Ukrainian Borsch

On Saturday Malvina brought Kristina to our apartment so Vera could teach us how to make Ukrainian Borsch.  First we went shopping together at my favorite open air market and bought lots of veggies and some pork--most of it for Shashlik we were marinating for an outing to a Dacha (a cottage or cabin) the next day.

Vera took us to the spice vendor and told him we were marinating 4 kilos of pork for shashlik.  He immediately began spooning spices from one container after another into a little paper cone which he eventually sealed up with the perfect blend of spices for pork shashlik.

The spice vendor.

I just can't resist snapping a photo of pig's heads next to their feet.  The feet are used to make Sala--a gelatin dish filled with meat.  

I always wondered what a Calamari looked like.  You can see it's black on the top and white on the bottom (the one lying next to it).

Vera's Ukrainian Borsch recipe.

Boil the bone of a pork roast in 3 liters of water for one hour.  Spoon off the foam that floats to the top.

While the pork bone is boiling, peal and chop 5-6 potatoes.  Add them to the broth after the pork has boiled for an hour.

Pour 1/4" oil into a frying pan and sauté the following:  

2-3 pealed and grated carrots. 

1 large onion chopped into small pieces.

1 large sweet pepper cut into small pieces.

Add to broth.

Saute 1/2 head of cabbage sliced thin.  After it has reduced,

add 3-4 cloves of pressed or chopped garlic.

3-4 grated tomatoes

1 small can tomato paste

1 large beet pealed and grated

After all ingredients are throughly heated through,

serve and garnish with sour cream, parsley and dill, green onion and garlic.

It takes a long time to make, but it's fun if you do it as a group.

We got hungry and made these delicious, healthy sandwiches in between chopping.

Enjoying the Borsch.  Malvina wanted to work on Rosetta Stone before we ate.