Ukrainian cuisine is the collection of the various cooking traditions ofthe people of Ukraine, one of the largest and most populous European countries. It is heavily influenced by the rich dark soil (chornozem) from which its ingredients come, and often involves many components.[1] Traditional Ukrainian dishes often experience a complex heating process – "at first they are fried or boiled, and then stewed or baked. This is the most distinctive feature of Ukrainian cuisine".[2]
Thenational dish of Ukraine is redborscht, a well-known beet soup, of which many varieties exist. However,varenyky (boiled dumplings similar topierogi) and a type ofcabbage roll known asholubtsi are also national favourites, and are a common meal in traditional Ukrainian restaurants.[3] These dishes indicate the regional similarities withinEastern European cuisine.
The cuisine emphasizes the importance of wheat in particular, and grain in general, as the country is often referred to as the "breadbasket of Europe".[4] The majority of Ukrainian dishes descend from ancient peasant dishes based on plentiful grain resources such as rye, as well as staple vegetables such as potato, cabbages, mushrooms and beetroots. Ukrainian dishes incorporate both traditional Slavic techniques as well as other European techniques, a byproduct of years of foreignjurisdiction and influence. As there has been a significantUkrainian diaspora over several centuries (for example, over a millionCanadians have Ukrainian heritage), the cuisine is represented in European countries and those further afield, particularly Argentina, Brazil, and the United States.
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Slavic tribes, which settled the territory of modern Ukraine during the earlyMiddle Ages, cultivated cereals such asrye,wheat andbarley. The main food of the inhabitants ofKyivan Rus' was bread, most commonly made from rye. The Ukrainian word for rye (жито) itself derives from theSlavic verb "to live", which demonstrates the importance of that culture for the historical population of Ukraine. Wheat bread during that era was predominantly consumed by the upper classes. Both leavened and unleavened bread was known in Rus', with the former produced with the addition ofhops. Cereal dishes such askasha, usually made frommillet, were common among all groups of the population, and also played a ritual role (koliva).Buckwheat, as well asflax,hemp,melons,watermelons,beets,poppies,oats andpeas were also cultivated in Rus' territories.
Another important part of the popular diet during the Rus' period consisted of vegetables, especiallycabbage andturnips. A significant portion of harvested vegetables would be salted orpickled to extend their storage period. Other vegetables widespread in Rus' territories werecarrots,dill,garlic andlentils. In the 13th centuryonions were introduced in the territory of modern Ukraine.[5] Wild plants such assorrel,goosefoot and berries such asraspberry,blackthorn,guelder-rose,brambles, andgrapes, as well asmushrooms, were also widely consumed by the population. Grapes were also cultivated for the production ofraisins and as a condiment, but they were only available to the upper classes.Nuts were valued for their oil.
To provide themselves with meat products, medievalEastern Slavs engaged inanimal husbandry andhunting. The latter activity was popular among both the noble elite and common people. Rus' people consumed the meat of various mammals and birds such asdeer,elk,auroch,roe deer,bison,boar,hare,partridge,grouse,goose,pigeon,swan andcrane. Swan meat was considered a delicacy and is mentioned inbylinas stemming from that time. Meat was usually boiled or roasted on an open fire, but with time, frying andbraising in fat also became widespread. Different varieties of fish, includingpike,carp,sander andcommon bream constituted another crucial element of the diet in Rus' times. To prolong their shelf life, fish products would normally be salted,smoked or dried. Caviar, especially fromsturgeon, was also popular.
Milk products consumed in medieval Rus' includedcheese andbutter. Milk was also used in somepagan rituals.Colostrum was a popular treat among the population, despite a ban on its consumption introduced by thechurch. A popular speciality widespread in modern-day Ukraine during the Medieval era waskissel, which was first mentioned in theLaurentian codex under the year 997 as a drink consumed by inhabitants ofBelgorod nearKyiv. Among other drinks present inRus' chronicles arekvass andhoney.[6] Desserts such as sweetened bread,prianyky and berries with honey were also known in Ukrainian lands from Rus' times.[7]
According to Ukrainian historian Oleksii Sokyrko, during the era of Polish–Lithuanian rule in thelate medieval andearly modern times the Ukrainian culinary tradition was developing as part of the general food culture of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In that period cereals and bread continued to form the base of the diet for most people in Ukraine, butlegumes including peas and beans were also widely consumed, particularly in western regions such asGalicia.[8] One of the first documented mentions of borshch, the symbol of modern Ukrainian cuisine, also comes from the times of Polish rule: travelling through Kyiv in 1584,Danzig merchant Martin Gruneweg mentioned the widespread consumption of borshch by the local population; according to him, the dish was cooked in almost every household and consumed daily as both food and drink. Another early mention of borshch in Ukrainian lands comes from Orthodox polemicistIvan Vyshenskyi from Galicia, who described the dish as a typical peasant food. In the 18th century, after the incorporation of parts of Ukraine into theRussian Empire, borshch became popular at the imperial court inSaint Petersburg. It was also mentioned inIvan Kotliarevsky'sEneida, the pioneering work of modernUkrainian literature, on par withhalushky, another popular traditional Ukrainian dish.[9]
