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105-444: "In its heyday, as many as 500 resorts catered to guests of various incomes." These resorts, as well as the Borscht Belt bungalow colonies, were a popular vacation spot for New York City Jews from the 1920s through the 1960s. By the late 1950s, many began closing, with most gone by the 1970s, but some major resorts continued to operate, a few into the 1990s. The name comes from borscht , a soup of Ukrainian origin (made with beets as

210-403: A Yiddish name for self-catered boarding houses) flourished. The bungalows usually included "a kitchen/living room/dinette, one bedroom, and a screened porch" with entertainment at the casino, the communal center, being simple: bingo or a movie. The kuchaleyns were often visited by lower middle-class and working-class Jewish New Yorkers. Because of the many Jewish guests, this area was nicknamed

315-440: A 17th century Polish botanist, described "our Polish hogweed" as a vegetable that was well known throughout Poland, Ruthenia , Lithuania and Samogitia (that is, most of the northern part of Eastern Europe), typically used for cooking a "tasty and graceful soup" with capon stock, eggs, sour cream and millet . More interested in the plant's medicinal properties than its culinary use, he also recommended pickled hogweed juice as

420-412: A Catskills resort, surrounded the guest wings. The Nevele had a total of 430 rooms at its height. Renovations in the 1990s have obscured the notable design features of the 1960s interiors. The Waikiki Indoor pool and health club were the easternmost components, beyond which lied the ski chalet and ski slope. The 1970 ice skating rink was designed by Dennis Jurow using glulam wood beams that sweep upward to

525-466: A New York-based property developer was proposing to redevelop the site for hotel and residential use. On September 29, 2023, the Nevele was sold for $ 5 million to 1100 Arrow LLC as part of plans by New York City-based developer Somerset Partners to demolish remnants of the former Borscht Belt hotel in favor of a new facility with lodging, accompanied by a 126-unit housing development. The former golf course

630-513: A common addition. Meat, removed from the stock on which the borscht was based, may be cut into smaller chunks and either added back into the soup or served on the side with horseradish or mustard . Bacon and sausages are also commonly used as borscht garnishes. Borscht based on bone stock may be served Old Polish style, with marrow from the bones. Some types of the soup, such as Poltava borscht, may be served with halushky , or thick noodles of wheat or buckwheat flour. Siberian borscht

735-411: A croquette or paszteciki . A typical Polish croquette ( krokiet ) is made by wrapping a crêpe (thin pancake) around a filling and coating it in breadcrumbs before refrying; paszteciki ( lit.   ' little pâtés ' ) are variously shaped filled hand-held pastries of yeast-raised or flaky dough. An even more exquisite way to serve borscht is with a coulibiac , or

840-661: A cure for fever or hangover. One of the earliest possible mentions of borscht as a soup is found in the diary of German merchant Martin Gruneweg, who visited Kyiv in 1584. After Gruneweg reached river Borshchahivka in Kyiv's vicinity on 17 October 1584, he wrote down a local legend saying that the river was so named because there was a borscht market. However, he doubted the story noting that " Ruthenians buy borscht rarely or never, because everyone cooks their own at home as it's their staple food and drink". Another early written reference to

945-456: A distinctive high-rise, remained open for several years after the split as the Nevele Grande resort. Owners Mitchell Wolff and Joel Hoffman struggled financially and failed to pay taxes; they would eventually shut down the resort without notice after the 2009 Fourth of July weekend. On September 1, 2009, an auction of the property was cancelled the day before it was to occur because a buyer

1050-444: A fermented rye flour and water mixture. As the home country of beetroot borscht, Ukraine boasts great diversity of the soup's regional variants, with virtually every oblast having its own recipe. Differences between particular varieties may regard the type of stock used (meat, bone, or both), the type of meat (beef, pork, poultry, etc.), the choice of vegetables and the method of cutting and cooking them. For example, although

1155-535: A fire destroyed the winter lodge, the oldest building on the property. The Nevele Country Club was established in 1901 by Charles Slutsky (1861-1931), who named the first accommodation the Nevele Falls Farm House. Following the Catskill hotel fashion of Mission Revival architecture , new wings were built in that style in the 1920s and 1930s. The Slutsky family also operated the adjoining Fallsview hotel, which

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1260-655: A golf course. It closed in 2015 and was renovated and turned into the Hudson Valley Resort and Spa, which closed in 2018. The property was sold in May 2019 to Hudson Valley Holding Co. LLC. The company did not announce its plans for the hotel. As of the 2010s, the region is a summer home for many Orthodox Jewish families. Some of the hotels have been converted into rehab centers , meditation centers or Orthodox Jewish hotels and resorts. The former Homowack Lodge in Phillipsport

1365-513: A hearty one-pot meal to a clear broth or a smooth drink. It is often served with smetana or sour cream , hard-boiled eggs or potatoes, but there exists an ample choice of more involved garnishes and side dishes, such as uszka or pampushky , that can be served with the soup. Its popularity has spread throughout Eastern Europe and—by way of migration away from the Russian Empire —to other continents. In North America , borscht

1470-554: A hot boiled potato on the side. In prewar Eastern Europe it was traditionally put up to ferment around Purim so that it would be ready four weeks later for the Passover holiday. Russian variants include a Siberian style borscht, characterized by meatballs ; Pskov borscht with dried smelt from the local lakes; monastic Lenten borscht with marinated kelp instead of cabbage and the Russian Navy borscht ( flotsky borshch ),

