Hot beef and beet borscht

If you wandered around before the gentrification of downtown Los Angeles in about 1980, you would understand what I meant. Gorky's is a warehouse-sized coffee shop, open 24/7, a glorious socialist worker canteen crosses a hungry artist's coffee shop. You go there for a hangover at 11 am, drink bottomless coffee and a slice of poppy seed cake, or eat a thick knish and a bowl of hot borscht at 3 am.

You will miss restaurants, either because you miss what you have eaten, or because you miss the way you ate there. In this case, I won't miss myself in my 20s. Jonathan Swift said that no smart person wants to be younger. What I miss is borscht.

Why? This is a revelation.

Before Gorky, I only knew that borscht was Jewish and came out of a jar. I grew up eating the thin, watery Manischewitz, whose color is punch with the deposits of soft shredded beets. My mother refrigerated it on many Sundays, and when she garnished it with sour cream, chopped cucumber and dill, it was already delicious.

But that thing, sold behind every deli counter when I was young, is entry-level compared to Gorky’s borscht: a steaming stew with the aroma of cabbage, beets and dried mushrooms.

Gorky’s version allows me to see the view that Jewish food has roots and branches, changes and connections. It got me into a rabbit hole in front of the Internet lined with Russian recipes, where I would be addicted to kissel, dairy-free fruit pudding and blini, which resonated with someone who only knew blintzes, and of course pierogi The first thing it entered into my life was kreplach.

Borscht taught me to humbly judge that any version of any food is the best, most authentic, most original, or unique. It taught me something that I know is true, and it is still true today: if we allow it, food can be a powerful way to open up our hearts to other narratives and allow our hearts to accept other cultures.

But poor Gorky. It closed in 1993 after investors bought it from its visionary founder, an idealistic former high school librarian named Judith Markov. New investors over-expanded, adding a brewery (of course featuring the Russian Empire's Stout), thousands of square feet, and Hollywood locations. The sloppy proletarian atmosphere gave way to the Disney-style thing-Commieland! ——The bloated business collapsed on its own and took away my simple bowl of hot midnight borscht.

As Maxim Gorky said: "Happiness always seems insignificant in your hands, but if you give it a go, you will immediately know how big and precious it is."

I remember that the borscht I ate on a cold night in Gorky was vegetarian, and I took it as a variant. The one below is fortified with dark brown and tender beef. This recipe comes from many sources, including Darra Goldstein's "Beyond the North Wind" recipe.

1-2 pounds. Beef (optional, but if you want to use sirloin, chuck, shank or stew) 2 tons of oil 1 onion, peeled and halved 1 carrot, cut into pieces 2 bay leaves 1 ton. 1/2 ton of salt. Pepper water


Cut the beef into 2-3 inch cubes. In a deep saucepan, heat oil in a large saucepan. Fry the beef brown on all sides. Add water to cover and other ingredients. Bring to a boil, then turn to low heat and simmer for 2 hours. Take out the bay laurel, carrots and onions. Remove the meat and set aside.

(Instant Pot Variation: After roasting beef, you can add ingredients to Instant Pot and cook for 45 minutes).

1 onion, chopped 4 cloves, garlic, chopped 3 tons of vegetable oil 1 quart chicken broth, water and/or kvass 3 beets, peeled and grated 1 carrot, peeled and grated 1/2 cabbage, Grated or chopped 2 bay leaves 2 T. Red wine vinegar or beet kvass 1 T. Fresh lemon juice 2 T. Sugar, salt and pepper 2 T. Chopped fresh dill

In a soup pot, add hot oil. Add onion and garlic and fry until golden brown. Add the liquid, then add the beets, carrots, cabbage, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add vinegar or kvass, lemon juice and sugar. Taste often to adjust.

When serving, put a little meat in each bowl, add the soup, and top with dill.

Vegetarian version: You can put the meat and chicken soup outside and use mushroom soup instead. Or: Add 1 cup of soaked and chopped dried mushrooms to the broth.

Hot beet borscht, or cold

Gorky’s hot Russian borscht will revive your faith... in borscht

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