65995 (National features of cuisine and table manners), страница 3

Salo

This is a favorite Ukrainian delicacy. We use it in many forms- uncooked and fried, smoked and salted, baked and boiled. Also, we fry it, cook crackling and even eat it with honey!

Ukraine’s widespread fondness for pork products results from its historical conflicts with two of its neighbors- Tatars and Turks. Cattle were a much- prized spoil of war so they were often in short supply, and bullocks, which were used to pull ploughs, were not exactly edible. Pigs were both available and relatively delicious and tender, so pork became a staple.

Borsch

A choice for First Dish is Borsch. Although the word “borsch” is not translatable, it is famous all over the world. It is difficult to imagine that there is a person on the planet who has never eaten borsch! It is famous, popular and delicious- a must-do on everyone’s list of dishes to experience.

So, what is this famous dish? How it is cooked and what should it be eaten with? At firs glance, everything seems simple. Sugar beets are the signature ingredient and borsch is a kind of beet soup. But not everything is as simple as it looks. There are more than thirty varieties of this dish in Ukraine alone, and other versions are prepared in Russia, Poland and even in the United States! So, there are different types of borsch- meat and meatless, hot and cold, with mushrooms, with kidney bean, with prunes, with marrows, turnips, and even with apples! Meat borsch is also varied- it may include beef or chicken. Some recipes recommend the addition of mutton, or goose- grease, and sometimes ham or sausages.

The cooking process for borsch is unique in that all ingredients, including the beets, are prepared separately! Beets should be sprinkled with lemon juice or vinegar in order to preserve their color and then they should be cut and roasted. Afterwards they are peeled, diced and added to the borsch. In the beginning, onions, carrots, parsley are fried together for 15 minutes and tomatoes (or tomato paste) is added at the end. Other vegetables should be cooked separately. All ingredients should be put in bit by bit, at the proper time and in the right order. Cooking time for borsch is approximately 2- 3 hours. Let the flavors mingle for 20minutes before the borsch is served. Prepare to feel giddy when you lift the lid from the saucepan- the aroma is truly delicious! A good accompaniment to borsch is small buns flavored with garlic. This is a temptation you will not want to resist! [9., 11]

Varenyky

Another favorite Ukrainian dish is Varenyky. Great Hohol’ in his “Evenings on Khutor near Dikan’ka” described a charming story about Kozak magician named Patsyuk who bewitched the varenyky, so that they dove into the sour cream and then flew into the mouth! Such a legendary reputation should alert you to the fact that these delicious dumplings must be tried. Even better is the fact that there are unbelievable numbers of recipes for the fillings. Pastry for varenyky should be prepared with icy water. Varenyky cannot be frozen, unlike pelmeni or ravioli. Cooks have unlimited possibilities for improvisation. Varenyky can be filled with potato, cabbage, mushrooms, meat, liver, boiled buckwheat and cracklings, kidney beans, or with cottage cheese, apples, plums or poppy- seeds. In summer they are made with berries. Varenyky are served with sour cream; sweet varenyky are served with syrup or honey.

Galushky

Sometimes varenyky and galushky are hyphenated- galushky- varenyky, - but this is a mistake because galushky is a dish which stands on its own! Even though it appears to be very simple, it is a very tasty meal. Recipes for it have not changed for hundred of years and have been passed down from one generation to another. Both galushky and varenyky should be eaten hot only! This is a rule! Galushky can be made from different types of flour- wheat flour, buckwheat flour, from manna- croup. It is also possible to add cottage cheese, potato or apples to the pastry. They are boiled in either water, milk, or broth. Galushky are served either with fried onions and cracklings or sour cream.

Second dishes are meat, poultry, fish, and of course, pork. Ukrainians also respect poultry, especially when it is stewed; but chicken and goose are cooked more often as holiday dishes. Fish is also popular in Ukraine. Even the names of popular fish dishes stimulate the appetite- stuffed pike, stewed carp with onions and sour cream, pike with horse- radish, jellied pike. It is very difficult to list everything!