1575-447: A large loaf-shaped pie. Possible fillings for croquettes, paszteciki and coulibiacs include mushrooms, sauerkraut and minced meat. Borscht derives from a soup originally made by the Slavs from common hogweed ( Heracleum sphondylium , also known as cow parsnip), which lent the dish its Slavic name. Growing commonly in damp meadows throughout the north temperate zone, hogweed

1680-587: A mixture described as "something between beer and sauerkraut". This fermented product was then used for cooking a soup. The said soup—with aforementioned fermented hogweed concoction used—was characterized by a mouth-puckering amount of sourness in its taste, while its smell was described as pungent As the Polish ethnographer Łukasz Gołębiowski wrote in 1830, "Poles have been always partial to tart dishes, which are somewhat peculiar to their homeland and vital to their health." Simon Syrenius ( Szymon Syreński ),

1785-514: A plant native to the Mediterranean Basin , was already grown in antiquity. Only the leaves were of culinary use, as the tapered, tough, whitish and bitter-tasting root was considered unfit for human consumption. It is probably that beet greens were used in variants of green borscht long before the invention of the beetroot-based red borscht. Beet varieties with round, red, sweet taproots , known as beetroots, were not reliably reported until

1890-567: A secondary factor: "anti-Semitism declined, so Jews could go other places." Access to the area improved with the opening of the George Washington Bridge and upgrade of old travel routes such as old New York State Route 17 . On the other hand, passenger train access ended with the September 10, 1953 termination of passenger trains on the Ontario and Western Railway mainline from Roscoe at

1995-513: A sense of community for working and vacationing Jews. The era exerted a strong influence on American culture, particularly in the realm of entertainment, music, and sports. Some of the most well-known and influential people of the 20th century worked and vacationed in the area. Beginning around 1960, the Borscht Belt began a gradual demise due to many factors including the growth of suburbia, inexpensive airfare, and generational changes." As of 2024,

2100-532: A soup known as Luosong tang , or "Russian soup", is based on red cabbage and tomatoes, and lacks beetroots altogether; also known as "Chinese borscht", it originated in Harbin , close to the Russian border in northeast China, and has spread as far as Hong Kong . In Shanghai 's Haipai cuisine , tomatoes are the main ingredient; beef and its broth, onions and cabbages are also added; while flour, rather than sour cream,

2205-498: A style that followed the influential hotel designs of his former employer, Morris Lapidus , who had worked at other Catskill resorts. By 1964, Phillips was a partner at the New York firm Viola, Bernard & Phillips, who designed the ten-story dodecagonal Nevele Tower. The nearly-circular building was intended to counter the excessive corridor lengths that plagued more traditional Catskill hotels. President Lyndon B. Johnson stayed at

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2310-607: A substitute for parsley root, and tomato paste is often used as well as or instead of fresh tomatoes. Vegetables are usually julienned , except for potatoes and zucchini, which are diced . The beetroots may be partially baked before being sprinkled with vinegar or lemon juice to preserve the color and braised separately from other vegetables. Onions, carrots, parsley root, turnip and other root vegetables are sautéed (traditionally in animal fat, especially lard or butter ) and then mixed with tomatoes or tomato paste. Dry beans are boiled separately. Potatoes and cabbage are boiled in

2415-416: A unique program to place 20 vertical interpretive highway markers strategically sited to tell the story of the Borscht Belt and interpret the specific locations. The markers are enhanced with QR pegs for more in-depth explanations. A self-guided audio tour system is being developed. The markers are double-sided with representative images. All carry an interpretive text about the specific area on one side and

2520-773: Is a sour soup , made with meat stock , vegetables and seasonings, 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 give the dish its distinctive red color. The same name, however, is also used for a wide selection of sour-tasting soups without beetroots, such as sorrel -based green borscht , rye -based white borscht , and cabbage borscht. Borscht derives from an ancient soup originally cooked from pickled stems, leaves and umbels of common hogweed ( Heracleum sphondylium ), an herbaceous plant growing in damp meadows, which lent

2625-500: Is a hot soup made with beef stock, green peppers and other vegetables, which may or may not include beetroots, and flavored with chopped red chili and fresh cilantro . In ethnic Mennonite cuisine, borscht refers to a whole range of seasonal vegetable soups based on beef or chicken stock—from spring borscht made with spinach, sorrel and chard to summer borscht with cabbage, tomatoes, maize and squash to fall and winter borscht with cabbage, beets and potatoes. In Chinese cuisine ,

2730-399: Is based on bone stock and is served with chunks of Vienna sausages . As well as the thick borschts described above, Polish cuisine offers a ruby-colored beetroot bouillon known as barszcz czysty czerwony , or clear red borscht. It is made by combining strained meat-and-vegetable stock with wild mushroom broth and beet sour. In some versions, smoked meat may be used for the stock and

2835-405: Is called borș . It is used to impart a sour taste to a variety of tangy Romanian soups, known as either also borș or ciorbă . Variants include ciorbă de perișoare (with meatballs), ciorbă de burtă (with tripe ), borș de pește (with fish) and borș de sfeclă roșie (with beetroots). The Armenian , Azerbaijani and Georgian version of borscht

