Holidays and Food

The culture of Ukraine is unique and diverse, but over the years it has been influenced by its eastern and western neighbours.

Despite this there are many just Ukrainian dishes.

Best-known Ukrainian dishes:

• Salo (salted pork fat with, or without garlic and pepper)
• Borshch (cabbage and beets based soup, usually with pork or beef meat, served with sour-cream)
• Pampushky (small baked breads, often buttered and topped with garlic and dill)
• Holubtsi (cabbage rolls stuffed with rice and minced meat)
• Varenyky (large stuffed dumplings, can be stuffed with potatoes, cottage cheese, curds, meat, berries, etc.)
• Nalysnyky (very thin pancakes)
• Syrnyky (fried cheese pancakes, usually served with sour cream, honey, or jam)
• Holodets' (meat (beef, or pork) aspic, prepared with garlic, onion, bay leaf and black pepper)

We have many holidays in Ukraine on which our cooking skills open. These are Christmas, Easter, New Year, Candlemas and many, many others. We celebrate birthdays of our children or parents cooking many dishes too. The most interesting for me is Christmas. Maybe it is because of combination rich Ukrainian table, dearest people gather around, and not less rich Ukrainian traditions of celebration this holiday.

Christmas in Ukraine is celebrated on January 7 according to the Gregorian calendar.

We always go to the country-side to visit my parents at Christmas. We prepare for the Holy Supper (or Sviata Vecheria). There must be 12 spreading food. The dishes must contain no meat or dairy products.

All are called to the table when the first star appears in the eastern evening sky. First of all everyone have to eat the main dish Kutia – the ritual food which is prepared from cooked wheat and special syrup containing diluted honey, grated poppy seeds, raisins and sometimes walnuts.

At the end of the Sviata Vechera we usually sing Ukrainian Christmas carols. It is always merrily, especially if you have children. My daughter likes to learn and sing different carols (a little incentive for this are presents and she knows that she`ll get them from grandparents and godparents). She and her friends gather together and go from house to house singing carols.

We have many guests on January 7 and everything is good. But we must remember that this holiday is not for eating tasty food but for glorification of Christ's birth.