Народна Українська кухня. Traditional Ukrainian cuisine

Українською
English version

Ukrainian cuisine 4

Previous page

Holiday and ritual foods of Ukrainians were divided into family ritual (which was prepared for marriage, birth or wake) and the ritual calendar (which was prepared according to tradition, on a religious holiday, or holidays, connected with field works).

Holiday meals had better quality, and our ancestors had more prepared dishes. For example, in the soup they added a lot of meat. Many dishes were prepared with fish. Traditional dishes were more varied. And depending on the type of family holidays, were preparing some special dishes.

Visit woman who had a baby (a woman in labor), people could only when they bring to her bread or things with dough. This tradition is very common today. Bread or biscuits, or other grain elections – needed to be. A "woman-midwife" (old woman who assisted women in her childbirth) had to bake a loaf and cook porridge.

In the late 19th-early 20th century traditional food at the wedding was Korovaj. Korovaj was prepared from best wheat. And dough and butter were added to it. Preparing of this dish was the special performance, accompanied by ritual songs. Korovaj was decorated with berries, ribbons, fruit trees or branches molded dough figures. History of Korovaj is very long. Each region had a different kind of it. In the villages, these features are shown the most. In cities often work special factories, which produce cakes or Korovajs, so catch the authenticity Korovaj in the city can be difficult.

 

Small Korovaj

In some ethnic groups were their own specific customs. One of them is to give a couple some eggs or cook noodles with chicken. In some ethnic groups were traditions to give chickens to a couple.

In wedding ceremonies often was used honey. Spouses smeared lips to each other with it.

Traditionally, memorial lunch were held on the day of the burial. And it was held on the 9th, 40th day and the 1 year after death of someone. In these days important was to prepare traditional to this type of events dish - Kolyvo. Kolyvo - is cold cereal porridge, made from wheat or barley, which is filled with honey. Also were baked Knyshi - small breads. In days of burial of single unmarried girls or boys, our ancestors made Korovaj.

What about holiday - most dishes were made on Svyatvechir (or Holy Evening) - the evening before Christmas day. Traditionally were made from 9 to 12 meatless dishes, and in some parts of the country 17. The main dish was (and still is) Kutya - wheat porridge with honey, walnuts and mashed poppy. Usually dinner is begun after eating Kutya. Important for the festive table was Uzvar, garlic.

Each region has its own characteristics of cooking kutya. For example, Volyn kutia is thick, and south - in the Ternopil region - liquid. Now, except for the traditional ingredients, people can add raisins, chocolate or shredded coconut (very common in stores).

 

Kutya

Christmas was a family holiday and was celebrated on 7 January. Nowadays it’s also celebrated on 7 January. But he date of New Year celebrations changed.

Our ancestors celebrated the New Year on January 14, and the 13th they celebrated “Generous evening”. In Generous evening, on the table were dishes such as kovbasa and meat. To this day were prepared Knysh and varenyky with sour cream.

Epiphany was and is celebrated on January 19th, and 18th evening was festive. It was called the Hungry Kutya and meals prepared the same as on Holy evening.

Special meals were prepared on Easter (Velykden). One of these dishes was Paska - ceremonial bread with butter, eggs and sugar, which baked in the day before Easter.

According to representations of our ancestors, the prosperity in the whole year was depended on quality of sintered Paska. Before eating, paska was blessed in the church.

As for our ancestors and for us, Easter is a big holiday. There are many ways of cooking paska, and kinds of it. Today Ukrainians believe that well-baked cake in the family will bring wealth and luck.

 

Today's Paska looks like...

Also were prepared Kalachi - long braided breads and Easter eggs - boiled and later painted chicken eggs. They symbolized the rebirth of nature and procreation. Like today, in our ancestors were common kinds of decorated Easter eggs: Pysanka and Krashanka. The difference is in the method of coloring. Krashanky are dyed with natural substitutes eggs, when Pysanky – are painted and drawing with special tools eggs. Also on the table were delivered meat, kovbasa, butter, cheese and horseradish.

 

Pysanky

On holiday Makoveya (14 August) were prepared cakes with poppy seeds and honey (Shulyak).

Other holidays included only traditional Ukrainian cuisine.

It was a short description of authentic Ukrainian cuisine. Almost everything written above exists today. Our ancestors carried through the century’s skills and ability to produce tasty and useful dishes. History of Ukraine had a lot of sad episodes, division of the country and loss of independence, but Ukrainian, as a nation, stands and is building their own state.

Also common in Ukraine are dishes of the countries with which Ukraine borders geographically. Also, well known are Crimean Tatar dishes and dishes of fewer other ethnic groups, who inhabit our country. I will write about them later. Maybe ;)

 

Big Korovaj

Ukrainian cuisine 3

Previous page

Meat dishes were used mainly during Ukrainian holidays. Most pork and mutton, rarely - beef. Also they ate chickens, geese, ducks and in western regions turkeys meat. Our ancestors besmear salo. Salo and meat were often besmeared or smoked.

 

Smoked salo

 Most often they liked to cook meat. They added meat to porridge or soup. With a mixture of small pieces of pork, salt, garlic and pepper our ancestors prepared another traditional Ukrainian dish - Kovbasa.

