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The Food World Rallies For Ukraine
When I was in college, my mother and I took a trip to Europe, flying on Pan Am. In the airport, my mother smiled and nodded at a lady seated across from us. When we got on the plane, the flight attendant came to our seat with a request: could she help interpret with a passenger?
My mother went with her, and I discovered it was the same woman she smiled at in the airport. After a few minutes, everyone was nodding, the passenger’s concerns were dealt with, and my mother returned.
“What was that about?” I asked. My mother shrugged, and didn’t elaborate. “Where is she from?” “She’s Ukrainian.” “But you don’t speak Ukrainian,” I answered. “Ukrainian is close to Russian,” said my mother, who numbered that among her five languages. “We made ourselves understood.”
I hadn’t thought about the Ukrainian lady until last week, when I hung on every word from Volodymyr Velenskyy, Ukraine’s brave but embattled president. Listening to his daily videos, I caught words that sounded familiar and I could feel my Eastern European roots come proudly to the surface.
While my name is French, and my father’s family has been in North America (Canada and the U.S.) for nearly 200 years, I am only second generation American on my mother’s side.
My maternal grandparents emigrated from Riga, Latvia, and they initially lived among a variety of newcomers — Poles, Russians, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, and Latvians — in Chicago, as well as Grand Rapids, Mich.
As an adult, I’ve learned just how much these places have in common, in culture and especially in cuisine, and also some of their important differences. That’s never been more true as I support and watch the efforts to help Ukrainian refugees.
Chef Jose Andres On The Scene
I’m a big supporter of World Central Kitchen, the charity headed by Chef Jose Andres and run by its CEO, Nate Mook. Over the years, I’ve seen them corral armies of chefs everywhere from Texas to Louisiana, Haiti and the Domenican Republic to Brazil. It’s almost magical that way Chef Jose and Nate pop up within hours or days of a tragedy, setting up vast rescue kitchens.
Both of them are in Eastern Europe, directing outposts of WCK in Poland, Romania and numerous points along the Ukrainian border, and posting regular video updates. The first night they arrived, I saw them making chicken and rice for the first wave of refugees.
“Tea and soup,” I tweeted at Nate, remembering my mother’s culinary lessons, and sure enough, every meal since has included tea and soup, and often freshly baked bread.
Incidentally, tea in Ukrainian is “chay” pronounced like “chai,” and it’s the same word in Russian and pretty much every Eastern European language. Bread is “khlib” pronounced “kleb,” which is the same thing elsewhere, too.
There has been so much focus has been on helping the 1 million plus refugees who have left Ukraine, with the effort sweeping the culinary world. In New York City, the spotlight has been on Veselka, the little diner in the East Village that has been in business since 1954.
There have been lines around the block, and some of those diners are no doubt getting their first taste of borscht, pierogi (also called verenyky) and blintzes.
If you’ve only had the Russian or Polish versions of these dishes, Veselka’s are slightly different; a little more sour and a little lighter. My mother made a Ukrainian blintz dish that was baked in the oven, crispier than those cooked in a crepe pan.
I’ve always been a fan of Veselka’s poppy seed bread, and it’s one of the few places you can get bigos, a hearty hunter’s stew that takes three days to make (I knew someone who used to put it outside on his apartment balcony to cool during steps of the process).
Veselka has become a drop off point for supplies that are being sent to Ukraine and it also is donating proceeds from its borscht sales to help refugees.
Baking for Ukraine
All across the United States, bakers are rallying in support of Ukraine. Dorie Greenspan published a recipe in her newsletter that I hadn’t thought about for years: Gusinie Lapki, which translates as “goose feet.”
You make these by hand, and they’re essentially a folded cookie (resembling the goose feet) that’s doused with granulated sugar. Although they can be made with cottage cheese, I definitely recommend making them with farmer’s cheese, which you can find in specialty stores and some groceries (I used to bring it back from Chicago, where you can purchase massive blocks of it at Bobak’s on the west side.)
Another popular fund raising pastry coincides with the Jewish holiday of Purim. A number of bakers around the world are dedicating sales of hamantashen to help Ukrainian refuges. Check the IG account @hamantashen_for_ukraine for more details.
Hamantashen refers to the villain Haman, the enemy of the Jewish people, who wore a tri-cornered hat.
