Fresh, green, sour, boyar, Don shchi… All these types of shchi are well-known and loved – many even have a favorite one – but Veliky Novgorod is famous for its gray shchi cooked with kroshevo (finely chopped dark green upper cabbage leaves) and this dish is an important part of the authentic menu in many restaurants and cafes of Veliky Novgorod. Thus, if you want to get acquainted with the culinary traditions of the Novgorod region, you have to try our famous gray shchi. Here is the list of the places where you can try it.

• Galereya Restaurant

Name: Russian cabbage soup

Price: 280 rubles

• ZAVOD Bar

Name: Gray shchi

Main characteristic: ZAVOD’s gray shchi is cooked in an authentic Russian stove – the exact same way it was cooked in the Novgorod villages in the past. The dish is served in a cast-iron pot.

Price: 240 rubles. Please contact us to check availability: +7 (816 2) 60 33 09.

• Naffiga Koze Bayan Gastrobar

Name: Gray shchi

Main characteristic: this rich gray shchi is based off the ancient Russian recipe and cooked with pork and mushrooms.

Price: 220 rubles

• Fregat Flagman Restaurant Complex

Name: Kroshevo shchi, gray shchi

Kroshevo is the main ingredient that makes the taste of gray shchi absolutely unique. Kroshevo used to be rather popular; now it is mostly forgotten but not totally – culinary enthusiasts and traditional cuisine lovers bring it back to life.

Recipe: to make kroshevo our cooks use only upper cabbage leaves. The leaves are finely chopped until the pieces are 5-10 mm in size. Carrots are also chopped finely and added to the kroshevo. The ingredients are mixed with salt and loaded densely into an enameled container. Something heavy is placed on the top so that the kroshevo gives off its juice. Kroshevo is left in a warm place (20-22 °C) for 5-7 days. Any forming foam is removed.

After the fermentation process is finished, the kroshevo is wrung out and divided into a few parts that are packed up and frozen. Frozen kroshevo is placed in the cold water for a few minutes then wrung out and put into a pot with some onion and potato; coarsely chopped pork is added after it boils. Shchi is simmered for at least 8 hours. It’s important to prevent kroshevo from burning by adding water when needed.

We serve shchi with green herbs and sour cream.

Price: 300 rubles / 500 gr.