Tasty and fragrant borsht is the rich Ukrainian cuisine's trademark, in regard this original dish was described in literary works by Ukrainian and Russian classical writers for a reason. You won't find a housewife in Ukraine, who can't cook borsht, although it's not the simplest dish at all. It has plenty of components and complicated cooking technology. Borsht has many varieties and is cooked differently in different regions of Ukraine. Everything depends on products' combination and they can be very different. However, its main component - beetroot - is used in any kind of borsht without fail. It is beetroot that gives borsht its distinctive red color. Another first course's invariable ingredient is meat: it might be pork, beef or poultry depending on cooker's preferences. There is vegetarian borsht, though, where meat is usually replaced with kidney beans. Containing multitude of ingredients - mainly meat, various vegetables and seasonings, as well as pork fat with garlic in some recipes - borsht definitely helps to strengthen immune system and keeps from catching cold in winter. However, Ukrainian borsht's main advantage is its unbelievable taste! Freshly cooked borsht has an incomparable scent, and there is no substitute for its rich taste in the world. Borsht is regularly served with sour cream and pampushkas with garlic.

New pickles are one of Ukrainians' favorite snacks. They are also an excellent supplement to vegetable and meat salads. This dish is not just tasty, but healthy: new pickles help to cure atherosclerosis, stress, bad appetite. They also contain fibers that improve circulation in vessels and cure micro traumas. Little cucumbers with thin peel are selected for pickling. They are poured over with pickle, which contains different herbs - dill, parsley, cilantro, tarragon, basil. The herbs shouldn't be too many, but for proper fermentation they are rather to be coarse. Sometimes cherry or currant leaves are added to pickles. The dish also can't do without traditional Ukrainian spices, such as garlic, bay leaf, pepper.

Roast is traditional Ukrainian meat dish that has no analogues in the world. Its main ingredients are meat and vegetables. Roast is regularly made from pork, because, contrary to other kinds of meat, it makes the broth rich enough. Roast recipes are not many - basically it's cooked identically all over Ukraine, having variations only in serving. Roast's peculiarity is that it is cooked in earthen pots, which adds special taste to the dish. In old times roast was cooked not in pots, but in bread. The duff was partially cut out and all ingredients were put in this newly created 'vessel'. Thanks to this, roast absorbed incredible aroma of wheat and meat. Today this cooking technique is hardly used. However, there is a trick that helps to render original taste of roast in bread: the earthen pot is tightly closed with dough (instead of lid) and put in oven. In this way cooking tradition and unforgettable taste are preserved. Roast is usually served as second course for supper. It perfectly suits both, festive and everyday diet. It should be noted that being very nourishing, roast is easily digested at the same time.

As far back as Kievan Rus epoch, the people managed to prove the radish’s medicinal properties and therefore invented lots of mouth-watering and beneficial recipes with radish.