Eastern European Cuisine

[Marilyn. 340]

mmm, I forgot about cabbage rolls.. I love those!!

[Pennsylvania 0]

I vote for:

Borshch, Varenyky, Holubtsi, Halushki, and of course, Okroshka, my favorite (but I can't yet cook it right!) !!!!!

My fiancee sometimes says that I am a bigger fan of some of these traditional Ukrainian foods than she is (my ancestors were Ukrainian). My great-grandparents came right from the village, and my grandmother often served mashed cabbage and turnips, with salt, like it was going out of style.

[LvivLovers 39]

She eats "kasha" for breakfast everyday, and I'm still not sure what it is (some kind of grain stuff).

I think that's buckwheat if it's what I'm thinking of. My wife lives for this stuff, but oh the smell!!! I can sometimes smell it from INSIDE my car when I pull up to the house. She likes to use lots of onions.

[SMR 368]

I think that's buckwheat if it's what I'm thinking of. My wife lives for this stuff, but oh the smell!!! I can sometimes smell it from INSIDE my car when I pull up to the house. She likes to use lots of onions.

How can you not like гречку? It's fantastic. I don't usually eat it for breakfast, but I like it a lot, especially with onions.

[bonjur_mimi 0]

I love vareniki with cottage cheese or with potatoes. I love them boiled or fried. i put yogurt on them sometimes butter as well. my most favourite meal is so called "kotlety" with mashed potatoes. yummm

How can you not like гречку? It's fantastic. I don't usually eat it for breakfast, but I like it a lot, especially with onions.

Oh, I love grechku. It is very healthy especially for women.

[1HappyGuy 45]

Brad,

This is a good thread. I chose vareniki for reasons I can't disclose here but borscht would be second for me. It depends on how it is prepared, since everyone's borscht is just a little different.

As for the salty fish thing, eating it by itself is just a bit much. One should at least have some peva (beer) to help wash it down. I have found that a couple of shots of vodka works well to prepare the palate for salty fish.

Regarding vodka, we found this Ukrainian type that is honey pepper flavored. It has a bit of a bite on the tongue from the pepper. You have to be sure it's Ukrainian honey pepper vodka as the Russian versions just are quite there. My last trip to the Russian stores included a visit to a liquor store across the street that carries lots of foreign brands of liquor and beer.

It took me a while to get used to sour cream (cmtana) on everything, but that's one of the things we all love about our new spouse, the variety of life.

[Islapaz 41]

Ahh I can't pass grechku and my fiance loves it. Koshmar ))

[slim 1,525]

I haven't had grechku for breakfast but I tear it up with some chunks of beef and pork all mixed in.

[Brad and Vika 129]

I got a craving for good ol' cow meat one time and got a "gamburger" in the middle of the night at some street vendor. It was really just slabs of fatty pork or something topped with a pile of carrot slaw on a bun. I don't like fatty meat, so I tossed it and just sat on the apartment building stairs and ate my carrot-burger. That won me a lot of friends, though, as the neighboorhood cats enjoyed the pork.

It's funny that people have mentioned the fish salad stuff. My wife and I used to get the salad bar at a local restaurant now and then, and they had several types of nasty fish stuff, including whole fish in a bowl and various types of salads. Then there was the salty jello with some kind of meat in it. I try to be open-minded, but it turned my stomach. Just goes to show how much influence learned behavior has on food preferences, I guess.

The jello stuff is what Vika calls jellied meat. My MIL plopped a big blob of that ####### in front of me on my birthday two years ago (insert puking icon here). I choked down a few bites, then continued to eat the many delicious dishes set out. She asked me directly, in front of the whole clan, why I wasn't eating more of it. When I responded that it really wasn't my favorite thing, they all laughed like hell.

I prefer stuffed peppers to golubtsi, actually

Vika's stuffed peppers are awesome. One more dish I forgot to mention.

I love vareniki with cottage cheese or with potatoes. I love them boiled or fried. i put yogurt on them sometimes butter as well. my most favourite meal is so called "kotlety" with mashed potatoes. yummm

Oh, I love grechku. It is very healthy especially for women.

Who doesn't love a good cutlet. I am not familiar with grechku **sound of scribbling**

Brad,

This is a good thread. I chose vareniki for reasons I can't disclose here but borscht would be second for me. It depends on how it is prepared, since everyone's borscht is just a little different.

As for the salty fish thing, eating it by itself is just a bit much. One should at least have some peva (beer) to help wash it down. I have found that a couple of shots of vodka works well to prepare the palate for salty fish.

Regarding vodka, we found this Ukrainian type that is honey pepper flavored. It has a bit of a bite on the tongue from the pepper. You have to be sure it's Ukrainian honey pepper vodka as the Russian versions just are quite there. My last trip to the Russian stores included a visit to a liquor store across the street that carries lots of foreign brands of liquor and beer.

It took me a while to get used to sour cream (cmtana) on everything, but that's one of the things we all love about our new spouse, the variety of life.

Have you tried pizza with mayo instead of tomato sauce ? I absolutely cannot choke down the stinky fish Vika buys here, but I am to the point where I can be in the room while she eats it without too much nausea. As I mentioned earlier, the fresh stuff served at cafes in Ukraine seems to taste better.

I have also enjoyed the flavored vodkas. The herbal ones are supposed to help with a variety of illnesses, but I think the logic is sort of like "Guiness is a meal". If you drink enough beer, you aren't hungry, or don't care that you're hungry. If you drink herbal gorelka, you just don't care that your head is stuffy any more.

[slim 1,525]

I think the logic is sort of like "Guiness is a meal". If you drink enough beer, you aren't hungry, or don't care that you're hungry. If you drink herbal gorelka, you just don't care that your head is stuffy any more.

That's like drinking vodka for anything that ails you. If you keep a permananent buzz... you won't feel a thing!

[Brad and Vika 129]

That's like drinking vodka for anything that ails you. If you keep a permananent buzz... you won't feel a thing!

Right!

[captainofiron 2]

I dont know if anyone has mentioned it here, but Ragu is AWESOME

Also my future mother in law makes her own jams, and she makes these little pancakes and puts the jam on them with creme, they taste great with some coffee

[Marilyn. 340]

I dont know if anyone has mentioned it here, but Ragu is AWESOME

Also my future mother in law makes her own jams, and she makes these little pancakes and puts the jam on them with creme, they taste great with some coffee

homemade jam is the best.. I grew up on that... it is so hard to eat store bought jam now .. ugh...

I did make my own strawberry jam last week... YUM!

my mom also canned pickles and fruit etc...

Edited July 9, 2010 by Marilyn.

[captainofiron 2]

oh yea, I almost forgot

Yana makes this awesome fish that she marinades in pepper and mayo (lol) and then bakes it with lots of cheese on top and some spices, WOW that stuff is excellent.

She always complains about the American Mayo and Sour Cream she says its terrible, so we always buy the Mexican mayo and sour cream, its funny She says that the Mexican products remind her alot of the Russian ones, so we use to cross the border, but now its not safe in Juarez anymore

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I dont know if anyone has mentioned it here, but Ragu is AWESOME

Also my future mother in law makes her own jams, and she makes these little pancakes and puts the jam on them with creme, they taste great with some coffee

The boys are not too good at cooking, having been spoiled by Alla and Baaaabushka, but they can cook pasta. I leave a jar of Ragu in the refrigerator and they heat it in the microwave to put on their pasta.

They will have to become citizens so they can go to Ukraine and find a wife!