#медівник

[retrowaving1]

Polish Versus Ukrainian Cuisine, Part 2

Holidays are coming! It's time to talk about some famous Christmas dishes from Poland and Ukraine. And, like with everything I do, I'll start from something that usually arrives at your table by the very end of the feast - desserts, more specifically, cakes! Gingerbread is a type of food which's smell alone can immerse you into the Christmas mood. Many dishes from all around the world might be classified as gingerbread, including, Polish Piernik and Ukrainian Medivnyk, but there are two things which all of them share, whether we are talking about cakes, cupcakes, cookies or actual bread: spices and honey. The rest of the recipe, as usual, depends on the cook and the culture in which it happens to be popular.

Piernik vs. Медівник (etymology, application in culture, the dough preparation)

Ah, I absolutely love the two! In the place where I was born, namely, in the Western Ukraine, these two cakes just merged and inspired plethora of mind-blowing recipes. My Polish great-grandmother from my mom's side, born and raised in Galicja (a geographic region including the East of the modern Poland and the West of the modern Ukraine), used to bake something that can only be characterised as a gingerbread, taking the best from both worlds, as it used elements of both Piernik and Medivnyk. My half-Ukrainian grandmother from my dad's side developed her own recipe, which uses artificial honey, giving the cake an interesting texture, colour and smell. My mom absolutely loves this gentle layered kind of gingerbread cake with custard or cream filling (the influence of the Soviet times, we'll come to that), sometimes with addition of fresh or dried fruit). Basically, every cook in the Eastern Europe has their own unique recipe that adds something new to the original concept of honey- and spice-based cakes.

However, if we take traditional Medivnyk and Piernik, we might notice a huge difference in every aspect concerning them. From the names, through preparation, to their purpose in cultural context, these two cakes are like sibling who had to grow up in different countries and developed on their own - similar yet so different. So, let's dive into details.

Etymology

Piernik is more similar to its English counterpart in terms of etymology. If gingerbread comes from the word "ginger", so we know that the recipe, among other spices, requires some ginger, Polish Piernik, having derived from old Polish "pierz" (modern "pieprz" - eng. pepper), means that you definitely need to include pepper in your cake. 

When talking about Polish gingebread name I cannot possibly omit the fact that this term created those two colloquial expressions:

ja pierniczę - a soft version of the famous "ja pierd*lę" phrase in Polish usually said when one is very angry (the untranslatable expression of utter rage). Imagine that we would say "Gingerbread" instead of "F*ck" in English :D that's the vibe

co ma piernik do wiatraka? - literal translation is: "what does the gingerbread have to do with the windmill?". It's usually used when someone says something unrelated to the topic in order to prove their point - a marvelous phrase if you want to confuse someone unreasonable in the comments;)

Medivnyk differs from the two (and when we move on to the recipe description, you'll figure why), as it focuses on a different ingredient - "мед" (eng. honey). In some regions, it's also called "Medovyk", but I use the Western Ukrainian version of the name in this post as, according to a famous Ukrainian cook and food historian Marianna Dushar (Пані Стефа), Medivnyk is "one of the piers of Lviv's culinary heritage". 

So the name is pretty much straightforward, but I'm also going to share a weird fact about Ukrainian language in order to make this description more interesting: the word "медівник" is also used in Ukrainian language to refer to all subspecies of Australian Friafbirds. You might like to google them - they don't look like cakes, at all.

There's also a word "miodownik" in Polish, which refers to some variations of Ukrainian gingerbread cakes, especially the ones with the filling. Funnily enough, in modern Poland, you might find the recipes for this type of cake using the name Snickers, too.

When served

Polish Piernik, just like gingerbread cookies and cakes from many other countries, is considered to be a traditional Christmas cake. As a Pole, I never even think about it as anything you could eat in any other time of the year. However, in 17th century, gingerbread cookies were sold in Pharmacies, as they were considered actual medicine. In my Polish family, even Medivnyk-inspired gingerbreads are baked before the Christmas, but, as far as I'm concerned, in Ukraine this cake is considered to be a wedding cake or, generally speaking, a type of baked goods served on very big ocassions. I found two possible explanations for such a difference in purpose:

The influence of the Jewish community in the Western Ukraine. As we have already established, Medivnyk was invented, probably, in the Western Ukraine, where there was a numerous Jewish community (Take the town of Turka in Lviv oblast, where my great-grandfather was from - in 1921 almost half of its population were Jews, while the rest of it were Ukrainians, Poles and other nationalities). Obviously, they didn't celebrate Christmas and instead used the cake on their wedding ceremonies, calling it "Chonek łejkech". There's a high chance Ukrainians just borrowed the tradition of serving this originally very much "Christmasy" treat on different big celebrations.

