 The earliest known Polish recipes for borscht , written by chefs catering to Polish magnates ( aristocrats ) , are from the late 17th century . Stanisław <unk> , head chef to Prince Aleksander Michał Lubomirski , included several borscht recipes in his Compendium <unk> ( A Collection of Dishes ) , the first cookbook published originally in Polish , in 1682 . They include such sour soups as lemon borscht and " royal borscht " , 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 ca . 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 was partly dyed with saffron and formed into oval balls . An alternative recipe for the almond borscht replaced pickled hogweed with vinegar . 
