Ukrainians love soup — hot, cold, meat or vegetable-based. It’s served daily in homes and restaurants regardless of season. Borshch, the quintessential Ukrainian soup, is a culinary staple recognized worldwide and inscribed on UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding in 2022. While borshch is consumed year-round, cooler weather restores the taste for …
I became curious about salting and fermenting vegetables when I lived in Ukraine and this post summarizes what I learned and provides my adaptation of classic recipes to small batches. The first summer I worked in Ukraine, a female colleague returned to the office with red-stained hands after a weekend in their family village. When …
Making Summer Last — Salting and Fermenting Vegetables in Ukraine Read More »
This Chilled Crayfish Soup (холодник з раками – cold soup with crayfish) is one of many cold soups enjoyed by Ukrainians and their Eastern European neighbors. On a hot summer day, Ukrainians substitute a hot meal with a cold soup – kholodnik (холодник from the root word холод, meaning cold in Ukrainian) to refresh and …
Serendipity often affects what I cook. So, it was with this Watermelon Radish, Citrus, Cucumber & Feta Salad. Recently the local produce market started carrying watermelon radishes. Seeing a basket of these unusual radishes reminded me of a trip to Beijing. As a radish lover since childhood, I had to try them. I first saw …
Watermelon Radish, Citrus, Cucumber & Feta Salad Read More »
I recently enjoyed Yucatecan Grilled Pork –poc chuc (which means “toast over wood coals”) at a restaurant serving regional cooking (comida regional) in Playa del Carmen on Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula. The complex salty-sour flavors of this dish was quite a surprise. After having visited several Mexican regions and its restaurants for many years, I thought I’d …
This Moussaka has been a favorite fall meal since I discovered this recipe in adolescence. It is a dish that comforts the soul when summer is waning, markets are brimming with shiny, multi-colored eggplants and the scent of fall is in the air. As a child, I only knew Ukrainian food. During my first decade …
The inspiration for this Roasted Beet and Feta Tart comes from a Norwegian recipe web site* that I occasionally check for ideas. I was attracted to the accompanying photo of a deep red and yellow tart, and the fact that it included beets, a beloved vegetable, and feta, a flavorsome cheese. I have cooked with …
I always looked forward to my mother-in-law Solie Johnson’s visits to Chicago, usually in early February for our daughter Sophia’s birthday. Solie would arrive with a suitcase laden with Weldon’s favorite cookies and lefse, a Norwegian potato flatbread. Her presence was a blessing. It meant that for the time of her visit, Weldon and I …