The influence of the Soviet Union. During the Soviet reign, many recipes from Ukraine became popularised (if I may use his term, as modern russia now pretends that even the famous borscht is their, so it looks more like stealing from the contemporary perspective) all around the Soviet Republics, and Medivnyk wasn't an exception. It's quite possible that during this time, as religion was prohibited in the USSR, the role of this cake slightly shifted to being a wedding celebration attribute.

The batter

There are some classic ingredients that you'll meet in all of the Pierniks: - Flour (wheat or rye) - Honey (usually linden or acacia) + carmelized sugar (white and/or brown) - Fat (butter, oil or both) - Eggs - Liquid (water, milk, buttermilk, cream - you name it) - Soda - LOTS of spices, such as ginger, cynamon, cloves, cardamom, anis, nutmeg, allspice and pepper

Some people tend to add such things as cocoa powder, plum or blackcurrant jam, instant or chicory coffee, tea and salt, but traditional "Staropolski" (eng. Old Polish) recipe omits it and usually just relies on traditional ingredients, but also on the method of preparation.

This year I learned that the "true" Polish Piernik batter has a very specific and interesting preparation, which, I think, differentiates it among other famous gingerbreads - the process of fermentation ("aging" gingerbread batter). Apparently, the batter for the true Old Polish Piernik traditionally has to be prepared right after St. Andrew's Day in order to "rest" and "mature" before Christmas. Such a fementation method ensures that the taste is strong and vivid. In modern Poland most home cooks tend to go for "quick" recipes, and I can't blame them.

Traditional Piernik should be kept in a humid place, as they might get firm if dried out. Similarly to fruitcake, it is recommended to soak it in some liquid (such as coffee or cream with vanilla and sugar) to keep it moist if you have dry air at your home.

The traditional recipe for a Medivnyk has some similar ingredients: - Wheat flour  - Honey (usually buckwheat as it gives the cake some beautiful bronze colour and intense taste) and some sugar (brown or white) - Fat (butter or oil, or both) - Eggs  - Liquid (usually something sour like kefir or sour cream) - Soda  - Significantly less to no spices As the name suggests, honey is the hero of this type of cake, never the spices. In traditional recipes, you can meet some spices, usually the same combo as in Polish piernik, but aforementioned Mrs Dushar actually uses half a spoon of paprika in her Lviv version of Gingerbread cake. It's funny, but the more you go to the East of Ukraine, the less spices there are in the Medivnyk. The lack of spices can be explained, once again, with the Soviet Union influence, as there was a deficit for spices in the country at the time Ukraine was the USSR republic. Different cooks also add such things as nuts (usually walnuts), raisins or other dry fruit (with such addition, it's very similar to fruitcake in taste, if you ask me). Such practice can be met in Piernik preparation too, yet much less often than when we talk about traditional Medivnyk.

Depending on what kind of Medivnyk you want to cook, there are two ways of preparation:

Traditional Medivnyk requiring wet batter: The preparation of the batter is much simpler in the case of Medivnyk if we compare it to piernik, as it's basically the same, but you don't have to ferment it for around three weeks, usually, one night of rest is enough for it to get ready for baking. The texture of the baked cake is usually just as dense and, at the same time, soft as in the case of the traditional Piernik.

Layered Medivnyk requiring flatbread: In this case we go completely different direction - instead of wet batter we basically make a dough which is then baked into "корж", a type of Ukrainian flatbread made with honey, melted butter, eggs, soda, sugar and flour. This recipe often uses brighter kinds of honey and omits addition of spices, so the colour of the dough is usually bright yellow, and the taste is less intense. The texture of prepared flatbread is slightly crunchy (it kind of reminds me of sweeter and softer version of matzo with honey) but gets soft and gentle as it absorbs humidity after we spread the filling between the layered flatbread.

(unfortunately, I'm unable to add the information about the filling and icing to the post, as it's extremely long already, so I'm going to add this information (as well as some recipes) in the next post on the topic)

Polish Versus Ukrainian Cuisine, Part 1

I have to confess, I have a little sin on my consciousness, namely, I visit Instagram sometimes. In most cases I do that just to catch up with my friends and family, but, you know, as most of young people of my age I just end up scrolling a tiny bit (usually, right until the moment I feel the urge to vomit, as I genuinely hate this place).

