NATIONAL DISH OF UKRAINE - Varenyky
Well it is Anzac Day here in Australia, a day that many Australians consider to be more of a national day than our actual national day (Australia Day). April 25th is a public holiday in Australia and New Zealand, in which we commemorate and honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC). Specifically those who fought on the beaches of Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I. Special events of the day include Dawn Service Memorials across the country, where solemn prayer, a few minutes of silence, playing of "The Last Post" by a lone bugler and the laying of wreaths occur. Also an Anzac Day Parade is performed in most cities, where veterans of past wars and current serving members of the Australian Armed Forces march down streets. Some people then head to local pubs or RSLs for some drinks and the traditional game of two-up. And then of course there is the traditional Anzac Day AFL match between fierce rivals Essendon and Collingwood.Theses games are always sold out and are generally the most attended game outside of the finals.
This year Anzac Day coincided with Easter, so instead of a 4-day weekend, we got a 5-day weekend. I travelled to my hometown for the obligatory family Easter, and after seeing my family and consuming so much chocolate that Willy Wonka would be disgusted, I returned to Melbourne after 3 days. This is evident of how I feel about the hometown life. 3 days is bordering on too long. Most of The Molefaces were out of town except K Horns, and so I thought we make some Ukrainian dumplings or Varenyky. And even though we didn't make some Australian food to commemorate the day, K Horns is from New Zealand. So it's just like we formed our own ANZAC culinary alliance.
Varenyky are crescent-shaped stuffed dumplings similar to Polish pierogi. Made from unleavened dough, they are generally filled with mashed potato, cheese or sauerkraut. Another favorite for dessert contain cherry filling. They are then boiled, then fried, then topped with fried onion and accompanied with sour cream, and then finally devoured. I say devoured and not eaten, for after you have one varenyky, the rest of the batch will be guaranteed to be quickly consumed!
Well it is Anzac Day here in Australia, a day that many Australians consider to be more of a national day than our actual national day (Australia Day). April 25th is a public holiday in Australia and New Zealand, in which we commemorate and honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC). Specifically those who fought on the beaches of Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I. Special events of the day include Dawn Service Memorials across the country, where solemn prayer, a few minutes of silence, playing of "The Last Post" by a lone bugler and the laying of wreaths occur. Also an Anzac Day Parade is performed in most cities, where veterans of past wars and current serving members of the Australian Armed Forces march down streets. Some people then head to local pubs or RSLs for some drinks and the traditional game of two-up. And then of course there is the traditional Anzac Day AFL match between fierce rivals Essendon and Collingwood.Theses games are always sold out and are generally the most attended game outside of the finals.
This year Anzac Day coincided with Easter, so instead of a 4-day weekend, we got a 5-day weekend. I travelled to my hometown for the obligatory family Easter, and after seeing my family and consuming so much chocolate that Willy Wonka would be disgusted, I returned to Melbourne after 3 days. This is evident of how I feel about the hometown life. 3 days is bordering on too long. Most of The Molefaces were out of town except K Horns, and so I thought we make some Ukrainian dumplings or Varenyky. And even though we didn't make some Australian food to commemorate the day, K Horns is from New Zealand. So it's just like we formed our own ANZAC culinary alliance.
Varenyky are crescent-shaped stuffed dumplings similar to Polish pierogi. Made from unleavened dough, they are generally filled with mashed potato, cheese or sauerkraut. Another favorite for dessert contain cherry filling. They are then boiled, then fried, then topped with fried onion and accompanied with sour cream, and then finally devoured. I say devoured and not eaten, for after you have one varenyky, the rest of the batch will be guaranteed to be quickly consumed!
Enjoy, or as they say in Ukraine, Смачного! (Smačnoho)
The recipe for a dumpling of a different kind: http://www.allthingsukrainian.com/Recipe/Varenyky/index.html
Difficulty: 3
Appearance: 4
Taste: 4
TOTAL: 11
Note: Difficulty is scaled in reverse to the other categories, where 1 = was extremely difficult to make, and 5 = was easy to make.
Note: Difficulty is scaled in reverse to the other categories, where 1 = was extremely difficult to make, and 5 = was easy to make.
Although never having made Varenyky, I have made Pierogi before. So I harnessed that past experience for the task. Normally I don't have a helper for the whole dish, but K Horns was an invaluable kitchen assistant. Even though she didn't have the ideal cooking utensils, we improvised, as seen in the video. I appreciate that she let me take over her kitchen, and in the end her varenyky looked better than mine.
After boiling the varenyky, they looked like steamed dumplings but a little less appetising. However, once you fry them over the onion they brown up quite nicely. And then if you have an extraordinary food presenter such as K Horns, the final arrangement looks tantalising!
Now I love a good dumpling, but majority of my dumpling experiences are of the Asian persuasion. These Ukrainian varenyky were amazing, particularly the cheese variety we made. And as I've mentioned before, anything is gonna taste delicious when accompanied by sour cream! Next time though I feel I need to throw some meat into the filling, and top with bacon!
(For those playing at home, Ukraine have fared pretty well in past Eurovision performances. After 8 appearances since their debut in 2003, they have won once and came second twice. In fact they won in just their second appearance! Ruslana won in 2004 with her highly energetic performance of "Wild Dances". Her performances, in particular the pyrotechnics and traditional-inspired leather costumes make it one of the memorable wins in the past decade. Ukraine have never been knocked out after the semis and so have never missed a final. And with less then 3 weeks to go, it will be interesting to see what Ukraine has in store for this year.)
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