2940-411: Is common to East Slavic languages , such as Ukrainian and Russian . Together with cognates in other Slavic languages, it comes from Proto-Slavic *bŭrščǐ , 'hogweed', and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bhr̥stis , 'point', 'stubble'. Common hogweed ( Heracleum sphondylium ) was the soup's principal ingredient before it was replaced with other vegetables, notably beetroot in

3045-567: Is dark brownish-gray in color and aptly called "gray borscht" ( barszcz szary ), which is a regional name of the Polish blood soup better known as czernina . Green borscht ( zeleny borshch ), a light soup made from leaf vegetables, is an example common in Ukrainian and Russian cuisines. The naturally tart-tasting sorrel is most commonly used, but spinach , chard , nettle , garden orache and occasionally dandelion , goutweed or ramsons , may be added as well, especially after

3150-629: Is done, as prolonged boiling would cause the tart flavor to dissipate. The beet sour is known in Slavic languages as kvas ( lit.   ' sour, acid ' ; compare kvass ) and in Yiddish as rosl (from a Slavic word originally referring to any brine obtained by steeping salted meat or vegetables in water; compare Russian rassol , 'pickle juice', Polish rosół , 'broth'). Apart from its employment in borscht, it may also be added to prepared horseradish or used as pot roast marinade. As

3255-481: Is eaten with boiled meatballs ( frikadelki ) of minced beef and onion. In Poland and parts of western Ukraine, borscht is typically ladled over uszka , or bite-sized ear-shaped dumplings made from pasta dough wrapped around mushroom, buckwheat or meat filling. Mushroom-filled uszka are particularly associated with Polish Christmas Eve borscht. Borscht, like any other soup in East Slavic cuisines,

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3360-490: Is known as Chaladnik and in Lithuanian as Šaltibarščiai . The Soviet "Encyclopedia of Housekeeping" has an article on borscht including a "cold borscht" recipe as borshch kholodniiy . "Coated" dressed herring salad resembles cold borsht as well, despite not being a soup. The similarity includes a strong color from using beets, a similar choice of vegetables, and the decorative addition of boiled eggs. Although borscht

3465-685: Is located in a valley just to the west of the Shawangunk Mountains , between two small lakes. The complex was dominated by the Nevele Tower at the main entrance drive. The Empire Wing was to the east and contained the main lobby. The Stardust and Safari Lounges connected the tower and the Empire wing. Other wings included the Colonnades and the Pennsylvanian. Conference facilities, unusually extensive for

3570-407: Is mostly used to describe a beet-based soup, there are soups in some culinary traditions with the same or similar names, but with sometimes wide variations in ingredients and preparation methods. In such soups, beetroots are not used or merely optional. The principal common trait among such borschts is a tart flavor from sour-tasting ingredients. According to A Gift to Young Housewives , a book from

3675-449: Is often added to hasten the process, but usually omitted in Jewish recipes, as chametz (leavened bread) would make the sour unfit for Passover meals. Sugar, salt and lemon juice may also be added to balance the flavor. After about 2–5 days (or 2–3 weeks without the bread), the deep red, sweet and sour liquid may be strained and is ready to use. It is added to borscht shortly before the soup

3780-562: Is often linked with either Jews or Mennonites , the groups who first brought it there from Europe . Several ethnic groups claim borscht, in its various local implementations, as their own national dish consumed as part of ritual meals within Eastern Orthodox , Greek Catholic , Roman Catholic , and Jewish religious traditions. The name ultimately derives from the word борщ ( borshch , Ukrainian: [bɔrʃt͡ʃ] , Russian: [borɕː] ), which

3885-610: Is proscribed by kosher dietary laws, Jews have developed two variants of the soup: meat ( fleischik ) and dairy ( milchik ). The meat variant is typically made from beef brisket (pork is never used ) and cabbage, while the dairy one is vegetarian, blended with sour cream or a mixture of milk and egg yolks. Both variants typically contain beetroots and onions, and are flavored with beet sour, vinegar or citric acid for tartness and beet sugar for sweetness. Galician Jews traditionally liked their borscht particularly sweet. Jewish borscht may be served either hot or cold, typically with

3990-556: Is seldom eaten by itself, but rather accompanied by a side dish. At a minimum, spoonfuls of borscht are alternated with bites of a slice of bread. Buckwheat groats or boiled potatoes, often topped with pork cracklings , are other simple possibilities, but a range of more involved sides exists as well. In Ukraine, borscht is often accompanied with pampushky , or savory, puffy yeast-raised rolls glazed with oil and crushed garlic. In Russian cuisine, borscht may be served with any of assorted side dishes based on tvorog , or

4095-524: Is served refrigerated, typically over finely chopped beetroot, cucumbers , radishes and green onion , together with halves of a hard-boiled egg and sprinkled with fresh dill. Chopped veal , ham, or crawfish tails may be added as well. This soup was known in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , which comprised the territories of modern-day Belarus and Lithuania, and it is still part of the culinary traditions of these and neighboring nations. In Belarusian, it

