Shchi ( rus, щи, p=ɕːi, a=Ru-щи.ogg) is a
Russian-style
cabbage soup
Cabbage soup may refer to any of the variety of soups based on various cabbages, or on sauerkraut and known under different names in national cuisines. Often it is a vegetable soup. It may be prepared with different ingredients. Vegetarian cabba ...
. When
sauerkraut
Sauerkraut (; , "sour cabbage") is finely cut raw cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria. It has a long shelf life and a distinctive sour flavor, both of which result from the lactic acid formed when the bacteria fe ...
is used instead, the soup is called sour shchi, while soups based on
sorrel,
spinach
Spinach (''Spinacia oleracea'') is a leafy green flowering plant native to central and western Asia. It is of the order Caryophyllales, family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. Its leaves are a common edible vegetable consumed eith ...
,
nettle, and similar plants are called
green shchi (russian: зелёные щи, ''zelionyje shchi''). In the past, the term ''sour shchi'' was also used to refer to a drink, a variation of
kvass, which was unrelated to the soup.
History
Shchi (from orv, съти, the plural of "''съто''" (s(i)to) - "something satisfying, feed") is a traditional soup of Russia. Cabbage soups have been known in Kievan Rus as far back as the 9th century, soon after cabbage was introduced from
Byzantium. Its popularity in Russia originates from several factors. Shchi is relatively easy to prepare; it can be cooked with or without various types of meat; and it can be frozen and carried as a solid on a trip to be cut up when needed. As a result, by the 10th century shchi became a
staple food
A staple food, food staple, or simply a staple, is a food that is eaten often and in such quantities that it constitutes a dominant portion of a standard Diet (nutrition), diet for a given person or group of people, supplying a large fraction of ...
of Russia, and a popular saying sprang from this fact: "Щи да каша — пища наша." (''Shchi da kasha — pishcha nasha'' "Shchi and
kasha are our food"). The major components of shchi were originally cabbage, meat (beef, pork, lamb, or poultry), mushrooms, flour, and spices (based on onion and garlic). Cabbage and meat were cooked separately and
smetana was added as a garnish before serving. Shchi is traditionally eaten with rye bread.
[
]
The ingredients of shchi gradually changed. Flour, which was added in early times to increase the soup's caloric value, was excluded for the sake of finer taste. The spice mixture was enriched with black pepper and
bay leaf, which were imported to Russia around the 15th century, also from
Byzantium. Meat was sometimes substituted with fish, while carrot and
parsley
Parsley, or garden parsley ('' Petroselinum crispum'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae that is native to the central and eastern Mediterranean region (Sardinia, Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus, Turkey, southern Italy, Greece, ...
could be added to the vegetables. Beef was the most popular meat for shchi in Russia, while pork was more common in Ukraine. The water-to-cabbage ratio varied and whereas early shchi was often so viscous that a spoon could stand in it, more diluted preparation was adopted later.
[
]
Linguistics
The two-letter word щи contains the letter щ, which is absent in most non-Cyrillic alphabet
The Cyrillic script ( ), Slavonic script or the Slavic script, is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking coun ...
s and is transcribed into them with several letters. In German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
, щи becomes eight letters, ''Schtschi''.
See also
* Borscht
Borscht () is a sour soup common in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. In English, the word "borscht" is most often associated with the soup's variant of Ukrainian origin, made with red beetroots as one of the main ingredients, which g ...
* Rassolnik
* Solyanka
* Kapusniak
* List of cabbage dishes
* List of Russian dishes
* List of soups
This is a list of notable soups. Soups have been made since Ancient history, ancient times.
Some soups are served with large chunks of meat or vegetables left in the liquid, while others are served as a broth. A broth is a flavored liquid usua ...
* List of vegetable soups
This is a list of vegetable soups. Vegetable soup is a common soup prepared using vegetables and leaf vegetables as primary ingredients.
Vegetable soups
* Atama soup – a vegetable and palm nut soup that originates in South Nigeria.
*
* ...
References
{{Soups
Russian soups
Cabbage soups
National dishes