The Ukrainian Kitchen, Explained
Recipes and plain answers from the people who cook for a few thousand visitors every September — borscht, varenyky, holubtsi, and what to expect the first time you walk onto a festival field.
The Ukrainian kitchen
The dishes a festival kitchen cooks in volume, written so you can cook them at home.
Ukrainian Food: A Plain Guide to What Is on the Table
Borscht, varenyky, holubtsi, deruny, syrnyky, kovbasa, paska and the twelve dishes of Christmas Eve — what each one is, when it is eaten, and which to try first.
10 min read
Ukrainian Borscht, Made the Way It Is at Home
A classic Ukrainian borscht recipe: beet-and-cabbage soup with a proper broth, the sour note that keeps the colour red, and the pot we cook every September in Carleton Place.
9 min read
Varenyky, Perogies, Pierogi: The Same Dumpling, Three Names
Why Ukrainians say varenyky, Canadians say perogies and Poles write pierogi — plus a varenyky dough that stays soft, the classic fillings, and how not to lose half the batch in the pot.
7 min read
Holubtsi: Ukrainian Cabbage Rolls, Step by Step
How to make holubtsi: cabbage leaves rolled around rice and meat, baked slowly in tomato and sour cream. The technique for the leaves, the filling ratio, and the lazy version for a weeknight.
8 min read
Deruny: Ukrainian Potato Pancakes That Stay Crisp
How to make deruny: grated potato pancakes fried crisp at the edges and soft inside. Why the batter turns grey, what to do about it, and what Ukrainians serve them with.
7 min read
Syrnyky: The Cheese Pancakes Ukrainians Eat for Breakfast
Syrnyky are fried pancakes made from fresh farmer cheese: crisp outside, soft as custard inside. The cheese to use in Canada, the flour ratio, and why they spread in the pan.
6 min read
Vinehret: The Beet Salad on Every Ukrainian Table
Beets, potato, carrot, pickles and sauerkraut dressed with sunflower oil. The winter salad Ukrainians make in a bowl the size of a bucket, and how to keep it from turning to mush.
6 min read
Kvashena Kapusta: Sauerkraut the Ukrainian Way
Cabbage, salt, carrot and time. How to ferment sauerkraut at home without a starter, what the bubbles and the smell should tell you, and where it goes on a Ukrainian table.
7 min readChicken Kyiv: The Dish, The Name, The Butter
Crumbed chicken breast rolled around cold herb butter and fried until it bursts. Where the name comes from, why restaurants spell it Kiev, and how to keep the butter inside.
7 min read
Medivnyk: Ukrainian Honey Cake, and Its Tall Cousin
The spiced honey loaf Ukrainians bake for Christmas and the layered honey cake sold in every café — what the difference is, and a medivnyk recipe that stays moist for a week.
7 min readSalo: Ukraine's Most Misunderstood Food
Cured pork fat, sliced thin, eaten with rye bread, raw garlic and a pickle. What salo is, why Ukrainians are so attached to it, and how it is cured at home.
6 min readTraditions
The embroidery, the eggs and the twelve dishes — what they mean and where they come from.
Vyshyvanka: Reading an Embroidered Shirt
What the patterns on a Ukrainian embroidered shirt mean, how they differ by region, when a vyshyvanka is worn, and what to look for when buying one.
8 min read
Pysanka: How a Ukrainian Easter Egg Is Actually Made
Wax, dye and a stylus called a kistka. The method behind Ukrainian Easter eggs step by step, what the symbols mean, and why the egg is never emptied first.
8 min read
Sviata Vecheria: The Twelve Dishes of Ukrainian Christmas Eve
Twelve meatless dishes, served when the first star appears, opening with kutia. What is on the table, what the hay under the cloth is for, and why the date moved.
9 min readComing to the festival
What happens on the day, and what else is worth seeing while you are out here.
Your First Ukrainian Festival: What Actually Happens
Music, dance, embroidered shirts, a market, a food court and a lot of children running loose. What a Ukrainian festival looks like from the gate, and how to plan a day at UAFest near Ottawa.
7 min read
A Day in Lanark County: Carleton Place, Almonte and Perth
Three river towns within forty minutes of Ottawa, and how to string them into one day. Where Carleton Place sits, what Almonte and Perth are known for, and where the Ukrainian festival fits in.
8 min readEverything on these pages is served at the festival itself — the food court, the market and the Korchma run all afternoon on September 13, 2026 in Carleton Place.
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