Definition: Ciorbă is the Romanian word for sour soup. Like other Eastern Europeans, Romanians have an affinity for soups and other foods with a sour or tangy flavor. The word comes from the Turkish word for soup -- çorba. The souring agent for ciorbe (plural of ciorbă) is usually sauerkraut juice, lemon juice, vinegar, sour grape leaves or green sorrel leaves. When a sour base made of fermented wheat bran called borş is used, the sour soup is called a borş, not a ciorbă. Soups that are not soured are known as supă in Romanian.
Pronunciation: CHORR-buh
Examples:
We used sauerkraut juice to sour our cabbage ciorbă.