4200-491: Is that a good borscht should be thick enough for a spoon to stand upright in it. The dominant tastes in borscht are sweet and sour. This combination is traditionally obtained by adding beet sour. The sour is made by covering sliced beetroots with lukewarm preboiled water and allowing bacteria to ferment some of the sugars present in beetroots into dextran (which gives the liquid a slightly viscous consistency), mannitol , acetic acid and lactic acid . Stale rye bread

4305-479: Is the equivalent of "dirt cheap" (also attested as a calque in Yiddish and Canadian English ), whereas adding "two mushrooms into borscht" is synonymous with excess. For the professors of the University of Kraków , who led a monastic way of life in the 17th century, hogweed borscht was a fasting dish which they ate regularly from Lent till Rogation days . It was uncommon on the royal table, although according to

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4410-424: Is to be transformed into "...a low maintenance landscape with focused native planting..." On the night of March 19, 2024 (at around 9:00 p.m.), a fire broke out within the winter lodge, the oldest building on the property, taking over 15 hours to tame. It is currently unknown what caused the fire. As of August 2024 the property was reported to still be in a state of neglect and abandonment. The Nevele property

4515-415: Is typically flavored with a wide selection of herbs, spices and condiments. Salt , black pepper , garlic , bay leaves and dill are among the most commonly used. Other aromatics often added to borscht include allspice , celery stalks, parsley , marjoram , hot peppers , saffron , horseradish, ginger and prunes . Some recipes require flour or roux to further thicken the borscht. A common opinion

4620-453: Is typically made by boiling meat, bones, or both. Beef , pork or a combination of both are most commonly used, with brisket , ribs , shank and chuck considered to give the most flavorful results, especially if cooked on a high flame. Marrow bones are considered best for the bone stock. Meat stock is usually cooked for about two hours, whereas bone stock takes four to six hours to prepare. Meat and bones are usually removed afterwards and

4725-475: Is used for thickening. The diversity of borscht styles is matched by the wide choice of garnishes and side dishes with which various types of borscht may be served. Most often, borscht is served with smetena , a soured dairy product similar to the French crème fraîche . The smetana may be served in a separate pitcher for the diners to add the desired amount themselves or the borscht may come already "whitened" with

4830-454: The Yiddish Alps or Solomon County (a malapropism of Sullivan County ) by many people who visited there. A sufficient choice of Jewish cuisine was an important feature of the hotels in the Borscht Belt, and "too much was not enough" developed as a notion. Jonathan Sarna wrote: "To understand the emphasis on food, one has to understand hunger. Immigrants had memories of hunger, and in

4935-577: The Doox of Yale , continue to regularly tour the Borscht Belt. Between 2013 and 2018, the decaying state of the abandoned resorts was captured by several ruins photographers : The tradition of Borscht Belt entertainment started in the early 20th century with the Paradise Garden Theatre constructed in Hunter, New York by Yiddish theater star Boris Thomashefsky . A cradle of American Jewish comedy since

5040-576: The Yiddish Alps , was used by Larry King and is satirical: a classic example of borscht belt humor. After the expansion of the railway system including the tracks Ontario and Western as well as the Ulster and Delaware Railroad , the area of the Catskill Mountains became a tourist destination because of the beauty of the landscape, which impressed the painters of American Romanticism , and because of

5145-485: The "buildings remain, falling apart and with no future of reuse ... there are plans to tear down the remaining structures on the property and turn it into a sports complex." The property included a once-highly-regarded 18- hole golf course and a 9-hole golf course. The 18-hole course has fallen into disrepair, while the 9-hole is being operated by Honors Haven as the Fallsview Golf Course. On March 19, 2024,

5250-507: The "very tasty brine" left over from beetroot pickling, which was an early version of beet sour. The sour found some applications in Polish folk medicine as a cure for hangover and—mixed with honey—as a sore throat remedy. Nevele Grand Hotel The Nevele Grande Hotel (NEV-uh-lee) was a high rise resort hotel located in Wawarsing, New York , United States, just outside Ellenville, New York ; it closed in 2009. The Nevele dated back to

5355-417: The 12th century and did not spread to Eastern Europe before the 16th century. Mikołaj Rej , a Polish Renaissance poet and moralist, included the earliest known Polish recipe for pickled beetroots in his 1568 book, Life of an Honest Man . It would later evolve into ćwikła , or chrain mit burik , a beet-and-horseradish relish popular in Polish and Jewish cuisines. Rej also recommended

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5460-785: The 16th century Polish botanist Marcin of Urzędów —citing Giovanni Manardo , a court physician to the Jagiellonian kings of Hungary—the Polish-born King Vladislaus II used to have a Polish hogweed-based dish prepared for him at his court in Buda . With time, other ingredients were added to the soup, eventually replacing hogweed altogether, and the names borshch or barszcz became generic terms for any sour-tasting soup. In 19th century rural Poland, this term included soups made from barberries , currants , gooseberries , cranberries , celery or plums . When describing

5565-441: The 1920s, the Borscht Belt entertainment circuit has helped launch the careers of many famous comedians and acted as a launchpad for those just starting out. Comedians who got their start or regularly performed in Borscht Belt resorts include: Borscht Belt humor refers to the rapid-fire, often self-deprecating style common to many of these performers and writers. Typical themes include: The Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project

