Borshch Festival: Sincere, Delicious, and Patriotic

I don't know if a borshch festival has ever been held in the Ukrainian community of Chicago. If not, I want to share some pleasant news: it has now happened. It took place — BORSHCH-FEST. On a wonderful September day, with wonderful weather, when every fiber of your soul wants to capture the truly sincere autumn warmth, in a wonderful place, as they say, in nature...

But first, it happened in the thoughts of the festival organizer, Serhiy Sytnyk. Serhiy had been thinking about something like this for a long time — probably due to the genes that connect him to his native land, as he hails from the city of Borshchiv. And when Lithuanian friends invited Serhiy to their traditional cold borscht festival, he finally decided: something similar should exist in the Ukrainian community too! After all, borscht in Ukrainian cuisine is the foundation of foundations. It's fantastic. It's a dream. It's culinary poetry. Borshch in Ukrainian cuisine is what distinguishes one region from another with its recipes and set of ingredients, yet the very name of the dish — BORSHCH unites Ukrainians. Especially those who are destined to live abroad.

And we must unite here in every possible way, says Mr. Serhiy:

"We must do something to preserve our identity and to help Ukraine. If you want bees to come to your garden, you must first plant that garden. If you want butterflies to come to your flower bed, you must first sow the flowers. If you want to know the true soul of a Ukrainian, you must partake in borscht."

The last remark was suggested to Serhiy by the author of these lines, with which he wholeheartedly agreed and continued:
"Where there is borscht, there is a sense of family. There is a sense of Ukraine. A sense of the Cossack spirit. Therefore, if we manage to make this festival in Chicago traditional, I see here in the future numerous locations for family, communal recreation. I see contests and entertainment with national color, with national content. I see Cossacks on horseback. I see more and more people eager to compete in cooking borscht according to the original recipes of their regions. And today is the first attempt at such a festival. Did it succeed? It's up to you to judge.
Do you want to know my opinion, dear reader? Yes, it succeeded. Although there were no Cossacks on horseback here yet (I have no doubt they will be next time), the Ukrainian spirit truly hovered over the not-so-numerous festival community (people, people, what else can entice you to genuine Ukrainian events if even a borscht festival doesn't prompt you to tear your causal places from the couch and come to where the Ukrainian family unites and where there's such relaxation that words can't convey?!).
On behalf of myself, the organizers of BORSHCH-FEST, and its hosts: Serhiy Sytnyk and Ksyusha Kondratova, thank you to those who came. And for those who ignored the event without a valid reason, I will still tell you about it. Listen and swallow your saliva.
The forest area on N East River Rd. A picturesque picnic clearing. Nature whispers about its eternal mystery. The sun caresses. Incredibly beautiful Ukrainian music (sincere thanks to the band "Cascade" for the musical accompaniment of the festival) beckons. Father Pavlo Steblyna blesses everyone for a pleasant and useful time. And in the cauldrons, borscht is already steaming. Different kinds. Four teams of skilled cooks are conjuring over each of the cauldrons.
Here are the hosts and hostesses of the Cyril-Methodius Community, which operates at the Church of St. Joseph the Betrothed. Iryna Dovhan, its head, explains:

"Our borscht recipe is a family one. The ingredients are traditional, but the secret is in preparing the sauté with mayonnaise. That's how my mother used to do it (Tlumach district in Prykarpattia). Here in Chicago, I constantly cook such borscht for my family. A private house allows me to do this in the yard, on firewood, which gives the borscht a special aroma..."
We move on to the next cauldron. And near it, only men are cooking, who belong to the Brotherhood of Blessed Martyr Nicholas Charnetsky (the culinary team is also from the Church of St. Joseph the Betrothed). Team representative Serhiy Syutyk briefly characterizes their culinary masterpiece: Borscht — Galician. With whipped cream. Drinkable. Served with potato pies or the famous Yavoriv pie. I won't add anything else, so taste and share your impressions...

The third team was also from the Church of St. Joseph the Betrothed, representing the Sisterhood of the Protection of the Holy Virgin. They prepared green borscht — tender, though with a tang, and very, very familial. By the way, in my native village in Prykarpattia, this dish is not called borscht but kvaskova zupa. I still remember how my mother or grandmother would say: go to the garden, pick some kvask (that's what they called sorrel), we're going to cook zupa. That's why it felt like childhood and home near this cauldron...
The fourth team was from the city of Palatine, from the Church of St. Michael the Archangel (spoiler: it was their borscht that the festival guests awarded first place).
We are preparing Lemko borscht, said team representative Viktor Kaminsky: "With pickled beets. With mushrooms. Never tried it? Try it. It's not borscht. It's a fairy tale!"
Well, dear reader, was it worth coming here? To amplify your regret, I'll add that there were also sandwiches with lard and garlic. And pickled cucumbers. And pickled beets with lemon. And shashlik. Oh, you missed a lot, dear reader...
The festival photo zone (a wonderful job by decorator Oksana Andreychuk) complemented the picture of a meaningful Sunday rest, where everyone eagerly took photos to remember this day. The incredibly beautiful korovai by master Oksana Klyuyko attracted attention. The marshmallow wonder-flowers by Nataliia Voroniak were enticing. Those wishing to test their strength joined the arm wrestling tournament or the opportunity to maneuver with a soccer ball. Both children and adults eagerly rushed to the mini-zoo with funny ponies, goats, and a llama.
About two dozen contestants participated in the vyshyvanka contest, conducted by Ukrainian beauty, model, and winner of the Lady of The World 2021 beauty pageant Kateryna Hrod. And the only man who dared to participate, Roman Sharan with his daughter Antonina, won.

Ukrainian music, good mood, symbolic prizes for participating in contests, pleasant impressions from a wonderfully spent time... Everything was here. And practically on every table, in every location, there were boxes with the inscription "Collection for the Armed Forces of Ukraine." And donations were placed in those boxes. Because we know why we come to such events. Not just to relax. Not just to have fun. But also to contribute to helping those who are defending Ukraine today. For themselves. For their families. And for us. I bow my head to everyone who understands this...
That's how it was, the first-ever borscht festival in Chicago. Taste our traditional dish. Promote it. Pass family recipes as a legacy to your children. And let the example of the world-famous Ukrainian wrestler Ivan Piddubny, who was an ardent fan of Ukrainian borscht and its "dry" version in the form of vinaigrette, be a convincing argument in favor of this incredible dish. Consuming them, the wrestler searched for many years for someone who could defeat him. And he never found one, always being stronger than his opponents.
And you say you prefer foie gras pâté, béchamel sauce, or the trendy sushi?! You are funny. Borshch — that's where beauty, taste, and strength lie. That's what deserves attention. That's what you can never have too much of. So when you hear about the next BORSHCH-FEST in Chicago, be sure to come. You won't regret it.
 

Photos by Petro Kovtun and the newspaper's editorial team.