For a long time of existence, the cuisine of Ukraine can be proud by the fact that she had a path from difficult to prepare multi-ingredient to light dishes. Also in this kitchen there are many interesting methods of heat treatment of products. With development in close neighborhood with other nationalities, residents of Ukraine have created their unique charm when cooking some dishes.
A bit of history
If you plunge into history, you can find out that at the end of 11- at the beginning of the 12th century, buckwheat was missed from the Asian side. Later from they began to make flour and cereals. From all this it was possible prepare pancakes and pancakes, stuffing and, accordingly, side dish, sauerkraut and smear. In the 15-16 centuries, the development of trade began to gain momentum. relations with neighboring states.
Just at that time, watermelons and mulberries were brought from Central Asia, and from America – corn, pumpkin, beans and potatoes. In this way, thanks to trade relations, the table of Ukrainians was enriched over time, and new, unique dishes appeared. It was also invented a lot drinks made using special technology. If you look at food modern Ukraine – you can see fatty and heavy foods. But this first superficial look.
The furnace is the head of everything!
The cuisine of the peoples of Ukraine is quite practical, is, and was in all time. Food was always cooked in one oven. Cast iron flocked there with breakfast, lunch and dinner. Favorite main food of the Ukrainian table these are different types of potatoes, borsch, dumplings and porridge. These dishes very rich in vitamins, if cooked correctly, and carry mass of trace elements. The history of the furnace in Ukraine dates back to far antiquity.
Vyrista Peach or the “bonfire of the closed type” is the father of a modern stove. This furnace is a campaign for any of the stoves of the Slavs. It was produced in the furnace cooking methods such as baking, stewing or cooking. During such processing of products, they do not lose their benefit in food does not form harmful carcinogens. This cannot be said about smoking or roasting. Thanks to the very thick walls of the oven, products languish in the heat for a long time, and that’s why cooking goes evenly and slowly.
The most important place on the Ukrainian table belongs to bread. Him baked by hand from white, wheat flour. By the way, in this flour contains up to 24% protein, about 2% fat, about 2% fiber and many amino acids.
Bread is baked using sourdough in the oven. But also in the kitchen Ukraine can be seen and unleavened bread. From such a test it is accepted make some dishes, for example, dumplings. In biscuits like usually use ordinary shortbread dough, and from rye, buckwheat and wheat make porridge and kuti.
Kutia is a type of porridge. She can be seen on the table during the New Year, Christmas, Epiphany or Wake. This porridge should be cooked from uncrushed wheat grains (barley can be used) and add nuts and raisins to it, as well as pour honey. Kutya should be eaten at the beginning of the meal, as well as carried to church or to the churchyard. They put milk of low fat with poppy seeds for kutya, nuts or almonds.
Seasonings in Ukrainian cuisine are also traditional – onions and dill, horseradish and pepper, as well as mint, anise or caraway seeds. Seasonings usually grew near the house or were available. Oil extracted from shoots corn and sunflower seeds. And from the juice of apples produced vinegar.
National treasure
We can say that borsch is the most that there is no national dish Ukrainian cuisine. This dish is included in the category of complex, because in it may include up to twenty ingredients! The most important ingredient is beet. By the way, real borsch is cooked without meat, but cooking is divided into two stages. First you need to cook yushka (broth) and the second step is to pass the vegetables. Not alone the hostess of Ukraine will not launch vegetables into the broth without passivation, because get a completely different taste of borsch.
Another “facial” dish of Ukraine is dumplings. Their cooking not much different from Caucasian manti or Siberian dumplings. The only difference is that they add not meat but potatoes to the filling, cabbage, cherries or cottage cheese.
At a time when there was a war with troops in Ukraine exciting Asia and the Caucasus, invaders being a people believing in Allah was taken away and stolen in an unknown direction. cattle.
There were those who killed livestock on the spot. They took any animals did not touch only one – pigs. They considered these animals are dirty, so pigs from the invaders were not worth the price. Thanks to the piglets, the Ukrainian people survived, because at that time from meat was only pork. By the way, in the city of Lutsk there is a monument a pig that “fed” Ukrainians during the fighting.