Recently, I came across a very cozy video where a Korean home cook mixes a Polish Pierogi Ruskie recipe with some Korean toppings. The thing that confused me the most, though, was the most liked comment under this video left by a Ukrainian woman who claimed that Pierogi Ruskie is a Ukrainian dish and is, in fact, called Varenyky. It's easy to assume that this person has never made a single dumpling, varenyk or pieróg in her entire life, as she kept on claiming that Pierogi Ruskie can have a lot of different fillings and that Polish Pierogi don't have such a big choice of fillings as Ukrainian Varenyky do, so, clearly, this person had zero idea what Pierogi Ruskie actually are, but that's not the point.

This comment made me wonder how different are the two cuisines of those Eastern European countries. Having lived long years in both countries, I thought it would be interesting to study this topic a little bit, namely from the perspective of the difference between the staple dishes in two cuisines. After all, we actually are what we eat, especially on the global scale. Everyone knows Italy for their brilliant pizza and pasta, and everyone knows Japan for sushi and tempura, and even though food is not the only aspect of those cultures that made them famous around the world, it definitely adds up to create a full picture of their collective cultural identity.

So, in this post I'd like to share some personal observations that I made throughout my life about Polish and Ukrainian cuisine having lived significant portions of life in both countries, being ethnically related to both and being wholeheartedly fascinated by food.

Disclaimer!!! I'm not a food scientist or chef, nor am I a professional historian. All the notes down here are mostly based on my personal observations and some basic research. I did consult a professional cook and a baker whom I know personally as they happen to be my family members. I do recommend treating everything I share here with a grain of salt (hehe, because we gonna talk 'bout cookin', hehe, so use salt) and bear in mind that different cooks have different approaches to their recipes and your personal experience with Ukrainian and Polish food might differ from mine. That being said, I encourage you to share these experiences whether you are Ukrainian, Polish or anyone else, really. I do not accept such arguments as "Ruskie because Kyiv Rus!", though, as it's not about arguing in the first place, it's about diving into the heritage of those two countries and talking about the food.

Pierogi vs. Вареники

Let's start with them culprits. I think those two dishes are the most confusing ones because of their similarity. Gosh, both of them are dumplings from Eastern Europe shaped like a growing moon, aren't they?

The dough for both dishes varies from region to region, from cook to cook. In my experience, both recipes need three basic ingredients:

- liquid

- salt

- flour

The rest depends, really. You can change the four, you can change the liquid, replacing water with milk or kefir, you can add an egg. I personally go with my mother's recipe which is boiling hot water, egg, AP flour and salt.

Two of the striking differences are their size and shape. It seems like Ukrainian dumplings are usually smaller, flatter and quite translucent in comparison to Polish ones, which are big, sometimes even huge (check Pierogi Po Bieszczadzku, they are bigger than my fists, I kid you not), they have a very full body and the dough itself is thicker (the reason is not so much ingredients in the dough as is the method of forming/cutting the circles out of it). They also have a lot of different really funny regional names which very often also refer to the size, shape, filling or method of preparation, for instance, Dzyndzałki (Warmian small dumplings served in soup), Bulwanki (Eastern Polish holiday pierogi with variety of savoury fillings), Sasznie (A type of dumplings from Eastern Borderlands that use potato in the dough) or Sójki (Masovian baked pierogi made with yeast).

The fillings of both Pierogi and Varenyky basically might create their own multiverse. In both Poland and Ukraine, I found so many different combinations of fillings that it would be a waste of time to write about each one of them. However, Pierogi most often have savoury fillings (from meat through cheese and potatoes though different types of groats and the list goes on and on..), while Varenyky have a bigger variety of sweet fillings, including the classic cherry filling. Also, Ukrainians seem to be not very much into the meat filling. In my childhood, I had never eaten meat dumplings in Ukraine, however, at the time, pelmeni were quite a popular alternative. Ah, classic Soviet influence - replace your own with something russian )yuck.

As for the toppings, depending on what kind of filling you are dealing with, there are many alternatives for both dishes, including chives, fried bacon, sour cream, melted butter, caramel sauce (haven't seen this one in Ukraine, but noticed it being popular in Poland with sweet cottage cheese Pierogi) and many others. Both dishes are absolutely marvelous even without any additions.

