Ukrainian Cuisine and Folk Traditions
Ukrainian national cuisine, being a part of the European cuisine, it has accommodated some of the culinary traditions of Asian nations. People do not seal themselves off from other nations. Intermingling with neighboring countries, people adopt new dietary habits along with other cultures. In addition to this, similar geographical and climate conditions predetermine similar culinary ingredients. Thus, foods comparable to Ukrainian specialties are found in the cuisines of other nations. Such are Ukrainian varenyky, which are slightly reminiscent of Italian ravioli. Ukrainian ovochevi pecheny (stewed vegetables) might remind one of French sauté. Many similar dishes are cooked in Ukraine and Poland, especially along the frontier regions, where identical festive foods are served on similar occasions. For example, on Christmas Eve the red-beet borsch is served with vushka (“ear” dumplings) etc. Meanwhile, borsch, the masterpiece of Ukrainian culinary traditions, has become part of the world cuisine. Mistakenly, however, the Ukrainian red beet soup is known under other names too – “Russian borsch”, “Moscow borsch” or even “Siberian borsch”.
Each nation boasts original culinary habits. In Ukraine, most of the dishes are either boiled or stewed, while among the diversity of ingredients, vegetables and groats still prevail. Of all the variety of meat, a Ukrainian will definitely choose pork. Yet, culinary traditions amount not only to the ingredients chosen. They include different ways of cooking, spices and seasonings which accompany particular dishes, prohibitions of certain products, preferences and restrictions in food, rules of behavior observed while cooking and consuming food, table etiquette, ritual and customary meals, beliefs and superstitions, etc.
Here is a list of religious holidays celebrated in Ukraine: Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year, The Epiphany, The Meeting in the Temple, Pancake Week, Great Lent, Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, St. Eudoxia, The Annunciation, Easter, Commemoration of the Dead, The Ascension, Pentecost, St. John the Baptist, Sts Paul and Peter, The Maccabees, The transfiguration, The Blessed Virgin, The Protecting Veil, St. Michael, St. Andrew, St. Nicolas.
In the following articles we will present the Ukrainian dietary customs, which are firmly connected with the folk calendar. |
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Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve, or “Svjaty Vechir” (Holy Night) in Ukrainian, is a big religious holiday. The last day of Christmas fast is celebrated only with meat-and milk-free food.
The whole family usually woke up at daybreak. The mother would wash non-ground wheat (the wheat what was popular on the Right Bank of Ukraine was substituted for barley on the Left Bank of Ukraine) and set the saucepan with the wheat into the oven. Some families had the tradition of cooking “kutia” (Christmas Eve wheat dish) in a new clay or ceramic pot. Children would crack and chop walnuts and grind poppy seeds in a wooden bowl. The father prepared “syta” (honey dissolved in boiled water). Boiling water, added to honeycombs smashed in a bowl beforehand, melted down the wax, which now floated on the surface. However, if the water was not hot enough, a warmed-up brick was put under the bowl, which brought the water to the boil right in the vessel. Then the liquid was quenched and the wax was skimmed off. The melted honey was added to the kutia. |
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Christmas
Christmas is one of the greatest religious holidays, which, despite the persecution of the Church during the atheistic Soviet era, has always been celebrated by the majority of Ukrainians. This pious adherence to traditions helped to preserve ancient Christmas rituals, such as carol-singing, in which people praise the born Christ, and perform Nativity scenes or scenes from the life of the Blessed Virgin and the Holy Family.
This day as well as Christmas Eve reflected the people’s idea of well-being, prosperity, welfare and happiness. The head of the family not only made sure that the meal was hearty and sumptuous, but also watched that the atmosphere in the house was festive and peaceful. Even one-day fasts, usually observed on Wednesdays and Fridays, are abated during the Christmas holiday season, which lasts for fourteen days from Christmas (January,7) to Epiphany (January, 19). |
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