I decided I want to make borsch for the first time and this thread will document my adventure. Mute now or forever hold your peace

First, the caveats as usual. I am not an expert, there's a million varieties depending on region, nationality, and time. If I'm doing it differently than your babushka it's because I am wrong. She absolutely does know better.

Second, I keep kosher. So most foods of my Soviet familial upbringing need to be modified to meet the dietary restrictions.

The borsch I grew up eating was made with a beef broth and served with meat, and with sour cream. Today's version is a vegetarian borsch.

Third, I want you to know the kind of headspace I am in today. I went to get the ingredients for borsch. I purchased everything except for, uh, beets and sour cream. I'm doing great. I am sure I will make no questionable decisions as I make this.

So what goes into a borsch? This is a very fraught question! I asked my mom and this turned into an hour long conversation.

She has thoughts on Ukrainian borsch, Polish borsch, and what American Jews jam into a jar and call "borscht."

None of these thoughts can be published.

Anyway, first you saute the vegetables. In this instance, onions, carrots, and celery.

I don't use cabbage. Ukrainian Twitter please forgive me, my Belarusian-Jewish family believes it's wrong and I have to respect my roots.

If you don't have a pressure cooker and a food processor, peel potatoes and beets and boil them. I have both, so I peeled and chopped potatoes and threw them into my milchig (dairy) instant pot. The beets were shredded in my food processor and so won't need to cook as long.

When the vegetables are fragrant add in the beets, mix thoroughly, lower the heat and let it cook.

I probably prepared too many beets.

While we are waiting for the beets to soften up, did you know that a version of borsch made its way to Hong Kong? Like Eastern Europeans themselves, the dish has made its way all over the world and has been adapted to local ingredients and palates.

When your beets have softened add in the potatoes, which should be tender from your boiling or pressure cooking. Add in your broth, in my case vegetable broth. Add in some white wine vinegar, bay leaves, whole peppercorns, salt, and garlic. Mix. Simmer for 1 hour.

You can probably find borsch recipes online with precise ingredient amounts and liquid amounts.

I am here to remind you that borsch is peasant food.

It was developed before most of the folks (mostly women) who prepared it and folks (their families) who eat it could read.