Borscht *Latvian Beet Soup* (Travel Memory + Halloween Recipe)

A couple of summers ago C and I took a trip to Riga, Latvia. We had an amazing time there seeing the sights, drinking kvass, and eating our way around the city. One of my favorite things I ate there was “borscht,” which is a beet soup of Ukrainian origin that spread to the rest of Eastern Europe over the years. While beet soup doesn’t sound appetizing, it actually is one of my favorite dishes. I originally learned how to make borscht from a family friend when I was a teenager, and it’s been a standard fall soup in my house ever since. Since Halloween is here, and the color of the beet soup is almost blood red, I figured it would make a fabulous, spooky looking soup for a Halloween dinner party!

Ingredients:

Cooking oil (I used olive oil)

1 onion

4 cloves garlic

4 large beets

4 medium potatoes

1 large red cabbage

Beef stock (16 FL OZ)

Salt

Pepper

Sour cream (for topping)

Performance:

This soup takes almost no effort, really. I began by heating a large pot over medium high heat and adding a bit of olive oil. I asked C to squeeze 4 gloves of garlic through a garlic press into the soup pot. I then chopped up an onion and added that to the pot. I stirred the pot occasionally until the garlic and onions had caramelized. Then I added the beef stock to the pot and turned the heat up high. While I waited for the pot to boil I peeled and cut up the beets and potatoes into large bite sized pieces, and cut the red cabbage into long strips. I added everything into the pot (do NOT be alarmed if it seems like the cabbage won’t fit, as the cabbage with wilt and shrink) and shimmied in a bit of salt and pepper to my taste. Then I simply waited for the vegetables to soften. After the vegetables had softened enough to be pricked with a fork, I ladled my vampire red soup into a bowl, topped it with a dollop of sour cream, and sighed in enjoyment.