The war took a nasty turn this week when Ukraine successfully applied to UNESCO to have borsch labelled as an authentic Ukrainian dish. The beet and meat soup, with its distinctive red colour and a flavour to match, is also a staple in Russia, where it’s known as borscht, which is borsch with a “t” at the end. A Ukrainian cultural dish, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.
The Russians, predictably, are furious.
The Russian foreign ministry has accused Ukraine of stealing the dish. They referred to the designation as a Ukrainian act of “xenophobia and Nazism.” Give the Russians credit for their reaction, similar to those we might expect from the Chinese, North Koreans, or Iran. The Russians keep such awesome company.
At any rate, borsch is now borsch, and if the Russians don’t like it, good.
Ukrainian restaurants don’t often have customers complaining about their borsch, but now that could be different going forward.
“Excuse me, miss,” says the patron to the waitress. “There’s a “t” in my borsch.
NEWSMAGRENFREW 