Carpathian national dishes

Borsch z Kvasoleyu i Hrybamy

(Red beet soup with Beans and Mushrooms)

Red-beet-soup-with-Beans-and-Mushrooms

3 liters water• 1 cup beans• 50 g dried mushrooms• 1 red beet• 5-6 potatoes• 1 carrot• 1onion• 1 cup tomato juice• 1 medium-size cabbage• 2 garlic cloves• Dill or parsley• Salt• Pepper• Oil for frying

Soak the beans in water, bring to the boil and cook until tender. Make broth of dried mushrooms and season it with salt and pepper. Remove the mushrooms from the broth, drain and dice. Peel and dice the potatoes and add to the broth Wash. peel and grate the red beet and carrot, chop the onion and in the vegetables in oil in a skillet. Add the tomato juice and braise. When the potatoes are done, put the fried vegetables, mushrooms and beans in the broth. Bring borsch to the boil, add the chopped cabbage, reduce the heat and cook for 10-15 minutes. Add a pinch of salt, if required. Season with the mashed garlic, cover the saucepan with a lid and leave the borsch to rest. Serve hot, having sprinkled with finely chopped dill or parsley or both.

Zeleny Borsch

(Borsch with Herbs)

carpathian-green-borsch

150-200 g sorrel• 150-200 g spinach• 100 g nettle• 2-3 potatoes• 2-3 onions• Spring onions• 2 carrots• 2 parsley roots• 3 tablespoons flour• 2 hard-boiled eggs• 3-4 tablespoons sour cream• 3 tablespoons butter• 6 cups meat stock or water• Salt• Sugar• Pepper• Dill• Parsley• Celery

Soak the beans in water, bring to the boil and cook until tender. Make broth of dried mushrooms and season it with salt and pepper. Remove the mushrooms from the broth, drain and dice. Peel and dice the potatoes and add to the broth Wash. peel and grate the red beet and carrot, chop the onion and in the vegetables in oil in a skillet. Add the tomato juice and braise. When the potatoes are done, put the fried vegetables, mushrooms and beans in the broth. Bring borsch to the boil, add the chopped cabbage, reduce the heat and cook for 10-15 minutes. Add a pinch of salt, if required. Season with the mashed garlic, cover the saucepan with a lid and leave the borsch to rest. Serve hot, having sprinkled with finely chopped dill or parsley or both.

Kovbasa Smazhena Domashnya

(Home-Made Sausages)

home made kovbasa carpathians

2 kg pork; 200-250 g fat • 100 g ham • 4-5 intestines • 2-3 bulbs of garlic • Pepper • Salt • Grease

Wash the intestines and soak in salted water for two to three hours. Scrub with a knife and wash thoroughly from in and outside. Soak in cold water for about one hour. Tie up one end of an intestine. Fill the intestine with stuffing. To cook the stuffing, chop the meat and fat, season with salt and pepper and mix with crashed garlic. Do not put in too much of the filling, otherwise the sausage may swell and break. Tie up the other end of the gut. Having stuffed all the intestines put them into a greased skillet and sit in the oven. Bake at a medium heat for at least half an hour, frequently pouring the braising juices over the sausage. Add some water; otherwise the sausages will be too dry.

Gastronomic tour of Hutsul cuisine

Traditional Hutsul lunch

We organize traditional Hutsul lunch tour in the Carpathians for small and big group. Cooked and served in a local family this is the best way to explore our region. Can be accompanied by Hutsul folk band (concert of Hutsul music), which is a perfect combination of an excellent food and music!

To order Traditional Hutsul lunch tour please contact us.

Krovyanka

(Blood Sausage)

Krovyanka

1 liter of fresh pig’s blood • 1/2 kg of buckwheat groats • 300 g lard • 200 g ham • 1 cup milk • 1-2 tablespoons grease • 4-5 thick intestines • Oil for frying • Salt • Pepper • Caraway seeds, coriander (optional)

Soak the thick guts in water, wash and clean thoroughly from in- and outside. Leave to soak in salted water for one hour and wash again. Brush a skillet with grease and fry the buckwheat groats until they become of a golden tint. Remove from the burner and leave to chill. Mix with blood, milk and finely chopped larder and ham. Season with salt, pepper and other spices. Tie one end of the gut. Stuff the gut with the filling. Do not put in too much of the filling, otherwise the sausage may swell and break. Tie the other end of the Intestine. Fry the stuffed sausage on both sides in an oiled and pre-heated skillet at a middle heat. Pre-heat the oven to 200 C and bake the sausages until they are done. Serve warm. Cold krovyanka should be warmed up on a greased skillet.

