Customer Reviews

Ukrainian Recipes

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A cook's/chef's cornucopia of culinary desires (meals that are nutritious, delicious, easily prepared, reasonably priced, and savored by seasoned gourmets, bon vivants, and munchkins of all sizes and shapes) will be a potential possibility when you open the cover of Ukrainian Recipes and delve into the myriad menus and recipes. Albeit, not what you'd consider to be a conventional cookbook, Ukrainian Recipes is a cookery/collection of Ukrainian recipes presented à la modern style on red spiral-bound index cards with front and back cards laminated.

The cover color red is picked up as a border around the title, Ukrainian Recipes, which appears to the right of a photo of a candelabrum from Ukraine; the bottom of the border displays a red Ukrainian embroidery design. Also laminated, the back cover continues coloring red; only this time, the same border as on the front is enhanced by three red Ukrainian pysanky (Ukrainian Easter eggs). To the right, outside the border, repeated in red, is shown the coat of arms of Ukraine, the tryzub (trident); there's an explanation of the tryzub on page 81 of the booklet (Desserts section). For a detailed history and explanation of the tryzub, visit the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, which states, in part, that the Ukrainian tryzub is "a gold trident on an azure background."

Visual embellishments via folk art and egg designs throughout the booklet were provided by Luba Perchyshyn of the Ukrainian Gift Shop, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota. Ms. Perchyshyn is very well known and much respected in the Ukrainian community. For decades, I've immensely enjoyed her demonstrations on the art of writing Ukrainian pysanky (Easter eggs) via a Prolog VHS (awarded numerous international film prizes) by Ukrainian-American filmmaker Slavko Nowytski, himself a recipient of numerous international film prizes. If it can be found, I truly recommend this VHS, which has three segments: Pysanka, the legend of the Ukrainian Pysanka--the Easter egg and the technique of making it (Luba Perchyshyn, demonstrator); Sheep in Wood--the making of a woodcut by a master--Jacques Hnizdovsky; and, Immortal Image--the Lost-Wax Process of sculpture by Leo Mol. The VHS is by Prolog Video, 744 Broad St., Suite 1115, Newark, NJ 07102-3892, 1-800-458-0288. This 47-minute video is truly priceless and, undoubtedly, a most welcome addition to the film libraries of those lucky enough to own a copy.

Special thanks are given to the Ukrainian National Museum of Chicago, to the Ukrainian National Women's Alliance, and to the Embassy of Ukraine, Washington, D.C. Roman Huminiak of New York helped with the menus, and his help is also acknowledged. Editor Joanne Asala is the author and editor of over twenty books on folk tales and traditional customs; she resides in Chicago, not far from Chicago's Ukrainian Village. To see several photos of Ukrainian Village, please visit my review of Ukrainians in America by Dr. Myron Kuropas (0822519550); I've posted 156 photos on the product detail page, and many of them depict life in Chicago's Ukrainian Village and also in some of the Ukrainian communities of the New York State area.

In keeping with the times, the small size of this recipe booklet is an asset--it may be kept in a purse or in a car (to reference future fare), or it may be stood on a counter (no need for book stands; use independently while preparing the myriad gastronomic creations). The Contents has fourteen entries: Introduction, Beverages, Breads, The Bread Basket of Europe, Soups, Salads, Fruits and Vegetables, Meats, Desserts, An Easter Sunday Celebration, Hard-cooked Eggs and Krashanky Eggs, A Traditional Christmas Eve Feast, Christmas in Ukraine, and, The Wedding Supper.

As stated in the Introduction, since religious restrictions once enforced strict dietary restraints on Ukrainians (only meat and dairy products were allowed to be eaten during certain times of the year), Ukrainian cooking has retained the prevalence of vegetable dishes, which are fresh, wholesome, nutritious, and basic. Not often found in restaurants, Ukrainian food is "a style of cooking best meant for families, for homecomings, and for holidays." Most of the recipes in this booklet are ones which editor Joanne Asala was served in Ukrainian-American homes, "where pride in native tradition is still strong."

Most sections illustrate various Ukrainian pysanky (Easter eggs) and provide an apropos Ukrainian proverb. The illustrations of the pysanky in the booklet are carefully reproduced designs, which pysanka artist Luba Perchyshyn provides--many appear on original pysanky which grace Easter baskets and china cabinets worldwide.

In the Beverages section, there are a number of easy-to-prepare adult beverages--various alcohols are utilized: vodka, rum, whiskey, wine, and lemon liqueur. Many recipes are found under the Breads section--after all, Ukraine was once called the Breadbasket of Europe. Ukraine has one of the world's most fertile soils (called chornozem), and even ancient tokens of hospitality were bread (khlib) and salt (sil). Recipes appear on both sides of the cards, and often include bits of interesting information and illustrations.

The Soups section opens with a Ukrainian proverb, "borscht is the center of all things." Although a recipe for borscht isn't to be found under this classification, a fine illustration of St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in Chicago does appear on the flip side of the tomato soup recipe. One caption needs correction, however, it's on page 60--the illustration is of Saints Volodymyr and Olha Ukrainian Catholic Church, but the caption reads The Saint Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral, Chicago, IL.

Under the Meats section, the last recipe is for Chicken Kiev. The reverse side of the card states: "How the city of Kiev lent its name to this classic dish is unclear, especially since it is not typical of Ukrainian cuisine." Wikipedia elaborates: "This famous method of preparing chicken is probably not of Ukrainian origin as the name Kiev, the national capital, would imply. The Russian food historian William Pokhlebkin claimed that Chicken Kiev was invented in the Moscow Merchants' Club in the early 20th century and was renamed Chicken Kiev (kotleta po-kievski) in one of the Soviet restaurants in later years." A note of clarification: not only is Chicken Kiev not a Ukrainian dish, but also please note that Kiev is the Russian spelling and pronunciation; the Ukrainian spelling and pronunciation is Kyiv, and Ukraine's capital city should be correctly referred to as Kyiv.