5670-479: The 1960s. Another source also confirms that "cheap air travel suddenly allowed a new generation to visit more exotic and warmer destinations." More women remained in the workforce after marriage and could not take off for the entire summer to relocate to the Catskills. A Times of Israel article specifies that "the bungalow colonies were the first to go under, followed by the smaller hotels. The glitziest ones hung on

5775-410: The 19th century, "borscht" may or may not include beets (depending from recipe to recipe in the book). In Polish cuisine, white borscht ( barszcz biały , also known as żur or żurek , 'sour soup' ) is made from a fermented mixture of rye flour or oatmeal and water. It is typically flavored with garlic and marjoram, and served over eggs and boiled fresh sausage; the water in which

5880-551: The Catskills division of Hatzalah was founded which covers the Borscht Belt and served the needs of a growing Orthodox clientele; as of 2020 a volunteer force of 450 rescue workers and paramedics is operating a fleet of 18 ambulances. Although financially independent from the other chapters, it cooperates in day-to-day business with Central Hatzalah of NYC as the 17. neighborhood and also with State Forces (police, forest rangers, emergency medical services, fire departments). Many Buddhist and Hindu retreat centers have been constructed on

5985-673: The Catskills, the food seemed limitless." The singles scene was also important; many hotels hired young male college students to attract single girls of a similar age. One book on the era contended that "the Catskills became one great marriage broker." Borscht Belt resorts stood in towns such as Liberty , Fallsburg , Mamakating , Thompson , Bethel and Rockland in Sullivan County as well as Wawarsing and Rochester in Ulster County. Such resorts included Avon Lodge, Brickman's, Brown's , Butler Lodge, The Concord , Grossinger's , Granit,

6090-570: The East European variant of farmer cheese , such as vatrushki , syrniki or krupeniki . Vatrushki are baked round cheese-filled tarts; syrniki are small pancakes wherein the cheese is mixed into the batter; and a krupenik is a casserole of buckwheat groats baked with cheese. Pirozhki , or baked dumplings with fillings as for uszka , are another common side for both thick and clear variants of borscht. Polish clear borscht may be also served with

6195-778: The Heiden Hotel, Irvington, Kutsher's Hotel and Country Club , the Nevele , Friar Tuck Inn, the Laurels Hotel and Country Club, the Pines Resort, Raleigh Hotel , the Overlook, the Tamarack Lodge, Shady Nook Hotel and Country Club, Stevensville, Stier's Hotel, and the Windsor. Some of these hotels originated from farms that Jewish immigrants established in the early part of the 20th century. Two of

6300-670: The Nevele in 1966 to dedicate a new hospital in Ellenville. Originally simply named Nevele , the resort was renamed the Nevele Grande when it again merged with the adjacent Fallsview resort after the Nevele was sold by the Slutsky family in 1997. By 2006, the Nevele Grande had fallen on hard times and the Fallsview property was sold. The Fallsview has since reopened as the Honors Haven Resort and Spa. The original Nevele property, containing

6405-692: The Program has completed and sited nine markers in Sullivan County - Monticello, Mountain Dale, Swan Lake, Fallsburg, Kiamisha Lake, South Fallsburg, Hurleyville, Bethel, and Woodridge. Loch Sheldrake, Parksville, Livingston Manor, and Ellenville are being prepared for 2025. Six additional markers are planned for 2026. The Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project is funded by the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation. The Heiden Hotel in South Fallsburg

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6510-527: The Proto-Slavic root *kyslŭ , 'sour' ) had been already mentioned in The Tale of Bygone Years , a 12th century chronicle of Kievan Rus' , and continued to be a staple of Ukrainian and Russian cooking until the middle of the 19th century. In Poland, a soup based on diluted kissel became known as either żur (from Middle High German sur , 'sour' ) or barszcz and later—to distinguish it from

6615-658: The Slavic hogweed soup can be found in Domostroy ( Domestic Order ), a 16th century Russian compendium of moral rules and homemaking advice. It recommends growing the plant "by the fence, around the whole garden, where the nettle grows", to cook a soup of it in springtime and reminds the reader to, "for the Lord's sake, share it with those in need". Hogweed borscht was mostly a poor man's food. The soup's humble beginnings are still reflected in Polish fixed expressions, where "cheap like borscht"

6720-523: The Ukrainian version. The English spelling bor scht comes from Yiddish באָרשט ( borsht ), as the dish was first popularized in North America by Yiddish-speaking Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern Europe . Traditional red beetroot borscht is typically made from meat or bone stock , sautéed vegetables, and beet sour (i.e., fermented beetroot juice). Depending on the recipe, some of these components may be omitted or substituted. The stock

6825-515: The area by Jewish families were already underway "as early as the 1890s ... Tannersville ... was 'a great resort of our Israelite breathren [ sic ]' ... from the 1920s on [there were] hundreds of hotels." The larger hotels provided "Friday night and holiday services as well as kosher cooking", thus supporting religious families to take a vacation in accordance to their customs. Borscht Belt hotels, bungalow colonies, summer camps, and kuchaleyns (kuch-alein, literally: "Cook it yourself",

6930-489: The best-selling Russian cookbook of the 19th century, first published in 1861, contains nine recipes for borscht, some of which are based on kvass , a traditional Slavic fermented beverage made from rye bread. Kvass-based variants were also known in Ukraine at that time; some of them were types of green borscht, while others were similar to the Russian okroshka . Before the advent of beet-based borscht, cabbage borscht

