Several years ago I had the opportunity to take a mission trip to Odessa, Ukraine. We spent most of our time doing construction work on a camp site overlooking the Black Sea just north of the city. In town, we stayed with a very kind Ukrainian family. We had several dinners with them and got to hear their stories of growing up under communism and generations of struggle to practice their religion. The wife recalled her mom smuggling her into church hidden beneath her mother's large winter coat. When we visited, almost ten years after communism fell, they were still beaming with joy at their new freedom.
Perhaps due to years of making due with very little, the husband had planted almost every square foot of their property (about 1/4 acre) with every kind of vegetable and fruit bearing plant he could grow. They still had very little, but heaped great portions of food in our bowls. Every dinner the main course was the same. Borsht. Consisting mainly of beets and typically seasoned with dill, borsht is a dietary staple for them. There's many variations across Russia and Eastern Europe, but I wanted to make a very simple recipe like the one they shared with us.
I used the recipe from this video. Also a fantastic video series, a delight to watch. A few things I'd do differently: I wouldn't bother roasting the extra beets, they're nice but not worth the extra work. Also, invest in an immersion blender. It would have been cheaper than replacing the shirt and kitchen towels I stained. Dill is one of my favorite herbs. Beets are just ok, but they're super good for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment