Ukrainian cuisine


Ukrainian cuisine is the collection of the various cooking traditions of the people of Ukraine, one of the largest and most populous European countries. It is heavily influenced by the rich dark soil from which its ingredients come, and often involves many components. Traditional Ukrainian dishes often experience a complex heating process – "at first they are fried or boiled, and then stewed or baked. This is the most distinctive feature of Ukrainian cuisine".
The national dish of Ukraine is red borscht, a well-known beet soup, of which many varieties exist. However, and a type of cabbage roll known as are also national favourites, and are a common meal in traditional Ukrainian restaurants. These dishes indicate the regional similarities within Eastern European cuisine.
The cuisine emphasizes the importance of wheat in particular, and grain in general, as the country is often referred to as the "breadbasket of Europe". The majority of Ukrainian dishes descend from ancient peasant dishes based on plentiful grain resources such as rye, as well as staple vegetables such as potato, cabbages, mushrooms and beetroots. Ukrainian dishes incorporate both traditional Slavic techniques as well as other European techniques, a byproduct of years of foreign jurisdiction and influence. As there has been a significant Ukrainian diaspora over several centuries, the cuisine is represented in European countries and those further afield, particularly Argentina, Brazil, and the United States.

History

Medieval cuisine of modern-day Ukrainian lands

Slavic tribes, which settled the territory of modern Ukraine during the early Middle Ages, cultivated cereals such as rye, wheat and barley. The main food of the inhabitants of Kyivan Rus' was bread, most commonly made from rye. The Ukrainian word for rye itself derives from the Slavic verb "to live", which demonstrates the importance of that culture for the historical population of Ukraine. Wheat bread during that era was predominantly consumed by the upper classes. Both leavened and unleavened bread was known in Rus', with the former produced with the addition of hops. Cereal dishes such as kasha, usually made from millet, were common among all groups of the population, and also played a ritual role. Buckwheat, as well as flax, hemp, melons, watermelons, beets, poppies, oats and peas were also cultivated in Rus' territories.
Another important part of the popular diet during the Rus' period consisted of vegetables, especially cabbage and turnips. A significant portion of harvested vegetables would be salted or pickled to extend their storage period. Other vegetables widespread in Rus' territories were carrots, dill, garlic and lentils. In the 13th century onions were introduced in the territory of modern Ukraine. Wild plants such as sorrel, goosefoot and berries such as raspberry, blackthorn, guelder-rose, brambles, and grapes, as well as mushrooms, were also widely consumed by the population. Grapes were also cultivated for the production of raisins and as a condiment, but they were only available to the upper classes. Nuts were valued for their oil.
To provide themselves with meat products, medieval Eastern Slavs engaged in animal husbandry and hunting. The latter activity was popular among both the noble elite and common people. Rus' people consumed the meat of various mammals and birds such as deer, elk, auroch, roe deer, bison, boar, hare, partridge, grouse, goose, pigeon, swan and crane. Swan meat was considered a delicacy and is mentioned in bylinas stemming from that time. Meat was usually boiled or roasted on an open fire, but with time, frying and braising in fat also became widespread. Different varieties of fish, including pike, carp, sander and common bream constituted another crucial element of the diet in Rus' times. To prolong their shelf life, fish products would normally be salted, smoked or dried. Caviar, especially from sturgeon, was also popular.
Milk products consumed in medieval Rus' included cheese and butter. Milk was also used in some pagan rituals. Colostrum was a popular treat among the population, despite a ban on its consumption introduced by the church. A popular speciality widespread in modern-day Ukraine during the Medieval era was kissel, which was first mentioned in the Laurentian codex under the year 997 as a drink consumed by inhabitants of Belgorod near Kyiv. Among other drinks present in Rus' chronicles are kvass and honey. Desserts such as sweetened bread, prianyky and berries with honey were also known in Ukrainian lands from Rus' times.

