This article should specify the language of its non-English content, using {{
lang}}, {{
transliteration}} for transliterated languages, and {{
IPA}} for phonetic transcriptions, with an appropriate
ISO 639 code. Wikipedia's
multilingual support templates may also be used.See why.(November 2021)
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 (chornozem) from which its ingredients come, and often involves many components.[1] 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".[2]
The
national dish of Ukraine is red borscht, a well-known beet soup, of which many varieties exist. However, varenyky (boiled dumplings similar to
pierogi) and a type of
cabbage roll known as holubtsi are also national favourites, and are a common meal in traditional Ukrainian restaurants.[3] 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".[4] 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 (for example, over a million
Canadians have Ukrainian heritage), the cuisine is represented in European countries and those further afield, particularly Argentina, Brazil, and the United States.
Soups
Chervonyi borshch (red borscht; usually simply called borshch) is a vegetable soup made out of beets, cabbage, potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, dill.[5][6] There are about 30 varieties of Ukrainian borscht.[6] It may include meat or fish.[5]
Zelenyi borshch (green borscht) or shchavlevyi borshch (sorrel soup): water or broth based soup with
sorrel and various vegetables, served with chopped hard-boiled egg and sour cream. It is to be noted the word "borscht" is not implying beet's presence.
Hrechanyi sup: soup made with buckwheat, vegetables, and sometimes meat.
Kapusniak: soup made with pork,
salo, cabbage, beans, and served with
smetana (sour cream).
Solianka: thick, spicy and sour soup made with meat, fish or mushrooms and various vegetables and pickles.
Yushka: clear soup; the most common variety - rybna yushka (fish yushka) is made from various types of fish such as
carp,
bream,
wels catfish, or even
ruffe. Another common variety is hrybna yushka (clear mushroom soup).
Kovbasa: various kinds of smoked or boiled pork, beef or chicken sausage. One specific variety is
krovyanka, the blood sausage.
Salo: cured
fatback. Usually served sliced, with pieces of bread, onion, and horseradish or hot mustard sauce. It may also be fried (shkvarky), or even boiled.
Kavyar or ikra:
caviar, served on top of buttered slices of bread.
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.
Vinehret: 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.[7] Decorations on the top can be elaborate for celebrations.
Babka: Easter bread, usually a sweet dough with raisins and other
dried fruit. It is usually baked in a tall, cylindrical form.
Bublyk: 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.
Kolach: 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 (circle = kolo in Ukrainian) representing the circle of life and family.
Korovai: a round, braided bread, similar to the kolach. It is most often baked for weddings and its top decorated with birds and
periwinkle.
Palianytsia: regular baked bread (famously difficult to pronounce for non-Ukrainian speakers).
Savory pampushky: soft, fluffy bread portions, or deep-fried pieces of dough, topped with garlic butter.
Deruny: potato pancakes, usually served with sour cream.
Fish (ryba): fried in egg and flour; cooked in oven with mushrooms, cheese, and lemon; marinaded, dried or smoked variety.
Holubtsi: cabbage leaves, or sometimes vine leaves (fresh or preserved) rolled with rice or millet filling that may contain meat (minced beef or bacon), 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.[8]
Huliash: refers to stew in general, or specifically Zakarpattian variety of Hungarian
goulash.
Kasha: porridge, usually made out of buckwheat, wheat, barley, rye, millet, rice, oat, or corn. One specific variety is kashahrechana zi shkvarkamy (
buckwheat cereal with fried
pork rinds and
onion).
Kartoplianyky: fried balls of potato mash with flour and eggs; may have a filling.
Kotlety or sichenyky (
cutlets,
meatballs):
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.
Kruchenyky or zavyvantsi: pork or beef rolls with various stuffing: mushrooms, onions, eggs,[9] cheese, prunes, sauerkraut, carrots, etc.
Mlyntsi: thin pancakes, similar to French
crêpes. Stuffed mlyntsi are called nalysnyky, and they are usually filled with
quark, meat, cabbage, or fruits, and served with sour cream.
Potato (kartoplia, also dialectally barabolia, bulba, krumplia, mandeburka): young or peeled, served with butter, sour cream, dill; a more exclusive variety includes raw egg. May be boiled, fried, baked, or mashed.
Roast meat (pechenia): pork, veal, beef or lamb roast.
Smazhenyna: fried meat.
Stuffed duck or goose with apples.
Varenyky: dumplings made with fillings[5][6] 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.
Kyiv cake: creamy dessert consisting of two layers of meringue with hazelnuts and a buttercream filling.
Molozyvo: dish made by baking a
beestings and egg mixture.
Sweet pampushky: 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.
Tort: many varieties of cakes, from moist to puffy, most typical ones being
Kyivskyi,
Prazhskyi, and
Trufelnyi. They are frequently made without flour, instead using ground
walnuts or
almonds.
Varennia: a whole fruit preserve made by cooking berries and other fruits in sugar syrup.
Horilka (горілка): strong spirit of industrial production or its home-made equivalent – samohon (самогон or moonshine) 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.
Wine (вино, vyno): from Europe and Ukraine (particularly from
Crimea), mostly sweet. See
Ukrainian wine.
Mead (мед, med, or медуха, medukha): 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.
Nalyvka (наливка): a homemade wine made from cherries, raspberries, gooseberries, bilberries, blackberries, plums, blackthorns or other berries. Berries were put into a sulija (a big glass bottle), 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 pyrizhky (baked or fried pastry). The wine has about 15% of alcohol.
Non-alcoholic
Mineral water: well-known brands are Truskavetska, Morshynska, and Myrhorodska. They usually come strongly
carbonated.
Kompot (компот): a sweet beverage made of dried or fresh fruits or berries boiled in water.
Uzvar (узвар): a specific type of kompot made of dried fruit, usually apples, pears, and/or prunes. Traditionally served on Christmas.
Kysil (кисіль): a kompot that is thickened with potato starch.
Kvas (квас): a sweet-and-sour sparkling beverage brewed from yeast, sugar, and dried rye bread.
Kefir (кефір):[5] milk fermented by both yeast and lactobacillus bacteria, that has a similar taste to
yogurt. Homemade kefir may contain a slight amount of alcohol.
Pryazhene moloko (пряжене молоко): 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.
^Merrill, Lorraine (2003). "Environment". In Katz, Solomon (ed.). Encyclopedia of Food and Culture. Vol. 1. New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 576.
ISBN0-684-80565-0.