Now, if anyone says that Pierogi Ruskie are called that way because they are Ukrainian, they are not entirely wrong. This type of pierogi was invented in Eastern Galicia (a geographical region in Western Ukraine which was also used to refer to the Eastern part of Poland; The name derives from its Polish name of territory - "Ruś Czerwona" ("Ruthenia Rubra" in Latin)), however there's a high chance it happened when it was the part of Austrian Empire, when majority of population in this region, especially in big cities including Lviv, were Polish. Either way, this dish is much more popular in modern Poland and has lots of different regional variations that you can meet across the whole country (see the Bryndzylki designed by Polish Highlanders), while it's basically non-existent in Ukraine and in the country they are often called "польські пироги" (literally "Polish Pierogi". Pierogi Ruskie are prepared with cheese, onion and potato filling, while in Ukraine you are more likely to come across some Varenyky with potato, onion and bacon filling.

Thank you very much for your attention, share your dumpling preferences and experiences in the comments or in the reblogs, share your recipes, go crazy, and let's discuss the food!!

My pierogi variation with cottage cheese and strawberry jam filling (not the most attractively shaped one, but very tasty - my significant other approved them):

[hamburgerslippers]

About Me

tagged by @chaoticmoonfleur 💗mwah mwah

Nickname: Mr. slippers, Razzmatazz, Razzy, Taz, Tequila Sunset

Sign: Sagittarius

Height: 163cm

Last Google Search: медівник recipe (am CRAVING and cant find my old dessert book)

Song Stuck In My Head: Pleaser by Wallows

Sleep: I ❤ melatonin

Dream Job: Always wanted to be a stay-at-home parent. I had both my parents do it (switching) and it was really special. I wanna do that. Also i love kids but can't bring myself to be a teacher in this province.

Wearing: Uni Tee that i cropped and joggers

Favourite Songs: Me Colé en una Fiesta, Elevated Trains, SAD GIRLZ LUV MONEY, Seigfried, kinda hate u kinda love u, melting, break it off, LOTS MORE IDK

Favourite Instrument: To play- Trumpet or guitar, to listen to- Double Bass

Aesthetic:

Alternatively

Favourite Author(s): Rob Doyle. idk i dont actually pay attention to the authors of the books i read. also i like to read bad books *head in hands*

Favourite Color: Orange atm!!!

Favourite Animal Sounds: Loon coos

Last Song: Heart to Heart by Mac DeMarco

Last Series: The Summer I Turned Pretty💗

Random:

No Pressure Tags- @hard4softthings @lindholmline @a-writer-on-elm-street @slaasherslut @rottent33th @twoguysonebeartrap

[cozy-stacy]

Superwomen #1

МАКСИМ. 60 балів

Яна (самовпевнена інстамама, яка живе для соц. мереж), 34 р. (кар’єристка)

Стосунки: заміжня, заможний чоловік який не підтримує захоплень своєї дружини і не пробачить їй зайві кілограми, можливі зради - 4/10

Хазяйновитість: готує свекруха (страви в судочках - котлети, тефтелі, риба, млинці), прибирає домашня робітниця, доглядає за дітьми няня, має трьох дітей - старшу дочку Мілану (неймовірно мудра дитина), середнього сина Сашка та молодшу дочку Уляну - 7/10

Досягнення: успішний блогер, все робить на показ муча��чи своїх близьких, організатор подій, займається йогою та ходить в спорт зал, робить сімейні фотосесії, знає 3 мови (італійський, англійський, франзуцький), має 3 вищі освіти, кандидат історичних наук, зайняла місце в ТОП 25 міс Всесвіт - 8/10

Будинок: простора квартира у стилі бохо-шик, з позолотою та канделябрами, трохт старомодний дизайн, достатньо чисто та прибрано за рахунок прибиральниць, кіпа іграшок у дітей - 6/10

Стиль: ефектна, підтянута блонда з яскравим, але не вичурним макіяжем, лисичими рисами обличчя, довгим носом та дорогим трендовим одягом, стиль бізнес-мами (яскравий рожевий костюм з пір’ям  та шпильки для знайомства / вдома у вязаному спортивному костюмі бежевого кольору/ У Олени у принтованій ситцевій сукні леопард холодного кольору і чорних панчохах/ У Вел з червоною помадою, червоною кофтинкою з кашеміру та обтягуючими кремовими шкіряними штанами/ У Алі маленька чорна сукня без рукавів/На фіналі чорний облягаючий топ з ситця та паєток і блискучі срібні штани теж з паєтками і макіяж в пурпурових тонах- 8/10

