Food - The Heart

When we planned this trip, we deliberately made our arrangements so that we could cook for ourselves most of the time (although the amazing variety of food in L’viv for remarkably low prices by USD standards has tempted us to restaurants more often, most recently the wonder that is salmon strudel). We’ve mostly shopped for ourselves in each place and put at least two meals, if not three, on the table for our family of six each day. Since most of the kitchens in our lodgings are not really equipped for significant cooking, the task requires a reasonable portion of ingenuity, creativity, forethought, and grit. Kind of like working a puzzle. But we’ve been able to pull off mostly tasty meals. 

One of many family meals - this one in Malenovice, Czech Republic

Traveling in Central and Eastern Europe in late June and July is a dream. The fresh fruits and vegetables are coming from villages into supermarkets, markets, and impromptu ‘sidewalk markets’ where individuals sell a few items. We’ve had wonderful cherries, raspberries, currants, and a few late strawberries. The summer vegetables — squash, cucumbers, and the first tomatoes — are starting to show up in Ukrainian markets. 

If there is a staple to our diet, it is what I call ‘summer salad,’ a mixture of chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, and white peppers, often with fresh dill or parsley, sometimes with feta or other strong cheese, and almost always with the freshness of unrefined sunflower oil. At least two of these ingredients, cucumbers and white peppers, cost pennies a pound. One would think we’d grow tired of this, but we don’t seem to. Since we arrived in Ukraine, the salad has often included mayonnaise in one of its many forms (where else but East Slavic lands does one find an entire aisle of mayonnaise?). 

Dill - our constant companion

When I lived in Russia in the 1990s, I did almost all of my shopping in rynky, markets located in either dedicated buildings with stalls or sometimes in the open air. There were few grocery stores, and the quality and price were usually better in the market. I still remember Liudmila, the lady who sold eggs in front of the Sports Palace in Nizhnii Novgorod in 1997-1998. My memory (perhaps faulty) suggests that Nizhnii Novgorod had only one true ‘supermarket,’ a place called ‘Evropa’ (Europe) on the city’s main square (I doubt a Russian supermarket would be called ‘Europe’ today…). This was the sort of place where one could find ‘delicacies' like salsa and soy sauce and shrimp for frightful prices. 

Two staples - white peppers (paprika) and cucumbers

I’m glad the girls have had a chance to experience supermarkets, markets, and other random places to buy food. They’ve seen me haggle over currants and raspberries from an old lady on the sidewalk, watched as we figured out produce weighing in grocery stores, and witnessed some confusion over Hungarian dairy products (is it sour cream or is it yogurt?). They’ve been surprisingly adventurous in their tastes (although Sophia has declared herring a no-go for her — she’s the family minority on this one). They’ve discovered whole new worlds of foods — bewildering variety of dried and salted fish, fermented milk products, endless varieties of fresh bread. And of course, an alcohol department that seems to span half the store. It’s a good reminder that food is, in so many ways, the heart of culture. 

And of course, Ukrainian chocolate composes another entire food group...