In Romania, we make a clear distinction between Supa, Ciorba and Bors.
Supa (Soup) is the un-soured base, Ciorba is sour (usually soured with lemon) and Bors (Borscht) is soured with an wheat bran based fermented liquid by the same name. :)
Supa (Soup) is the un-soured base, Ciorba is sour (usually soured with lemon) and Bors (Borscht) is soured with an wheat bran based fermented liquid by the same name. :)
Ciorba arrived on the table of the Romanians on a historical whim, being boiled first in the kettles and boilers of the Sipahi troops of the Ottoman Empire. It was so closely related to the image of the troops of the Ottoman military that the heads of the regiments of the Sipahi were known as "ciorbagii", perhaps because by their tent was always near the canteen, where the best tripe or ram soups were made, flavoured with leaves of mint, added vegetables, pepper and for ornament, parsley.
Tracing the name you can observe with precision the route of the Ottoman conquests. Greeks call it τσορβάς (ţorbas), Bulgarians cook tchorba, a.s.o. I asked some of my Hungarian colleagues if they also have the word in their language and they do... but only designating a single, special type of soup: tripe (in my opinion the quintesence of çorba). The regular word for soup in Hungarian is "leves" and being weirdos, they have another special word for cabbage soup: "lucskos".
I'd personally recommend the "ciorba de perisoare" (soup with meatballs) "ciorba de fasole cu afumatura" (bean soup with pork) and "ciorba de burta" (if you're willing to have an open mind when trying it, the taste is very good; it's tripe soup).