The cookie is like a soft shortbread, filled with ingredients such as poppyseed (my favorite), apricot, cream cheese and prune, while more modern versions feature chocolate, Nutella and even savory fillings.
Macaron sales also are benefiting Ukrainian refugees, like those above from Tea Haus in Ann Arbor (owner Lisa McDonald’s husband is from Ukraine).
I don’t think there is a formal connection between the French treats and Ukraine, except that they can be dyed in the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag (blue stands for the sky, yellow for sunflowers that are abundant in Ukraine’s rich farmland).
I’ve seen some downright snooty reactions on social media to the local efforts. These commentators argue that cookie sales can’t do much to stave off Russia’s invasion, and they simply fuel peoples’ desire to do something to help.
But if you see the footage of people in bomb shelters, train stations, in tents and in basements, the food aid is getting to them, and it’s a way to show that the world is thinking of Ukraine.
If nothing else, this is a time to set aside our differences over petty things, and pull together in one direction - peace. To that, I say, “Slava Ukraini! Heroyam slava.”
Ukrainian News Delays Stanley Tucci
I was all set to start watching Season 2 of Stanley Tucci’s Searching for Italy next Sunday. But sadly, the flurry of news events has caused CNN to delay broadcasting the new season.
A new date for its debut will be announced later this spring.
A Man of Many Mugs
I’m friends on Facebook with Jarl Mohn, the legendary radio and television entrepreneur. He was an executive vice president at MTV and VH1, and he created E! Entertainment Television.
I met him in 2015, shortly after he became the CEO of NPR, and I took at job at NPR’s daily news program, Here & Now. Just before I left for Boston, he was in Ann Arbor to meet with public radio supporters, and I asked him if he’d have time for a chat.
We had a delightful conversation, one of many Jarl had with public radio staff during his five years at NPR (he visited more than 100 stations).
In January, as his 70th birthday approached, he decided to celebrate by becoming a member of 251 public radio stations. He sent notes and $1,000 contributions, with a simple request: could he have a coffee mug?
The mugs poured in (no pun intended) and during the winter, he entertained his Facebook friends by posting photos of some of the handcrafted ones.
It turns out that a number of local potters team up with their NPR stations to make coffee mugs, and many are little works of art.
Current, which covers public media news, wrote this story about Jarl’s mugs. He says he doesn’t have a favorite, but I’m inclined to like the one from Michigan Radio.
What I’ve Been Writing
Along with my flurry of book activities (more on that in the next item), I have been busy with my food writing.
My nephew Parker Maynard recently moved to Ann Arbor to work with the Washtenaw County Parks department. For Christmas, I gave him a set of Pyrex glass measuring cups. He confided that he needed ideas to outfit his starter kitchen, and that led to this story for The Takeout.
I also adapted an excerpt from Satisfaction Guaranteed for The Takeout, focusing on Sy Ginsberg, the man who taught Zingerman’s how to prepare corned beef.
With St. Patrick’s Day coming up, you might want to employ Sy’s method. And if you’re in Detroit later this year, you can check out Sy’s new deli in Eastern Market. He sent me the nicest thank you note, so I will definitely be stopping in.
Keeping Up With CulinaryWoman
Tomorrow, I’ll be talking about Satisfaction Guaranteed with the Dearborn, Mich., public library. The Zoom presentation starts at 6:30 pm ET. It is free, but you need to register in advance.
Next week is the 40th anniversary of Zingerman’s Deli. If you’re in Ann Arbor on March 15, please join me, co-founders Paul Saginaw and Ari Weinzweig, and Deli Managing Partner Grace Singleton at the Deli for a conversation and a meal.
You can buy tickets here; the top two tiers include my book.
You can email me at culinarywoman at gmail dot com to inquire about setting up a book event. Please keep in mind that events need to include an opportunity for attendees to purchase my book. Also, I prefer small audiences and Zoom events until the pandemic ebbs a little more.
I’m @michelinemaynard on Instagram and @culinarywoman on Twitter and Tik Tok. There’s also a CulinaryWoman Facebook page. You can find the latest book info there or on my website.
Mask requirements are being lifted in all parts of country, but please follow your local practices and policies. Stay well, see you next week, and Slava Ukraini!