Ukrainian cuisine is the collection of the various cooking traditions of the people of Ukraine, one of the largest and most populous European countries. It is heavily influenced by the rich dark soil () from which its ingredients come, and often involves many components. 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".
The national dish of Ukraine is red borscht, a well-known beet soup, of which many varieties exist. However, (boiled dumplings similar to pierogi) and a type of cabbage roll known as are also national favourites, and are a common meal in traditional Ukrainian restaurants. These dishes indicate the regional similarities within Eastern 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". 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 foreign jurisdiction and influence. As there has been a significant Ukrainian diaspora over several centuries (for example, over a million Canadians have Ukrainian heritage), the cuisine is represented in European countries and those further afield, particularly Argentina, Brazil, and the United States.
During the period of Soviet rule Ukrainian cuisine experienced significant standardization, and the lack of consumer products led to the loss of many authentic recipes or their replacement with simplified variants. The Soviet period also saw the introduction of numerous dishes from other cuisines into the ration of Ukrainians. Following Ukraine's independence, the development of market economy led to the emergence of new trends in the country's cooking practices, such as the spread of industrially-produced convenience foods and development of the restaurant scene. Modern Ukrainian cuisine is characterized by the adoption of new techniques and ingredients, but at the same time preserves many authentic elements.
History Medieval cuisine of modern-day Ukrainian lands
Slavic tribes, which settled the territory of modern Ukraine during the early Middle Ages, cultivated cereals such as rye, wheat and barley. The main food of the inhabitants of Kyivan Rus' was bread, most commonly made from rye. The Ukrainian word for rye () itself derives from the Slavic 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 of hops. Cereal dishes such as kasha, usually made from millet, were common among all groups of the population, and also played a ritual role (koliva). Buckwheat, as well as flax, hemp, melons, watermelons, beets, poppies, oats and peas were also cultivated in Rus' territories.
Another important part of the popular diet during the Rus' period consisted of vegetables, especially cabbage and turnips. A significant portion of harvested vegetables would be salted or pickled to extend their storage period. Other vegetables widespread in Rus' territories were carrots, dill, garlic and lentils. In the 13th century onions were introduced in the territory of modern Ukraine. Wild plants such as sorrel, goosefoot and berries such as raspberry, blackthorn, guelder-rose, brambles, and grapes, as well as mushrooms, were also widely consumed by the population. Grapes were also cultivated for the production of raisins 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, medieval Eastern Slavs engaged in animal husbandry and hunting. The latter activity was popular among both the noble elite and common people. Rus' people consumed the meat of various mammals and birds such as deer, elk, auroch, roe deer, bison, boar, hare, partridge, grouse, goose, pigeon, swan and crane. Swan meat was considered a delicacy and is mentioned in bylinas stemming from that time. Meat was usually boiled or roasted on an open fire, but with time, frying and braising in fat also became widespread. Different varieties of fish, including pike, carp, sander and common 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 from sturgeon, was also popular.
Milk products consumed in medieval Rus' included cheese and butter. Milk was also used in some pagan rituals. Colostrum was a popular treat among the population, despite a ban on its consumption introduced by the church. A popular speciality widespread in modern-day Ukraine during the Medieval era was kissel, which was first mentioned in the Laurentian codex under the year 997 as a drink consumed by inhabitants of Belgorod near Kyiv. Among other drinks present in Rus' chronicles are kvass and honey. Desserts such as sweetened bread, prianyky and berries with honey were also known in Ukrainian lands from Rus' times.
Early modern Ukrainian cuisine
According to Ukrainian historian Oleksii Sokyrko, during the era of Polish–Lithuanian rule in the late medieval and early modern times the Ukrainian culinary tradition was developing as part of the general food culture of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In that period cereals and bread continued to form the base of the diet for most people in Ukraine, but legumes including peas and beans were also widely consumed, particularly in western regions such as Galicia. 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 polemicist Ivan Vyshenskyi from Galicia, who described the dish as a typical peasant food. In the 18th century, after the incorporation of parts of Ukraine into the Russian Empire, borshch became popular at the imperial court in Saint Petersburg. It was also mentioned in Ivan Kotliarevsky's Eneida, the pioneering work of modern Ukrainian literature, on par with halushky, another popular traditional Ukrainian dish.
Ukrainian cuisine was also strongly influenced by Cossack traditions, especially after the establishment of the Cossack Hetmanate in 1648, when Cossack starshyna replaced the old nobility 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 as kasha, , and . The diet of the Hetmanate's Cossack elite was much more luxurious in comparison: campaigning in the Caucasus in 1726, Lubny colonel Yakiv Markovych ordered his wife in Ukraine to send him foods such as olives, butter, ham, dried beef tongue, chicken and turkeys, as well as olive oil and various appetizers. During the Cossack era beef and game in Ukraine were consumed mostly by the upper classes; the most commonly eaten meat among the lower classes was mutton.
According to a contemporary observation, due to the abundance of fasting 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's Eneida, sturgeon, herring and roach are mentioned among the fish consumed by the poem's heroes, who were inspired by Zaporozhian Cossacks. Ukrainian ethnographer Mykola Markevych also mentioned dishes like borshch with fish, loaches with horseradish, and cutlets made of pike or crucian carp, which were all popular among Ukrainian Cossacks. The social elite of the Hetmanate also ate imported fish and seafood such as Dutch herring, eels, flounders, lampreys, salmon, and cuttlefish. Other local fish species popular during that time included carp, catfish, common bream, and sander. 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 by chumaks, but much of the catch came from local rivers, such as the Dnieper and Desna, and ponds.
Dewberry, fried berries and honey, as well as drinks such as juice, tea, coffee, wine, horilka and prune brandy were mentioned by Zaporozhian Cossack colonel Yakiv Markovych in the early 18th century. Consumption of coffee was a traditional attribute of Ukrainian Cossack starshina. In the 17th century fruit confiture was a favourite treat of the monks of Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, accompanied with coffee. Sweets were traditionally made from locally grown fruit such as quince, apples and apricots. Many desserts also included honey and nuts. A signature product of Kyiv, known since the 18th century, is "dry jam", similar to succade, but with a more tender structure.
18th and 19th centuries
In the 18th century the standard diet of an inhabitant of left-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 of gruel (solomakha, , kulish, , , teteria), halushky, varenyky, and noodles. The most important vegetables in the diet of a commoner were beets and onions. Beef and mutton were the most popular meats, followed by pork. A universal product valued for its long storage time was salo (salted lard). Hemp oil was also commonly used in preparation of food.
Potatoes first appeared in Dnieper 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 in Chernihiv, Horodnia, Hadiach, Zinkiv and Romny and several surrounding villages; by mid-19th century they were grown in all povits of Kyiv, Chernihiv and Poltava 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 of Northern Ukraine. In the mid-19th century a rich peasant from Chyhyryn 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 ethnographer Mykola 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 and ukha. In 1853 the addition of potatoes to borshch was first mentioned in the area of Khorol near Poltava. By the early 20th century varenyky filled with potatoes had become a usual dish in the region of Lubny.