A common dish was Holodets - pieces of meat that are cooked for a long time in water, and poured by the same water. And all that was left condensing and get cold. This dish consumed with spicy seasonings.

 

Holodets

Popular in Ukraine were dairy products. Mostly they were made from cow's milk. From clabber people made sour cream or cottage cheese. Later, from the sour-cream, was made butter.

Sour cream was used as a seasoning for various dishes. Cheese was eaten raw, and as a filling for pyrohy or varenyky. In one folk song is the word "Cossack loved the girl and varenyky with cheese."

Near the Carpathians cheese was made from sheep's milk. Dried sheep cheese is called Brynza. They added to cheese pepper and salt. Today, brynza is very popular. In the Carpathians a lot of people offer to tourists to taste and buy brynza.

 

Brynza

Also Ukrainian liked fish dishes. For example Yushka (fish and vegetables boiled in water). The fish most commonly was eaten fried and dried. Most often dishes with fish used in the days of fasting or during the holidays.

Also were some types of drinks. Most Ukrainians drank Kvas. Kvas was of various kinds: bread kvas, fruit kvas or kvas with juice made from trees. Kvas - is the result of fermentation of water, bread and dry yeast. Drink buried in the cellar and drank cold during the hot season. Bread kvas is really delicious. Good drink after sharp or hot dishes.

 

Kvas

Popular drink was Uzvar - raw or dried fruit poured of hot water. After some time the drink was ready for use. Most often used stewed fruit were apples, pears, plums or cherries. If you will be in Ukraine - try uzvar from dried apples. It’s tasty and refreshing drink.

 

Uzvar

In princely times most popular drinks were liquid honey and beer. Sometimes to drinking honey were added herbs and hops. Beer was brewed with barley or hops. Ukraine exported delicious beer to different countries. There are many brands and factories in Ukraine, specializing in the production of beer. And the history of brewing in our land is long.

Alcoholic beverages also were popular. For example: Vyshnivka or Malynivka. Fruits were poured of Horilka and filled by sugar. Nastoyky were made from various herbs and horilka. If you will find - try Vyshnivka or Vyshnyak. Low alcohol drink made from cherries. It’s delicious.

Horilka – alcohol drink, made from malt, rye or wheat. It was used from the 15th century.

With vegetables and fruits produced wine. If you’ll visit the Carpathians - certainly try. Travel agencies offer gourmet trails only across the places of wine. And the simple touristic travel programs can give you the opportunity to taste or purchase wine. 

I wrote about place, where I was tasted and bought some bottles of wine. 

Tea and coffee became the Ukrainian part of daily life only since 20th century. The most famous and most delicious is Lviv coffee. In Lviv is the first thing, you need to try.

Next page

Ukrainian cuisine 2

Back to previous page

Well known were meals with unleavened dough, cooked in boiling water. For example Halushky (in modern times Poltava halushky are very popular among tourists).

 

Halushky with fried onion

Well known, popular, and, maybe, one of my favorite Ukrainian dishes are Varenyky. There are some songs about them! In Western Ukraine Varenyky also called pyrohy. Varenyky are – the flan thin flour dough in the shape of circles in which put the stuffing. And all this was wrapped and cooked. I’ll put here some delicious pictures. To everyone who wanted varenyky). The filling was different: cheese, boiled potatoes, fried cabbage, buckwheat, cherries or other fruits. Varenyky were eaten with sour cream, oil or fried salo and onions. And now we eat varenyky in this way. Many restaurants and hotels offer visitors to try varenyky.

 

Varenyky with sour-cream

Here is one of Ukrainian songs "Varenychky moi" ("My varenychky"). Varenychky - small varenyky 

One of the favorite dishes was and is Porridge. Porridge was prepared from buckwheat, barley, millet or corn. Now there are different kinds of cereal, but our ancestors had just following. But I’m writing about ethnic Ukrainian cuisine, as it is almost unchanged survived to these days, and is a part of Ukrainian mentality. Porridges were liquid or dense. We ate them with milk, salo, oil or honey (I like buckwheat porridge with milk. Will be in Ukraine - try. It’s very tasty).

 

Buckwheat porridge

Cereals were a part of different dishes: Kulish (millet porridge with salo, fish or meat), jelly or Kysil (sourdough with roasted oat grains and bread), Solomaha (cooked in water buckwheat flour with oil or Smalets - melted pork fat). With the proliferation of corn, the 19th century, people began to boil Mamalyga (thick corn porridge. It is very tasty with sugar or jam), and in some regions Lemishka (such as thick porridge made of buckwheat flour). Ukrainians added cheese, milk or salo.

 

Mamalyga with fried salo pieces

In Ukrainian lands also were important vegetable dishes. The most popular was Borshch, which was prepared in three forms: Beet (red), green and cold.
The main components of red (and I call it so) were red beets and cabbage. Other ingredients are garlic and beans. The basis for borsch was beet Kvas.