Ukrainian cuisine was also strongly influenced byCossack traditions, especially after the establishment of theCossack Hetmanate in 1648, whenCossack starshyna replaced the oldnobility as the new elite in a significant part of Ukrainian lands. Typical food consumed by Zaporozhian Cossacks consisted of milled grains and flour and included traditional Ukrainian dishes such askasha,kulish,teteria [uk] andsolomakha [uk]. The diet of the Hetmanate's Cossack elite was much more luxurious in comparison: campaigning in the Caucasus in 1726,Lubnycolonel Yakiv Markovych ordered his wife in Ukraine to send him foods such asolives,butter,ham, driedbeef tongue,chicken andturkeys, as well asolive oil and variousappetizers.[10] During the Cossack erabeef andgame in Ukraine were consumed mostly by the upper classes; the most commonly eaten meat among the lower classes wasmutton.[11]
According to a contemporary observation, due to the abundance offasting days in the Orthodox Christian calendar, the consumption of meat in early 18th-century Ukraine was possible only during one-fourth of days per year. As a result, for most of the time meat products would be replaced with fish, which played an especially important role in the diet of Ukrainian Cossacks and other social groups. In Ivan Kotliarevsky'sEneida,sturgeon,herring androach are mentioned among the fish consumed by the poem's heroes, who were inspired by Zaporozhian Cossacks. Ukrainian ethnographerMykola Markevych also mentioned dishes likeborshch with fish,loaches with horseradish, and cutlets made ofpike orcrucian carp, which were all popular among Ukrainian Cossacks. The social elite of theHetmanate also ate imported fish and seafood such asDutch herring,eels,flounders,lampreys,salmon, andcuttlefish. Other local fish species popular during that time includedcarp,catfish,common bream, andsander. Much of the fish consumed by Cossacks in Ukrainian lands was salted or dried. The fish trade between Ukraine and the Black Sea region during the Cossack era was controlled bychumaks, but much of the catch came from local rivers, such as theDnieper andDesna, and ponds.[12]
Dewberry, fried berries andhoney, as well as drinks such asjuice,tea,coffee,wine,horilka andprune brandy were mentioned by Zaporozhian Cossack colonel Yakiv Markovych in the early 18th century.[13] Consumption of coffee was a traditional attribute of UkrainianCossack starshina.[14] In the 17th century fruit confiture was a favourite treat of the monks ofKyiv Pechersk Lavra, accompanied with coffee. Sweets were traditionally made from locally grown fruit such asquince,apples andapricots. Many desserts also included honey and nuts. A signature product of Kyiv, known since the 18th century, is "dry jam", similar tosuccade, but with a more tender structure.[15]
In the 18th century the standard diet of an inhabitant ofleft-bank Ukraine consisted mostly of dishes made of flour and groats (rye, buckwheat, millet and wheat), as well as borshch and other soups. Common dishes included different types ofgruel (solomakha,lemishka [uk],kulish,zubtsi [uk],putria [uk],teteria), halushky,varenyky,flour porridge [uk] andnoodles. The most important vegetables in the diet of a commoner were beets andonions. Beef and mutton were the most popular meats, followed by pork. A universal product valued for its long storage time was salo (saltedlard).Hemp oil was also commonly used in preparation of food.
Potatoes first appeared inDnieper Ukraine in the mid-18th century. Initially grown predominantly by urban inhabitants, they were gradually introduced into rural areas as well: in 1786 potatoes were cultivated inChernihiv,Horodnia,Hadiach,Zinkiv andRomny and several surrounding villages; by mid-19th century they were grown in allpovits ofKyiv,Chernihiv andPoltava Governorates. In Kyiv alone more than 600 tons of potatoes were harvested on suburban land plots in 1845, but this was still not enough, so the city had to import one cart of potatoes per one inhabitant every year on average. Potato cultivation was most popular in less fertile regions ofNorthern Ukraine. In the mid-19th century a rich peasant fromChyhyryn area would consume 150 kg of potatoes per year, which superseded the average annual per capita consumption of this product in modern Ukraine. Initially potatoes would be cooked by boiling or baked;potato bread also became a popular product. In his 1860 book ethnographerMykola Markevych mentioned several traditional dishes including potatoes, which were popular in Left-bank Ukraine, such as fried potatoes with lard, boiled potatoes and mashed potatoes with poppy seeds. In the first half of the 19th century Ukrainians started adding potatoes to soups andukha. In 1853 the addition of potatoes to borshch was first mentioned in the area ofKhorol nearPoltava. By the early 20th century varenyky filled with potatoes had become a usual dish in the region ofLubny.