Holubtsi

(Stuffed Cabbage)

golubtsi

1/2 kg pork • 1/2 kg beaf of veal • 2 onions • 1 carrot • 1 large white cabbage • 1 cup rice or millet • Salt • Pepper • Sugar
Sauce: 1 liter broth • 1/2 cup tomato paste • 1/2 cup sour cream • Salt • Pepper • Citric acid • Sugar

Clean the cabbage and remove the sulk. Bring some salted water to the boil to a large saucepan and cook the cabbage in it for about 5 minutes.
Remove the cabbage and leave to drain. When the cabbage has cooled off remove the leaves and place them on a dean cloth. Cut the leaves in halves and remove the thick parts.

Mince the meat, carrot and one onion, add rice or millet, pepper and salt and mix thoroughly. Divide the filling between the cabbage leaves and roll them up. Put the rolls in an ovenproof dish, pour in the sauce, bring to the boil and then reduce the heat and leave to braise.

To cook the sauce, add citric acid and sugar to the broth and season with salt and pepper. When the holubtsi are almost done, add the to¬mato paste and sour cream and bring to the boil again.

Serve holubtsi hot with sour cream or sauce.

Harbuzova Kasha z Hrybamy

(Pumpkin Porridge with Mushrooms)

Pumpkin Porridge with Mushrooms

1 kg pumpkin • 5 tablespoons millet or corn meal • 1/2 cup oil • 100 g dried mushrooms • Salt • Sugar

Wash and clean the pumpkin, cut in half, remove the seeds and dice. Place in a heatproof dish and pour over some water, such that it barely covers the pumpkin. Place in the oven and bake until tender. Put the baked pumpkin in a skillet and fry in vegetable oil. Sift the millet or corn meal into the pumpkin water, add salt and sugar and make the porridge. Cook the mushrooms in boiling salted water, slice and fry in some oil. Mix the pumpkin, porridge and mushrooms together and stir. Fold the mixture into a heatproof dish and sit in the oven for ten to fifteen minutes until it turns golden brown. Serve hot, having drizzled with oil or butter.

Banush

(Corn Meal Porridge)

banosh

3 cups fresh cream • 1,5 cup corn meal

Pour cream into a deep dish with a rounded bottom and bring to the boil. Add the flour but do not stir, the flour should remain on top of the cream. Bring the liquid to the boil and cook the corn meal for three-four minutes. With the help of a wooden stick or spoon divide the corn meal into equal portions, bring the liquid to the boil again and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Reduce the heat. Without removing the dish from the hob, carefully stir the corn meal in circular motions until the cream turns into butter. Serve banush with ryazhanka, sour milk, salted cottage cheese or brynza (salted curd cheese).

Deruny

(Potato Pancakes)

deruny

1/2 kg potatoes • 3-4 tablespoons wheat floor • 1 egg • 1/2 cup lukewarm milk • 2 onions grated • Salt • Pepper • Oil for frying
Fillings: I: 150 g dried mushrooms • 1-2 onions
II: 300 g cottage cheese • 1 egg
III: 300 g minced meat

Wash and peel the potatoes. Grate finely and drain the liquid. Add the wheat flour and grated onions. On fast-free days one egg may be beaten in too. Season with salt and pepper. Pour In a little of lukewarm milk, otherwise the potatoes will get brownish. The amount of milk equals the amount of the drained liquid. Work the mixture into batter and fry pancakes in a pre heated skillet brushed with oil, grease or butter. Serve hot with sour cream, ryazhanka (fermented baked milk), cream, sour milk or milk.

Deruny are also cooked during the Shrove Week. They are fried, brushed with sour cream, placed in a heatproof dish and sit to bake in an oven. Potato pancakes may also be cooked with different fillings. During the fast-free periods, deruny stuffed with cottage cheese, minced meat mixed with chopped onion fried ham, while during the lents among, some of the tradition stuffing are fried onion or mushrooms. Pour some batter on a pre-heated and greased skillet, place a tablespoon of the desired filling on top and put a tablespoon of batter on the filling. Fry on both sides until golden brown.