Спец.завдання: заняття спортом

Обід: чай, пиріг з шоколадом, тортик з вершками та ягідним желе, фрукти - 7/10

Заг. кількість балів: 40

Олена (яжемать, невихована та заздрісна повна дама-деспот з купою комплексів, які ховає за манірною суворістю) 37 р. (простачка)

Стосунки: заміжня, диктатор у стосунках, яка веде за собою мамлю чоловіка підкаблучнка, який не сприймає її сексуально, різниця у віці 19 років, не розповіла про інтимні стосунки - 5/10

Хазяйновитість: зациклена на дітях, має 2х хлопців близнюків, у хаті прибирає неорганізовано, абсолютно негостинна,- 5/10

Досягнення: має хобі - шиття і хортінг (боротьба), але увесь вільний час присвячує вихованню дітей, але має дуже застарілі погляди на виховання, деспотичний характер, типова мама квочка, - 6/10

Будинок: велика трьохкімнатна квартира з легкою розрухою, середній безлад який допустимий для звичайного сімейного дня, але не для гостей, світла симпатична кухня - 4/10

Стиль:повнувата і недоглянута, з жовтим сухим волоссям, недолугим макіяжем та яскравими сукнями-балахонами (літній сарафан жовто-синього кольору з принтом і віночок під колір сукні на голові для знайомства / у Яни бірюзово-золотиста сукня-балахон і бірюзовий обідок на голові / вдома у білому сарафані, фартушку і червоній косинці/ У Вел біла сукня з чорними узорами та чорним обідком/ У Алі чорна сукня з синіми квітами / На фіналі у тій же білій сукні що і вдома, але волосся зібране наверх, рожево-біла хустника та перламутрова помада кольору фуксії) - 2/10

Спец.заняття: заняття хортінгом

Обід: булочки темні, булочки світлі, шинка, сир, яблука,груші, крекери, сухофрукти, салат, зелений чай 7/10

Заг.кількість балів: 29

Вел (наївна добрячка крішнаїдка не з цієї планети) 29 р. (феєчка)

Стосунки: незаміжня, повністю преклоняється перед чоловіком, миє та цілує йому ноги, віддається йому, дозволяє бути чоловіком, щаслива у тій ілюзії - 4/10

Хазяйновитість:середньо прибраний будинок, затертий посуд, брудня духовка, брудний туалет, багато питань до її чоловіка як до господаря, бруднюща ванна, але Вел дуже гостинна та добра - 4/10

Досягнення: займається собою, жіночі енергії, старається віднайти свою жіночу гармонію, має коллекцію осликів, раніше займалась серйозно займалась театром - 8/10

Будинок: зйомна квартира з косметичним ремонтом, зі штучними квітами в туалеті, зі старою плиткою на кухні та своєю крішнаїдською атмосферою хіпарства та арома-паличок, фіолетовий коридор, рожева спальня - 3/10

Стиль: миловидна молодиця, зі світлими очима та пшеничним волоссям до плечей, струнка та тендітна, одягається в індійське сарі (на знайомство прийшла без макіяжу, у білій футболці, пурпуровому сарі з пімпкою на лобі, волосся заплела в кому і перев’язала ораджевою стрічкою / у Яни у квітковій темно-синій сукні-сорочціі до п’ят, яка прикриває плечі та лікті /парадна темно-синя сукня з білим дрібним принтом та рукавами ліхтариками, зачіска мальвіна/ Вдома облягаюча морська сукня до п’ят з відкритою спиною та плечима/ У Алі смарагдова спідниця, шовкова блузка з рукавами ліхтариками сріблястого кольору та два гарних колоски/ На фіналі з гарно заплетеними в зачіску косами, ніжним макіяжем та блакитно-білій сукні з квітами - 4/10

Спец.заняття: медитація в лісі

Обід: торт медівник, пряники, кава та чай з травами - 7/10

Заг.кількість балів: 30

Аля  (хитра лялечка не обділена розумом та сексуальністю), 25 р. (сексі нахлібниця)

Стосунки:заміжня, має дуже розумного чоловіка який гарно заробляє та забезпечує свою кохану, обом максимально комфортно у стосунках.Хитра лисичка яка думає, що керує чоловіка. Сексуальне життя максимально розмаїтне. Має костюми для рольових ігор. Аля вагітна - 8/10

