Instructions: Back in the 1950s and 1960s, Jews from New York City migrated upstate en masse to enjoy their own version of the American summer vacation-fresh air, lavish spreads, and family entertainment in accommodations ranging from ritzy resorts to bungalow communities. The "Borscht Belt," named for the ubiquitous Eastern European soup that graced menus throughout the "Jewish Alps," is now in memorys province, but the tangy soup lives on.

Borscht is actually a generic name for an Eastern European soup. Hundreds of variations exist: meat and dairy, hot and cold. Meat versions, most often served

In autumn and winter, typically contain cabbage in addition to beets, and are often enhanced with tomatoes, carrots, and other vegetables. During the summer, though, only one version will do: deli-style borscht, a magenta broth prepared without meat and served chilled with bits of shredded beets.

Deli-style borscht is fairly easy to prepare, with only a few ingredients.

The soup usually gets its sweet-and-sour flavor from a touch of honey combined with a bit of lemon juice or vinegar. Some cooks prefer to use sour salt, or citric acid, which can be found in kosher grocery stores and online at stores like Kosher Supermarket.

The real flavor of the dish, of course, comes from beets, the star ingredient. Beets are at their peak between July and October. Heirloom varieties are available in gold, orange, white, and striped in addition to the familiar magenta. Look for unusual varieties at farmers markets and gourmet grocery stores. When selecting any variety of fresh beets, look for those with intact, healthy greens and avoid bunches with straggly or yellowed tops.

To the uninitiated, beets may seem intimidating; they are notoriously messy veggies, and the same deep color thats so charming when contained in a soup bowl loses some of its appeal when it dyes your hands, clothing, and kitchen a brilliant scarlet. You may want to wear rubber gloves to handle cooked beets, as the juice can stain your hands for several hours. Be sure to don an apron or other protective garb-the juice is even harder to remove from clothing.

Unless they are very young and tender, most beets must be cooked to achieve maximum flavor. Before cooking, be sure to scrub the beets thoroughly-their tough skin harbors a lot of dirt. Use a vegetable brush or a steel wool pad to really get into the crevices. You can now prepare the beets in one of several ways:
Boiling: Most borscht recipes call for boiling beets to produce the broth from the cooking liquid. First, cut off the tops of the beet greens, leaving a couple of inches of greenery attached. Leave the roots attached. Place whole and unpeeled beets in a large pot of boiling water and boil until they are soft-anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of the beets.

Allow to cool, cut off root and stem ends, and remove jackets.

Roasting: This method of preparation adds an extra-rich dimension to the beets flavor. Place whole scrubbed beets into roasting pan or wrap in aluminum foil. Cover tightly. Roast at 400 degrees until the skin can easily be pierced with a fork, about one hour. Allow to cool, then remove jackets and chop as desired.

Steaming: Arrange the beets in a single layer in a stove-top steamer over about 2 inches of boiling water. Cover and steam until tender (up to about 60 minutes for large beets), adding additional water as necessary.

In the summer, beet borscht is best served chilled. Possible garnishes include dill sprigs, sliced cucumber, scallions, or whole boiled eggs. To true borscht aficionados, though, theres only one way to serve borscht: cold, with a steaming hot potato in the center and a mound of sour cream on the side. Leah Loeb Fischer, author of Mama Leahs Jewish Kitchen, notes that "This mixture of hot and cold is unique to this dish." Once youve tried it, Mama Leah insists, "youll never want to have borscht any other way.

If you would like to email yourself the recipe for later use, or share the recipe with your friends or family, enter the email addresses below and this recipe will be emailed to you and others as well.