If you've read 'Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka' by Russian classical writer Nikolai Gogol, you surely remember how adroitly one of the characters ate vareniki with sour cream that flew into his mouth by themselves. Of course, traditional Ukrainian vareniki don't have such super skills, but their taste is sure to make you think of the Ukrainian cuisine's magic.
Ukrainian vareniki are often compared to Russian pelmeni or Italian ravioli. Vareniki's crucial difference from other similar dishes is their dough. Traditional Ukrainian vareniki can't be Lenten, that is, kefir and eggs are always added to the dough.
What are vareniki like? Nikolai Gogol wrote that you could eat hat-sized vareniki at some farms. That's, of course, an exaggeration. The classical varenik is around 10 cm large and, contrary to pelmeni or ravioli, has a crescent shape.
Vareniki's filling can be very different: potato, cabbage, potato and meat, potato and salo (pork meat), sweet or salted curd, pumpkin, cherries and so on. The filling is warped up in dough and cooked for five minutes or less. Vareniki are usually served with sour cream.
Although it's truly Ukrainian dish, vareniki are well-known all over the world. People in different corners of the world took liking of vereniki's unusual and rich taste and installed monuments to varenik. In particular, Ukrainian varenik was immortalized in Canada and Russia.
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.
Shynka (baked ham) is a traditional Ukrainian dish. It is cooked of piece of meat (chiefly of pork) seasoned with salt, pepper, minced garlic and other spices before baking it in the oven.
As many Ukrainian dishes, the shynka has it overseas analogues. Therefore, Austria and Germany boasts Schweinsbraten, and Quebec has rôti de porc, which literally means “baked pork”. In Russia, it is made of mutton or even bear meat and it is called buzhenina.
The shynka is traditionally baked in aluminum foil. Therefore the meat is wholly steamed; then it is baked soft and almost melts in the mouth. Some housewives prefer to cook shynka in the pastry.
It tastes best both hot and cool.
In Ukraine thick pancakes are traditionally served for breakfast. These are small puffy pancakes fried from both sides on the pan. They can be of different kinds: sweet, salted, with or without filling. Sweet thick pancakes with raspberries or apples are the regular choice for breakfast. Along with many other Ukrainian dishes, pancakes are served with sour cream, sometimes also with honey, jam and different syrups.
Due to simple recipe, thick pancakes are the most popular and widespread breakfast in Ukraine. Moreover, they ensure satiation for a long period of time and provide organism with energy and necessary vitamins. This dish can be found both, at ordinary kitchens and in expensive restaurants' menus.
Ukrainian thick pancakes are somewhat similar to American pancakes, but they have more porous structure and fewer ingredients.
There are plenty of thick pancakes' recipes, with each housewife cooking them upon her own taste. For instance, in order to make the dish sweeter some add banana (instead of sugar) to dough. There are also Lenten thick pancakes: eggs are excluded from the recipe, and dairy products are replaced with water.
It is a very nutritious appetizer, which could substitute even the main course. As a rule, it is served portioned or separately, however it may be offered both hot and cold with toasts and baked potatoes.
Unmistakable smell, inimitable taste, different recipes are the main characteristics of salo, the visit card of generous Ukrainian soil. Salo is a principal national dish of Ukraine that always is present on festive table.
Salo is an animal fat, mostly, the pork one. It contains lots of A, D, E vitamins, and carotene. There are a lot of recipes of
The rassolnik is a historically Russian main course that is why it is very common at Ukrainian table. It is made with pickled cucumbers and cucumber pickle.
Located in city’s downtown, the fashionable restaurant Old Continent is a part of the namesake hotel and restaurant complex.
Dainty European and Ukrainian dishes are offered here. The accent is made on natural ingredients and quality cooking. The main menu is harmonically supplemented by rich wine list.
Old Continent has four rooms – Versailles (40
Situated in Kharkiv historical center, the restaurant Shato is a perfect place, where one can rest from the urban hustle and bustle and enjoy irreproachable dishes.
The facility specializes on dainty French culinary masterpieces. An extensive wine list, featuring the best French, Italian, Argentinean, Spanish, Chilean, Georgian and Ukrainian wines,
The restaurant is located in the historical building at Dnipropetrovsk's very center - at the intersection of Karla Marksa Avenue and Barrikadnaya Street.
The restaurant 'Reporter's menu includes culinary hits from different cuisines, but it's based on traditional European dishes. You may try simple well-known dishes and true gastronomic masterpie
The restaurant Primorsky Bulvar is situated in Sevastopol’s historical center, not far from its key sights.
Facility’s menu consists of the most popular European, Mediterranean and French dishes. There is a wide bar list.
Three winter rooms and a summer terrace, featuring splendid views of the Artillery Bay, are at guests’ disposal. Live instrument
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