Pampushkas are served with borsht and are Ukrainian cuisine's symbol on par with it. They have unusual taste and excellent scent that is impossible to withstand. Pampushkas are small round dough rolls without filling. They are richly steeped with garlic sauce, which adds memorable taste and exotic scent to them. The name 'pampushkas' has Italian and French roots, and German recipe. According to legend, this dish was first invented and cooked in Ukraine, but - by German colonists. The aromatic rolls got their name in Odesa and spread from there all over Ukraine. Today they are national dish, without which it's impossible to imagine Ukrainian cuisine. Pampushkas are regularly served with borsht, but they can be consumed instead of bread as well. In winter pampushkas perfectly serve as preventive against cold, because they contain a lot of garlic.

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.

Cottage cheese pancakes are national Ukrainian dish, with curd being its main ingredient. Many ask why curd pancakes are called 'cottage cheese pancakes'! The answer is simple: in Ukraine curd is commonly called cottage cheese, and from here the dish's name derives. The main ingredients are curd (dry is the best), eggs and flour. The pancakes may be sweet or salted, with or without filling. Many housewives also add apples, dried fruits, raisins, nuts and other ingredients upon their taste. The main thing is that they go with curd. There are two ways to cook cottage cheese pancakes: fry them on pan and bake them in oven. You may also stew fried pancakes in sour cream for a while - it'll make them more delicate. Cottage cheese pancakes are usually served for breakfast with sour cream or jam.

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.