I've been learning a lot about Ukraine over the last 12 months as a Patreon of Olia Hercules. She is a Ukrainian food writer and recipe book writer, living in London. She is using patreon to raise funds to support her father and other family and friends who are either fighting or supporting the fighting in Ukraine. She shows that every little bit helps, and the funds often go towards medication and other personal items to people living in Ukraine.
Some people may think of Ukrainian food as being a bit plain or stodgy, and yes, they do eat a lot of bread type things and potatoes and cabbages, but it is more than that. Ukraine is a very fertile country, and the average family has a strong link to the land. The land that produces the food they eat, the land that has already been disrupted by Russia once before, and now the land that they want to keep their own.
It could perhaps be considered peasant food, and this is because they traditionally grew a lot of vegetables over the summer months and then preserved it for the winter. They did not have supermarkets like we have now, so ate simple good quality food.
Fermenting was a common way to preserve, and they would ferment the food and then store it in cellars or even water bath it for longer keeping. Yes, we now know that heating kills all the good bacteria, but through fermentation, it has become acidic enough to safely water bath for long term preservation. Water bathing or cooking doesn't destroy the vitamins etc in the food. They didn't only ferment vegetables, they prized pork fat, so would preserve this with salt and keep it in the cellar too - not rendered fat, salted fat. I haven't tried it yet, but probably will when we kill a pig that has enough back fat on it.
I have bought the book "Summer Kitchens" by Olia and just about everything in it resonates with the way I like to cook. The secret to serving/cooking delicious peasant food is to use very good ingredients.
I am hosting a #cookforukraine luncheon this weekend. This is a fundraiser for the children of Ukraine. Olia is an ambassador for this program through Unicef, and she has inspired me to do more, even though what I can do is limited. So, if you'd like to support this cause, please donate through my fundraising page. Nothing is too little. Thanks so much.
