The final stage of the formation of the national cuisine of Ukraine comes at the beginning of the 19th century. But in the early periods of its formation it differed little from the neighboring Belarusian, Russian and Polish cuisines. It is connected with the fact that various territories of present-day Ukraine for a long time were part of Poland and Russia, as well as other neighboring states (Hungary, Romania, Poland and Lithuania). This can explain the fundamental differences in the range of dishes that are popular in different regions.
How was the Ukrainian cuisine formed?
The kitchen of Ukraine was made up of already formed elements of the culinary culture of various regions. Ukraine is a fairly large territory, and the elements from which the kitchen was formed were very diverse. Neighboring nations, among whom were Tatars, Hungarians, Turks, Greeks, Moldovans, contributed their "taste" to the dishes of Ukraine. But despite the huge number of influencing factors, Ukrainian cuisine has formed quite uniform and for a number of products used for cooking, and by the method of processing these products. After the invasion of the Golden Horde (the Tatar-Mongol invasion), the connection with the traditions of Old Russian cuisine was lost.
The methods of cooking German and Hungarian culinary specialists and the technological aspects of Turkish and Tatar cuisine harmoniously blended in with the Vukrainian cuisine. More specifically, the purely Turkic cooking of products in oil in Ukraine is called "smeared." As a rule, onions are fried here and various vegetables before adding them to borsch. But a huge number of dishes with pork connects the cuisine of Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Belarus with Ukrainian cuisine. One can not fail to note the role of vegetable fat in Ukraine, for its use is often encountered here. It is not only used in salted or smoked form, it is used as fat for roasting, stuff any other meat where it does not. Classical sweet pastry - verguns are solely threaded in fat. In this kitchen, the eggs are abundantly used for preparing breakfasts, and for baking various fruit pies.
A little bit about Ukrainian pastry
Baking and flour products - this is a big chapter of Ukrainian cuisine. The most favorite type of test in Ukraine is fresh. Semi-exhaust, with baking powder, custard. The sandy and puff pastry is preferably used for making sweet pastries. Dumplings and dumplings, greeks and lemis are national dishes, prepared from a batterless dough and younger ones - vergones and "stabby". From the yeast dough, as a rule, bake bread products, such as "palyanytsi" (loaf), culinary wine (bread from wheat flour and the powder from berries of the viburnum). Wheat flour serves as the basis for the preparation of dough. Much less often use wheat flour in a mixture with buckwheat. The most popular cereals are millet and rice (the so-called "Sorochin millet" or Saracen with a hint of natural or Arabic origin).
Application of vegetables
In Ukraine, very fond of vegetables. Here it is an indispensable side dish for meat meat or as a cutting for fat. The most popular and possible to say national vegetable is "Buryak" (beetroot). It is used and used in the most common forms. Quail beets are the main dressing for most borscht.
Such leguminous crops as beans or lentils are additional additives to borsch, or they can be an excellent side dish. Still in Ukraine they prefer carrots, potatoes and tomatoes. Corn acts as a supplement to a variety of salads or simply boiled. Potatoes are widely used in Ukrainian cuisine, and often it is a side dish in the form of puree to boiled or fried meat. The extracted starch is put into use when preparing fruit jelly and other confectionery products.
"Cult" of vegetable oil
A rare dish in Ukrainian cuisine does without the use of vegetable oil. The most popular vegetable oil is sunflower oil. Based on the methods of processing sunflower seeds, there are two types: oil of cold and hot press. In ancient times, people used pork melted fat (smalets), and sunflower oil began to be used relatively recently, at the beginning of the last century. With the aroma of fried sunflower seeds, a variety of salads (vinaigrettes, green salad with tomatoes and cucumbers) are used to press the oil for a hot stew. The cold press oil goes to the frying and baking process.
Seasoning for dishes
From the seasonings, first of all use onions, garlic, dill, parsley, cumin. Vinegar is often used in both meat dishes and various salads. In sweet pastries always add cinnamon and cloves.
Popular Fruits of Vukrainian Cuisine
The most popular fruits in Ukraine are apples, pears, islets. They stuff pies, bake them in the oven, cook jam out of them. Smokers and gooseberries are very much appreciated as raw materials for making compotes and icicles.
Processing of products
It is worth noting a mixed way of processing products with heat, especially meat. Before you start a long heat treatment, whether it is extinguishing, cooking or frying, pre-cook the food lightly in the oil (if it's meat, then until a brittle crust appears). With these ways of cooking dishes in Ukraine is associated with the appearance of utensils - all kinds of cauldrons and frying-pan, bowls, cups and glets (jugs).
From the methods of preliminary processing of products, there is a release of shins, a fine cutting of meat with a knife. The abundance of dishes from crushed meat-meat, stuffed rolls, cobbles and cutlets is explained by borrowing from the German cuisine through the cuisine of Poland and the Czech Republic. Like any kitchen with a long history, Ukrainian cuisine is very different in regions. If you take Western Ukrainian cuisine and Eastern Ukrainian, then they are very different. Only one type of borsch in Ukraine is more than 30. Borsch can be included up to 20 ingredients, the basic ones - cabbage, beets, tomatoes in the form of tomato paste or tomato juice.