Onlíner: Researcher proves that borscht was once beer in Belarus
On May 26, 2025, the Belarusian online publication Onlíner published an article by journalist Sasha Manitu about my historical research into the origins of borscht.
The article explores evidence that, in the lands of present-day Belarus, borscht once referred not only to a soup but also to a fermented, low-alcohol drink made from hogweed, sometimes consumed as an alternative to beer. The publication introduces historical accounts by European authors from the 16th to the 18th centuries and features commentary by Elena Mikulchik, a specialist in Belarusian culinary history.
The article highlights findings from my research, “Borscht in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: Not a Soup!?”, and examines a little-known tradition in Belarusian beverage history.
A beer history enthusiast from Gomel, Stanislav Pridibailo, who is already well known to our readers, has contacted our editorial team with a new discovery. Last time, he scientifically proved that Butterbeer from Harry Potter was actually nothing other than the Belarusian beer soup known as gramatka. This time, Stanislav turned his attention to borscht. And you won't believe it: borscht, too, turned out to have been a Belarusian beer-like beverage.
Stanislav conducted a comprehensive historical study, and his conclusions are likely to surprise many people. First, borscht in the territory of present-day Belarus was originally made without beets and had little in common with the dish we know today. Instead, the soup was prepared using hogweed, the plant from which it actually took its name.
Second, and most surprisingly, what our ancestors called "borscht" was not really a soup at all. Belarusians more commonly consumed it as a fermented, low-alcohol beverage resembling beer. This drink was especially popular during the summer months.
Moreover, the reputation of the local low-alcohol borscht once spread throughout Europe, including England. Its medicinal properties were examined in the works of prominent French, English, Italian, and German scholars of the 16th–18th centuries. It was even mentioned by Alexandre Dumas (yes, the very same author who wrote The Three Musketeers) in his Grand Dictionnaire de Cuisine (Great Dictionary of Cuisine).
We asked Elena Mikulchik, a well-known chef and historian of Belarusian cuisine, to review Stanislav's research.
— Stanislav has done an excellent job. He has carried out serious research using historical sources. It is worth noting that, in fact, not only borscht but many other modern soups (such as shchi, traditional cabbage soup) were once low-alcohol beverages.
This was not because our ancestors were particularly fond of drinking alcohol, but simply because of fermentation. In those days, people had no means of preserving food for long periods, access to clean water was a problem, and food poisoning was common.
That is why borscht was originally a drink consumed in hot weather as a substitute for water. A type of soup or stew was also prepared using this beverage. And yes, it contained alcohol.
Our ancestors knew that 3% alcohol disinfected water, making fermented beverages safer to consume. This also explains the historical fondness of monks for beer.
It is also important to note, especially for anyone wishing to recreate the recipe for ancient borscht, that our ancestors did not use Sosnowsky's hogweed, the dangerous plant that causes burns and is now being fought as an invasive weed.
Instead, they used Siberian hogweed, which was considered beneficial to health and gave the soup a mushroom-like flavour. Such a soup contained many vitamins and trace elements.
However, the "dangerous" and "beneficial" species of hogweed look very similar, and distinguishing between them today can be quite difficult. One method involves crushing the leaves while wearing thick protective gloves, in a dark room, and identifying the plant by its smell.
It is better not to attempt this at all, because people have still managed to suffer burns during such experiments.
There is one more important point to understand: for our ancestors, alcohol was a medicine. Alcohol was once called "the liquid form of the philosopher's stone" because of its ability to dissolve the essential oils of medicinal plants.
Ordinary water could not do this, as it is a much weaker solvent. In some cases, alcohol was the only suitable base for various medicinal preparations that saved our ancestors' lives during illnesses and intestinal infections.
Therefore, such low-alcohol soups and broths were, in essence, also used as medicinal remedies, Elena explained.
Previously, Stanislav also demonstrated that Vladimir Korotkevich's poem The Hare Brews Beer was more than just a humorous literary work and presented a recipe for an old-fashioned "hare porter."
