Ukrainian Food Recipes and Dishes
Ukrainian Cuisine
Ukrainian cuisine is one of the most interesting cuisines in the world, Ukrainian cuisine is distinguished by the use of simple ingredients in recipes, while obtaining culinary masterpieces. Ukraine is one of the oldest cultural regions of Europe, so the traditions of Ukrainian cuisine go back centuries. At different periods of its history, Ukraine contacted various peoples, so the national Ukrainian cuisine was formed under the influence of both European and Eastern culinary traditions. One of the main differences of Ukrainian cuisine is the huge variety of products from which various dishes are prepared in Ukraine, and, as a result, a variety of different recipes for Ukrainian dishes. Oddly enough, but despite the fairly large distance between Ukraine and Italy, Ukrainian cuisine has common features with Italian. And it's not about the similarity of recipes - they are completely different, but in the approach to recipes. Unlike French haute cuisine, both in Ukraine and Italy, cooks do not adhere to dogmas - everything should still turn out very tasty. And it does! The only exceptions are some recipes of Ukrainian cuisine, which require precise adherence to the recipe and cooking method, such as the recipe for Kyiv cake.
Ukrainian Borscht Recipes
Ukrainian borscht is the hallmark of Ukrainian cuisine, and this is even recognized by UNESCO. And, as is the case with traditional recipes, there is no “correct” recipe for Ukrainian borscht, there are exactly as many such recipes as there are housewives in Ukraine who cook borscht. Ukrainian borscht can be prepared from more or less ingredients, it can be based on meat broth or vegetarian, but the main difference between Ukrainian borscht and other soups is the presence of beets in the borscht recipe. In addition, the method of cooking borscht is also unique - various ingredients of borscht are added during its preparation at a certain period of cooking, this allows you to cook borscht as delicious as possible. Traditionally, Ukrainian borscht is served with appetizers of salo, garlic and pampushki - small sweet buns.
Salo in Ukrainian Cuisine Recipes
Salo, along with Ukrainian borscht, is another hallmark of Ukrainian cuisine, and this product is cooked and consumed in Ukraine according to original recipes. If in most countries of the world, with the exception of some Eastern European countries, pigs are raised for meat and bacon, then in Ukraine, pig breeds are popular in which the subcutaneous fat layer forms a solid mass, without layers of meat or sinew. In order to obtain tasty pork salo, it is necessary to comply with certain conditions - pigs must be of certain breeds and it is necessary to adhere to their diet, which is significantly different from those used in other countries of the world. At the moment, there is not even an exact translation of this product into English, it is mistakenly called “fat”, but this is not fat, it is “salo”. And from this salo in Ukraine, many different dishes are cooked - salted salo, smoked salo, fried salo, various spreads on bread - salo with garlic, salo with hot pepper, salo with spicy herbs. And although salo contains a lot of fat, when consumed in small portions it does not increase, but on the contrary – decreases cholesterol in the blood! Pork salo goes well with mustard, hot and black pepper, as well as with various hot sauces. Do not forget that fried, smoked or salted salo is one of the best snacks for strong alcoholic drinks, for example – for vodka.
Traditional Recipes of Ukrainian Cuisine
Ukrainian cuisine includes many recipes for traditional dishes – borscht and lard, cabbage rolls and varenyky, aspic and homemade sausage, deruny and uzvar, meat rolls and polyadvytsia, banosh and galushki, lightly salted cucumbers, perekladenets and verguny, and of course, Kiev cutlet and Kiev cake, plyatsky and other sweets. And all these traditional dishes of Ukrainian cuisine are cooked according to a variety of recipes.