No one knows for sure about the “origins” of the dish. But one thing is clear – its evolution continues even now, speaking about us as Ukrainians, confirms gastronomic culture expert Elena Braichenko. Despite the widespread belief that borscht was popular in Kievan Rus (IX-XIII centuries), this has not been scientifically confirmed. Marianne Dushar, a scientist in the field of food anthropology, explains that beets https://greenelly.com/ have been used in food since ancient times, but people only ate the leaves because the root was bitter. Sweet, round and red beet varieties appeared around the 12th century and spread throughout Eastern Europe around the 16th century.
There are several hypotheses about the origin of the name “borscht”. According to one of them, it comes from the Old Slavonic “biersch” (beet). Another version connects the name with hogweed, a plant that was fermented and then used for cooking. There is also a third theory, which says that borscht is the first dish cooked using kvass, based on beets or grains. Generally speaking, borscht is a first course with a sour taste.
