Barszcz, barščiai or borscht – whatever you call it, does it need meat, or are simple vegetarian versions truer to the spirit of the dish? What is certain is that beetroot soup is seen by many as “the pride of old Polish cooking” as Maria Lemnis, author of a work on traditional Polish cooking refers to it. This isn’t something I can lay my hands on, even after a borscht with meat of the many Polski Skleps in my neighbourhood, so thank goodness the process is, apparently “very simple”.