🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Ukrainians

Ukrainians are an East Slavic people, the main population of Ukraine. Ukrainians live in a country of fertile forest-steppe and steppe, where peasant households have kept cows for centuries. Dairy is a familiar part of Ukrainian cooking, from everyday meals to festive ones.

Fresh curd cheese is called “syr” in Ukrainian: it is used for varenyky (dumplings), syrnyky (curd fritters) and Easter bakes. Smetana (sour cream) is a must with borscht, varenyky and many other dishes. Ryazhanka is made from baked milk soured until thick, and varenets was traditionally slow-cooked in the oven. Kyslyak, plain soured milk, forms if milk is left somewhere warm.

In the Ukrainian Carpathians the shepherding tradition of the Hutsuls and Boikos lives on: on the mountain pastures (polonyny) they milk sheep and make sheep’s bryndza, vurda from whey and smoked cheeses. Hutsul banosh — cornmeal porridge cooked in sour cream and served with bryndza — is one of the best-known Carpathian dishes.