Pork is used to prepare many dishes. Ukrainians prefer her mutton and beef. And in what honor Ukrainian fat! It just melts in your mouth! Even from fat, Ukrainian can cook dozens of dishes. You can eat lard just like that – it tastes great when smoked or salted. Also from sala is cooked with cracklings, which are then thrown into pies, fried potatoes or just eat with a slice of bread. They can’t do without fat dishes such as meatballs with young garlic, meat with potatoes, boiled pork or torsions.
Yushka, which means broth – one of the traditional dishes of Ukrainian cuisine. Decoctions can be different – made from different varieties of fish or different types of meat, and even fruit. So but decoctions can be both independent dishes, and the basis, for example broth for borsch. In broths, you can add cereals or peas, which in turn boil and make the broth look like porridge.
National drinks
In Ukraine, the vodka has long been considered a national drink, honey, beer, kvass, tincture and grape wines. By the way, about kvass the first was prepared by Prince Vladimir of Kiev, already in 989. His words were recorded in the chronicle “Distribute honey, kvass and food.” Now you can find a huge number of kvass recipes.
Kvass is not only a drink that is wonderful in the hot season quenches thirst, but also a cluster of vitamins E and B1. With all this, kvass is not difficult to cook. To prepare it, you need to take water, wort, brown bread crusts (crackers). But this is a classic recipe for kvass. BUT so it can be prepared from berries, and even from vegetables. Great kvass get on pears, apples, beets. For taste, you can add mint, sea buckthorn or leaf and horseradish root.
Another popular Ukrainian drink is mead or simply honey. This drink in ancient times was used only for rituals. Mead can be considered not only ardent, but also healing.
Mead is made from honey, yeast, hops, berries, roots and spices. Mead fortress does not exceed 16% vol., And differs she from such drinks has a mild honey taste without feeling alcohol vapors. Mead should be consumed before meals, as it stimulates the appetite. Nowadays, vodka has become popular tincture, which is made on honey with the addition of hot pepper Chile.
In Ukraine, rarely is a table dispensed with vegetables. Cabbage and beets, potatoes and zucchini, cucumbers and eggplant, radish and carrots – which is not present in Ukrainian dishes, which may be like complex and single. You can make vegetables many salad dishes or side dishes to the main dish.
Vegetables contain a whole storehouse of trace elements and vitamins. Behind almost 100% beneficial properties in the oven remain in the products. Typical Ukrainian dishes like beets, stewed in sour cream, pumpkin from plantain, semolina with pumpkin, potatoes with cheese or pancakes can be found on any table Ukrainians.
Potatoes on the tables of Ukrainians appeared in the middle of the 18th century. AND citizens gladly accepted this product. Potatoes can be cooked, bake, bake, fry and add to many dishes. Potato can eat as an independent dish, but you can use for stuffing in pies or dumplings. Also potato is great It is combined with a fish or a piece of well-fried meat. By the way One of the national dishes is draniki.
To do this, grate potatoes and fry in vegetable oil. Before serving them, potato pancakes should be sprinkled garlic.
You can also make potatoes from potatoes. This dish looks like on a pie, which includes stewed cabbage, potatoes, cracklings and onions. This cake is cooked in the oven, and before serving cut into pieces. This dish is very tasty to use with a thick sour cream.
Ukrainians are very fond of fruits and berries. Watermelons or cherries, apples and sweet cherries, mulberries, raspberries, lingonberries, plums and cranberries – these are just few berries of a typical Ukrainian table. These berries can use as an independent dish, and can be added to cereals, make compotes or preserves out of them.
All the time, as history goes, Ukrainian tables were rich berries, because they have always been available. From fields and from forests to berries dried to consume them in the winter months. Jam is what Ukrainians love to cook from berries and fruits. In the rule jam prepared according to this Ukrainian recipe should be so that sugar is put 60%, and berries or fruits are just 40% With this percentage, the taste of berries or fruits will not remain spoiled and as bright as it could be in the form of not canned foods.
As you can see, the Ukrainian table is very rich in all kinds of food and drinks. This country has a lot of its national dishes. Many of these dishes are prepared according to old recipes, and it’s therefore, only in Ukraine you can try real borscht, cracklings, dumplings or mead.