Хазяйновитість: У квартирі чисто та затишно, страви приготовані самою дівчиною, у холодильнику є свіжі фрукти, ковбаси та сири для сендвічів, соуси. У домі створює затишок і свою особливу атмосферу. Є гардеробна з купою Аліного одягу - 9/10

Досягнення: хороша господиня з гострим розумом, починаючий інста-блогер - 6/10

Будинок: сучасна квартира у темних сірих тонах у стилі лофт, дуже затишна та красива, всюди купа маленьких дрібниць, справжнє любовне гніздечко, свіжі квіти, де не де лаванда та ніжні блідо-фіолетові кольори, кремова кухня, панорамні вікна, маленький песик - 9/10

Стиль: дуже доглянута брюнетка з красивими рисами обличчя, яскравим манікюром, пухкими губами, нарощеними віями та милим дівчачим стилем (на знайомсвто прийшла з песиком (зачіскою гофре мальвіна, у блідо-рожевій футболці з золотим надписом, чорній шкіряній спідничці та чорних панчохах/ у Яни в комфортних чорних лосинах та блідо-рожевому світшоті з зачіскою мальвіна та милим дівчачим макіяжем/ У Олени зелена сукня-туніка у стилі гейші з сакурою, чорні панчішки і зачіска мальвіна з завитками на кінчиках, подарувала пенюар/ У Вел високий кінський хвіст, сережки кільця у вухах, червоний оверсайз светр грубої в’язки та чорних джинсах з блідуватою матовою помадою, принесла курку гриль на стіл/ Вдома домашній сарафан з котиками, пухнасті блідо-рожеві тапулі та рівне розпущене волосся/ На фіналі в помаранчевому матовому костюмі з футболки та штаніві, з рівним волоссям та зібраним назад чубчиком- 10/10

Спец.заняття: лекція про стосунки

Обід: чайні кекси з шоколадом та цукровою пудрою, млинці зі згущеним молоком, шоколадні цукерки, вафельки, нарізані апельсини, банани, яблука, чорний чай - 8/10

Заг.кількість балів: 49

Переможниця по факту: Яна

Сп��авжня переможниця: Аля

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Рецепти господині / Секрети смачної кухні №2 февраль 2017

Коломийська кухня (мелай, єшниці, шупені, фасольинка, книглі, гоцаки, прьитане молоко, медівник, вишняк та інші) *"Святкові оздоби": до дня Святого Валентина * Забуті переписи * "Здорова кухня": насіння чіа * "Апетитні закуски": домашній сир "Філа... Читать дальше »

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Our very Slavic lunch

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The filling and the icing

Traditionally, the most popular filling for Piernik is plum or blackcurrants jam, sometimes marmalade. This practice has remained popular these days, even though it seems to have been introduced in the very first recipes for Polish Piernik. These days, cooks sometimes soak the cake with liquor (amaretto) or coffee to preserve the moisture before they spread the filling over the cake. Contemporary recipes also introduced some Swedish cream as possible filling. The icing seems to be more varied. Here are some of the popular ones: - Chocolate icing (often sprinkled over with almond or other nuts) - Glaze icing - Sugar syrup - almond paste (marzipan) I think that the chocolate icing is the most popular these days. When it comes to Medivnyk, it depends on whether you go for traditional or layered ones. The former is usually served with no icing whatsoever, often with just a sprinkle of sugar on to of it, although, some people like to borrow the chocolate icing or jam / cream filling from Polish tradition to make their cakes more interesting and cake-like. The layered gingerbread depends on good cream or custard in order to make the flatbread soft. Every layer is spread with a filling of choice, sometimes with addition of some jam (plum, raspberry or apricot) and then the cream is also used as icing, over which some корж crumbles are spinkled. As a result, such a cake looks very fluffy and is melting in one’s mouth. You can also sprinkle chocolate or nuts on top of it, like mom does.

