Cuisine

Borsch

Ukrainian cuisine is a big part of the country’s culture, lifestyle and customs. Ukraine boasts a diverse cuisine with abundance of flavors. Locally grown vegetables and fruits are incorporated into most dishes especially during the fall harvest. Ukraine’s fertile black soil once generated more than one-fourth of Soviet agricultural yield. For its fertile soil, Ukraine is nicknamed the “breadbasket of Europe”.

Bread is a big part of Ukrainian cuisine. There are dozens of types of bread with various recipes for ingredients and baking, including wheat and rye bread. Pastries, rolls, and cakes are very popular with tea after dinner. Pas’ha is a special type of cake served only at Easter time.

Ukrainian cooking uses black pepper, red pepper, salt, bay leaf, parsley and dill (usually in spring and summer), garlic and onion. Potatoes, cabbage, fish, mushrooms, pork, beef, chicken and sausage are very common. Ukrainian cuisine includes a lot of salads made from fresh , boiled or pickled vegetables with some meat all cut into small pieces and mixed together with the addition of mayonnaise or vegetable oil.

Some of the national dishes of Ukrainian cuisine are borscht - a soup made of beets, cabbage, and meat; varenyky - boiled dumplings with potatoes, cheese, cabbage, or berries and served with sour cream; holubtsi - stuffed cabbage rolls filled with rice, meat or carrots; shashlyk – type of shish kebab usually with marinated pork or lamb and vegetables. Such Ukrainian dishes as Chicken Kiev and Kiev Cake are well-known in other parts of the world.

The variety of restaurants in the cities of Ukraine is very large, including everything from traditional Ukrainian to Chinese, sushi bars, Italian, French, and American. Every visitor will be able to find a place to their liking.