This Fermented Borscht soup is built around traditional Polish kvass, a ferment made with rye bread, beetroot and water.
Winter is a great time to be fermenting, as it brings new energy to stored veg at a time of year when fresh food is scarce. It is based on a Christmas eve barshch recipe from a 1952 book by Maria Disslowa: Continental European Cooking.
The book has a foreword by Dr Wit Tarnawski, director of a well-known health resort in the Carpathian mountains, in which he highlights the importance of cooking from scratch.
‘Home cooking cannot be neglected nor passed over with indifference, if one sincerely desires health for one’s self and one’s family.’
You can also try this infused with dried or fresh hawthorn berries, to boost heart-healthy properties as well as flavour.
By Rachel DeThample
This Fermented Borscht Recipe Serves 4
Ingredients
For the kvass
- 250 g raw beetroot
- 30g piece of rye bread (about 2 tbsp when chopped) 1 tbsp dried or fresh hawthorn berries (optional) 500 ml water
For the soup
- 1 litre chicken, fish or veg stock
- 2 star anise and/or juniper berries (optional)
- 4 bay leaves
- 250 g celeriac, or parsnip
- 1 onion
- 25g dried mushrooms, or 120g fresh mushrooms 1 garlic clove
- sprinkle of dill and/or pine needle powder
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method to Make Fermented Borscht
- Chop the beetroot and the bread. Place in a 1.5–2 litre jar with the hawthorn berries, if using, and cover with the measured water. Stir, cover with a cloth and ferment at room temperature for 3–4 days.
- Strain the kvass, reserving the liquid, and discard or compost the bread. Rinse the beetroot and finely chop it.
- Bring the stock and star anise and/or juniper and bay to the boil. Finely chop the celeriac or parsnip as well as the onion. Add the beetroot, celeriac or parsnip, onion and mushrooms to the boiling stock. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Remove the star anise and/or juniper.
- Take off the heat, then grate in the garlic and add the kvass liquid. Finely chop the dill, if using. Taste and season well with salt and pepper, add the sprinkling of dill and/or pine needle powder, then serve.
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