Early modern Ukrainian cuisine

According to Ukrainian historian Oleksii Sokyrko, during the era of Polish–Lithuanian rule in the late medieval and early modern times the Ukrainian culinary tradition was developing as part of the general food culture of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In that period cereals and bread continued to form the base of the diet for most people in Ukraine, but legumes including peas and beans were also widely consumed, particularly in western regions such as Galicia. One of the first documented mentions of borshch, the symbol of modern Ukrainian cuisine, also comes from the times of Polish rule: travelling through Kyiv in 1584, Danzig merchant Martin Gruneweg mentioned the widespread consumption of borshch by the local population; according to him, the dish was cooked in almost every household and consumed daily as both food and drink. Another early mention of borshch in Ukrainian lands comes from Orthodox polemicist Ivan Vyshenskyi from Galicia, who described the dish as a typical peasant food. In the 18th century, after the incorporation of parts of Ukraine into the Russian Empire, borshch became popular at the imperial court in Saint Petersburg. It was also mentioned in Ivan Kotliarevsky's Eneida, the pioneering work of modern Ukrainian literature, on par with halushky, another popular traditional Ukrainian dish.
Ukrainian cuisine was also strongly influenced by Cossack traditions, especially after the establishment of the Cossack Hetmanate in 1648, when Cossack starshyna replaced the old nobility as the new elite in a significant part of Ukrainian lands. Typical food consumed by Zaporozhian Cossacks consisted of milled grains and flour and included traditional Ukrainian dishes such as kasha,, and. The diet of the Hetmanate's Cossack elite was much more luxurious in comparison: campaigning in the Caucasus in 1726, Lubny colonel Yakiv Markovych ordered his wife in Ukraine to send him foods such as olives, butter, ham, dried beef tongue, chicken and turkeys, as well as olive oil and various appetizers. During the Cossack era beef and game in Ukraine were consumed mostly by the upper classes; the most commonly eaten meat among the lower classes was mutton.
According to a contemporary observation, due to the abundance of fasting days in the Orthodox Christian calendar, the consumption of meat in early 18th-century Ukraine was possible only during one-fourth of days per year. As a result, for most of the time meat products would be replaced with fish, which played an especially important role in the diet of Ukrainian Cossacks and other social groups. In Ivan Kotliarevsky's Eneida, sturgeon, herring and roach are mentioned among the fish consumed by the poem's heroes, who were inspired by Zaporozhian Cossacks. Ukrainian ethnographer Mykola Markevych also mentioned dishes like borshch with fish, loaches with horseradish, and cutlets made of pike or crucian carp, which were all popular among Ukrainian Cossacks. The social elite of the Hetmanate also ate imported fish and seafood such as Dutch herring, eels, flounders, lampreys, salmon, and cuttlefish. Other local fish species popular during that time included carp, catfish, common bream, and sander. Much of the fish consumed by Cossacks in Ukrainian lands was salted or dried. The fish trade between Ukraine and the Black Sea region during the Cossack era was controlled by chumaks, but much of the catch came from local rivers, such as the Dnieper and Desna, and ponds.
Dewberry, fried berries and honey, as well as drinks such as juice, tea, coffee, wine, horilka and prune brandy were mentioned by Zaporozhian Cossack colonel Yakiv Markovych in the early 18th century. Consumption of coffee was a traditional attribute of Ukrainian Cossack starshina. In the 17th century fruit confiture was a favourite treat of the monks of Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, accompanied with coffee. Sweets were traditionally made from locally grown fruit such as quince, apples and apricots. Many desserts also included honey and nuts. A signature product of Kyiv, known since the 18th century, is "dry jam", similar to succade, but with a more tender structure.

