Taste Ukrainian food & wine

Ukrainian food is one of the best ones in Europe. Give it a chance to surprise you with the outstanding cooking and Ukrainian wine tasting that are on offer.

Ukraine has a delectable culinary culture. Taste Ukraine — from major cities to the countryside — with creative restaurants, lively bar scenes, vibrant food markets, and local wineries.

Borscht with garlic fritters

Ukrainian dishes often use a number of ingredients. Borscht is a direct proof of this. Initially, this dish was made of 30 ingredients but, of course, over time that number has decreased. However, the technique remains unchanged. Beef is placed in cold water to make a meat broth. Then the meat is taken out and other ingredients are added and cooked in a closed saucepan. Garlic fritters are given instead of bread and called pampushki by locals. Traditionally, every Ukrainian girl learns how to cook borscht before getting married.

Potato pancakes

Deruny, or potato pancakes, are a perfect course for breakfast or dinner. They are usually freshly fried or baked. If you want to make a good batch of deruny, first off, you should make sure the potatoes are finely grated. Then, to diversify the flavor, add meat, slices of chopped onions, mushrooms, fresh herbs or a variety of spices. Alternatively, you could just keep it simple: potatoes and a pinch of salt.

Vareniki

Vareniki is a kind of dumpling. It is made of dough, but the filling depends on the imagination and taste preferences of the chef and their guests. Cabbages, meat, mushrooms, cottage cheese, cherries, currant or potatoes are the most typical fillings. Savory or sweet, vareniki turns out to be succulent. Ukrainians put sour cream almost in every dish, and these dumplings often get the same treatment. Begin your meal with one of these—you won’t regret it.

Ukraine wine

Ukraine is not one of those countries which immediately springs to mind when you think about wine production. Instead, Ukraine is one of those wine countries which should be thought of as a ‘hidden gem’. Your expectations are almost certain to be exceeded! Just come and taste some Ukrainian wine.

Where to look for grapes:

It seems that while all traditional wine-growing countries suffer from global climate change, Ukraine has received a big bonus. Today, vineyards can be found not only in the southern regions of the country — Odesa, Crimea, Mykolayiv or Kherson — but a number of experimental plantations successfully exist in the northern regions — in Chernihiv, Lviv, Kyiv and Ternopil.