Halushky

(Dumplings)

Halushky

3 cups wheat flour • 3/4 cup cold water • 1 egg • Salt • 200-250 g salted fat or ham •1 large onion • Oil
On fast days fat or ham is substituated with dried mushrooms

Sieve the flour into a bowl and make a hollow in the center. Put the egg and salt into the hollow and stir thoroughly while pouring in the cold water. The amount of water could be added or reduced, depending on the quality of the flour. Dry and line (lour lakes mure liquid, while the flour of poorer quality absorbs less liquid Knead the dough, cover with piece of cloth and leave to rest. Knead the dough again until it is smooth. Similar dough is made for varenyky. Divide the dough into portions and form them into halls. Place each ball on the table sprinkled with flour and roll into thumb-thick sausages. Pinch off or cut off small parts of the sausages and cook in boiling salted water. When halushky emerge on the surface, remove them from the saucepan with the help of a skimmer, drain and place in a deep bowl.

Heat some oil in a skillet and fry thin slices of fat or ham until golden brown. Add finely chopped onion and fry together with the fat or ham. On fast days fat or ham could be substituted with mushrooms.

Serve halushky hot, strewed with fried fat, hum or mushrooms.

Sochevytsya z Hrubamy

(Lentil with Mushrooms)

2 cups lentil seeds • 1 onion • 150 g dried mushrooms • Oil • Parsley • Salt

Cook the lentil seeds in boiling salted water, leave to cool and drain. Pre soak the dried mushrooms, cook them in a small amount of salted water and remove from the saucepan. Retain the mushroom stock. Chop the mushrooms and onion and fry in oil in a skillet. Mix the fried vegetables with the lintel, add the mushroom stock and bring the mixture to the boil. The dish tastes good both hot and cold, but sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving.

Ukrainian cuisine

The history of a nation goes beyond the history of a royal dynasty and it is definitely not about the constant stream of coup d’etats, international and civil armed conflicts, successful or abortive revolutions and changes of state regimens. What makes the real history is the everyday life of common people and their strife for a better future for their offspring. For centuries nations have been developing their cultures, adopting them to the geographical conditions of their countries. Their creative activities ranged from the ingenious invention of a wheel to improving the designs of national costumes. There is no denying the fact that with time all the household goods have experienced drastic changes. Yet, something that remains unchanged despite every fluctuation in fashion is the adherence to the tradition. And it is the national dietary habits which have demonstrated a particular standing. Foreign culinary tastes, unwillingly integrated into a national cuisine, were soon adopted to the local dietary customs, improved and rendered a national flavor.

Although characterized by some distinctive features, the Ukrainian national cuisine, as the cookery traditions of any other nation, is far from being a unique phenomenon. Being an integral part of the European cuisine, it has accommodated some of the culinary traditions of Asian nations. Peoples do not seal themselves off from other nations. Intermingling with neighboring countries, people added new dietary habits along with other cultures. In addition to this similar geographical and climate conditions predetermine similar culinary ingredients. Thus, foods comparable to Ukrainian specificities are found in the cuisines of other nations. Such are Ukrainian varenyky which are slightly reminiscent of Italian ravioli, Ukrainian stewed vegetables might remind one of French sauté. Many similar dishes are cooked in Ukraine and Poland, especially along the frontier regions, where identical festive foods are served on similar occasions. For example, on Christmas Eve the red-beet borsch is served with vushka (“ear” dumplings), etc. Meanwhile, borsch, the masterpiece of Ukrainian culinary traditions, has become part of the world cuisine. Mistakenly, however, the Ukrainian red beet soup is known under other names too – “Russian borsch”, “Moscow borsch” or even “Siberian borsch”.

This being said, it should be noted however, that despite all the similarities in recipes, each nation boasts the original culinary habits. In Ukraine, most of the dishes are either boiled or stewed, while among the diversity of the ingredients vegetables and groats still prevail. Of all the variety of meat, a Ukrainian will definitely choose pork. The traditional folk recipes presented in the book date back to the 18th through the early 20th centuries, with flashbacks to the earlier periods of the 11th and 17th centuries.

The wheel of the history never stops to rotate. Inventing new recipes for dishes distinguished by refined form and taste, modern cooks try to incorporate the culinary experience accumulated by the mankind throughout the centuries. Famous for its outstanding foods, a vivid example being the above-mentioned borsch, the Ukrainian cookery can easily rival the Chinese or Italian cuisines, which have been gaining in popularity in recent years.

Some of the recipes in the book are not recipes in the full sense of the word. Written down some fifty, a hundred or even one hundred and fifty years they include only the main ingredients and general cooking technologies. This leaves room for both professional and amateur cooks to embark on further culinary investigations, which might shed light on our ancestors’ long forgotten culinary secrets.

This article will prove a fascinating reading for those interested in Ukrainians’ historical and modern dietary habits, local lore scientists and cooks who might continue restoring some of the national traditions. We sincerely hope that the present-day interest to the Ukrainian culture, with the culinary traditions being its integral part, will never fade away.