{{short description|Type of porridge}} {{About|the food}} {{redirect|Grechka|the footballer|Orest Grechka}} {{Infobox prepared food | name = Kasha | image = Гречневая каша.jpg | image_size = 250px | caption = Buckwheat kasha | alternate_name = | country = | region = Eastern Europe | creator = | course = | type = Porridge, oatmeal | served = | main_ingredient = Cereal (buckwheat, wheat, barley, oats, millet or rye) | variations = | calories = | other = }}
In English, '''kasha''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ɑː|ʃ|ə}}) is a porridge usually{{efn|<ref name="Merriam-Webster">{{cite Merriam-Webster|kasha|access-date=2026-03-07}} Quote: "a porridge made '''usually''' from buckwheat groats."</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Stevenson |first1=Angus |title=Oxford Dictionary of English |date=19 August 2010 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-957112-3 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Oxford_Dictionary_of_English/anecAQAAQBAJ |language=en |chapter=kasha |page=957 |quote="(in Russia and Poland) porridge made from cooked buckwheat '''or similar grain'''.}}</ref><ref name="Collins">{{cite Collins Dictionary|kasha|access-date=2026-03-07}} Quote: "a dish originating in Eastern Europe, consisting of boiled or baked buckwheat."</ref>}} made from buckwheat, a pseudocereal. In the Slavic languages, ''kasha'' means porridge. In some varieties of Central and Eastern European cuisine, ''kasha'' can apply to any kind of cooked grain. It can be baked but most often is boiled, either in water or milk, but the word can also refer to the grain before preparation, which corresponds to the definition of 'groats'.
==Etymology== The word ''kasha'' was borrowed from Russian ''kásha'' and first appears in English-language sources in 1808.<ref name="Merriam-Webster"/>
The English-language usage of ''kasha'', which refers primarily to buckwheat, probably originated with Jewish immigrants, as did the form {{lang|yi|קאַשי|rtl=yes}} ''kashi'' (literally translated as "porridges").<ref>Steinmetz, Sol. ''Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms''. p. 42. {{ISBN|0-7425-4387-0}}.</ref>
The word ''kasha'' is used in Belarus ({{Lang|be|каша}}), the Czech Republic ({{Lang|cs|kaše}}), Lithuania ({{Lang|lt|košė}}), Poland ({{Lang|pl|kasza}}), Romania and Moldova ({{Lang|ro|cașa}}), Russia ({{Lang|ru|каша}}), Slovakia ({{Lang|sk|kaša}}), Slovenia ({{Lang|sl|kaša}}), Kazakhstan, and Ukraine ({{Lang|uk|каша}}).
== In Ashkenazi Jewish culture == As an Ashkenazi-Jewish comfort food, kasha is often served with onions and brown gravy on top of farfalle, known as kasha varnishkes.<ref name="soulandgone">{{cite web |title=Le Cordon Jew |url=http://www.soulandgone.com/2008/05/22/le-cordon-jew-%d0%bb%d0%b0%d0%bf%d1%88%d1%83-%d0%b4%d0%b0-%d0%ba%d0%b0%d1%88%d0%b0-%d0%bf%d0%b8%d1%89%d0%b0-%d0%bd%d0%b0%d1%88%d0%b0/ |date=May 22, 2008 |access-date=2011-01-15 |archive-date=2015-03-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150325000145/http://www.soulandgone.com/2008/05/22/le-cordon-jew-%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%BF%D1%88%D1%83-%D0%B4%D0%B0-%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%88%D0%B0-%D0%BF%D0%B8%D1%89%D0%B0-%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%88%D0%B0/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Kasha is a popular filling for knishes,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Marks |first1=Gil |title=The: World of Jewish Cooking |date=2 September 1999 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-0-684-83559-4 |page=34 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The/Ux2lGKCKVPYC |language=en}}</ref> and is sometimes included in matzah-ball soup.<ref>{{cite web|title=Matzo Ball Soup|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-nov-25-ca-37321-story.html|date=1 March 2019<!--date from page source-->|orig-date=Original date 25 November 1999|website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>
== In Poland ==
[[File:Norblin_-_Femme_faisant_du_gruau.jpg|thumb|upright|A woman grinding kasha, an 18th-century drawing by J.-P. Norblin ]]
In Polish, cooked buckwheat groats are referred to as {{lang|pl|kasza gryczana}}. {{Lang|pl|Kasza}} can apply to many kinds of groats: millet ({{Lang|pl|kasza jaglana}}), barley ({{Lang|pl|kasza jęczmienna}}), pearl barley ({{Lang|pl|kasza jęczmienna perłowa, pęczak}}), oats ({{Lang|pl|kasza owsiana}}), as well as porridge made from farina ({{Lang|pl|kasza manna}}).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://culture.pl/en/work/polish-food-101-groats|title=Polish Food 101 ‒ Groats|publisher=Culture.pl|date=9 April 2015|access-date=21 May 2020}}</ref> Bulgur can also be referred to as a type of kasza in Polish ({{Lang|pl|kasza bulgur}}).
