page_title: Ukrainian cuisine
section_title: Salads and appetizers
hierarchical_section_title: Ukrainian cuisine / Salads and appetizers
caption_attribution_description: English: Traditional Ukrainian Paska with a Trypillian pysanka and willow branchesУкраїнська: Традиційна українська Паска з трипільською писанкою та вербою
context_page_description: Ukrainian cuisine is the collection of the various cooking traditions of the Ukrainian people accumulated over many years. The cuisine is heavily influenced by the rich dark soil from which its ingredients come and often involves many components.
  The national dish of Ukraine that undeniably originates from the country is borsch. However, varenyky and holubtsi are also considered national favourites of the Ukrainian people and are a common meal in traditional Ukrainian restaurants.
  Often referred to as the “breadbasket of Europe” the Ukrainian cuisine emphasizes the importance of wheat and grain to the Ukrainian people and its often tumultuous history with it. The majority of Ukrainian dishes descend from ancient peasant dishes based on plentiful grain resources such as rye as well as staple vegetables such as potato, cabbages, mushrooms and beetroots. Ukrainian dishes incorporate both traditional Slavic techniques as well as other European techniques, a by product of years of foreign jurisdiction and influence.
  The Ukrainian cuisine incorporates a variety of different food branches due to the large size of the country and the plentiful edible resources.
context_section_description: Kovbasa: various kinds of smoked or boiled pork, beef or chicken sausage.
  Salo: cured fatback.
  Kholodets: aspic (Studenetz or richcake) made with meat or fish (zalyvna ryba).
  Olivier: salad made out of cooked and chopped potatoes, dill pickles, boiled chopped eggs, cooked and chopped chicken or ham, chopped onions, canned peas, mixed with mayonnaise.
  Vinigret: salad with cooked and shredded beets, sauerkraut, cooked and chopped potatoes, onions, and carrots, sometimes pickles mixed with some sunflower oil and salt.
  Bread and wheat products are important to Ukrainian cuisine. Decorations on the top can be elaborate for celebrations.
  Babka: Easter bread, usually a sweet dough with raisins and other dried fruit. It is usually baked in a tall, cylindrical form.
  Bublik: ring-shaped bread roll made from dough that has been boiled before baking. It is similar to bagel, but usually somewhat bigger and with a wider hole.
  Kalach: ring-shaped bread typically served at Christmas and funerals. The dough is braided, often with three strands representing the Holy Trinity. The braid is then shaped into a circle (circle = kolo in Ukrainian) representing the circle of life and family.
  Korovai: a round, braided bread, similar to the kalach. It is most often baked for weddings and its top decorated with birds and periwinkle.
  Palyanytsya: regular baked bread (famously difficult to pronounce for non-Ukrainian speakers).
  Pampushky: soft, fluffy bread portions topped with garlic butter.
  Paska: traditional rich pastry.
caption: Traditional Ukrainian paska
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