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Ukrainian feast

Hi Guys! Went home to Kiev for a small family visit. After 3 years it was trip full of positive emotions, stories & familiar smells. Ukrainians love feast & midnight kitchen chats! I myself basically grow up with a spoon in my hand. I brought some yummy goodies from Kiev, to extend a homey feeling on this lonely island.

Ukrainians are known as a very good hosts & our tables are always full of delicious meals. Few things you are most likely to find on our laid table: bacon, bread, potatoes, all types of salads, fish, salami, mayo, buckwheat, sour cream, varenikes, black tea (no milk), kvass & some herbal liqueur. We eat almost everything with bread, yes even spaghetti. Here’s just one sample, of my many favourites, from the Ukrainian kitchen – “Оселедець маринований, варенa картопля з кропом, солоні огірки” / Marinated Herring, boiled potatoes with dill, pickles.

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“Оселедець” – Herring

Pickled fish, with marinated onions. This delicious marinated fish can be home-made or both from any Ukrainian store (it’s a necessity as bread or milk). It can be stored in a glass jar with an onion & oil for weeks.

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Boiled potatoes with butter & dill. Dill is the most common herb used in Ukrainian kitchen. Fresh or dry is added to salads & pretty much all recipes. It adds a special taste and its pleasant aroma doesn’t kill all other ingredients. Potatoes are favourite ingredient in many of Ukrainian recipes – but almost never as chips, we are not a fast-food nation :D

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Fermented pickles

Amazingly crispy & salty pickles – not sour. Home-made nothing like that shit you can get from the supermarket! We also ferment tomatoes, garlic or pretty much whatever you like. Home fermentation of vegetables preserves without the use of any pressure or heat unlike supermarket versions of the same foods. It allows the ubiquitous and beneficial lactobacillus present on the surface of all living things – yes, even your own skin – to proliferate creating lactic acid. Which preserves not only vegetables, but also promotes the health of those that consume it. So try it next time at home if you want to live healthy – in the true meaning of that word!

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Kvass

Kvass is a fermented grain drink, sort of like a barely alcoholic beer. A traditional Slavic fermented beverage commonly made from black or regular rye bread. The colour of the bread used contributes to the colour of the resulting drink. In the heat of the summer, it was served from a big barrel on wheels almost on every corner. For me it’s like a Coke for Westerners or Cofola for Czech/Slovaks. This cold refreshing drink is actually a healthy one.

Lets compare Kvass & Coke
Kvass: 129Cal/500ml (Total Carbohydrate 28.47g: Dietary Fiber 2.6g, Sugars 16.17g)
Coke: 230Cal/500ml (Total Carbohydrate 62g, Sugars 56g)

Ukrainian meals are quite high on calories & carbs, but sooo TASTY! Simply can’t be compared with any other kitchen, not for me anyway :) I hope I teased your taste buds a bit so run & grab some snack haha!

Cмачного! Bon appetite! Thanks for your time, hope you enjoyed this one. Xxx

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1 Comment

  1. Everything looks so delicious I just want to eat it all up! Potatoes, pickles, and fish are three of my favourite foods, especially the potatoes and this style of food is just the best, quite healthy too. Thank you for your lovely comment on my blog, and for following me via google+! I’ve followed you back as well. Hope to see you on my blog more often.

    Grace xxx
    http://www.queenbeach.uk

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