In the Desserts section, one exotic dish worth noting is the recipe for rose pudding--for it's made of wild roses (they're the most flavorful and aromatic, we're told); other edible flowers may also be used (violets or hawthorns).

An Easter (Velykden) Menu (in Ukrainian, Easter is called Velykden [The Great Day]) features ten recipes, and includes a write-up on "the perfect hard-cooked eggs and krashanky eggs." Included, too, are instructions for dyeing krashanky (Ukrainian Easter eggs which are hard boiled, dyed a single color, and meant to be eaten; pysanky are intricately designed, usually multi-colored, often hollow, often works of fine art, and never eaten). The Christmas Eve (Sviata Vecheria [Holy Supper]) Menu features twelve recipes (representing the twelve apostles). It's in this section that you'll find the recipe for borscht--it's from Tetiana Levkovych of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Roman's Rose Preserves recipe follows (Roman Huminiak of New York also helped with the menus throughout Ukrainian Recipes).

At the end of the recipe booklet, you'll find North American sites to visit (Ukrainian Cultural and Educational Centre, Winnipeg; Ukrainian Museum of Canada, Saskatoon; and, Ukrainian National Museum of Chicago, Chicago). Although there's no recipe for the wedding bread, there are illustrations of how to shape doves, which are applied to the top of the wedding bread (korovai). A chart of some traditional Ukrainian egg designs, and a chart of ten ways to divide an egg conclude this fun recipe booklet.

If future editions are published, an index would greatly facilitate locating recipes and menus. Overflowing with a nice sample of Ukrainian recipes and information, this card-index format is handy to have and utilize, and a sure-to-be-appreciated housewarming gift or stocking stuffer. Clearly written, easy to follow, on its own stand (when you flip some of the cards over), ingredients are usually easily available and common household items--all of these make this a fine recipe booklet--for it'll quench many a thirst, satisfy many a sweet tooth, and appease many an appetite.

Some additional notes:

Page 28 shows the Russian spelling of two Ukrainian cities: Kiev instead of Kyiv, Odessa instead of Odesa. Pages 42, 78, again, refer to Kyiv as Kiev. However, on page 60, the description correctly refers to Dnipro (not Dniepr, the Russian word).

Page 38 states: "Many of the words are similar or identical. Some Ukrainian words: goodbye - do pobachenya (do svydanyia); thank you - dyakuyu (spasubo); yes - tak (da); no - ni (net)." I've typed the Russian words (as I found them in a Russian dictionary) in parenthesis to give the reader examples of how dissimilar the languages are. Unless you've studied Ukrainian/Russian, there are very many words that you won't understand.

An explanation appeared in Arnold Berke's article "Ukrainian Dawn," Historic Preservation, March/April, 1993, pp. 31-32:

"Ukraine is a new country but an old nation--a fact often lost on foreigners, who remain largely ignorant of this land of fifty-two million people, Europe's second largest in area after Russia. Ukraine to them has always been "the" Ukraine--no more than a region of its powerful northern neighbor, Russia--and Ukrainian culture a mere variation on the Russian national theme. Russians used to call Ukraine "Little Russia," a sobriquet that Tchaikovsky`s Second Symphony earned for its use of Ukrainian folk themes. Even the Ukrainian language was downgraded as a dialect of Russian, although Ukrainian differs from Russian as much as does Polish."

Page 86 has a quote from Ukrainian writer Nikolai Gogol (Hohol). His name is misspelled as "Gogel."

Page 154 states: "No one knows for sure how the art of pysanky originated." The Encyclopedia of Ukraine states: "Pysanka painting is a widely practiced form of decorative art in Ukraine. The practice originated in the prehistoric Trypillian culture." Further, Trypillian culture is described as: "A Neolithic-Bronze Age culture that existed in Right-Bank Ukraine ca 5400 to 2000 BC. It is named after a site near Trypilia in the Kyiv region uncovered by Vikentii Khvoika in 1898."

Addendum: The detail product page on the USA site (click on the title) shows sixty-six images/photos which I took in Ukraine and depict some of the items mentioned in my review of Ukrainian Recipes, which I thought you might find interesting: food, items relating to food, flowers, animals, tryzub, etc.

Additionally, readers, you're invited to visit each of my reviews--most of them have photos that I took in Ukraine over 600)--you'll learn lots about Ukraine and Ukrainians. The image gallery shows smaller photos, which are out of sequence. The preferable way is to see each review through my profile page since photos that are germane to that particular book/VHS/DVD are posted there with notes and are in sequential order.

To visit my reviews: (There are more reviews, more images, and Listmania lists on the USA site) click on my pseudonym, Mandrivnyk, to get to my profile page; click on the tab called review; scroll to the bottom of the section, and click on see all reviews; click on each title, and on the left-hand side, click on see all images. The thumbnail images at the top of the page show whether photos have notes; roll your mouse over the image to find notes posted.

Also, you're invited to visit my Listmania lists, which have materials sorted by subject matter.

I love the spiral binding. It makes this perfect for actually cooking & reading the recipe. The small size is fun too. It's a good basic Ukrainian cookbook. Of course, not all the recipes I remember are in here, but there's a pretty good mix of recipes.