Today, except of using crushed beet kvass, Ukrainians have another way of preparing Borshch. It consists of chopped beets, chopped boiled potatoes, carrots, cabbage or meat cooked in boiling water or hot meat ear simultaneously. It’s important to add to the soup fried chopped onions, salo or garlic. Borshch served to the table hot. Also you can add red pepper or sour cream. Red soup with salo and bread – is one of the dishes that you necessarily need to try to Ukraine.

 

Red borshch with sour-cream and some parsley

The ingredients of green borscht were: sorrel, potatoes and finely chopped boiled egg. Sometimes our ancestors, instead of sorrel, used nettles or sorrel quinoa. Green borshch served hot, with adding a sour cream. And now serves too ;).

Summer eating cold soup contains of mixed chopped onion, chopped cooked beets, chopped boiled egg, parsley and poured cold water. Better to add salt and sour cream. Unlike previous borshch, in which vegetables are cooked together, in the cold they cooked separately and submitted to the table cold. I did not eat. That’s why, I can’t say, if it’s taste. Rare varieties of dishes were Yushky and soups.

With sauerkraut, potatoes and cabbage was cooked Kapusnjak - a type of liquid food. In other words, it was soup, only with a lot of cabbage.

Cabbage was used in any form, and it boiled leaves used for cooking Holubci. Holubci were filling with porridge. In some regions, instead of cabbage leaves, were used grape leaves. A lot of cafes and restaurants offer holubci. Better to eat holubci warm or hot, with adding a sour cream. You can also add mayonnaise or ketchup. But it’s can be not so delicious like with a sour-cream.

In the 18th century were spread potatoes.

 

Holubci

Our ancestors ate potatoes in any form with oil and salo (do not try to eat the row potato!). In the Carpathian region potatoes were eaten with Brynza - cheese from sheep’s milk.

Ancestors fried Oladky – one of potato dishes. They were filling with mushrooms, cabbage or beans. Also popular dish was Deruny - grated potatoes, which was fried with some egg. Egg helped grated potato to divide on small deruny.

Ukrainians added and add sour-cream or gravy with mushrooms to them. Oladky often called the Kartoplyanyky (from Ukrainian word Kartoplya - Potato). They are good to eat with garlic and milk. Deruny, Deruny...it is very, very, very tasty food!!! Better to add to them sour cream and milk.

 Deruny with sour-cream

One of common dishes were beans (legume, haricot, peas). Ukrainians ate them boiled or roasted. They added salo, oil or garlic. The dishes from beans are not only delicious, but also useful.

Our ancestors also liked pumpkins. Ukrainians eat pumpkin porridge. They also made pumpkin filling for pies.

People from forest and mountain areas used mushrooms. They ate mushrooms boiled, fried and stewed.

Our land is also known as a land of gardening, so our ancestors ate lots of fruits and berries. The most common were apples, pears, plums, cherries, cranberry and raspberry. Our people ate them fresh and like to make fruits dry. 

Next page

Ukrainian cuisine 1

An important part of every culture is the cuisine. In different countries, different nations, it has its own peculiarities, dishes, methods of cooking.
Ukrainian cuisine dates back to the times of ancient Slavs and Kyiv Rus’.
Why I decided to write much about the cuisine – I love to eat ;)

So, major Ukrainian types of making dishes were cooking and stewing. Less - frying or burning. The development of animal husbandry, horticulture and agriculture, hunting and fishing has led to the formation in ancient Ukrainian rich in ingredients cuisine, with a wide range of dishes.

Surely, as in every country, cuisine was divided into daily meals, festive and ritual.

Everyday cuisine

The daily food was divided on food of plant and animal origin.
The most important dish in Ukrainian cuisine was (and still is) bread. On bread preserved many folk sayings such as "Bread - the head of everything".

Bread

Bread played an important role in ritual life. Bread was accompanied to marriage, left on the grave, put in place a future houses or wells. Parents taught their children to be treated with great respect to bread, and do not rush or throw it away. About products of bread I wrote below. The most common types of ritual bread were Paska and Korowaj. (Hold out a little). The art of making dough and baking bread handed from mother to daughter for many years.

Mostly bread was made of rye flour. In lean years, the flour could be made from barley, buckwheat or peas. With the spread of new vegetables from 19 century, flour was made also from potatoes and corn.

Also a kind of bread depended on the type of grain distribution of certain cereals. In the southern regions used more bread with wheat than rye. In some Western regions was used bread with oatmeal and cornmeal.

Bread was made as of leavened dough (dough left to wander at night), and unleavened, which was shaped cake (Korzh). People liked bread and Korzhi with milk, Salo (salo !!!) or oil. And during the holidays, our ancestors made them with honey or poppy seeds. Also people made small buns from dough - Pampushky.

 Korzh

 

Pampushky

P.S. Salo - cut to pieces and salted pork fat. It’s the Ukrainian national dish.

 

Piece of Salo

One of the most popular Ukrainian dishes were pies (or Pyrohy). Baked dough with filling called Pyrohy. Filling may be different: boiled potatoes, cabbage, buckwheat, dried fruit, poppy seeds, berries or mushrooms. During holidays pies were made with fish or meat. 

 

Small pyrohy (pyrizhky)

Today is all the same, and there is no difference with filling them. The main thing for them is to be tasty).

Next page