Ukraine

What to eat in Ukraine: top 10 dishes

Traveling to Ukraine? These are the ten dishes it is best known for, from everyday staples to festive classics, with a short background and a tip on where and when to eat each one. Ranked by how widely they are known around the world.

01
Borscht
Borscht (English: ) is a sour soup, made with meat stock, vegetables and seasonings, common in Eastern Europe, Central Europe and Northern Asia.
Travel tip A staple at lunch, eaten with sour cream, garlic bread rolls and rye bread. Found in almost every traditional restaurant and cooked at home year-round.
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02
Ketchup
Ketchup or catsup is a table condiment with a sweet and sour flavor. Ketchup now typically refers to tomato ketchup, although early recipes for different varieties contained mushrooms, oysters, mussels, egg whites, grapes, or walnuts, among other ingredients.
Travel tip A common table condiment served with fries, grilled meat and fast food. Ask for it with your meal, as it is not always on the table.
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03
Custard
Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin.
Travel tip Used in desserts and pastries, and served as a cream in cakes and cafés. Look for it in bakery items rather than as a standalone dish.
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04
Varenyky
Varenyky (Ukrainian: вареники, sing.: varenyk ) are traditional Ukrainian dumplings made from unleavened dough and filled with sweet or savoury ingredients.
Travel tip Eaten boiled with sour cream or butter, with fillings like potato, cabbage, cheese or cherries. A favorite home dish found in traditional restaurants and cafés.
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05
Syrniki
Syrniki are fried Eastern Slavic quark pancakes. They are a part of Belarusian, Russian, Ukrainian, Latvian and Lithuanian (varškėčiai) cuisines. In Russia, they are also known as tvorozhniki (творо́жники).
Travel tip Eaten at breakfast or as a dessert, usually with sour cream, jam or honey. Cafés serve them fresh from the pan in the morning.
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06
Kyiv cake
The Kyiv cake is a dessert cake produced in Kyiv, Ukraine since 6 December 1956 by the Karl Marx Confectionery Factory, now a subsidiary of the Roshen Confectionery Corporation.
Travel tip Sold by the slice or as a whole cake in Kyiv's cafés and shops. It is a popular souvenir and gift to bring home.
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07
Halušky
Halušky is a traditional variety of thick, soft noodles or dumplings found in many Central and Eastern European cuisines under various local names.
Travel tip Typical in the western Carpathian regions, served with cheese, bacon or sour cream. Look for it in traditional restaurants and mountain eateries.
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08
Pampushka
Pampushka is a small savory or sweet yeast-raised bun or doughnut typical for Ukrainian cuisine.
Travel tip Served warm with borscht, often brushed with garlic sauce. Ask for them when you order soup, and they are also sold in bakeries.
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09
Palianytsia
Palianytsia is a type of Ukrainian hearth-baked bread, made mostly of wheat flour in a home oven. The yeast hearth bread has a semi-circle cut across the top third of the loaf.
Travel tip A home-baked bread, and also a traditional bread served in restaurants. It is eaten with soups and other hearty dishes.
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10
Korovai
A korovai, karavai, or kravai is a traditional Bulgarian, Ukrainian, and Russian bread, most often served at weddings, where it has great symbolic meaning.
Travel tip Baked for weddings and major celebrations and decorated with dough ornaments. It is rarely everyday bread, so look for it at celebrations and special bakeries.
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Description: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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