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Borsch: A meal that can be prepared in many different ways
Photo:
Natalya Danko / IMAGO
Olia Hercules: Country Kitchen - Traditional Recipes and Stories from Ukraine
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Photo:
Dorling Kindersley Verlag
With three recipe books that have now been published internationally, Olia Hercules is one of the most well-known cookbook authors abroad with Ukrainian roots.
She spent her childhood in Kachowka on the Dnepr, later she first studied Italian, Russian and English in London and learned the cookery trade at the Leith's School of Food and Wine.
She learned some of her passion for storytelling and simple food from Yotam Ottolenghi when she worked as chef de partie at his Islington restaurant.
Hercule's idea of an opulent (352 pages) pan-Ukrainian "country kitchen" is essentially based on the dishes that families cook together when they get together in their holiday homes in the summer.
The title »Summer Kitchen« would probably have been more appropriate, after all the book was originally published in English as »Summer Kitchens – Recipes and Reminiscences from Every Corner of Ukraine«.
The recipes, which can usually be cooked without much effort, beautifully illustrate the regional and local culinary characteristics of typical dishes from many regions of the country.
Following the obsession of many Ukrainians for fermented pickles, Hercules begins her book with 60 pages full of "pickles and preserves" in container formats far beyond our wake-up jars.
In addition to "Vegetables" and "Bread, pasta and dumplings", the large chapter with broths, soups and stews is the best way to introduce you to the autochthonous specialties of this always soul-warming and, above all, filling cuisine.
Borschtsch is given its own sub-chapter in its many variations.
But also the fish head insert in “fish broth with dill and garlic lyok”, the tripe soup and the “mushroom and barley soup with pickles” provide a deep insight into Ukrainian cuisine.
Just like the Bogratsch pork rib stew, the braised ox tongue and the pig ears with garlic and paprika.
And of course the sweets, from the tricky Napoleon cake with pistachios to babka plaits with poppy seeds.
Hercules basically passes on the preparation of the dishes in the same way as they are actually cooked in the families of the country.
The detailed stories and personal observations for each recipe as well as the long introductory texts for the chapters are informative and entertaining.
Here the writing talent of the author shines through, who traded the wooden spoon for the computer keyboard for work and writes recipes for the British »Guardian« among other things.
who needs this
Everyone who is seriously interested in regional Ukrainian summer cuisine and would like to try dishes that are rarely seen in this country.
Typical recipe?
»Duck borscht with smoked pears«.
What does this cost?
29.95 euros
Levgen Klopotenko: Ukrajina - A culinary love letter to the Ukraine
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Photo:
CHRISTIAN
For the modern Ukrainian cooking scene, Levgen Klopotenko is something of a mixture of Jamie Oliver, Tim Mälzer and Steffen Henssler: constantly on the move, omnipresent on all channels from the TV cooking show to Instagram, his hair is always a bit disordered and a little all in all getting on my nerves.
But like the three international role models, Klopotenko is not bad at the stove.
After all, he learned in Paris at the renowned Le Cordon Bleu cooking school.
In his home country, he campaigns for good school meals and is involved in several restaurants in Kyiv and Lviv.
In Kyiv he also served a number of the recipes in the book with carefully modernized and slightly detoxified classics.
For example, braised ribs Vereshchaka, which he prepares with two versions of the Ukrainian fermentation classic kvass, the bread drink and beetroot kvass.
The same goes for the silver carp, cut into slices and poached in blue vinegar with lots of dill, and the potato and bacon sausages stuffed in pig intestines.
All of this would be more exciting attempts at interpretation if Klopotenko did not repeatedly present himself as the only true historian of Ukrainian culinary history.
He complains that Ukrainians always boil beetroot in water instead of gently baking the aroma in the oven.
In combination with various dimensioning errors in the recipes, this gets annoying in the long run.
On the other hand, the activity of the author also has advantages, because many of the recipes can be found on Klopotenko's website and are often explained there with illuminating photos.
For example the production of the apricot and poppy seed croissants Kiflyky.
Regarding Klopotenko's salvation, it must be said that all profits from the sale of the German edition of this book go to emergency aid organizations.
In addition, Klopotenko closed his restaurant in Kyiv after the Russian attack and now serves 350 meals a day for internal refugees in his bistro in Lviv.
The motto there: If you have money, you pay.
Meals are free for those in need.
who needs this
Creatively thinking amateur cooks who want to try out how to drive out the heaviness and fullness of Eastern European cuisine.
Typical recipe?
»Vegan borscht with dumplings and beetroot kvass«
What does this cost?
24.99 euros
Olia Hercules: Mamusia - family recipes from Ukraine
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Photo:
Dorling Kindersley Verlag
This book, also written by Olia Hercules, was published in its English first edition in 2015 under the title »Mamushka«.
However, the recipes that are only now available in German are still up-to-date.
In view of the war in her home country, the author decided to have the title printed in Ukrainian spelling for the new edition.
She says: »When I was writing this book in 2014, the Crimean crisis was beginning in Ukraine.
Back then we chose the fictional word ›Mamushka‹ as a title, that's what we called my mother.
The world looks very different now.
In order to support the Ukrainian language and culture, but also to focus on truth and not fiction, I would now like to give my debut cookbook a proper, Ukrainian name: Mamusia, the Ukrainian word for 'mama'«.
Luckily, Hercules hasn't changed the stories and anecdotes for each of the 100 recipes in this book, which are sensitively told and illustrated with numerous photos, nor has she changed the preparation information itself beyond the culinary edge but also, for example, into the kitchens in Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia.
The series of recipes begins with the
signature dish
par excellence, the Ukrainian beetroot stew borscht.
It is followed by sorrel soup and mutton soup with chickpeas from Azerbaijan and baked goods from Pampuschky (garlic buns).
From the Moldova region there is the giant cheese snail and from Georgia there is poussin with garlic.
Because the cooking traditions of the two countries are closely intertwined, there are also classic Russian dishes such as solyanka.
All the recipes are illustrated with authentic photos that don't look stale and can easily be recooked with ingredients that are available in this country.
Nice: with the purchase of the book you can support Ukrainian refugees directly - the publisher donates the entire proceeds from the sale to the Ukraine-Hilfe Berlin eV
who needs this
All those who want to be affectionately called "Mamusia" by their Ukrainian guests treated with these recipes.
Typical recipe?
"Meat soup with pearl barley and pickles."
What does this cost?
24.95 euros
Advice and cooperation: the food stylist Helena Wolodarski-Buller, who was born in Melitopol.
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