7035-412: The buildings. On March 26, 2010, New York State Supreme Court Judge Mary Work granted Wolff ownership of the hotel in light of Hoffman's failure to pay Wolff an earlier $ 2 million judgment. The initial dispute arose when Wolff sold Hoffman 99% control of the hotel in exchange for lifetime health benefits, a deal on which Hoffman almost immediately reneged. Judge Work described Hoffman's mismanagement of

7140-477: The chaos surrounding the 1975 telecast production hassles of Lorne Michaels ( Gabriel LaBelle ) and the ensemble cast during the series premiere of Saturday Night Live . In one scene, Brad Garrett plays an unidentified Borscht Belt stand-up comedian whose routine is bombing, but whose Borscht-esque humor is being transcribed by writer Alan Zweibel (portrayed by Josh Brener ). Borscht Borscht ( English: / ˈ b ɔːr ʃ t / )

7245-704: The clear borscht that is traditionally served during the Polish Christmas Eve supper . In this version, meat stock is either omitted or replaced with fish broth, usually made by boiling the heads cut off from fish used in other Christmas Eve dishes. The mushrooms used for cooking the mushroom broth are reserved for uszka (small filled dumplings), which are then served with the borscht. Ashkenazi Jews living in Eastern Europe adopted beetroot borscht from their Slavic neighbors and adapted it to their taste and religious requirements. As combining meat with milk

7350-488: The days of the Borscht Belt , opening in 1901. “Nevele” is “Eleven” spelled backward — according to lore — after the eleven nineteenth-century schoolteachers who discovered a waterfall within the present-day property. Also (according to family lore), the founder, Charles Slutsky, had eleven children from 1880 to 1906 and the name might have come from that instead. The hotel closed in 2009. A June 2020 report indicated that

7455-422: The defining characteristic of which is that the vegetables are cut into square or diamond-shaped chunks rather than julienned. In the summertime, cold borscht is a popular alternative to the aforementioned variants, which are normally served hot. It consists of beet sour or beet juice blended with sour cream, buttermilk , soured milk , kefir or yogurt . The mixture has a distinctive pink or magenta color. It

7560-401: The differences in cooking times of individual ingredients had to be taken into account in order to ensure that all components reach doneness at the same time. The importance of this method is reflected in the Russian language, where a variant in which all vegetables are added raw directly into the stock is referred to by the diminutive form borshchok rather than borshch . The soup

7665-481: The dish its Slavic name. With time, it evolved into a diverse array of tart soups, among which the Ukrainian beet-based red borscht has become the most popular. It is typically made by combining meat or bone stock with sautéed vegetables, which—as well as beetroots—usually include cabbage, carrots, onions, potatoes, and tomatoes. Depending on the recipe, borscht may include meat or fish, or be purely vegetarian; it may be served either hot or cold, and it may range from

7770-490: The following common text about the Borscht Belt on the other side: "From the 1920s through the early 1970s, the Borscht Belt was the preeminent summer resort destination for hundreds of thousands of predominantly east coast American Jews. The exclusion of the Jewish community from existing establishments in the 1920s drove Jewish entrepreneurs to create over 500 resorts, 50,000 bungalows and 1,000 rooming houses in Sullivan County and parts of Ulster County. The Borscht Belt provided

7875-462: The hotel as "staggering" and upbraided him in court for failure to be forthcoming. In May 2012, Nevele Investors LLC, a subsidiary of Claremont Partners Ltd. (which had purchased the resort), announced that the Nevele Grande would undergo a $ 500 million redevelopment to turn it into a resort and casino, subject to approval of state legislation to allow casino gaming. The 1966 tower and entrance lobby, ice skating rink, and golf course would be retained in

7980-459: The land or in the restored buildings of former camps or resorts to serve adherents in New York City, the establishment of which has then drawn even more temples and centers to the area. This led to the coining of the nicknames "Buddha Belt," " Bhajan Belt" and "Buddhist Belt" to refer to the area's revival. Despite the region's decline as a cultural epicenter, a handful of traveling acts, such as

8085-511: The larger hotels in High View (just north of Bloomingburg ) were Shawanga Lodge and the Overlook. One of the high points of Shawanga Lodge 's existence came in 1959 when it was the site of a conference of scientists researching laser beams . The conference marked the start of serious research into lasers. The hotel burned to the ground in 1973. The Overlook, which offered rooms in the main building as well as bungalows, spiced up with entertainment,

8190-494: The latter made from assorted dried, smoked or fresh fish and fermented rye bran. A manuscript recipe collection from the Radziwiłł family court, dating back to c.  1686 , contains an instruction for making hogweed borscht mixed with poppy seeds or ground almonds . As this was a Lenten dish, it was garnished, in a trompe-l'œil fashion typical of Baroque cuisine, with mock eggs made from finely chopped pike that

8295-589: The longest" with some continuing to operate in the 1980s and even in the 1990s. Bungalow colonies fell into disrepair or many of the nicer ones have been converted into a housing co-op . The Concord Resort Hotel , which outlasted most other resorts, went bankrupt in 1997 but survived until 1998 and was subsequently demolished for a possible casino site. By the early 1960s, some 25 to 30 percent of Grossinger's Catskill Resort Hotel visitors were not Jewish, nevertheless it closed in 1986. The Stevensville Hotel in Swan Lake

