Food and Drink Atlas

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Borscht

BORSHT
Also Known As Borsch

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A sour soup built on a beet-based broth, most closely associated in English with the Ukrainian version of the dish, though cooked in variations across a wide swath of Eastern and Central Europe. Its beetroot form is generally credited to what is now Ukraine, whose soil and climate particularly suit beet growing; in 2022 UNESCO inscribed the Culture of Ukrainian Borscht Cooking on its List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding, while explicitly noting that neighboring countries also practice borscht cooking and that the listing implies no exclusive ownership.

Facts
Origin Region
Ukraine (beetroot form); cooked widely across Eastern and Central Europe 1
Sourced to the subject's own accountUNESCO's 2022 inscription of the Culture of Ukrainian Borscht Cooking states explicitly that several other countries in the region also practice borscht cooking and that the listing does not imply exclusive ownership for any one country.
Origin Period, To (Year)
to 1781 1
Sourced to the subject's own accountMarks Russian ethnographer Andrey Meyer's 1781 book, one of the earliest mentions of borscht made with pickled beets, the ingredient that gives the modern soup its familiar red color.
Disputed
Origin Period, From (Year)
from 1550 1
Sourced to the subject's own accountMarks the sixteenth-century Domostroy, a Russian household compendium carrying an early written reference to the Slavic hogweed soup borscht derives from; the now-standard beetroot-based form is documented later.
Sources
1. Borscht (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHistory
Quote, History
suggests that this innovation took place in what is now Ukraine, whose soils and climate are particularly well suited to beet cultivation
View the Source
1. Borscht (Wikipedia)
WikipediaEtymologyView the Source
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