Borshch

Sasha says that Ukrainians adore borshch, as well as cherries together with pirogies.

Of all the Russian soups borshch is the most internationally famed, and it varies as much as a recipe possibly can vary. There are thick and thin borshchs as well as hot and cold. One borshch is so clear and light in colour it is almost a consommé of chicken broth with beetroot colouring. All borshchs must be served with a sour cream dressing.

Several kinds of soup made with cabbage and sauerkraut are related to the borshchs of Russia.

The bouillon which is the base for all borshchs and shchis is called yellow if the vegetables are fried prior to being added to the broth, red if both meat and vegetables are fried (since this imparts a red color to the soup), and white if the raw vegetables are put directly into the soup. […] During Lent, the so-called Lenten borshchs combining different kinds of vegetables, and soups of dried mushrooms and barley, squash, potatoes, cauliflower and spinach are particularly popular.

The description of the banquet for the regimental colonel provides a course-by-course presentation of the menu, which includes various borshchs, then soups, followed by “sweets,” such as roast duck in cherry sauce, with a final offering consisting of roast fowl, suckling pig, roast rabbit, each course washed down with various vodkas, beers, and meads.