Modern era

In the 18th century the standard diet of an inhabitant of left-bank Ukraine consisted mostly of dishes made of flour and groats, as well as borshch and other soups. Common dishes included different types of gruel, halushky, varenyky, and noodles. The most important vegetables in the diet of a commoner were beets and onions. Beef and mutton were the most popular meats, followed by pork. A universal product valued for its long storage time was salo. Hemp oil was also commonly used in preparation of food.
Potatoes first appeared in Dnieper Ukraine in the mid-18th century. Initially grown predominantly by urban inhabitants, they were gradually introduced into rural areas as well: in 1786 potatoes were cultivated in Chernihiv, Horodnia, Hadiach, Zinkiv and Romny and several surrounding villages; by mid-19th century they were grown in all povits of Kyiv, Chernihiv and Poltava Governorates. In Kyiv alone more than 600 tons of potatoes were harvested on suburban land plots in 1845, but this was still not enough, so the city had to import one cart of potatoes per one inhabitant every year on average. Potato cultivation was most popular in less fertile regions of Northern Ukraine. In the mid-19th century a rich peasant from Chyhyryn area would consume 150 kg of potatoes per year, which superseded the average annual per capita consumption of this product in modern Ukraine. Initially potatoes would be cooked by boiling or baked; potato bread also became a popular product. In his 1860 book ethnographer Mykola Markevych mentioned several traditional dishes including potatoes, which were popular in Left-bank Ukraine, such as fried potatoes with lard, boiled potatoes and mashed potatoes with poppy seeds. In the first half of the 19th century Ukrainians started adding potatoes to soups and ukha. In 1853 the addition of potatoes to borshch was first mentioned in the area of Khorol, [Poltava Oblast|Khorol] near Poltava. By the early 20th century varenyky filled with potatoes had become a usual dish in the region of Lubny.
Other parts of Ukrainian ethnic territory also introduced the new culture in their territories. In the 1780s potatoes appeared in the region of Sumy, and by the early 1830s had become a staple food in Sloboda Ukraine, getting mentioned in a story by Ukrainian writer Hryhorii Kvitka-Osnovianenko. Around the same time period potato cultivation became widespread in Transcarpathia. In late-19th century Galicia potatoes were even more popular than in Dnieper Ukraine: in 1888 an average local would consume 310 kg of tubers. Memoirs of Ukrainian publicist Mykhailo Drahomanov mention some common Galician dishes of that time, which included potato soup and ; the latter could also be consumed with jam as a dessert. In Southern Ukraine potatoes were less popular, as the region's natural environment allowed for more extensive grain cultivation. Among the local population only urban inhabitants and German colonists were known for growing the culture. Potatoes also became an important source for alcohol production in Ukraine.
Another new product introduced in Ukrainian lands during the 17-18th centuries was rice. Initially imported from territories under Ottoman control, in Ukrainian lands that culture was known at thattime as "Saracen millet". Due to its high price, until the mid-19th century rice would be available only to richer strata of the Ukrainian society. In 1768 Zaporozhian Cossack otaman Petro Kalnyshevsky mentioned rice in the list of products stolen from his residence. Recipes with rice widespread during that era included other expensive foods and spices such as almond, saffron, cane sugar, raisins and prunes. Rice served as an ingredient of soups and sweets, as well as a filling for poultry dishes. On Christmas richer families would also use rice for their kutia instead of the more traditional wheat grains. In Ukraine rice remained a luxury product until the Soviet era, when mass cultivation of the cereal started in southern parts of the country.
Among other important cultures which became widespread in Ukraine during the 18th and 19th centuries, enriching its cuisine, were cucumbers and aubergines. The tradition of pickling cucumbers is attributed to Greek merchants, who were provided freedom of taxation and self-government by Ukrainian hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky. The most notable centre of cucumber production in Ukraine has been Nizhyn. After 1787 Nizhyn cucumbers were supplied to the court of Empress Catherine II of Russia, and by 1897 they were exported to 56 countries around the world. Unlike cucumbers, aubergines enjoyed only a limited degree of popularity, being consumed, among others, in the region of Kharkiv, but remaining practically unknown in Galicia.
In the 19th century Ukrainian lands saw the introduction of sunflowers and maize, which form an important part of the popular diet in the country nowadays. Maize cultivation spread to Ukraine from modern-day Moldova and Romania and became most popular in the western region, especially in the Carpathians. Maize porridges such as banosh, kulesha and mamaliga are still characteristic for the cuisine of southwestern Ukraine. Other common cultures which appeared in Ukrainian lands in the 19th and early 20th centuries were tomatoes and bell peppers. The recipe of borshch with tomato paste, which is nowadays standard for many Ukrainian households, became common only in the early 20th century: previously the dish had traditionally been made with fermented beets.
In the late 19th century Ukraine became a centre of industrial production of sunflower oil, which swiftly replaced traditional plant oils, including olive oil, which historically had been imported from Greece. Due to the growth of sugar industry, connected with the names of such families as Tereshchenko, Symyrenko,, Branicki, Brodsky and Bobrinsky, during the 19th century Ukraine became one of the major centres of sugar beet production.
Another historical Ukrainian speciality, which enjoyed popularity in the 18-19th centuries were plums, which would be dried or pickled in honey. The most well-known centre of plum production in Ukraine was Opishnia, and local produce would be supplied to the tsar's court and exported abroad.
In parallel to the emergence of Ukrainian ethnic cuisine, the 19th century became a period of development for urban gastronomy. Concentration of capital in big cities led to the opening of numerous restaurants and coffee houses offering expensive and exotic dishes both of local and foreign origin, such as oysters, caviar, champagne, pineapples and ice cream.

20th century

The Revolution of 1917 and establishment of the Soviet Union had a big impact on the food culture in Ukraine. Following a short period of relative normalization under the New Economic Policy, the years of Holodomor and Second World War radically changed the popular attitude to food among Ukrainians: from now on, dishes acquired a purely utilitarian meaning, and many traditional recipes of national cuisine were revised in order to simplify the process of their preparation.
The new type of popular cuisine, which appeared during the Soviet era, emulated well-known European dishes, but used totally different ingredients. One example of this trend is the Olivier salad, whose recipe was made more available to the general population by replacing crayfish with carrots, and capers with pickled cucumbers. Popular dishes which spread during the Soviet era and became symbols of Ukrainian cuisine are Chicken Kiev and Kyiv cake.

