borshch

English

Etymology

From Russian борщ (boršč) and Ukrainian борщ (boršč).

Noun

borshch (countable and uncountable, plural borshches or borshchs)

1. Alternative spelling of borscht
   • 1964, Robin Howe, “Soups”, in Russian Cooking (Andre Deutsch Cookery Books), London: Andre Deutsch, →OCLC, page 50:

     Of all the Russian soups borshch is the most internationally famed, and it varies as much as a recipe possibly can vary. There are thick and thin borshchs as well as hot and cold. One borshch is so clear and light in colour it is almost a consommé of chicken broth with beetroot colouring. All borshchs must be served with a sour cream dressing.

   • 1973, Kay Shaw Nelson, “Romanian Cookery”, in The Eastern European Cookbook, Chicago, Ill.: Henry Regnery Company, →LCCN, page 143:

     Several kinds of soup made with cabbage and sauerkraut are related to the borshchs of Russia.

   • 1982, Lynn Visson, “Soups”, in The Complete Russian Cookbook, Ann Arbor, Mich.: Ardis, →ISBN, pages 71–73:

     The bouillon which is the base for all borshchs and shchis is called yellow if the vegetables are fried prior to being added to the broth, red if both meat and vegetables are fried (since this imparts a red color to the soup), and white if the raw vegetables are put directly into the soup. […] During Lent, the so-called Lenten borshchs combining different kinds of vegetables, and soups of dried mushrooms and barley, squash, potatoes, cauliflower and spinach are particularly popular.

   • 1983, John Mersereau, Jr., “A Russian George Sand—Countess Rostopchina. Other Women Fictionists: “The Cavalryman-Maiden,” Durova, Zhukova, Gan. Picaresque Satire—Kvitka-Osnovianenko and Sollogub. Dal’s Fiction.”, in Russian Romantic Fiction, Ann Arbor, Mich.: Ardis, →ISBN, page 293:

     The description of the banquet for the regimental colonel provides a course-by-course presentation of the menu, which includes various borshchs, then soups, followed by “sweets,” such as roast duck in cherry sauce, with a final offering consisting of roast fowl, suckling pig, roast rabbit, each course washed down with various vodkas, beers, and meads.