The Ukrainian red beetroot soup Borshch (Borscht, Borsch) will be added to the list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity by the UN specialized agency UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).
Borshch is a famous all over the world traditional Ukrainian food. It is the healthy nutrient vegetable soup with red beets that usually includes more than ten ingredients. Borshch (Borscht) and Varenyky are well known symbols of yhe ethnic Ukrainian cuisine. Etnocook considers it to be on the first place among the World’s Most Iconic Foods and sure in the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage.
Although it will be possible after Ukrainian Borsch is, first of all, in a national list of elements of intangible cultural heritage. Such the petition is registered by the Ministry of culture twice a year, before the 15th of April and the 15th of October.
The idea was initiated by the Ukrainian Association of Suppliers of Trade Networks in spring 2018 and supported by the Ministry of culture of Ukraine:
“The Association of retailers of Ukraine appealed to the most famous chefs of Ukraine on the borscht recipe, which can be considered a classic. Since borsch recipes are many and they differ in many regions of our country, then find a classic soup, which was prepared by our ancestors is an important task,” – said Oleksiy Doroshenko, the Ministry of culture of Ukraine.
As Etnocook mentioned befor, Borshch is an everyday and ritual dish in Slavic cuisine. It is known from early Kyiv Rus times but it was prepared by Slavic people much more time ago. Actually Borshch is a usual everyday soup in Ukraine nowadays, and, by the way, it is so tasty and healthy that becomes more and more popular all over the world, even in Japan.
There are different types of Borshch and the way to prepare it differs from region to region and in every family there is a unique recipe. There are three main types of Borshch. The first is the true Ukrainian Borshch that is the most popular. The second is Green Borshch that is made on Spring and Summer when there are new plants. And the last is Cold Borshch also known like Holodnyk that is made usually during hot summer and it is served cold. There are a lot of different ingredients added to Borshch but the most common were broth, red beets, cabbage, carrot, mushrooms, beans, onion, garlic and Beet Kvass. People got used to add potato to Borshch from XIX century because there was no potato in Ukraine before this time. Also in ancient times no tomatoes or acids were added. In Borshch was added homemade Beet Kvass that is very healthy and tasty beverage.
Borshch is a very special and symbolic Ukrainian dish that means to Ukrainian people a lot. For example, in Washington, USA, on March 6, 1953, the waitress at the restaurant “1203” Eileen Keenan was inviting everyone to enjoy “Free Borshch” in celebration of the Soviet Union’s dictator Joseph Stalin‘s death.
The application anout the Ukrainian Borsch must be submitted to the UN until the 1st of February, 2019, and wait for a year and a half the UNESCO committee’s consideration.
The traditional Ukrainian cuisine Etnocook has recently posted the best recipe of the true Ukrainian soup Borscht with redbeet kvass and sour cream. Enjoy!
