Zelenyi borshch

The story

Zelenyi borshch, green borscht, is the soup Ukrainians make when fresh sorrel comes up. It contains no beets. Its sourness comes from sorrel, and it is finished with dill, parsley, green onion and hard-boiled eggs. Ukrainian food writers treat it as a seasonal dish: the news site 24 Kanal calls it a must for the spring and summer season, and Novyny.LIVE calls it a spring classic. Chef Yevhen Klopotenko has written that green borscht takes its color from its greens, that it was made long ago with beet kvas and beet tops, and that he sometimes cooks it with sorrel. 24 Kanal recommends a pork broth, while a version from the YouTube channel Karpatski Shkvarky uses duck necks. Oksana Cherenkova, a senior cook at a mobile military hospital, told the army news service ArmiyaInform that she adds the greens and eggs at the very end, lets the pot stand about half an hour before serving, and puts sour cream in each plate rather than in the pot. It is not an Easter dish, but it fits the weeks around Orthodox Easter on May 2, 2027. Serve it as a light lunch with rye bread; the broth can be made a day ahead.