 Before the advent of beet @-@ based borscht , cabbage borscht 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 . " 
