Many people, when hear the word 'borscht' have their eyes obtain a greedy twinkle and the mouth remembers the magnificent taste of this Slavic dish. Those who never tried vegetarian borscht  cannot understand such warm feelings -- until they taste it themselves.

Well, the saying that there is no life for any Slavic person without vegetable borscht, though seem a kind of stereotype, is true.  Vegetable borscht is widely believed to be originally from Ukraine, but is a part of the local culinary heritage of many Eastern and Central European nations. In Russia, another variation of vegetable borscht - so -called shchi is most popular.  This is a traditional national soup with cabbage (stewed or fresh), carrot, onions and practically any kind of meat. It is usually served hot- the hotter the better, though there is also a variant served cold. This is sour shchi or vegetable borscht made of stewed cabbage, with mushrooms usually.

Borscht (also borsch or borshch) is a vegetable soup, usually including beet roots, which gives it a strong red color. Well, beets are the main ingredient distinguishing vegetable borscht and shchi - it can be boiled as well as raw, depending on the color the cook wants to receive.

There are two main variants of vegetable borscht, generically referred to as hot and cold. Both generally are based on beets, but are otherwise prepared and served differently. Hot vegetable borscht, the kind most popular in the majority of cultures is a hearty soup with many common optional ingredients, depending on the cuisine, including various vegetables (beans, cabbage, carrots, cucumber, potatoes, onions, or tomatoes), mushrooms, and meats (chicken, pork, or beef).

It is more akin to a stew than most soups, and may be eaten as a meal in itself, usually with thick bread, cream and parsley. In the Ukraine vegetable borscht is always served with small baked rolls, called 'pampushki'. To cook such a borscht you should boil beets beforehand, note that baked beets give much red color to the vegetable borscht than raw ones. Then fry or sauté? A bit amount of onion, carrots, dill, and tomato with a tablespoonful of butter and add it to the broth.  Boil the whole mixture foe about quarter of an hour, and then add a bit pan-frying and seasonings. Your easy vegetable borscht is ready.

Cold vegetable borscht exists in a number of cultures. It is the kind most commonly eaten by Ashkenazi (European-heritage) Jews, and is the only kind readily available commercially in markets in the U.S. Cold vegetable borscht is most often a simple sweet soup, consisting of sliced or diced beets cooked in their broth, optionally with lemon juice, minced onion, and sugar to produce the desired sweetness.

It is served as a thin chilled broth with the beet pieces, sometimes with a single boiled potato, and usually with sour cream, with creates a contrast to the soup's sweetness. The sour cream is not mixed into the soup, but placed by the diner in the middle of the soup, to be scooped into the spoon with the liquid and beets.

Of course, each recipe offers a lot of variations and it is up to you only which of  the vegetable borscht you are going to cook.