The 12 Dishes of Polish Christmas: Red Borscht

Find all 12 dishes of Polish Christmas here: http://culture.pl/en/article/the-12-d...

Christmas Eve dinner often starts with a beetroot soup (red borscht) - probably the most popular soup for that day. The Christmas version varies from the common one. Christmas bortsch requires a sour base ('zakwas') which is to be made a few days in advance.

Ingredients for our Christmas red borscht recipe:

For the beetroot kvass:
1.5kg red beets
30g sea salt
4 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon wholegrain black pepper
1 slice sourdough bread
2-3 litres warm mineral water

For the soup:
1.5kg red beets
20g dried forest mushrooms
3 carrots
2 parsnips
1 leek, white part
½ celery root
leftover bay leaf from the kvass
1 tablespoon dried marjoram
400ml beetroot kvass
3 litres water
salt, sugar and black pepper to taste