Honorable mentions: Pierniki Toruńskie vs. Пряники and Медяники

I know I meant to write about cakes in this post, but there’s no way that I write about Piernik and never mention Toruń gingerbread cookies (I mean, COME ON!). Pierniki Toruńskie (also known as Thorner Lebkuchen) is one of the most famous kinds of gingerbreads in Europe. Its recipe is more than 700 years old and is considered legendary. The ingredients are basically the same as for the cake, with the exception of egg, but, of course, it uses different proportions. They have been produced in Confectionary Factory “Kopernik” in Toruń since 1763 and can be divided into the following cookie types: - Katarzynki (Thorner Kathrinchen)– heart-shaped gingerbreads covered in chocolate - Pierniki Nadziewane – literally “gingerbread cookies will filling” (traditionally, plum jam, but nowadays basically anything can be filling) - Toruniaki w glazurze(Thorner Pflastersteine) – literally “glazed Toruń gingerbeads” -  Pierniki Toruńskie nadziewane w glazurze – literally “glazed Toruń gingerbread cookies with filling”    - Pierniki figuralne (Thorner Figurenlebkuchen ) – gingerbread cookies of different shapes Toruń people are so proud of their amazing invention, that they have at least two museums dedicated to Pierniki Toruńskie and an annually Piernik Celebration. This type of cookie is basically the city’s biggest celebrity (sorry, Mr Kopernik). Ukraine is definitely not as into Pierniki as Poland is, but there is a local analogue which can be found in Ukrainian shops – Pryanyk. The difference between Piernki Toruńskie and Pryanyky is that the latter are thicker, usually but not always, round, and rarely do they have spices or filling in them. Unlike their Polish counterparts, Pryanyky have only one type of icing – the sugar glaze. Another interesting type of cookie with similar ingredients is Ukrainian Medyanyky, which once were a traditional treat for kids on the St. Nicholas day. They were baked 2-3 weeks before the holiday. Unlike, Toruńskie Pierniki or Pryanyky, Medyanyky are hard in texture (like gingerbread cookies from all over the world), can be decorated and kept for a very long time without spoiling. Just like Pryanyky or some Medivnyks, they don’t have any spices in them and rely on honey for their taste.

Recipes:

To conclude this post, I would like to include some recipes that I find particularly inspiring and fitting for the Christmas mood I’m in. Share your opinions in the comments if you use any of these. - Piernik Staropolski (Polish Classic Gingerbread cake with fermentation) - https://mojewypieki.com/przepis/piernik-staropolski  - Piernik "szybki" (Quick Polish Gingerbread muffin with jam) - https://aniagotuje.pl/przepis/piernik   - Традиціний медівник (Traditional Ukrainian Gingerbread) - https://besahy.com/recepty/tradytsiinyi-klasychnyi-medivnyk    - Весільний медівник (Traditional Ukrainian Gingerbread that used to be served on weddings) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZIoWAmPLW4 - Медівник з кремом (Layered Ukrainian "white gingerbread" with creamy filling) - https://klopotenko.com/desert-mrij-reczept-medivnyka-vid-yevgena-klopotenka/   Here’s my Piernik this year, I used my great-grandmother’s recipe which includes both Ukrainian and Polish Gingerbread tradition (it’s EXTREMELY tasty, even though I cannot eat much of it):

And this is my mom’s legendary layered Medivnyk this year:

For people who are such losers as I am and cannot eat sugar or wheat, I recommend trying this recipe for gingerbread cookies to quench your hunger for something “Christmasy” - https://foolproofliving.com/paleo-gingerbread-cookies/ I tried this recipe before and I can tell you these are hands down the best gingerbread cookies I’ve ever eaten:

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Polish Versus Ukrainian Cuisine, Part 1

I have to confess, I have a little sin on my consciousness, namely, I visit Instagram sometimes. In most cases I do that just to catch up with my friends and family, but, you know, as most of young people of my age I just end up scrolling a tiny bit (usually, right until the moment I feel the urge to vomit, as I genuinely hate this place).

Recently, I came across a very cozy video where a Korean home cook mixes a Polish Pierogi Ruskie recipe with some Korean toppings. The thing that confused me the most, though, was the most liked comment under this video left by a Ukrainian woman who claimed that Pierogi Ruskie is a Ukrainian dish and is, in fact, called Varenyky. It's easy to assume that this person has never made a single dumpling, varenyk or pieróg in her entire life, as she kept on claiming that Pierogi Ruskie can have a lot of different fillings and that Polish Pierogi don't have such a big choice of fillings as Ukrainian Varenyky do, so, clearly, this person had zero idea what Pierogi Ruskie actually are, but that's not the point.

This comment made me wonder how different are the two cuisines of those Eastern European countries. Having lived long years in both countries, I thought it would be interesting to study this topic a little bit, namely from the perspective of the difference between the staple dishes in two cuisines. After all, we actually are what we eat, especially on the global scale. Everyone knows Italy for their brilliant pizza and pasta, and everyone knows Japan for sushi and tempura, and even though food is not the only aspect of those cultures that made them famous around the world, it definitely adds up to create a full picture of their collective cultural identity.