Dishes of the cultural heritage of Ukraine

The Intangible Cultural Heritage elements in Ukraine|National Register of Elements of Cultural Heritage of Ukraine] includes the following Ukrainian dishes:

Borscht

Although the word borscht usually refers to the red variety, it may also refer to other sour soups that may not have any beets in them.
  • is a vegetable soup made out of beets, cabbage, potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, and dill. There are about 30 varieties of Ukrainian borscht. It may include meat or fish. Although the modern variety is usually soured with tomatoes or tomato-derived products, traditionally beet kvas was used instead.
  • or : water- or broth-based soup with sorrel and various vegetables, served with chopped hard-boiled egg and sour cream.
  • or : vegetable and beet soup blended with sour dairy, served cold with a hard-boiled egg.
  • : refers to different soups depending on the region. In southern Podolia, white borscht is cooked with fresh sugar beets, beans, and vegetables. In the Hutsul region, it is cooked with fermented white beets and their liquid, onions, carrots, sour cream, and Carpathian oregano. In Polesia, it includes sugar beets, beet kvas, cabbage, mushrooms, potatoes and fresh herbs. White borscht may also refer to a żur-like soup from neighboring Poland.
In 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian borscht was included in UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.

Other soups

  • : soup made with dried peas and vegetables, often served with pieces of toasted bread.
  • : soup made with buckwheat, vegetables, and sometimes meat.
  • : soup made with cabbage, pork, salo, beans, and served with smetana.
  • : soup with pickled cucumbers.
  • : thick, spicy and sour soup made with meat, fish or mushrooms and various vegetables and pickles.
  • : clear soup; the most common variety — is made from various types of fish such as carp, bream, wels catfish, or even ruffe. Another common variety is .
  • : vegetable or meat soup with dough pellets that are formed by rubbing the dough with two hands.

    Salads and appetizers

  • or : white cow or sheep cheese from the Carpathians.
  • : various kinds of smoked or boiled pork, beef or chicken sausage. One specific variety is, the blood sausage.
  • : cured fatback. Usually served sliced, with pieces of bread, onion, and horseradish or hot mustard sauce. It may also be fried or boiled.
  • or : caviar, served on top of buttered slices of bread.
  • : aspic made with meat or fish.
  • Olivier: salad made out of cooked and chopped potatoes, dill pickles, boiled chopped eggs, cooked and chopped chicken or ham, chopped onions, peas, mixed with mayonnaise.
  • : salad with cooked and shredded beets, sauerkraut, cooked and chopped potatoes, onions, and carrots, sometimes pickles mixed with some sunflower oil and salt.

    Bread and grain

Bread and wheat products are important to Ukrainian cuisine. The country has been considered one of the traditional "breadbaskets" of the world. French author Honoré de Balzac claimed to have counted 77 local varieties of bread during his visit to Ukraine in 1848. Decorations on the top of Ukrainian bread loaves can be elaborate for celebrations.
  • : Easter bread, usually a sweet dough with raisins and other dried fruit. It is usually baked in a tall, cylindrical form.
  • : ring-shaped bread roll made from dough that has been boiled before baking. It is similar to bagel, but usually somewhat bigger and with a wider hole.
  • : ring-shaped bread typically served at Christmas and funerals. The dough is braided, often with three strands representing the Holy Trinity. The braid is then shaped into a circle representing the circle of life and family.
  • : a round, braided bread, similar to the. It is most often baked for weddings and its top decorated with birds and periwinkle.
  • : regular baked bread.
  • Savory : soft, fluffy bread portions, or deep-fried pieces of dough, topped with garlic butter.
  • : traditional rich pastry baked on Easter.

