 Must try of Hutsul Ukrainian Cuisine
3. Chinese restaurant Victory finally reopened; coffee-themed Mokko offers decent food