A Taste of Home, Away from Home

Robert Michon, Manager, Communications, ARTA

As multicultural Canadians, our diverse culinary traditions are an effective and delicious way to showcase our heritage and to pass it on to future generations. But have you ever met someone from the same country as your ancestors and found that your tastes didn’t quite line up? That was the reality for ARTA members Gordon and Cathie Gordey, along with many other Canadians with Ukrainian heritage, when Canada began welcoming large numbers of Ukrainians seeking safety from the full-scale Russian invasion of their country beginning in 2022.

Gordon and Cathie have long been involved in the Ukrainian community in Canada, and they were eager to step in and help when newcomers started arriving. But they quickly discovered, as many did, that their idea of authentic Ukrainian food differed from that of the Ukrainian newcomers they were meeting. Earlier this year, the couple paid a visit to DON’YA Ukraine’s Kitchen, a restaurant in Edmonton that is staffed entirely by newcomers. They were invited into the kitchen to chat with the women working there about food, while doing one of the most Ukrainian activities possible — pinching perogy dough to seal the filling inside.

Diverse Traditions

Early into their conversation, many differences were already clear. Take the name of the food they were making. In Ukraine, those famous dumplings are called varenyky, not perogies. And DON’YA kitchen manager Nataliia Vynohradova was shocked to see how Canadians made their varenyky. “I never saw someone use cheddar cheese to make varenyky before coming to Canada,” she said. “I wouldn’t even have been able to imagine it.” The same can be said of gluten-free and dairy-free varieties, which the women now make to cater to Canadian tastes. “In Ukraine, we don’t have allergies,” Nataliia joked.

The DON’YA staff were equally surprised to find that many Ukrainian Canadians preferred sour cabbage rolls over sweet, blueberries instead of cherries, canola oil over sunflower oil, and were more reliant on supermarkets than family gardens. And it’s not just ingredients that differed — there are whole dishes unique to the Ukrainian identity on each continent.

What happened to cause this culinary split? Gordon says it happened slowly, over time. “There were many waves of Ukrainian settlement in Canada,” he says. “Each generation brought something new to Canada, depending on the region they were leaving and the state of Ukraine at the time. And each wave adjusted to life here and the ingredients available.”

First-wave Ukrainians of the 1890s were fleeing Austro-Hungarian rule in the west, while many of today’s newcomers come from the east, where the Russian invasion has been most deadly. Ukrainians seeking stability after the devastation of the First World War came from a more rural tradition without much refrigeration or global trade; those seeking new opportunities as the Soviet Union collapsed had diets influenced by strict agricultural planning. Today, Ukraine is a highly modern, globalized nation where, according to Nataliia and her staff, you can find far better sushi than in Canada.

Going Beyond the Recipe

While the two groups of Ukrainians may act like the variations in cuisine are night and day, to tell the truth, a non-Ukrainian might not even be able to taste the difference — it takes years of eating at Baba’s table to appreciate the intricacies at play. And while the tastes may not line up exactly, the sentiment behind the food certainly does.

“As Ukrainian women, we need to know how to make traditional dishes,” Nataliia says. “It’s a matter of generational pride. I want my daughter to learn how to cook good, healthy food, with proper practices and a clean kitchen. Food is part of our cultural identity. The whole world can see it and know it is Ukrainian.”

In Gordon and Cathie’s family, opinions are much the same. Gordon is fond of time spent with his grandchildren, when he teaches them to make traditional koubasa and studenets (Ukrainian sausage and headcheese). “When I make perogies,” Cathie adds, “I think of my mother and grandmother. They were the ones who taught me. Even though we have some gluten allergies in the family now, we make adjustments so we can keep enjoying the food together.”

For Nataliia, the similarities have been more impactful than the differences. “Our food connects us with past generations, but it also connects us to people in Canada,” she says. “When we came here, we found Canadians who call their grandparents Baba and Dido, like we do. We had Canadians asking us about our studenets, about making cabbage rolls. I thought, ‘Oh my god, these people already know us, they know our culture.’ ”

Both the Gordeys and the DON’YA staff agree that their traditions will likely continue to change as Ukrainian culture continues to grow and adapt. But the values behind the food, and the sense of community it can create, will hopefully remain for many generations to come.

PYRIZHKY

• 3 egg yolks
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup butter
• 1 tsp vanilla

Mix butter and flour together. Beat egg yolks slightly, add cream, vanilla and lemon juice.

Put this into the butter and flour mixture. Turn out the mixture onto a floured board and shape into balls the size of a large marble. Chill over-night.

The next day, roll out each marble shaped dough into a square the thickness of a pie crust; in the centre of each square place a teaspoon of jam mixed with walnuts. Fold over like a little turn-over. Bake in moderate oven 350°F until light in color. When baked, place a spoonful of meringue on top of each and decorate with walnuts or maraschino cherries. Bake slowly until meringue is light brown.

(Recipe provided by Cathie Gordey)

Sup z Frykadel’kamy

(Суп з фрикадельками)

• 1.5 litres meat broth (or water)
• 1.5 onions
• 1 carrot
• 0.5 bulgarian pepper
• 2-3 potatoes
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 300 g minced meat
• 1 egg
• Parsley (greens) – to taste
• Salt – to taste
• Black ground pepper – to taste

Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan. Fry the chopped onion until translucent. Set aside 1/3 of the cooked onion for the meatballs and add the carrots to the pan. Fry until the carrots are soft. Add the pepper and continue to fry for another 2-3 minutes.

Add the reserved part of the fried onion, one egg, parsley, salt and pepper to the minced meat. Mix thoroughly. With wet hands or a teaspoon, form small meatballs.

In a saucepan, bring the meat broth or water to a boil. Carefully lower the prepared meatballs into the boiling liquid. Cook them for 5-7 minutes. Add the cubed potatoes and salt to the saucepan and cook for another 10 minutes.

Add the fried vegetables (onions, carrots, peppers) to the soup. Cook until vegetables are at desired tenderness. Taste the soup and add spices if necessary.

(Recipe provided by DON'YA Ukraine's Kitchen)

Robert is ARTA’s Manager of Communications. He holds a communications degree from MacEwan University and is passionate about sharing knowledge that will help people create their ideal lifestyle in retirement.