Other parts of Ukrainian ethnic territory also introduced the new culture in their territories. In the 1780s potatoes appeared in the region ofSumy, and by the early 1830s had become a staple food inSloboda Ukraine, getting mentioned in a story by Ukrainian writerHryhorii Kvitka-Osnovianenko. Around the same time period potato cultivation became widespread inTranscarpathia. In late-19th century Galicia potatoes were even more popular than in Dnieper Ukraine: in 1888 an average local would consume 310 kg of tubers. Memoirs of Ukrainian publicistMykhailo Drahomanov mention some common Galician dishes of that time, which included potato soup andkartoplianyky [uk] (potato cutlets); the latter could also be consumed with jam as a dessert. InSouthern Ukraine potatoes were less popular, as the region's natural environment allowed for more extensive grain cultivation. Among the local population only urban inhabitants andGerman colonists were known for growing the culture. Potatoes also became an important source foralcohol production in Ukraine.[16]
Another new product introduced in Ukrainian lands during the 17-18th centuries wasrice. Initially imported from territories underOttoman control, in Ukrainian lands that culture was known at thattime as "Saracen millet" (Ukrainian:Сарацинське/сорочинське пшоно). Due to its high price, until the mid-19th century rice would be available only to richer strata of the Ukrainian society. In 1768 Zaporozhian CossackotamanPetro Kalnyshevsky mentioned rice in the list of products stolen from his residence. Recipes with rice widespread during that era included other expensive foods and spices such asalmond,saffron,cane sugar, raisins andprunes. Rice served as an ingredient of soups and sweets, as well as a filling for poultry dishes. On Christmas richer families would also use rice for theirkutia instead of the more traditional wheat grains. In Ukraine rice remained a luxury product until theSoviet era, when mass cultivation of the cereal started in southern parts of the country (Kherson,Odesa andCrimea).[17]
Among other important cultures which became widespread in Ukraine during the 18th and 19th centuries, enriching its cuisine, werecucumbers andaubergines. The tradition ofpickling cucumbers is attributed toGreek merchants, who were provided freedom of taxation and self-government by UkrainianhetmanBohdan Khmelnytsky. The most notable centre of cucumber production in Ukraine has beenNizhyn. After 1787 Nizhyn cucumbers were supplied to the court of EmpressCatherine II of Russia, and by 1897 they were exported to 56 countries around the world. Unlike cucumbers, aubergines enjoyed only a limited degree of popularity, being consumed, among others, in the region of Kharkiv, but remaining practically unknown in Galicia.[5]
In the 19th century Ukrainian lands saw the introduction ofsunflowers andmaize, which form an important part of the popular diet in the country nowadays. Maize cultivation spread to Ukraine from modern-dayMoldova andRomania and became most popular in the western region, especially in theCarpathians. Maize porridges such asbanosh,kulesha andmamaliga are still characteristic for the cuisine of southwestern Ukraine. Other common cultures which appeared in Ukrainian lands in the 19th and early 20th centuries weretomatoes andbell peppers. The recipe of borshch with tomato paste, which is nowadays standard for many Ukrainian households, became common only in the early 20th century: previously the dish had traditionally been made with fermented beets.[18]
In the late 19th century Ukraine became a centre of industrial production ofsunflower oil, which swiftly replaced traditional plant oils, including olive oil, which historically had been imported fromGreece. Due to the growth of sugar industry, connected with the names of such families asTereshchenko,Symyrenko,Yakhnenko [uk],Branicki,Brodsky andBobrinsky, during the 19th century Ukraine became one of the major centres ofsugar beet production.[5]
Another historical Ukrainian speciality, which enjoyed popularity in the 18-19th centuries wereplums, which would be dried or pickled in honey. The most well-known centre of plum production in Ukraine wasOpishnia, and local produce would be supplied to the tsar's court and exported abroad.[5]
In parallel to the emergence of Ukrainian ethnic cuisine, the 19th century became a period of development for urbangastronomy. Concentration of capital in big cities led to the opening of numerousrestaurants andcoffee houses offering expensive and exotic dishes both of local and foreign origin, such asoysters,caviar,champagne,pineapples andice cream.[5]
TheRevolution of 1917 and establishment of theSoviet Union had a big impact on the food culture in Ukraine. Following a short period of relative normalization under theNew Economic Policy, the years ofHolodomor andSecond World War radically changed the popular attitude to food among Ukrainians: from now on, dishes acquired a purely utilitarian meaning, and many traditional recipes of national cuisine were revised in order to simplify the process of their preparation.
The new type of popular cuisine, which appeared during the Soviet era, emulated well-known European dishes, but used totally different ingredients. One example of this trend is theOlivier salad, whose recipe was made more available to the general population by replacingcrayfish with carrots, andcapers withpickled cucumbers. Popular dishes which spread during the Soviet era and became symbols of Ukrainian cuisine areChicken Kiev andKyiv cake.[5]
TheNational Register of Elements of Cultural Heritage of Ukraine includes the following Ukrainian dishes:[19]
Although the word borscht usually refers to the red variety, it may also refer to other sour soups that may not have any beets in them.
In 2022, during theRussian invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian borscht was included inUNESCO's Representative List of theIntangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.[27]
Bread and wheat products are important to Ukrainian cuisine. The country has been considered one of the traditional "breadbaskets" of the world.[29] French authorHonoré de Balzac claimed to have counted 77 local varieties of bread during his visit to Ukraine in 1848.[30] Decorations on the top of Ukrainian bread loaves can be elaborate for celebrations.
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