    Main courses

  • or : a cornmeal stew.
  • Chicken Kyiv : Kyiv-style chicken cutlet filled with butter and fresh herbs.
  • : potato pancakes, usually served with sour cream.
  • Fish : fried in egg and flour; cooked in oven with mushrooms, cheese, and lemon; pudding ""; pickled, dried or smoked variety.
  • : cabbage leaves, or sometimes vine leaves rolled with rice or millet filling that may contain meat, baked in oil and caramelized onions and may contain as a baking sauce tomato soup, cream or sour cream, bacon drippings or roasted with bacon strips on top.
  • : refers to stew in general, or specifically Zakarpattian variety of Hungarian goulash.
  • : porridge, usually made out of buckwheat, wheat, barley, rye, millet, rice, oat, or corn. One specific variety is .
  • : fried balls of potato mash with flour and eggs; may have a filling.
  • or : minced meat or fish mixed with onions, raw eggs, breadcrumbs or bread, and sometimes garlic and milk, fried in oil and sometimes rolled in breadcrumbs.
  • or : pork or beef rolls with various stuffing: mushrooms, onions, eggs, cheese, prunes, sauerkraut, carrots, etc.
  • : thin pancakes, similar to French crêpes, Russian bliny, or Ashkenazi Jewish blintz. Stuffed are called, and they are usually filled with quark, meat, cabbage, or fruits, and served with sour cream.
  • Potato : young or peeled, served with butter, sour cream, dill; a more exclusive variety includes raw egg. May be boiled, fried, baked, or mashed.
  • : baked buns stuffed with different fillings, such as ground meat, liver, eggs, rice, onions, fried cabbage or sauerkraut, quark, cherries etc.
  • : a big pie with various fillings.
  • Roast meat : pork, veal, beef or lamb roast.
  • : fried meat.
  • Stuffed duck or goose with apples.
  • : dumplings made with fillings such as mashed potatoes and fried onions, boiled ground meat and fried onions, liver and fried onions, fried cabbage with fried onions, quark, cherries, and strawberries. Served with sour cream and butter or sugar, when filled with fruits.
  • Beef Borscht is a hearty soup made with beef, beets, onions, cabbage, carrot and other vegetables.

    Desserts

  • : traditional Christmas dish, made of poppy seeds, wheat, nuts, honey, and delicacies.
  • Kyiv cake: creamy dessert consisting of two layers of meringue with hazelnuts and a buttercream filling.
  • or : honey cake.
  • : dish made by baking a beestings and egg mixture.
  • Sweet : sweet dough similar to doughnut holes. Frequently tossed with sugar. Traditionally filled with rose preserve, but can also be filled with poppy seed or other sweet fillings.
  • : berry mousse.
  • : milk soufflé with chocolate coating.
  • : soft cake made with sour cream.
  • : fried quark fritters, sometimes with raisins, served with sour cream, jam, honey or apple sauce.
  • : many varieties of layered cakes, from moist to puffy, most typical ones being,, and. They are frequently made without flour, instead using ground walnuts or almonds.
  • : a whole fruit preserve made by cooking berries and other fruits in sugar syrup.
  • : pastry with sweet quark filling.
  • : crispy deep-fried pastry, similar to angel wings.
  • : jellied fruits, like cherries, pears, etc.
  • : soft dessert made from fruit or berry puree, sugar and egg whites. Similar to meringue.
  • ― a chilled apple dessert.

    Beverages

Alcoholic

  • : strong spirit of industrial production or its home-made equivalent – is also popular, including with infusions of fruit, spices, herbs or hot peppers. One of the most exotic is flavoured with honey and red pepper.
  • Beer : the largest producers of beer are Obolon, Lvivske, Chernihivske, Slavutych, Sarmat, and Rogan, which partly export their products.
  • Wine : from Europe and Ukraine, mostly sweet. See Ukrainian wine.
  • Mead : a fermented alcoholic beverage made from honey, water, and yeast. Its flavour depends on the plants frequented by the honeybees, the length of time and method of aging, and the specific strain of yeast used. Its alcohol content will vary from maker to maker depending on the method of production.
  • : a homemade wine made from cherries, raspberries, gooseberries, bilberries, blackberries, plums, blackthorns or other berries or fruits. Berries were put into a sulija, some sugar was added. After the berries fermented, the liquid was separated from the berries, and put into corked bottles. The berries were used to make . The wine has about 15% of alcohol.

    Non-alcoholic

  • Mineral water: well-known brands are Truskavetska, Morshynska, and Myrhorodska. They usually come strongly carbonated.
  • : a sweet beverage made of dried or fresh fruits or berries boiled in water.
  • : a specific type of made of dried fruit, usually apples, pears, and/or prunes. Traditionally served on Christmas.
  • : a that is thickened with potato starch.
  • : a sweet-and-sour sparkling beverage brewed from yeast, sugar, and dried rye bread.
  • : milk fermented by both yeast and lactobacillus bacteria, that has a similar taste to yogurt. Homemade kefir may contain a slight amount of alcohol.
  • : baked milk, a milk product that has a creamy colour and a light caramel flavour. It is made by simmering milk on low heat for at least eight hours.
  • : fermented baked milk.
  • : water with honey.