8400-521: The main ingredient, giving it a deep reddish-purple color) that is popular in many Central and Eastern European countries and brought by Ashkenazi Jewish and Slavic immigrants to the United States. The alliterative name was coined by Abel Green , then editor of Variety , and is a play on existing colloquial names for other American regions (such as the Bible Belt and Rust Belt ). An alternate name,

8505-673: The meat is only added back into the soup about 10–15 minutes before the borscht is done. Some recipes call for smoked meats , resulting in a distinctively smoky borscht, while others use poultry or mutton stock. Fasting varieties are typically made with fish stock to avoid the use of meat, while purely vegetarian recipes often substitute forest mushroom broth for the stock. The vegetables most commonly added to borscht are beetroots, white cabbage , carrots , parsley root , potatoes , onions and tomatoes . Some recipes may also call for beans , tart apples , turnip , swede , celeriac , zucchini or bell peppers . Parsnip may be used as

8610-435: The new complex. Although the state rejected the proposal to bring gambling to the project in 2014, a developer planned to incorporate the hotel into new mega sports complex with construction to begin in 2017. In March 2019, the developer said that funding had not been secured and that there was no timetable regarding the planned project’s future. It never materialized and the property continued to deteriorate. By January 2022,

8715-527: The northern edge of Sullivan County, through the Borscht Belt, to Weehawken, New Jersey . A 1940 vacation travel guide published by the railroad listed hundreds of establishments that were situated at or near the railway's stations. The following year, the New York Central ceased running passenger trains on its Catskill Mountain Branch. The area suffered as a travel destination in the late 1950s and especially by

8820-661: The property for $ 2.2 million and began to operate the Satmar Boys Camp , a religious summer school ( yeshiva gedolah ). In 1987, New York City mayor Ed Koch proposed buying the Gibber Hotel in Kiamesha Lake to house the homeless. The idea was opposed by local officials and the hotel instead became the religious school Yeshiva Viznitz. The Granit Hotel and Country Club, located in Kerhonkson, boasted many amenities, including

8925-518: The red beetroot borscht—as barszcz biały , 'white borscht'. The earliest known Polish recipes for borscht, written by chefs catering to Polish magnates (aristocrats), are from the late 17th century. Stanisław Czerniecki , head chef to Prince Aleksander Michał Lubomirski , included several borscht recipes in his Compendium ferculorum ( A Collection of Dishes ), the first cookbook published originally in Polish, in 1682. They include such sour soups as lemon borscht and "royal borscht",

9030-460: The rising popularity of fly fishing in its trout -rich rivers. As New York City streets would bake in the summer and air-conditioning was not yet available, people flocked to the Catskills. In the early 1900s, some hotels' and resorts' advertisements refused to accept Jews and indicated "No Hebrews or Consumptives " in their ads. This discrimination led to a need for alternative lodging that would readily accept Jewish families as guests. Visits to

9135-484: The sausage was boiled is often used instead of meat stock. In the Carpathian Mountains of southern Poland, variants of borscht are also made in which the tart taste comes from dairy products, such as whey or buttermilk. Although the deep red color of beetroot borscht may remind those unfamiliar with Polish cuisine of blood, the type of borscht that does contain animal (usually poultry) blood mixed with vinegar

9240-546: The smetana already added. The cream can also be thickened with flour before being added to the soup. Yogurt and a mixture of milk and yolks are possible substitutes. Chopped herbs are often sprinkled on the surface of the soup; dill is most common, but parsley, chives or scallion are often added as well. Individual helpings may be spiced up with minced hot peppers or garlic. Many types of borscht are served over halves or quarters of hard-boiled chicken or quail eggs . Navy beans , broad beans or string beans are also

9345-482: The spring season for sorrel has passed. Like beetroot borscht, it is based on meat or vegetable broth and is typically served with boiled potatoes and hard-boiled eggs, sprinkled with dill. There is also a variety of Ukrainian green borscht which includes both sorrel and beetroots. In Romanian and Moldovan cuisines , a mixture of wheat bran or cornmeal with water that has been left to ferment, similar to, but less cloudy than that used in Polish white borscht,

9450-496: The stock for about 15 minutes before the precooked vegetables are added. The traditional technique of preparing the soup is to precook the vegetables—by sautéing, braising , boiling or baking —separately from the meat and only then to combine them with the stock. This distinctive feature of borscht derives from the practice of slow cooking in the Russian oven (traditional masonry stove , used for both cooking and heating), wherein

9555-539: The summer in a bungalow settlement in the Catskills and visits with his son at the nearby The Pines resort. In the second season of the series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017–23), both the Weissman and Maisel families spend a summer vacation at Steiner's Resort in the Catskills, depicted by Scott's Family Resort on Oquaga Lake in Deposit, NY . Also, Jason Reitman 's historical dramedy film, Saturday Night (2024), depicts

9660-404: The tartness may be obtained or enhanced by adding lemon juice, dill pickle brine, or dry red wine. It may be served either in a soup bowl or—especially at dinner parties—as a hot beverage in a twin-handled cup, with a croquette or a filled pastry on the side. Unlike other types of borscht, it is not whitened with sour cream . Barszcz wigilijny , or Christmas Eve borscht, is a variant of