Pork is a big winner. Huge numbers of dishes are made from pork in Ukraine. It is fried, baked, stewed, goes into sausages, and various delicacies are prepared with chopped and minced meat. But the perennial party favorite is Pechenya (stewed meat). To say pechenya is just stewed meat is to say nothing. Pechenya is tender, flavorful and fantastic. Besides, the traditional way of preparing pechenya leaves a tremendous space for every cook’s creativity. Although the cooking time for pechenya is long, the outcome is worth it! [7., 4]

Uzvar

There are plenty of fruits and berries in Ukraine! You can gather a luxurious harvest in every garden. This remarkable harvest provides the basis of many desserts- varenyky, pyroghy, knedlyks, jellied berries, fruit babkas, and jams. And also drinks- Uzvars. We may say that uzvar is a kind of fruit compote, but it is really much richer and more concentrated than fruit compote. It is delicious mixture of raisins, prunes and spices- cinnamon, cloves, and dried citrus peel. [7., 5]

Cabbage rolls

A cabbage roll is a savory food item made with a variety of fillings wrapped in cabbage. The filling usually includes meat, often beef or pork, seasoned with onion, tomato paste, salt, black pepper, and spices. Other fillings vary and may include mushrooms, vegetables, sauerkraut, or rice. Other ingredients may also be used. The filling is stuffed in cabbage leaves, which are tucked around it like an egg roll. It is simmered or steamed in a covered pot until cooked, and is usually eaten hot.

Cabbage rolls are part of the traditional cuisine of many Central European, Eastern European, and Balkan countries. They are known as holubki in both Czech and Slovak, halubcy in Belarusian, golubtsy in Russian, holubtsi in Ukrainian. [7.,5]

Blyntsi

Blyntsi are thin pancakes which are often served in connection with a religious rite or festival in several cultures.

The word "blin" comes from Old Slavic mlin, that means "to mill" (compare the Ukrainian word for blin, mlynets’). Blins had a somewhat ritual significance for early Slavic peoples in pre-Christian times since they were a symbol of the sun, due to their round form. They were traditionally prepared at the end of the winter to honor the rebirth of the new sun (Pancake week, or Maslenitsa). This tradition was adopted by the Orthodox church and is carried on to the present day. Bliny were once also served at wakes, to commemorate the recently deceased.

Syrniki

In Ukrainian cuisine, syrniki are fried curd fritters, garnished with sour cream, jam, honey, and/or apple sauce. They can be filled with raisins. In Russia they are also known as tvorozhniki.

Syrniki are made from the full-fat, creamy cottage cheese, crumbled and mixed with flour, egg, milk, and sugar and fried, generally in a flavorful unrefined sunflower oil. The outsides become very crispy, and the center is warm and creamy.

The name "syrniki" is derived from the word syr, meaning "cheese". [9., 11]

Solyanka

Solyanka is a thick, spicy and sour soup in the Ukrainian cuisine. It may have originated in Ukraine in the 17th century.

There are mainly three different kinds of solyanka, with the main ingredient being either meat, fish or mushrooms. All of them contain cucumber pickles with brine, and often cabbage, salty mushrooms, cream and dill. The soup is prepared by cooking the cucumbers with brine before adding the other ingredients of the broth.

For meat solyanka, ingredients like beef, ham, sausages, chicken breasts, and cabbage, together with cucumber pickles, tomatoes, onions, olives, capers, allspice, parsley, and dill are all cut fine and mingled with cream in a pot. The broth is added, and all shortly heated in the stove, without boiling.

Fish solyanka is prepared similarly, but soup vegetables are cooked with the broth. The meat is replaced with fish, like sturgeon and salmon, and freshwater crayfish. Finally, some lemon juice is added to the soup.

For mushroom solyanka, cut cabbage is heated in butter together with vinegar, tomatoes, and cucumber pickles, with little brine. Separately, mushrooms and onions are heated, and grated lemon skin is added. Cabbage and mushrooms are put in layers, breadcrumbs and butter added, and all shortly baked.

Kutia

Kutia is a sweet grain pudding, traditionally served in Polish, Lithuanian and Ukrainian cultures. Kutia is often the first dish in the traditional 12-dishes Christmas Eve Supper. It is rarely served at other times of the year.

