Traditional Ukrainian cuisine has developed more than one century. The primary role in the formation of folk cuisine is played by the method of cooking and the place / device where it is prepared. Ukrainians used an oven, so national Ukrainian dishes are boiled, stewed or baked. For example, the Cossacks cooked broth (yushka) from caught game, unlike the Germans, who roasted the prey on a spit. Ukrainian cuisine adopted the features of the cuisines of its neighbors: Tatar, Turkish, Hungarian and German.
The geographical location of the country and the climate allowed Ukrainians to eat a variety of foods: both plant foods and meat of animals and fish. However, until the end of the XIX century, meat dishes were prepared mainly for the festive table. Cooks first appear in monasteries, in wealthy families and at princely courts. They, by the way, actively used eggs, from which they prepared not only omelets and scrambled eggs, but also added to pastries and desserts.
Following the geographical discoveries in Ukraine come new vegetables that are actively used for food: potatoes, tomatoes and eggplants. Thanks to sunflower and mustard,from which oil is made, imported olive oil is replaced. With the advent of sugar, which was produced from beets,Ukrainian cuisine is enriched with sweet pastries.
Meat of domestic animals, poultry and fish was also actively eaten. Among the meat stands out the abundance of pork dishes. It is believed that this is due to the raids of the Tatars, who regularly robbed Ukrainians, but did not touch pigs for religious reasons. Especially in Ukraine, lardis common, which is eaten in different forms: salty, raw, smoked, fried; eat as an independent product, add to other dishes to give juiciness.
The main place among plant foods since ancient times was occupied by bread. Wheat spruce on holidays, in everyday life - lively (rye) bread. With the advent of buckwheat in the XII century, buckwheat from it also began to make flour and bake bread: buckwheat pampushkas with garlic, buckwheat dumplings with lard or buckwheat. For baking bread, Ukrainians traditionally used unleavened dough, and for confectionery - shortbread.
Among the vegetables common were carrots, cabbage, beets, cucumbers, pumpkin, radish and much more. From berries and fruits: apples, plums, cherries, raspberries. The natural sweetener was honey.
A favorite hot dish of Ukrainians is yushka,a decoction of fish or meat. Later, an abundance of vegetables began to be added to the meat broth, which shaded the taste of each other - so Ukrainian borscht appeared using beets and cabbage.
Ukrainians love dairy drinks: fermented baked milk, kislyak, ghee.
Popular low-alcohol drinks were obtained by natural fermentation: beer, mead, kvass, uzvar. In the XIV century, the famous gorilka appears,on the basis of which liqueurs are prepared. Ukrainian moonshine is also popular, as well as varenukha - a hot alcoholic "cocktail", in which they mix gorilka, moonshine, add honey and spices.