9765-448: The traditional method of making borscht with beet sour often requires planning at least several days ahead, many recipes for quicker borscht replace the beet sour with fresh beetroot juice, while the sour taste is imparted by other ingredients. Vinegar, tomato products, lemon juice or citric acid may be used, as well as dry red wine , dill pickle juice, murături juice, sauerkraut juice, tart apples, Mirabelle plums , apricots , or

9870-608: The typical recipe calls for beef and pork, the Kyiv variant uses mutton or lamb as well as beef, while in the Poltava region, the stock for borscht is cooked on poultry meat, that is, chicken , duck or goose . The use of zucchini, beans and apples is characteristic of the Chernihiv borscht; in this variant, beetroots are sautéed in vegetable oil rather than lard, and the sour taste comes solely from tomatoes and tart apples. The Lviv borscht

9975-519: The uses of common hogweed, John Gerard , a 17th century English botanist, observed that "the people of [Poland] and Lithuania [used] to make [a] drink with the decoction of this herb and leaven or some other thing made of meal , which is used instead of beer and other ordinary drink". It may suggest that hogweed soup was on some occasions combined with a fermented mixture of water and barley flour, oatmeal or rye flour. Such soured, gelatinous flour-and-water mixture, originally known as kissel (from

10080-462: Was allegedly found. However, by the time the auction was scheduled, the property had fallen into a state of disrepair, including "musty staircases and rooms, big and small, with odd smells wafting out of them." The hotel remained unsold months later, although Hoffman was still attempting to generate revenue with a deal to sell timber on 100 acres (0.40 km ) of property. He also renewed an agreement to let Nextel put cell phone antennas atop one of

10185-688: Was converted into a summer camp for Hasidic girls. Officials of the state Department of Health ordered the property evacuated in July 2009, citing health and safety violations. The Orthodox Jews who flock to the region each summer provide commerce that the area would not have otherwise. The Flagler Hotel, Nemerson, Schenk's and Windsor Hotels in South Fallsburg, and the Stevensville Hotel in Swan Lake, were converted into Jewish religious summer camps. In 1984,

10290-438: Was founded by Marisa Scheinfeld, a noted Borscht Belt historical photographer, author, and Borscht Belt documentarian, in 2022. Scheinfeld had photographed the detritus of the former Borscht Belt hotels, bungalows, and historically important sites. She recognized the complete absence of any historical interpretive roadside markers documenting the sites of the former Borscht Belt. The Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project initiated

10395-543: Was located on the shores of an artificial reservoir of the West Branch Mongaup River which fed a tannery since the 1840s. It was commissioned in 1924 and managed by the Dinnerstein and Friehling families until around 1990. It reopened as Swan Lake Resort Hotel in 1999 offering Asian cuisine plus Tennis & Golf facilities but only survived until 2007. In 2015 the ultra-Orthodox Congregation Iched Anash bought

10500-552: Was merged with the Nevele for a time. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Nevele was greatly expanded in the modern style that had come to prevail in the Catskills by then. Architect Sydne Schleman designed the Vacationer Wing and the Waikiki Indoor Pool in 1954. These were followed by architect Herbert D. Phillips' Golden Gate and Empire wings from 1956, linked to adjoining buildings by tunnels. Phillips also designed new lobbies in

10605-583: Was of particular importance. Made from either fresh cabbage or sauerkraut, it could be indistinguishable from the Russian shchi . Indeed, the mid-19th century Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language defines borshch as "a kind of shchi" with beet sour added for tartness. The significance of cabbage as an essential ingredient of borscht is manifest in the Ukrainian proverb, "without bread, it's no lunch; without cabbage, it's no borscht." Beet ( Beta vulgaris ),

10710-456: Was operated by the Schrier family. The Borscht Belt reached its peak in the 1950s and 60s with over 500 resorts, 50,000 bungalows, and 1,000 rooming houses but the start of a decline was apparent by the late 1960s. "Railways began cutting service to the area, the popularity of air travel increased, and a younger generation of Jewish-Americans chose other leisure destinations." Another source mentions

10815-458: Was partly dyed with saffron and formed into oval balls. An alternative recipe for the almond borscht replaced pickled hogweed with vinegar. Borscht also evolved into a variety of sour soups to the east of Poland. Examples include onion borscht, a recipe for which was included in a 1905 Russian cookbook, and sorrel-based green borscht, which is still a popular summer soup in Ukraine and Russia. A Gift to Young Housewives by Elena Molokhovets ,

10920-484: Was the film location of the 1987 movie Sweet Lorraine starring Maureen Stapleton . It was destroyed by fire in May 2008 while no longer hosting guests. In the same year, the movie Dirty Dancing replayed the heyday of the Borscht Belt in an upscale resort. The plot was inspired by the screenwriter's experience as a teenager in the summertime community at Grossinger's . In the graphic novel Maus: A Survivor's Tale (1991), Art Spiegelman 's father Vladek spends

11025-420: Was used not only as fodder (as its English names suggest), but also for human consumption—from Eastern Europe to Siberia, to northwestern North America. The Slavs collected hogweed in May and used its roots for stewing with meat. As for the stems, leaves, and umbels ; these would be chopped, covered with water and left in a warm place to ferment. After a few days, lactic and alcoholic fermentation produced

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