As Polish blood sausage is prepared with buckwheat, barley or rice, it is called kaszanka (kasha sausage).
Annual per capita consumption of groats in Poland was approximately {{convert|1.56|kg|abbr=on}} per year in 2013.<ref>Biuletyn Informacyjny ARR 4/2013, Handel Wewnętrzny 4/2013 IBRKK</ref>
== In Russia == thumb|upright=1.2|Buckwheat porridge made in oven The largest gross buckwheat consumption per capita is in Russia, with {{convert|15|kg|abbr=on}} per year, followed by Ukraine, with {{convert|12|kg|abbr=on}} per year.<ref>[http://www.agroprofi.com.ua No 8 [008] 26 жовтня] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150118180210/http://www.agroprofi.com.ua/ |date=2015-01-18 }}, 2007; [www.agro-business.com.ua/.../1655-2013-06-25-11]</ref> Buckwheat comprises 20% of all cereal consumption in Russia.<ref>[http://en.id-marketing.ru/articles/market-of-buckwheat/ Russian Market of Buckwheat in 2009 - September 2010] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303213240/http://en.id-marketing.ru/articles/market-of-buckwheat/ |date=2016-03-03 }}</ref>
In Russian, buckwheat is referred to formally as {{lang|ru|гречиха}} ({{transliteration|ru|grechi(k)ha}}), or colloquially as {{lang|ru|гречка}} ({{transliteration|ru|grechka}}), which gave rise to the Yiddish words ''gretshkes/greytshkelach'' and ''retshkes/reytshkelach''.
Kasha is one of the Russian traditional dishes. Together with shchi it used to constitute staple foods for poorer people. This fact is commemorated in the Russian saying, "{{lang|ru|щи да каша{{spaced ndash}}пища наша}}" ({{transliteration|ru|shchi da kasha{{spaced ndash}}pishcha nasha}}), which literally translates as "shchi and kasha are our food".<ref>[https://www.culture.ru/s/vopros/shchi-da-kasha/ ПОЧЕМУ ГОВОРЯТ «ЩИ ДА КАША — ПИЩА НАША»?]</ref>
Butter is often eaten with most kasha recipes, hence another Russian saying: "{{lang|ru|кашу маслом не испортишь}}" ({{transliteration|ru|kashu maslom ne isportish}}), which translates to "you cannot spoil kasha with butter".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://lidenz.ru/nourish-your-language/ |title=Nourish Your Language: Foodie Words Refashioned |access-date=2017-01-31 |archive-date=2016-11-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161115074722/http://lidenz.ru/nourish-your-language/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://lidenz.com/the-russian-love-for-kasha/ |title=The Russian love for kasha - Liden & Denz Institute|date=14 December 2020 |access-date=2025-10-21}}</ref>
== See also == {{portal|Food}} {{div col|colwidth=30em}} * Grit * Gruel * Jewish cuisine * Kaszanka * List of ancient dishes and foods * List of buckwheat dishes * List of English words of Russian origin * List of English words of Ukrainian origin * List of porridges * List of Russian dishes {{div col end}}
== Notes == {{notelist}}
== References == {{reflist|30em}}
== External links == * {{commonscat-inline|Buckwheat groats}} * {{Wiktionary-inline|kasha}}
{{Jewish baked goods}}
Category:Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine Category:Belarusian cuisine Category:Cereals Category:Czech cuisine Category:Lithuanian cuisine Category:Porridges Category:Polish cuisine Category:Vegetarian dishes of Ukraine Category:Buckwheat dishes Category:National dishes Category:Russian cuisine Category:Slovak cuisine