Euro 2021 Special : Ukraine

 

Ukrainian Meal of Mushroom Dumplings in Borsch, Raw Turnip and Spring Onion Salad, and Cucumber and Yoghurt

Normally I wait until the World Cup Football tournament to dive into my soccer culinary global adventures but with the Euros being postponed from last year I thought that  I could pick a few countries this year that might not normally make the World Cup, plus any other countries I might be able to manage.  So I contemplated North Macedonia, and  Slovakia to be my first explorations this year but the timings were not quite right.  I ended up in the Ukraine thanks to the wonderful book Summer Kitchens by Olia Hercules.  The book is full of stunning recipes from the many Summer Kitchens of the Ukraine focusing on the little buildings in Ukrainian vegetable gardens where food is cooked, fermented, pickled and eaten.  It is packed full of recipes and reminiscences that are so evocative. The last section is comprised of memories of the kitchens from  various people that  Olia Hercules had corresponded with.

My brightest memory of the place comes from a summer's day. It had started to hail, and everyone gathered in the summer kitchen. The big dog was lying on the floor, five cats were sleeping on the bench. My granny was cooking something for supper. I was sitting and listening to the radio. After the hail, the sun came out and the view of the garden from the window was enchanting.

Rhubarb buns and hailstones - reminiscence of a summer kitchen by Sofia Vozniuk, school girl from Laskiv village

Summer Kitchens by Olia Hercules

So inspired by the book I decided on Mushroom Dumplings in Borsch, Raw Turnip and Spring Onion Salad, and Cucumber and Yoghurt.  There are plenty of other dishes that I want to try like spelt dumplings with kraut and caramelised onions, cauliflower fritters, little peppers with tomato sauce and barley, bean and mushroom casserole plus a whole load of delicious looking cakes.  I will be coming back to this book.

So I had to start with the beetroot kvas to add to the borsch later hoping to add that slightly sour quality to the broth.  This proved to be key to giving the dish this hint of sharpness to offset the earthy nature of beetroot.

Now, of course, this is not my recipe .... I recommend either buying the book 'Summer Kitchens' or finding it in the local library (that is where I found it) but to give you a rough idea here is a recipe from kitchn.com - https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-beet-kvass-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-193756 .

I added some liquid from some sauerkraut and some kombucha to try and kick start the fermentation.

Beetroot Kvas

So starting off with the borsch you make a delicious stock using onion, celery, carrots and celeriac and about 2 litres of water which you bring to the boil and simmer for 50 minutes.  Meanwhile soak some porcini mushrooms in hot water for about 30 minutes.  Add grated beetroot and season.  Add the strained mushroom soaking liquid to the stock and let it stand whilst you make the dumplings.  

Mushroom Dumplings in Borsch

Now the dumplings were a little more tricky; the dough is just flour, water and egg. So huge snag for me being vegan... what to use instead of eggs.  So I turned to making a 'flax egg' from my goto on baking 'the Minimalist Baker'.  So in mixing the flour, 'flax egg' and water together and kneading into a dough I got my base for the dumplings.  I could have made my life a little easier and used asian dumpling wrappers as 'Instant Ukrainian' does... check out the alternative way to make the mushroom dumplings.

The filling was much easier; simply frying the shallots and mushrooms and after a few minutes cooking added the porcini mushrooms.  That was topped off by adding sauerkraut and cooking for a few minutes more.

Now to forming the dumplings.... the dough was rolled out into a thin sheet (mine was a little thick but I was worried that the dough would tear).  Then after cutting in 8cm squares you place a teaspoon of the mushroom mixture in the middle of each square and fold over a corner to form a triangle.  Pressing down the edges so they join and bring the two pointy ends around together to form  little sailor hat.  'Instant Ukrainian' shows how they should look like.

Back to the soup.  Strain the veggies out of the stock and add the kvas to taste.  What you should have is a earthy, sweet and sour, and crimson consomme like below.  Just gently heat again.

Cook the dumplings in salty water for about 2 minutes until they rise to the top of the pan; spoon into a soup bowl and gently pour the warmed consomme over.  What a taste; all earthy with just a little kick from the kvas... and  the consomme looked so dramatic.

Mushroom Dumplings in Borsch

The 'Raw Turnip and Spring Onion Salad' was just a simple dish of turnip cut into matchsticks with a vegan yoghurt, lemon and spring onions. 

Raw Turnip and Spring Onion Salad

I cannot wait to explore some more great recipes from Olia Hercules' book.

Find out  a little more about Olia Hercules here. 

Score: Ukraine 2 Netherlands 3 

Football Score : 5 (the game was so exciting - all those goals - a great start to this new series of dishes inspired by the countries participating in the Euro 2021 football tournament. Ukraine were so unlucky to lose).

Food: 4 (The recipes were fabulous but slightly let down by my ugly dumplings.  )

Injera, Atakilt Wat and Missir Wat

Injera, Atakilt Wat and Missir Wat

I remember very well my first introduction to Ethiopian food; a little restaurant in Chalk Farm, London where we experienced the warm hospitality and unusual flavours. From the unusual sour taste of the injera (the famous ethiopian flat bread made from teff flour) which formed the plate on which to have a number of different 'dishes'; a simple smashed chickpeas dish to a pungent horseradish dip/dish.  We must have had the lentils as well, cooked gently in a berbere spice mix and we definitely had the atakilt wat (carrots, potato and cabbage).  All this planted a seed in my head because it wasn't until many years later that I tried some Eritrean food from  Lem Lem in broadway market and knew I had to try and make the food from Ethiopia and Eritrea.

 So here is my start to re-create that unique experience too many years ago.

Atakilt Wat

I made the Atakilt Wat (potatoes, cabbage and carrot) from a receipe from Vegan Richa - https://www.veganricha.com/atakilt-wat-ethiopian-cabbage-potato/

Making the Atakilt Wat

Berbere Spice Mix

Ingredients

2 tsp fenugreek seeds

1 tsp black peppercorns

10 whole cloves

16  dried spicy chillies, stems removed

3 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground allspice

2 tsp ground cardamom

4 Tbsp onion powder

6 Tbsp paprika - you can use smoked

1 Tbsp garlic salt

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Pre-heat a small frying pan over a medium heat and add the fenugreek seeds, peppercorns, and cloves. Allow to heat for about 3 minutes ensuring that the spices are not scorched - just fragrant and toasted.  Then just set aside.

2. Grind the red chillies in a spice grinder or coffee grinder and add the toasted spices and grind until fine.

3. Combine all the ingredients from the spice grinder and spices not already added.... combine thoroughly so well blended.

4. Store in an airtight container. 

I have found the spice mix to be very versatile and have exchanged it for an Indian spice mix on occasions.

My homemade berbere mix

Missir Wat (spicy lentils)

Injera, Atakilt Wat and Missir Wat

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (96 g) red lentils 
• 2 cups (500 ml) water
• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 (0.5 ) medium onion chopped
• 4-5 (4 ) garlic cloves
• 1/3 teaspoon (0.33 teaspoon) salt
• 2 teaspoons Berbere spice

Instructions

1. In a medium pan, add oil and heat over low-medium.
2. Add the onion and garlic and cook until translucent - so roughly about 10-12 minutes.
3. Add the berbere spice and mix in thoroughly.
4. Add the lentils, salt and water.
5. Cook on a low heat for about 20-30 minutes or until the lentils have been fully cooked.

Injera

The recipe I used was the quick Injera recipe from Borough Market - https://boroughmarket.org.uk/recipes/injera