It resembles koliva from Serbia or Romania (used usually for funerals), but the latter is mixed only with walnuts, sugar and raisins.

Kutia was also part of a common Eastern Orthodox tradition in the Russian Empire, which has become extinct in Russia during the times of the atheistic Soviet Union.

Traditionally it was made of wheat, poppy seeds, honey (or sugar), various nuts and sometimes raisins. In many recipes milk or cream was also used.

Nowadays other ingredients (which were unavailable or just too expensive in earlier centuries) like almonds and pieces of oranges are added. On the other hand, the wheat grain, that is now relatively rarely available in the food stores in an unrpocessed form, is sometimes replaced with barley or other similar grains. [10.]

Restaurant “O’Panas”

If you want to taste Ukrainian cuisine you can go to the Restaurant “O’Panas”. It is the best place for learning Ukrainian culture, traditions and life of Ukrainian people. Comfortable small house with a roof made of straw, a real tree, growing inside of the restaurant, and a special interior, presented in the local country style, would bring guests to the old, kind and light- hearted times.

There you can taste such dishes as varenyky with potatoes, mushrooms and cracklings, varenyky with cabbage and cracklings, deruny with home- made sausage, real Ukrainian borsch with sour- cream and pampushki, pancakes with poppey seeds, wall- nuts and honey and many other dishes. [10.]

Chapter III Table manners

In our time it is very important to be well- educated person. And also you should keep some elementary rules while having meal. In our time to invite close friends to the dinner or to be invited to the restaurant or to the café by them is a usual thing. Despite of where you go with them it is very important thing to keep table manners like this:

The correct way to sit at table is to sit straight and close to the table. Don’t put elbows on the table. Don’t cross your legs or spread them all over the place uder the table.

If you want to take a slice of bread you shouldn’t use fork or knife. Your hand is quite correct for getting a slice of bread for yourself.

If you want to take a slice of bread from the plate standing on the far end of the table, just say: “Please pass the bread.” Or:”Would you mind passing the bread, please?” Never lean across the table or over your neighbours to get something out of you reach.

Don’t hold your spoon in your fist, don’t tilt it so as to spill its contents. The fork should be held in your left hand, the knife in your right.

It is wrong to cut all the meat you have got on your plate in small pieces and then eat it. Cut off a slice at time, eat it, then cut off another, holding your knife in the right hand and your fork in the left.

You shouldn’t use knife if you eat fish ( it is generally eaten without using knife). The same refers to rissoles, cereal and, in general, to anything that is soft enough to be comforatably eaten with fork or spoon.

The way to eat chicken is to cut off and eat as much as possible by using your knife and fork; the remaining part eat by holding the piece in your hand by the end of the bone.

If you eat stewed fruit with the stones, just take the stones from your mouth on your spoon and place them in your own saucer. Never eat stones (trying to be overpolite).

After stirring your tea, put the spoon on your saucer. Don’t leave it in the glass while drinking.

If your food is too hot just waite a bit, there is no hurry. Never cool your food by blowing at it.

To refuse a second helping you should say: “No more, thank you.”

If you like the dish very mush you should say: “It tastes (really) fine” or “It is delicious.”

If you dislike the dish you should say nothing. Keep your impressions to yourself and don’t embarrass your hostess.

While eating one shouldn’t produce as little noise or sound as possible. It is decidedly manners to speak with your mouth full. Don’t put your bread in your soup. Don’t pour your tea in your saucer. Don’ leave much on the plate: it is impolite towards your hostess. If you liked the dish, it doesn’t follow that you should polish the plate with your bread.

Reading at one’s meals is a bad habit; it is bad for your digestion and impolite towards others sitting at the same table. [1., 150-152]

CONCLUSION

Regardless of how you view food, you need it to live. You need the right kinds of food in the right amounts to have a healthy life. Your needs for different kinds of food change as grow and mature. Everyone needs the three key nutrients that provide the body with energy and the necessary building blocks: carbohydrates (sugar and starch), fat, and protein. Unfortunately, in our world today, not every one has access to all of these all the time. World hanger is a global problem that needs to be addressed by all nations.