Humanist soup at Café Sapiens, Kraków

Alexandr Ivanovich
Oct 31
3 min read

By Alexandr Ivanovich

Borscht is a vibrant beetroot soup from Eastern Europe, rich in flavour, colour, and cultural symbolism. Traditionally made with beets, onions, and beef or vegetable stock, it’s a dish that brings comfort and community to cold nights — and a perfect metaphor for humanist values: simple ingredients transformed through care, attention, and sharing.

Alexandr Ivanovich was born in Odessa, Ukraine, in 1989, into a family of musicians and teachers. After training as a chef in St. Petersburg and Lyon, he developed a reputation for blending Eastern European comfort food with modern, ethical cooking rooted in local, sustainable ingredients.

A lifelong humanist, Alexandr believes that ‘to cook is to practise kindness’ — an act of care that connects people through shared labour, memory and nourishment. His recipes combine traditional flavours, such as beetroot and dill, with a philosophy of empathy and mindfulness in everyday life.

He now runs Café Sapiens, a small bistro in Kraków, where he hosts The Humanist Kitchen evenings — part cooking class, part conversation salon — exploring how food, ethics and culture intertwine. When he’s not stirring soup or writing essays, Alexandr enjoys hiking, photography, and composing short piano pieces inspired by Chopin and Debussy.

Borscht is more than a soup. It’s a story of resourcefulness, resilience, and shared humanity. Across Eastern Europe — from Ukraine and Poland to Lithuania and Russia — families have been turning beets, onions, cabbage, and scraps of meat or bone into something nourishing for centuries. Every household has its own version, but the heart of borscht is the same: making something rich and sustaining from whatever life provides.

The vivid crimson of beetroot seems to symbolise life itself — earthy, pulsing and elemental. In hard times, this humble soup has carried people through long winters and political upheavals. It’s a dish that speaks of cooperation: one person grows the beets, another brings the sour cream, someone else the bread to share alongside. At the table, hierarchy dissolves. Everyone takes from the same pot.

In a world often divided by borders and ideologies, borscht reminds us that the basic rhythms of human life are universal — the need for warmth, nourishment and company. To cook it is to take part in a long chain of ordinary people who find meaning in making something good for others.

Perhaps this is what a humanist kitchen looks like: gratitude for the earth’s produce, creativity in the face of scarcity, and the quiet joy of feeding one another. Whether your borscht is clear and elegant or thick and rustic, it’s an invitation to live with care and connection — to make life, in all its simplicity, a little more beautiful.

'The act of cooking is an act of hope. It says: life continues, and it is worth sharing.'

Borscht (Serves 4–6)

A rich, earthy soup with a sweet-sour balance and a touch of comfort — ideal for cold evenings and quiet reflection.

Ingredients:

3 medium beetroots, cooked or raw, grated or diced
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, grated
½ small cabbage, shredded (optional)
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tbsp tomato purée
1 litre good beef or vegetable stock (a tin of consommé works perfectly)
150g cooked beef (optional, for a heartier version)
1 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice
1 tsp sugar (to balance the acidity)
Fresh dill or chives, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Soured cream, to serve

Method:

In a large pan, gently soften the onion, carrot and garlic in a little oil for 5 minutes.
Add the grated beetroot and tomato purée; cook for a few minutes until glossy and fragrant.
Pour in the stock (or consommé) and bring to a gentle simmer. Add cabbage if using, and simmer for about 20 minutes.
Stir in the vinegar, sugar and chopped cooked beef. Taste and adjust seasoning — you want a balance of earthy, tangy and slightly sweet.
Serve hot with a swirl of soured cream and a scattering of dill or chives.

Tip: Borscht tastes even better the next day, once the flavours have deepened — proof that good things in life often take time.

Cooking, like humanism, is a way of bringing meaning to the ordinary. A simple bowl of borscht reminds us that warmth, colour, and care can be created from humble ingredients — and that sharing food is one of the oldest human rituals of friendship. As we stir, taste and serve, we practise small virtues: patience, creativity, generosity. In this sense, every meal cooked with attention is a quiet celebration of the good life.

Let us know how you get on with this recipe and what conversations flow from your efforts!