Borscht is a sour soup common in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. In
English, the word "borscht" is most often associated with the soup's
variant of Ukrainian origin, made with red beetroots as one of the main
ingredients, which give the dish its distinctive red color. The same
name, however, is also used for a wide selection of sour-tasting soups
without beetroots, such as sorrel-based green borscht, rye-based white
borscht, and cabbage borscht. Borscht derives from an ancient soup
originally cooked from pickled stems, leaves and umbels of common
hogweed, a herbaceous plant growing in damp meadows, which lent the dish
its Slavic name. With time, it evolved into a diverse array of tart
soups, among which the Ukrainian beet-based red borscht has become the
most popular.
