Borsch, albeit a folk (peasant), but technologically complex, multicomponent dish, in which every touch, every nuance, every ingredient is important. The main difference between borscht and all vegetable soups is the presence of beets in it, almost as the main ingredient...
My grandmother Tanya's borscht always turned out to be very tasty, rich, bright red saturated color. All family (and even more so guests) were just delighted with it! I still remember her words - Borsch cannot be whipped up. The main rule of cooking is having free time and a great desire to cook it. And there is nothing difficult - the secret of cooking is to do everything in the correct sequence. If you are in a hurry, or you are not in the mood to stand at the stove, it is better not to start...
For the broth, my grandmother took veal ribs (or brisket), pork on the bone, or chicken (but not a store broiler), and homemade soup chicken (by the way, a homemade rooster makes a very tasty borsch). On the days of fasting, only mushrooms and beans were generally added to borscht, due to which the dish acquired an amazing, new taste (in the absence of meat). The broth was prepared in a peculiar way - the meat was placed in a saucepan with cold water. It was brought to a boil and then this "primary broth" was poured out, and the meat was washed and put into a clean pot with new water. After boiling, the fire dropped to a minimum. The saucepan was covered with a lid and the broth should slowly “gurgle” and simmer. No foam is formed with this cooking method. It will take about 2.5 hours to cook the beef. Pork cooks a little faster. Grandmother put peeled carrots, bell peppers and unpeeled onions into the semi-finished broth. They were cooked for no more than 15 minutes and then changed to new ones. And also various spices (black and allspice peas, dill umbrellas, cockerel root) - they enriched the taste and all this was packed into a tightly tied gauze bag. At the same time, my grandmother put white beans in the broth (she did not cook them separately). I don't know the variety - this is from my grandmother's selection. She took all the vegetables for the borscht only from her garden. In the evening, the beans were soaked in cold water (for softening, they stood in the refrigerator - otherwise they would instantly ferment). Lied in broth and peeled (whole) potatoes. When it is completely cooked, it was crushed finely with a fork and, in the form of invisible “potato dust”, was placed in borscht almost before the end of cooking. Lightly salt (to salt the meat) and cook the broth until the meat is cooked - it should become completely soft and easily separate from the bone. The beets (everyone uses red borscht, and my grandmother had her own hybrid - beetroot, which is not similar to either red or other types of beets), grandmother cut into strips, lightly sprinkled with salt, sugar and, sprinkled with lemon juice, stewed in a deep and thick-bottomed skillet in fat collected from broth. When the broth is almost ready, finely chopped white cabbage is dipped into it (they do not save it - it boils down a lot). They begin to prepare the frying.

First, grated carrots and onions, cut into small cubes, sauté in butter until golden brown. Then add cubes of sweet bell pepper to the pan. You can add some vegetable oil or broth fat. Many people use tomato paste (it must be diluted in water and add a couple of teaspoons of sugar). Grandma Tanya made frying on her own tomatoes, grinding them on a grater

The meat was separated from the bones (if it was not chicken, it was served whole on the table) and laid out in the borscht dressing. Sometimes my grandmother would cook hot borscht, adding a pod of hot pepper and prunes to the dressing. 15 minutes before the final cooking, bay leaf, frying-dressing and beets were added to the broth. You cannot boil borsch with beets for a long time, otherwise it will lose its color. Ukrainian borscht is unthinkable without a special special dressing. To do this, finely chop bacon, or lard, add garlic and chopped parsley to it, and grind everything in a mortar. This dressing is added two minutes before the borscht is ready. Thanks to this ingredient, the dish acquires a special taste and aroma. At the same time, half a tablespoon of sugar is added to the borscht, and the taste of the dish is transformed instantly. Then the borscht is removed from the fire, but is not immediately served on the table. It is infused for 4 hours in a saucepan wrapped in a towel (my grandmother said - in complete peace and quiet). And then finely chopped dill is added to it. During this time, the taste of the dish will really open up, the ingredients will make friends with each other, the balance of acid, sweetness, pungency will be leveled, and the aroma of spices will completely pass into the broth...
My grandmother always cooked dumplings and fragrant garlic donuts for borscht - they amazingly reveal its taste. I will only add that dumplings are cooked in the borscht itself, and donuts are baked in the oven. A dressing of garlic, salt, sunflower oil and kvass is being prepared for them. After mixing them with this dressing, ready-made donuts are poured and served hot to the borsch...
The usual output for a grandmother is 5 liters of borsch, that is, about 10 full-weight portions. Ukrainian borscht tastes better the next day. When reheating it, it is desirable that the borscht does not boil over, as this loses its color and deteriorates its taste.