So, in this post I'd like to share some personal observations that I made throughout my life about Polish and Ukrainian cuisine having lived significant portions of life in both countries, being ethnically related to both and being wholeheartedly fascinated by food.

Disclaimer!!! I'm not a food scientist or chef, nor am I a professional historian. All the notes down here are mostly based on my personal observations and some basic research. I did consult a professional cook and a baker whom I know personally as they happen to be my family members. I do recommend treating everything I share here with a grain of salt (hehe, because we gonna talk 'bout cookin', hehe, so use salt) and bear in mind that different cooks have different approaches to their recipes and your personal experience with Ukrainian and Polish food might differ from mine. That being said, I encourage you to share these experiences whether you are Ukrainian, Polish or anyone else, really. I do not accept such arguments as "Ruskie because Kyiv Rus!", though, as it's not about arguing in the first place, it's about diving into the heritage of those two countries and talking about the food.

Pierogi vs. Вареники

Let's start with them culprits. I think those two dishes are the most confusing ones because of their similarity. Gosh, both of them are dumplings from Eastern Europe shaped like a growing moon, aren't they?

The dough for both dishes varies from region to region, from cook to cook. In my experience, both recipes need three basic ingredients:

- liquid

- salt

- flour

The rest depends, really. You can change the four, you can change the liquid, replacing water with milk or kefir, you can add an egg. I personally go with my mother's recipe which is boiling hot water, egg, AP flour and salt.

Two of the striking differences are their size and shape. It seems like Ukrainian dumplings are usually smaller, flatter and quite translucent in comparison to Polish ones, which are big, sometimes even huge (check Pierogi Po Bieszczadzku, they are bigger than my fists, I kid you not), they have a very full body and the dough itself is thicker (the reason is not so much ingredients in the dough as is the method of forming/cutting the circles out of it). They also have a lot of different really funny regional names which very often also refer to the size, shape, filling or method of preparation, for instance, Dzyndzałki (Warmian small dumplings served in soup), Bulwanki (Eastern Polish holiday pierogi with variety of savoury fillings), Sasznie (A type of dumplings from Eastern Borderlands that use potato in the dough) or Sójki (Masovian baked pierogi made with yeast).

The fillings of both Pierogi and Varenyky basically might create their own multiverse. In both Poland and Ukraine, I found so many different combinations of fillings that it would be a waste of time to write about each one of them. However, Pierogi most often have savoury fillings (from meat through cheese and potatoes though different types of groats and the list goes on and on..), while Varenyky have a bigger variety of sweet fillings, including the classic cherry filling. Also, Ukrainians seem to be not very much into the meat filling. In my childhood, I had never eaten meat dumplings in Ukraine, however, at the time, pelmeni were quite a popular alternative. Ah, classic Soviet influence - replace your own with something russian )yuck.

As for the toppings, depending on what kind of filling you are dealing with, there are many alternatives for both dishes, including chives, fried bacon, sour cream, melted butter, caramel sauce (haven't seen this one in Ukraine, but noticed it being popular in Poland with sweet cottage cheese Pierogi) and many others. Both dishes are absolutely marvelous even without any additions.

Now, if anyone says that Pierogi Ruskie are called that way because they are Ukrainian, they are not entirely wrong. This type of pierogi was invented in Eastern Galicia (a geographical region in Western Ukraine which was also used to refer to the Eastern part of Poland; The name derives from its Polish name of territory - "Ruś Czerwona" ("Ruthenia Rubra" in Latin)), however there's a high chance it happened when it was the part of Austrian Empire, when majority of population in this region, especially in big cities including Lviv, were Polish. Either way, this dish is much more popular in modern Poland and has lots of different regional variations that you can meet across the whole country (see the Bryndzylki designed by Polish Highlanders), while it's basically non-existent in Ukraine and in the country they are often called "польські пироги" (literally "Polish Pierogi". Pierogi Ruskie are prepared with cheese, onion and potato filling, while in Ukraine you are more likely to come across some Varenyky with potato, onion and bacon filling.

Thank you very much for your attention, share your dumpling preferences and experiences in the comments or in the reblogs, share your recipes, go crazy, and let's discuss the food!!

My pierogi variation with cottage cheese and strawberry jam filling (not the most attractively shaped one, but very tasty - my significant other approved them):