A Ukrainian Christmas

Here in the United States the holiday season already seems a distant memory. In Ukraine, however, families throughout the country gathered together this past week to observe their Christmas traditions. In honor of their celebrations, we had a small Ukrainian Christmas dinner last night for week two of our culinary adventure.

According to my lovely assistant, Oksana who lives in Odessa, Ukraine, Christmas Eve is celebrated on January 7 as the last day of a 40-day fast without meat, milk or eggs. Although many families do not observe the full 40-days, some still fast the day before. On Christmas Eve, once the first star has risen in the night sky, each family sits down to a 12-dish feast of fish, vegetables, grains and fruit.

Since I wasn’t going to attempt cooking a dozen different dishes, Oksana gave me a few suggestions of things to try for our own mini Ukrainian Christmas. I also invited some friends over to witness my first attempt at Ukrainian cooking; after all, what is a holiday if you can’t share it with others?

Traditionally, the first of the 12 dishes served is Kutya, a porridge of wheat, poppy seeds, nuts and honey, so naturally I had to put this at the top of our menu. I also decided to make Vareniki, Ukrainian-style dumplings, and Borsch, a beet and cabbage soup. To drink, a warm spiced honey mixture spiked with real Ukrainian vodka.

Bread is the staple of any Ukrainian celebration. Abundant wheat crops from fertile soil have made bread the symbol of health and hospitality. Intricately decorated loaves accompany any special occasion such as holidays or weddings. Our dinner also included a large round of crusty bread and a bulb of roasted garlic.

Each recipe was relatively easy to make because basically everything was boiled, but easy or not I’m sure my borsch was nothing compared to the one Oksana enjoyed with her family. Although one of our guests, Jimmy, did go back for a second helping…

The kutya took the longest to prepare since the main ingredient, wheat berries, had to be soaked and then simmered for four hours. Actually, according to the recipe the wheat berries were supposed to be soaked overnight, but since I didn’t realize that until cooking day I crossed my fingers that an hour would be sufficient. After the berries had plumped up, I drained most of the water and added some dark honey, an amazing amount of ground poppy seeds, chopped roasted almonds and diced dried apricots.

Our unanimously favorite part of the meal, the kutya didn’t have the gravel-like consistency I was afraid of, but was soft and lightly chewy with a nice crunch from the almonds. As much as we enjoyed it however, I feel that kutya would be better suited as a breakfast dish served with yogurt rather than as an “appetizer.” Good thing since I will likely be eating it for breakfast for the next week.

While the wheat berries were cooking I began preparing the beets, carrots, potatoes, cabbage, onion and garlic for the borsch. My hands still have a slight tinge of that beautiful deep red from grating the beets, but at least my kitchen no longer looks like a murder scene. Everything went into a pot with some diced tomatoes and the soup done.

Only seasoned with salt and pepper, the borsch was a bit plain, although I’m sure as with most soups it will be better today than it was yesterday. Dipping a piece of the bread with a spread of roasted garlic into the soup brought out more of the flavor so I think if I attempt to make it again I will add more garlic and perhaps some beef stock.

Since there was no meat to be had at this dinner, I figured Mr. Meat-and-Potatoes would like the vareniki the best. Usually stuffed with an assortment of fillings such as sauerkraut, cottage cheese or cherries, I opted for a non-threatening mashed potato with onion and smoked cheddar variety served with sour cream. Still, Mr. M and P liked the vareniki least of all.

I didn’t think they were quite that bad, although again I think they would have benefited from a little more seasoning. Or perhaps a practiced hand skilled at making a more delicate and less heavy pasta.

Even though he didn’t eat much at all of his dinner, Adam still did his part for the occasion by procuring the vodka. An odd coincidence, it was donated the day of our dinner by a man Adam had happen to tell about our around-the-world food adventures.

By itself, Nemiroff Birch vodka has a slightly sweet, herbaceous flavor with a sharp, biting finish. Mixed with a warm concoction of honey, clove, allspice, cinnamon and orange zest, the bite was tamed and the vodka smoothed into a pleasing beverage that warms from the inside out.

For dessert, our guests also tried their hands at Ukrainian cooking with delicious snow cap cookies. A light pastry topped with chopped walnuts and a coconut marange, the cookies were unfortunately the only dish we didn’t have leftovers of.

Another successful night of first experiences under our slightly loosened belts, thank you to Oksana for being my tour guide and to Jimmy and Rene for being my taste testers; you are welcome back any time you want to bring me more cookies.