Page 45 - Summer 2019 Journal

kombucha. Many of the “uncured” meats found in organic grocery stores in the U.S. have been cured in this fashion.
ORGAN MEATS
If you put fried brains in front of the average
American, they might faint, whereas the average Ukrainian would eat it before the American hit the floor. Organ meats are consumed regularly in Ukraine, with the average Ukrainian eating organ meats one to three times a week by my estimate. When you
go to the grocery
store, you will al-
ways find liver, kid-
neys and heart—
and the daily farm-
ers market will have
any organ meat you
could ask for. In
addition, at farm-
ers markets you
can find stomach
or sausages stuffed
with organ meats.
Blood sausages are also very popular, along with blood pudding.
There are many different brands of liver paté available, typically featured on restaurant menus along with breaded fried brains. A lot of restaurants also serve liver dumplings.
Ukrainians regularly consume liver cake (mentioned earlier) and can purchase it at the grocery store or in restaurants. Ukrainians do not make liver cake to mask the taste of liver—far from it; Ukrainians actually enjoy the textures and tastes of organ meats. Liver cake looks like a stack of pancakes and gets served as an appetizer at celebrations and weddings.
BONE BROTHS AND MEAT STOCKS Soups are quite popular in Ukraine and are usually made with meaty bones. Meaty bones are also available at a cheap price at the daily farmers markets. Chicken heads and feet are very cheap at farmers markets and are often
used in stews.
One interesting dish is called meat jelly.
They use pig’s feet to produce really gelatinous broth; they then mix the meat into the broth
SUMMER2019
and let the gelatin stiffen up overnight in the fridge. In America, we have gelatin with fruit suspended in it, but in Ukraine, they do this with meat!
SEAFOOD
Seafood is quite popular in Ukraine as well.
Ukraine borders the Black Sea and is home to many lakes and rivers. The daily farmers market has lots of fish, both fresh and pickled.
You will also see men ice-fishing all winter long for fun, and they usually eat their catch for din- ner. My girlfriend’s father made us fried fresh fish that he caught that day. Ev- eryone at the table but me sucked the tasty juices out of the fish heads be- fore saving the fish carcasses for a fish
stock.
The most popular seafood in Ukraine is fish
eggs. Ukrainians’ favorite way of consuming fish eggs is to grab a piece of bread, load it with butter and then top it off with fish eggs.
DAIRY
Dairy’s importance to Ukrainian culture is
evident because it is a part of many dishes. And one of the first words you learn in Ukrainian is “sour cream”—they put it on everything! Although raw milk is not available in grocery stores, it is incredibly easy to get in Ukraine. You just need to go to the daily farmers market, where the milk is usually from the previous night or the morning and may still be warm when you purchase it. In my experience at just one farmers market, there were over fifty dif- ferent people selling warm raw milk as well as raw butter, raw sour cream and raw cream. Most cities have multiple farmers markets. (You do want to question your farmer to ensure that the milk is of good quality because many people do use antibiotics and hormone injections.)
The farmers market is also where you will find “colostrum cake.” Colostrum is the first
Wise Traditions
At just one farmers market, there were over fifty different people selling warm raw milk as well as raw butter,
raw sour cream and raw cream.
Raw dairy at the market.
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