Anyone made borscht before? What am I in for?

>>8714189
Hopefully nothing like your pic, but if you do it right (you cant fuck it up) you will get a wonderful stew.

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>>8714206
What should it look like?

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Also, should you use tomatoes? I've a lot of recipes that use them, but it seems like the more traditional ones don't.

>>8714242
Disregard him, he sucks cocks.
There are large variety of borscht, some of them are clear, some of them chunky.

>>8714242
First pic looks like raspberry jam.
This one on looks way better. It should be pretty chunky and the color should be red and not purple.
Literally all ingredients aside from beets are up to your liking.
Its been a while since I last made one but I think its good with tomatoes. Really depends on what you like.
Also as with all "traditional" cuisine, dont focus on making it authentic. Make it good.
And personally, since your pics dont look like it, I think its better with meat than without but both are legit.

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>>8714189
>>8714242
>>8714246
that is not borsch(t). that's some westernised bastadisation.
it's like calling pic related is pizza.

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>>8714246
>>8714327
My russian landlord makes borsh sometimes and she uses a tomato sauce she makes from her garden. By far the best borsh I have ever had I should mention, and I have eaten a lot of borsh. I'm not sure where she picked it up but she lived in Russia most of her life.

Also can we talk about russian potato salad? Top tier shit right there

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>>8714189
Prepare for source of slav strength

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You're in for objectively the best comfort food any culture ever has made

>>8714264
This. Some are white. Some have meat and/or beans in them. The type eaten varies by season and region. Here's the simplest version you could make: Sweat onions, carrots, beets and cabbage in oil. Add a little garlic if you like. Add salt and pepper and enough water to cover. Simmer for about an hour.

>>8714246
I use some tomato paste and pork bones

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I make céklaleves from time to time, which is basically like the Hungarian version of borscht. It's a lot simpler, uses far fewer ingredients and has no where near as many variations as borscht proper. Here's one I made a while back, with pickled eggs in it.

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>>8714615
Here's another one. This one is made with strained sour cream.

>>8714327
Well, are you going to link an authentic recipe or just act like an uppity cunt?

>>8715672
Borshch has many authentic recipes depending on the region and season. Borshch made in summer is different from Borshch made in winter due to availability of different vegetables. Some recipes even involve using beets only to color and flavour the broth, while the beets themselves are removed from the soup.

>>8715693
...so you gonna link a recipe?

>>8715693
>availability

You do realise we live in a modern era where the concept of seasonal isn't a thing anymore?

>>8715780
I think he went for uppity cunt.

>>8715785
You know some 80% of the world doesn't get to live in a place like that, right?
That includes a lot of people in rural Eastern Europe.
Fucking Christ. I'm turning into a self-hating Westerner.

>>8715785
It is if you want good and affordable ingredients and care about ecology.

>>8715792
We're sat on PC's in comfy rooms chilling on the internet wasting our time on a food & cooking board.

I'm pretty sure you have no problem acquiring ingredients out of season.

inb4 tribe chief proves me wrong

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I have but it's been years. Turned out well I remember. Post results and what you think you could do better. I'd like to make some soon too. Beats are really cheap.

>>8714189
If you're using primarily beets, or a 50/50 of beets and beef, and you don't roast your beets and brown your meat before making your soup, you're in for a bad time.

But if you've got some roasted beets happening, some nice browned meat, ideally in the pan with the beets, bone in, dripping goodness all over the place, maybe some potatoes and carrots, possibly some tomatoes, definitely an onion or six, maybe some garlic... and so on, and so forth.

Alternately, for a one-pot-stop slice up your meat, brown and remove it, toss sliced/grated beets in, brown those, deglaze with water/stock, and build from there. Toss the meat back in after blending if you plan on doing such.

>>8714189
Be prepared for stains and don't use your best bowls.