Food is Love

“Food is an important element of positivity and communication with each other”

Spring is coming and I would like to share my thoughts with you about love and about the love for food. There are a lot of debates about healthy and unhealthy food but I have decided that the simpler and more natural the products are, the healthier they are for your well being and your wallet. Of course, we are all different; we all have different eating habits and taste buds, but why not treat each other to our favorite dishes sometimes and give ourselves a chance to try something new?

In Ukraine, food has always been considered an integral part of our culture. With the help of food, people showed respect for their guests and love for their loved ones. In the old days, Ukrainian women set large tables for all holidays. It was believed that if there was an empty place on the table, it meant that the hostess was not very worried about the guests. The plates also had to be filled to the brim, as well as the glasses. After all, at the table we do not just eat, but also communicate, and the more dishes on the table, the longer and heart filled this communication will be.

I would like to point out that in our past, relatives or friends would come to the aid of women at events such as weddings or birthdays. While cooking, women would usually have heart-to-heart talks or sing folk songs. People did not need a psychologist back then, all emotional problems were solved in the kitchen, before or during meals.

The food was usually traditional, that being the famous vareniki (dumplings), cabbage rolls, pancakes with different fillings, meat, fish and vegetable dishes. These days Ukrainian women do not cook as much, because life has become less measured, more dynamic. Women have more things to do, obligations, and a lot of ready-made meals available in stores. Many prefer to go to a good restaurant sometimes, so as not to waste time on cooking.

People who lived in the villages kept house, and people living in cities could buy their products at markets and fairs. Our city of Vyshgorod also had fairs of agricultural products and you can buy poultry, pigs and rabbits there. There were also bee products as well which featured not only honey but also various medicinal tinctures like wax and bee pollen. In the summer and autumn, villagers sold a lot of vegetables and fruits grown in their own gardens at the fairs. The most common fruits were cherries, plums, apples, pears and apricots. Sweet watermelons, melons and peaches were brought in from the southern regions of our country; the Kherson Oblast, now occupied by the Russians.

Our grandmothers and mothers traditionally made jam and preserves every year and mother has a thick notebook with all sorts of recipes for various preserves. It was customary to stock up for the winter so that each house kept a large number of jars with delicious jams and canned vegetables. We approached this process very responsibly and paid a lot of attention to the combination of flavors. As an example, my mother used cherry leaves, horseradish, parsley and garlic to preserve tomatoes. She could also prepare very tasty tomatoes in their own juice.

It is customary for us to treat our friends with our preserves and we would give a jar of jam to someone as a gift. And, as you know, it is always cherished when it has been made with your own hands. I experimented some time back and made preserves for the winter according to my mother’s recipes which turned out well. Sometimes I have found interesting recipes on the Internet but even if something from this source does not work out the first time, it was still intriguing. If you experiment and mix raspberries with blueberries or currants you can get an unusually exquisite taste.

Jams and preserves were often used as medicine. An example of this is tea with raspberry jam added and this was considered irreplaceable for colds or flu. Blueberries were often used for poor eyesight and, in winter, they were very helpful for vitamin deficiencies. My grandmother Maria had many currant bushes in her garden and I really loved currant jam and my grandmother often added it to her pies or just to her tea.

Nowadays, many housewives make their lives easier with the convenience foods that fill the shelves of our stores. But I think that every woman, and every man, periodically has a desire to cook something nice at home. This can be an interesting creative process and even frying an ordinary egg for breakfast can be done in different ways which can make the day unique.

These days there is a huge amount of information available about the traditional culture and cuisines of different countries. I think this is great, because life changes, preferences change and we can expand our culinary horizons. I fell in love with Georgian cuisine which has a lot of greenery, nuts, spices and plenty of vegetables. Sometimes I like to cook some of these Georgian dishes at home, like khachapuri. Many of the ingredients for dishes like this can be bought in our stores and if you are in the mood and inspired, you can make something like a distinctively interesting salad. One can decorate it as one’s imagination allows and the combination of products can be made to suit any taste.

If I liked a dish at a party or in a restaurant, I will definitely ask for the recipe and try to cook it at home. Once, with my niece, we baked delicious French baguettes. Maybe they weren’t perfect, but it was an unforgettable process, when children’s palms are used to mold some shapes from dough. I think that my niece will remember our culinary experiments with joy.

Recently I had a lovely cooking encounter while I was preparing a certain dish called chebureki. I had kneaded the dough and had then decided to call my father in the Ukraine. We talked about everyday things and it didn’t interfere with my cooking. As I worked I divided the dough into several small parts to roll it out with a rolling pin and put the filling on top. When I was rolling out this ball of dough once again, it suddenly began to take the shape of a heart. I took a photo and, of course, sent it to my father Oleksii, who by the way is an excellent cook. Father can make great soup and bake a sweet pie. And just like me, he loves to brag about his culinary works. Sometimes he gives me ideas on what to cook for dinner or a holiday table.

Father left his parents’ house at a very early age and went off to a big city when he was fifteen years old. He had to learn to cook and do other housework by himself. There was no Internet back then, but there was live communication and people came to each other’s aid in any situation. I admire the ability of our grandmothers and mothers, who can set a chic table from the simplest products. My parents often had guests at their house and it was considered normal to invite neighbors for tea.

When times were hard in our country, many families had to save on everything to feed themselves and their children. I remember how my mother came up with different dishes from budget products and they were very tasty. These could be dishes like onion cutlets in tomato sauce or baked vegetables. It’s interesting to note that many dishes that have become very popular all over the world appeared thanks to such savings in hard times. Pizza or our pierogis are good examples.

I choose to believe that hard times pass and despite our suffering and losses, something new is always born. Now we are also living in difficult times, a time of change. People have new challenges and trials, but I am sure that no matter what happens, the world will definitely be saved by love. Love for people, nature and food. Enjoy and be happy!