Zumma borscht recipe.

Alright, you might be thinking "What the heck language is she even speaking?" and most of you might not know this but I am a full blown Mennonite girl and I grew up in the country. Most of my grandparents' generation as well as my parents grew up speaking Low German (aka Plautdietsch) which unfortunately wasn't passed on to my siblings with the exception of a basic understanding of a few key words and phrases. Low German is probably one of the un-sexiest languages that exists, but I often catch myself using the odd word when nothing else will do! That said, Zumma borscht, also known as summa borscht or green borscht is a mennonite soup that is made to celebrate the start of the early Summer garden! With such things as fresh dill, baby potatoes and sorrel! Wait, what the heck is sorrel you ask? Well, as a 6 year old I grew up sitting at the end of my Kroeker grandparent's deck eating this leafy green thinking that I was so cool for eating what I thought was just a weed. Ha! It turns out I wasn't as cool as I thought, and it's actually a green used in lots of soups - like this one, and has a very bitter/sour taste to it.  Unfortunately if you don't have a garden full of the stuff, it can be tricky to get your hands on, but good news - you can use the greens of beet tops as a replacement! This soup is also often used with a ham bone to make the stock, but I much prefer the farmer sausage. Ps - there's absolutely nothing better than mennonite farmer sausage! 

All you need:

10 cups water

1 ring (2 sticks) of farmer sausage

1/2 cup chopped green onions

2 cups chopped fresh sorrel (or beet tops)

1/2 cup fresh dill

1 bag of red baby potatoes (peel kept on)

1 bay leaf

salt & pepper

sour cream/heavy cream (optional)
white vinegar (optional)

All you do:
-Add the farmer sausage to the water in a large soup pot and bring to a boil. Cook for about 1 hour: this makes your soup stock. 
-Next, remove the sausage and let cool and then chop it into bite-sized pieces.
-Now add the baby potatoes (chopped into bite size pieces) green onions, dill, sorrel, bay leaf and pepper. Cook until the potatoes are done.
-Now add the farmer sausage back to the pot.
-Finally add sour cream or heavy cream once soup cools a bit, or vinegar.

There are a few different ways that you can eat this soup. I grew up eating zumma borscht either plain or with a dash of white vinegar to give it a little zip. If you want it a little creamier you can add a bit of heavy cream and/or a dollop of sour cream on top. Make sure you don't add vinegar and cream/sour cream because it will curdle. 

Oh man I wish you could smell my kitchen right now! It brings me right back to my grandma's kitchen when I was a little girl.
I hope you like this menno soup!

XO, Erin